Yarn is great because it will wait patiently for you, if your too sad to crochet right now.

Yes, this! When Meme passed she left everyone something. I'm not much for statuary or angel decor & she knew that so she left me something precious: a blanket she started while sick that she knew she would be unable to finish. Mom didn't know who she was making it for & felt terrible offering me an unfinished blanket. The yarn she chose were 2 of the 3 colors I chose for the blanket she made for me. When I saw it, I just knew. It was for me to comfort me in my loss of her. I couldn't work on it for months but one day I realized this would be our last blanket we get to work on together. So I picked up my hook in her honor. I felt her spirit with me during times while I stitched, dragging out the work for 3 years because that's what I needed to do. Now it's finished & I'm using the left over yarn to make something for 2 other family members to comfort them as well. I hope the same for you: take your time & know that in loss & grief there are no rights or wrongs there just is. There's also no timer or time limit on the process. I want you & everyone else to know though that we have something here many others out there don't have: an entire community of people from all over the world who share your love & passion for fabric crafts but are also very much here for each other through life. May you all be blessed today & always. 🩷

I have a friend who calls this ‘losing her crojo’

That’s a fabulous sentiment ❤️. So sorry for your loss. And thank you for the reminder. During the plague (whilst many were finding their mojo) I lost my mojo in many of my hobbies even my garden suffered, I’m slowly getting it back in all areas, but I love the idea that everything just waited patiently for me to feel creative again, kinda makes me feel better 🥰

Thanks OP, I really needed to hear that. I'm still at the stage where managing to make lunch counts as a victory, but I really really want to believe I'll get that crochet mojo back. I didn't quit, or give up, I'm just taking a break!

I've found that sometimes when I don't have the mental energy for more complex patterns, I can still mindlessly single crochet a blanket. So buying a cheap color-changing yarn and making a simple yet pretty blanket is also an option.

Having lost my mum and sister in the recent past I find joy in baby cardigans. They are hopeful. Even the colours are bright and cheerful. There are no family members expecting a a baby, but that’s OK as the cardigans have found their babies on my wider network. Knitting and crocheting are a tangible symbol of hope for new life. Of a future. Of good things to come

And I’ll return to other abandoned ufo s in due course. When I’m ready.

Right now baby clothes in pastels bring me joy!

Thank you for this. I have a three year old and twin six month olds. I love them so much but between an incredibly uncomfortable pregnancy and having babies I feel like I’ve lost a year of my life. There is no time for hobbies right now. But, you’re right. It will be there waiting for me. (It’s ridiculous but I’m tearing up a bit thinking about it.)

Sometimes I just sit with my hook and project in my hand for awhile and can't seem to do it, but I just remind myself that I'm supposed to be relaxing and whatever I end up doing is what's gonna make me happy

I am merely a lurker here, for my ability to crochet is notably horrendous and should not be pursued, but I do love and wish I could. That being said, I am commenting because I was berating myself today for not painting at all in the last 2 weeks, after starting three projects and then a new job as well. After bringing myself down, I reassured myself that, in fact, I can pick up the paint brush again as soon as I adjust to my new work schedule. My hands are still attached, my paints and brushes are there, and when my body and mind are ready, it will happen.

I think it works in the opposite direction sometimes too. At least it did for me. I’ve had just the most outrageously, tremendously traumatic and awful last year and a half or two. I’m disabled, homeless in a hotel, displaced and stuck in a city and state I don’t think is working for me. Lost someone who… was not a healthy relationship or person but who had supported me in ways no one had and through the darkest days of Covid. And that was all sudden and abrupt. And my attempt to protect her and not blow up her life while hoping to help her… blew up my life basically. I lost just about everything including things I hadn’t imagined I could lose (all my doctors and some Covid and other messy healthcare related stuff but a part of my team who had been such a massive part of my suooort system for a decade, providing the very rare and complex treatment keeping me alive).

