Hello there and welcome to The Crochet Circle Podcast and the show notes for Episode 48 – Barking up the Right Tree  
 
My name is Fay and this is my audio and video podcast for those that love fibre crafts, particularly crochet.  It’s a community for people that like to support their fellow humans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, size or age. I hope you feel the welcome embrace and love of the Crochet Clan.  Come on in and stay awhile.  
 
In this episode, I cover Losing your Cro-jo; WIP RIP 2019; Final Destination; En Route; Quick News Beats; Big Up and J’adore.
 
This podcast is sponsored by my online crafting company, Provenance Craft Co. 


Thanks to everyone who tunes into the podcast whether it is through Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, iTunes or the YouTube Channel. Your support and engagement are really appreciated and makes running a podcast very special and worthwhile.   
If you would like to support the podcast, you can do that through Patreon:

 
This podcast is also a supporter of BIPOC in Fibre, a group of amazing people that set up a crowdfunding project to create a website/project to "become a vital, interactive resource that will increase the profiles of all the BIPOC makers listed and show the true diversity that exists in our community."  If you would also like to support the project, you can do so by clicking here. 
 
1 – Cro-jo
I popped some questions up onto a post on Instagram.  I was curious to know what made people lose their crochet mojo and what they have done to get it back.
 
I deliberately asked the question in October because I suspected that the pressure of making crocheted/crafted presents for a Christmas deadline would be one of the main reasons.  I wasn’t wrong.
Thank you to everyone that came back to tell me their stories.  I have compiled them into categories and listed them out below.  If you want to read some wider thinking around this topic, I created a ‘Lost your crojo’ blog post on it (link).
 
The main reasons for people losing their love of crochet or crafting were:
Current skill levels don’t match what they want the finished object to look like or stops them from tackling next level patterns.
Deadline crocheting – particularly for Christmas or teacher presents.
Summer months – either too hot or you are off doing other things because of the daylight.
Too many WIPs.
Big life changes such as births, deaths, weddings, house moves, relationship issues, country moves.
Projects that are in the naughty corner because something needs to be fixed, there are long, boring sections or the project just overall feels like a chore!
Being new to the craft and not yet knowing what you like to make.

 
Here are some of the suggestions for how to get your crojo back:
If you are on Instagram, look up crochet related hashtags to get inspiration and see what others are up making.  Try searching for crochet in different languages such as 'haken' so that you see what is popular in different parts of the world.
Choose a really quick project that you can finish in one sitting.  The dopamine hit that you get from finishing a project shouldn't be underestimated.
Look back at your Ravelry project pages or go through your handmade wardrobe.  Remind your self of all the beautiful things you have made and how far you have developed your skills.
Have a selection of WIPs.  One for quiet times that needs a bit of concentration, one for watching the TV or reading that requires very little concentration and one the will fly off your hook so that your brain gets that dopamine hit.
Do just a couple of rows.  Even one stitch is one stitch further...

 
In the blog post, I also talk through my Worthy Decision Ladder which helps me work through who I spend my precious making time on.
 
2 – CAL Updates
The #wiprip2019 I am co-hosting with Sophie from A Spring Snowflake Podcast (link) is in full swing.
You have from now until midnight on the 31st December to finish up or rip out some or all of your WIPs so that you