My biggest problem with making this my job has always been productivity. I am just amazed at how quickly I am getting these plushies finished. A year ago I would have maybe gotten a head or torso done in a very productive day. Now I should have all three finished, sewn together, and felted in four days. (I go no work done Saturday due to the wedding I mentioned) I know a lot of other crafters suffer from this as well so these are the things I do that have helped me.
1. Have a designated work space where you are comfortable but not too relaxed. I tried working from the couch and nothing ever got done. I work from a desk with typical office chair. Having that designated space makes sure you are able to separate the time there as work time even though you are working from home doing something you love.
2. Keep yourself entertained. one of the great things about crafting is that you can do it while watching or listening to something else. Just make sure its something you can pause easily if you need to focus on counting and not something you will get too absorbed into. Something you've seen before or that doesn't take too much thought works well. I tend to watch youtube videos of people playing video games (I don't have time to play them myself anymore) or competition shows.
3. Set yourself work hours, but take advantage of when you are in the zone. I tend to work around my husbands schedule, he gets off at 4 then takes some time for himself until 5 or 6 so I work from when wake up until he is off and try to get a little done on his days off. This keeps you from over working yourself and resenting what you do. But if you are really enjoying what you are working on or finally getting a difficult pattern, it's best to work through that. It's nice not having a boss breathing down your neck over hours. (of course if you have children, ignore this entirely and just work when they let you I suppose)
4.Don't be afraid to stash. as yarn lovers, this is not usually a problem, but I know I suffer from having too much variety rather than a good stash of good yarns I need for a lot of projects. Nothing takes you out of project mode like having to take an emergency yarn run. And if you stock up on sales you will be saving money in the long run and making projects from stash feels like you are being thrifty and productive.
5. Take care of yourself. Take breaks, make sure to eat, take time off if you find your wrists, hands, eyes etc. hurting. You are doing what you love and if you do yourself permanent damage you will not be able to do it in the future.
6. Always be willing to learn something new. I'm a bit of an all or nothing kind of person so when I sat down to crochet I was set on doing just crochet all the time. But my crafts have really benefited from me learning better sewing techniques, felting and other interesting tricks of the trade. And even just on a crochet level I love learning new stitches and techniques, you learn them for one project but you will find yourself incorporating them into other projects in the future.
There is a lot more to it, but these are the things I most need to keep in mind and keep me going. The other big thing I do to keep myself in the crafting mood, probably won't work for a lot of people, but does for me. I have a rotation of three to five projects. I usually do either ten rows or finish a head or pair of legs etc. before moving on to the next one. This keeps it interesting I get to play with different patterns and colors and it keeps it from getting dull. In the short run you feel like you are getting less done but without taking breaks out of boredom and having something to always be looking forward to I find I get more done.
I was going to include something about playing with patterns or making your own, but I think that might need it's own post or two in the future.
While working one three similar but differently sized plushies I tried some experiments. I did the color on the ears three different ways. On the big one I did the most time intensive and crocheted a different piece, on the mid sized on I cut out felt and glued it on, and on the little one I felted. and I think they all work. The felting probably looks best but it hard to make look as good and will get really fuzzy on the bigger ones. The crochet piece looks good too but takes a while which is hard to justify for the less expensive mid-sized plushie. The glued felt is my least favorite, but I think given time and practice I can get it looking better.These kinds of experiments are fun and keep you going when you are making a big inventory of the same or similar plushies and its always good to try new things.
I hope you found this at least a little informative and I hope you join me back on Friday for the finished Leafeons, because I probably won't get anything else done this week.
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