I’m actually in the hospital right now with my crochet across me. I’ve been talking about crafting to survive. It started with a lot of random kid craft kits, something I always liked to have on hand and bring into hospitals with me. Then Happy Planner (used to be heavy into scrapbooking). Keep trying seeing but doesn’t work well with mt disabilities and didn’t think crochet could. But it did and I’m maybe a little too obsessed now. Lol. It is the one thing I’ve truly gained from this awful time and what keeps me going. My only friend has some of the same life limiting severe medical stuff as me but even worse. And she’s not in the same country as me even but she’s been my other rock in this when she’s able and she’s got a business making cards and some indigenous beadwork. Wish so bad we were together and we talked about crafting together all the time but we also have joked about the name for our future business (I so want to share but also want to protect it but it’s a glorious pun on our situation!) I’m having such a rough time pulling my life back together after falling through every possible crack in the system and the ways my particular health needs and lack of support complicate things. But I’m holding on and my friend is holding on through her own nightmare with the hope we can make our business happen. She’s already selling her stuff and in some stores. If I can get back to the city I loved, I’m so hopeful of being able to do some markets and just figuring out a way to make this happen (I suppose with more stability I could also sell online). With so much unclear about my future, being able to see one thing like this that I want and hope for is everything.

Anyway sorry to ramble off too. Grief and hardship is so tough. My brain is this chronically overwhelmed mess to the point I can’t even keep straight all my responsibilities and problems. Can’t carry it all. But crochet has been like the one thing that clicked for me and offered me some solace. I lost a lot of my other passions (had been running a bookstagram and doing book reviews, was writing a novel, etc and I haven’t read a single book in so long because I just can’t) but this one clicked. That’s my other suggestion, don’t be afraid to try new things if the old hobbies or passions aren’t doable right now or carry too much weight and memories. Whatever it takes to survive and get by.

And sending love to all out there who are hurting, struggling, going through it in any and every way. I will say this has been the other special thing I’m seeing about the crochet world. I have seen scrapbookers rip one another to shreds. Lol. But this has been such an uplifting and supportive space. On Reddit and YouTube and other spaces. I don’t think you have to be currently crocheting or swimming in the crojo to benefit from that. ❤️

It took me almost 2 years after losing my dad to pick my hook back up but im starting to get back into the groove of it again.

I knew that I had turned the corner on my depression because I could finish something again. It was such a joy to realize that my projects weren't bothered at all by my absence and had waited patiently for me to be well again.

My pregnancies sucked all crafty mojo away as my body was too busy making tiny humans. My baby is almost 5 months and I still don’t quite have it back, but I know it’s in there somewhere.

This post is proof that this subreddit is one of the nicest places out there. Thank you for the positivity and all these incredible responses.

I needed to read this today. I picked up my crochet hooks a few months back after neglecting them for years, and was working on a project for a friend. Now we're not friends any longer and every time I look at my WIP, I feel incredibly sad rather than proud of what I had achieved.

It's nice to read about cro-jo coming back with time and patience.

I lost my crojo after a disastrous craft fair where I spent a year making my wares and sold one measly scarf. I was so disappointed and swore off yarncrafting for good. Or at least for now.

I have recently emerged from apathy/depression that kept me from doing any kind of craft over the past 3 years. I went through my old yarn stash last weekend, and it was like everything old was new again! It was so much fun. I don't have a particular plan for what to pick up right now, but I finally have the motivation back!

My yarn waited for me 15 years!

Sorry for your loss!

love this. had to take a break from crochet because of some mobility issues from an SCI and am slowly getting back into handcraft+fibre art after 4-5 months away. getting better these days at telling myself not being up to doing something right now is a bookmark, not a court sentence, but its still a work in progress. thanks for the reminder OP. <3

I really appreciate crochet most when I'm really depressed. Sometimes I feel like garbage and I just want to lay around and do nothing, but I've found that due to the ADHD I get bored even while miserable, so if I keep my hands busy, I still feel like garbage, but after the haze of depression has passed, I have something at the end. It doesn't always work, sometimes I can't crochet when depressed, but this has really worked well for me overall.

I really get back into crochet when I'm having bad insomnia too. When I'm too cranky and tired for anything else, when I'm miserable and unpleasant to be around, even if I'm not feeling the crafting bug or excited about my project, just doing something with my hands and not thinking a lot can really help.

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My last work

Needed this today! We’re going through a lot right now, and so many priorities vying for first place. Hopefully the new baby coming in the family will get her Afghan. Thank you 😍

I needed this. I lost a friend last month and am in the process of losing a family member. Even though I want to, I've had no motivation to continue my WIPs. Glad to know it will come back and I will stop feeling bad about it.

This happens to me all the time. I won't touch it for months, sometimes a year.

It's nice knowing the yarn is there for when I'm ready again

I didn’t crochet for SIXTEEN years! I suffered terribly from Post Partum Depression but didn’t know it for about 6 months. I stopped crocheting when my son was the same age. It just made me sad to do it and I had PTSD associated with it for years. But I’ve been back at it for a year. Better than ever.

Trying not to cry on my lunch break rn 😭 i have stupid amounts of yarn and tons of projects I wanna start but haven’t had any spoons for it in months…thank you for this 🥰

I needed to read this. After a break up with my bf, I stopped all my projects. I was working on his and just lost the spark. I tried working on my child's project but just couldn't go through it. I finally got to finish their scarf for their birthday. Thank you for this reminder and I hope you and yours are well.

Definitely needed this. Just finished 8 projects one after another for Christmas and a trip to see my family in March. I haven't been able to pick up the hook since I got back. I know I technically came home, but I don't feel like I'm home. I miss them. I have my fiancé and our 2 year old to comfort me and spend time with but my fiancé is working over time for the short period it's going to be available and our 2 year old is not taking the schedule change well and is not sleeping. I have no interest in any of my hobbies at the moment. They all feel empty. I've gotten essentially my first commission from outside family and friends and I feel guilty for not working on it. I got out the yarn and I altered the pattern to reflect their vision and all I have to do is sc, Inc, and dec but I just stare at it. I know once I do the magic circle I'll finish it. I just can't get passed the hurdle of starting. I thankfully don't have a deadline but they asked for it right after Christmas. It's now May.

We all need to take a break from time to time. It’s nice to know that it’s still there waiting when you’re ready. ❤️

Yes! I was so mad, my husband brought me home a whole pile of yarn from a business trip in the states and right at that point I found out I was pregnant and the first trimester kicked my butt. I couldn’t do anything. Thankfully, I am feeling better and have started trying to finish my bakery set that I started.

I think about going back to crocheting, but then I think of the pile of fantastically beautiful afgans sitting next to a donation bin. I'm good, but these were beyond me. Someone worked so hard on them & someone just dumped them. I was so sad. And yes, I picked them up. the weather was looking bad & i didn't want someone's beautiful work getting ruined.

Plus, I live down south, where it's 100 degrees for 6 months a year.

Well that's a beautiful sentiment. I'd only add that it'll wait longer and more pateintly if it's stored properly

I’m going to cry, thank you

I have a few balls in my daughter's angry basket. It's fluffy soft yarn so she gets a bit of tactile stimulation when she's angry. Yarn is soft, and forgiving, and comforting and will wait. It listens to, but never talks back.

I lost my mum in 2002. She was a crafter. She taught me to knit when I was 16. So one day I was looking through her knitting needle bag. I found a 5mm hook. I sat on my bed for about half an hour just looking at it. When I was about 10 she started to show me how to crochet. My dad put a stop to it. But that’s a whole other story. So while I was sat looking and thinking of my mum. I grabbed some wool. Then started to chain, I could remember parts of what she taught me. So I played I was making stitches I didn’t know the names of. I bought a book. Then YouTube helped immensely. I got hooked instantly. I do wish she was alive today so we could bond over this. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

I’ve noticed my will for crocheting continually fluctuates. The last time I crocheted something was a hat for my dad while he was in the hospital cause he’s bald and his head was cold haha. We ended up getting in a huge fight with him and his chose to live out life with his girlfriend rather than his kids. Now every time I see my crochet bag I see the two unfinished I hats I started for him at the hospital and it breaks my heart. Waiting for some new energy

Another lurker fighting health issues here. Crohn's, Colitis, and a broken hip, family and friends lost, and it's taking a toll. Picked up my crochet for first time in years to make a gift.. Ran into problems because of cognitive issues (I'm 75) but they are now challenging me to stick with it. Get so discouraged but can't seem to put it away. It's become my go to when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Helps me focus.

Thank you OP, and everyone else who contributed. I feel like it's a new day and I need to move forward again.

"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world." Louis Armstrong, I can do this...

I'm literally using yarn that waited around 4 years for me to be ready to crochet again.

💜

really needed to see this. thank you!!

I generally lose my interest to knit or crochet in the summer. And that's okay. No need to force it! I make time for other hobbies or just going out and enjoying the summer weather. My yarn will be there when the fall vibes hit

I can go without crocheting for months at a time. Try not to let it get to you

I put down crafting for about three years because I was incredibly depressed. Three years later, my yarn is still there for me. :)

Hugs.

I didn't crochet for two years after my Dad died.

I go in spurts too. I always have my stash waiting for me.

I haven't touched my yarn since 2020 when we got my youngest dog (and omg she is a handful). I know it'll be there when I'm ready to come back.

Since I started crocheting, it goes in and out. I'll have a few months where I'm at it constantly, a few months where I'm not doing it at all. I'll take breaks when I have a chronic pain flare, or my hands or wrists start hurting, or my back hurts because my posture is awful.

But I always come back, and it always doesn't take much to get back in the swing of things. I have yarn I've had for years that I suddenly picked up and started working with. It's nice to return to.

That's what I love about crafting supplies in general. With few exceptions, they don't expire. They're just always there if you want to pick up or start a project. It's... comforting. The yarn I bought on a whim at Goodwill is still crochet-able in ten years.

My yarn always waits for me to return after a depressive episode or a MS flare up. It's always waiting and it's always happy when I come back 💜

I lost my dad this week and after more than a year off crocheting I decided to pick up a half finished project again. I am grateful it waited for me until I needed it.

This is the post I didn't know I needed today. Thank you

Crochet triggered my carpal tunnel, I've had a two year + break and all of my supplies have been in storage until we move into a home where I have dedicated office/craft room space. Add to that some pretty serious depression.... but we close in two weeks on a new house and I'll have my space. I'm hoping that I'll have the ability to get back to it soon. And if I can't? My yarn and projects and ideas have been stored safely, and yarn and hooks don't judge you for crying over nothing.

This gives me hope! I'm not sure why, maybe it's just life in general but I lost my drive to crochet/knit. I work near a Micheals so it's tempting to go there and buy yarn, just to realize that I have a bunch at home that I haven't used and start to feel guilty. I hope I can go home today and start on even a small project 🤞

I really needed to hear this! Ulcerative colitis is really beating me down and I have been feeling bad about all the projects I abandoned.

I stopped crochet when I got busy with the holidays and just haven’t started again, but I really want to go back to making dice bags for my friends again! My yarn is waiting patiently 🫶

Just have to make sure you have the right kind of storage so it doesn’t get ruined

I also lost interest in crochet and all of my hobbies really after my dad passed away. It took me almost half a year to start doing things I liked again. My yarn stockpile waited for me

This is actually so comforting to me right now. Thank you.

I love this sentiment.

Unless your method of coping is to throw things away. Don't do that.

This is nice, I wanted to learn how to crochet but I was having a lot of trouble so I gave up but it’s nice thinking that it’s still waiting for me for when I might try again

Thank you for posting this. Very true also

Yarn is patient :)

This!! I just pulled a WIP out of a 3 year time out. I put it there because I didn't want to frog a whole round and a half.

I was surprised I could figure out what size hook I was using and where I was in the pattern. And now I know how to fix it without frogging!

The yarn is always here for you💜

Amen 🙏

Yes! I support this, Im depressed, and some days doing litterally anything is hard, legit sometimes i Can only watch tv all day bc anything Else makes me sad/mad (and more) i have alot of hobbies and sometimes its drawing sometimes crochet and its ok to do something Else for a while and also font force yourself to do anything bc you wont be enjoying it and itll only make you more sad :/ so please dont worry about that taking breaks is perfectly ok :)

this really is the nicest sub. thanks, friend :)

Would upvote this 100 times if I could!

This happened to me with cross stitching. My friend of 28 years (and I taught her to cross stitch) passed away and I haven't been able to cross stitch since. We would send pics to each other.

I love this sentiment so much. Thank you, this is what I needed today 💖🧶

My house burned down on March 2 and I've been way too busy/stressed/sad to crochet. My sister bought me some hooks and my husband bought me this yarn I've been eyeing for months. It's beautiful. It is sitting there, in the box, waiting for me patiently, until the day I get my crojo back. I know it will be there and it gives me hope that one day things will be easier and I can just sit down and get that soothing rhythm going for a while without having to worry about anything else. Just nothing but the yarn and hook

Indeed! My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was 7 years old. She passed away shortly after me turning 19, she never got to see a single completed project from me but she left me all of her crochet hooks in a small leather case and I feel her with me whenever I use them to make something. I have made several blankets since then, as I am 30 now and I know she's smiling. 💕

Well this was beautiful! 😊❤️

I took a break for about a year, and I have to say it was the easiest hobby to pick back up and just. . .continue on where I stopped with no real re-learning anything. It's just so freeing knowing I can take a break with no worries about how I will forget how to do it or working my way back up to where I once was.

Definitely feel this. Crochet can be my therapy... And sometimes it can be too hard to pick up a hook on days when it's a struggle to even open my eyes.

It's nice that no matter what, I can just pick it up and start again. No 'where have you been' or 'why didn't you call's. I can just dive right back in where I left off (assuming I remember lol).

It's why I love crocheting. When I question why I continue to live when I don't add anything of value to this world, I can make a cute little dragon and suddenly I've made someone's world a little better.

It's nice.

I squish my bernat blanket yarn balls like a stress ball

I’ve been crocheting a blanket for my best friend for last year’s (oops) Christmas. It’s my third project ever. My cat has loved it, playing with the yarn while I make it, cuddling on the finished parts. That friend is allergic to cats (but loves them) so I planned to wash it before giving it to her. However my cat got very suddenly sick and we found out he had cancer a week ago. Sunday we put him to rest at home with an at-home euthanasia service. We had him lay on this blanket (still unfinished with yarn sticking out) as it had become his favorite. I now told my friend I’ll make her a new blanket, but am finishing this blanket in honor of my boy Charlie and need it for comfort. I’ve been sleeping with it which sometimes undoes a little bit, but I’m just doing my best dealing with grief so it is what it is. I’m thankful I started this hobby not too long ago that my Charlie loved as well.

I noticed I lose my crojo after I make commission pieces that I normally would not have made on my own. So I stopped accepting requests unless it was something I've made in the past or something I would have made in the future at some point. It's done wonders for my mental health (and crojo) by setting that boundary. But whenever I do lose my crojo I will usually doodle scribbles and stuff until I miss crocheting again. Sometimes it only takes a day, sometimes it takes weeks.

Yesss! Just yesterday I picked up yarn and a hook for the first time in 15 months, back into it :)

Thank you ♡