5 Tips To Stay Creatively Inspired for Knitwear Design & Content Creation

hello hello and uh happy july i can't believe it's already july i have just yesterday finally finished this sweater that i've shown you working on a previous video just gonna be like a really oversized kind of relaxed sweater this one can't wait to finish it now it's finally done i'm so so happy because now we have a heatwave in finland like the last week so it's been super warm here definitely not sweating weather but now the wind has turned and it's much more chilly and kind of windy still sunny which is nice but it's perfect because now i can wear my sweater and i have knitted this just bottom up so first i did these little slits here um with some two by two rib edging and then with the body then i did the color and then the sleeves and i used approximately seven skeins of busted six millimeter needles and this was just like a really easy no brain project so justin's stuck in that stitch and um i think i'm gonna write down the pattern for this or write up the pattern i don't know which one you say right up right down uh right up i think it's the right term for this pattern and have it released more towards autumn but today this video i wanted to well um let's rewind a little bit [Music] so you know that i've been working on this big knitting book so this big project and to be honest um now when it's kind of finished so i've done my part which is i've done all the patterns all the photos and now the layout is being done and then it's going to print and hopefully gonna be published um somewhere in august september i don't know i don't have an exact date yet and it's gonna be released in english and in finnish but i think having done such a big project and having something for the last eight or nine months that have just been occupying the biggest part of my time when that was done i don't know the few last weeks i've felt a little bit maybe not uninspired but i've just felt not as productive or driven and i think that's totally natural but it has made me think of the ways that i then use to then get that creativity going again both in terms of network design but also in content creation because that is my job i am full-time content creator and now i also do network design so i wanted to make this video just because i was thinking about this and reflecting on this um maybe these tips can be helpful if anyone out there has these feelings uh sometimes that you just feel a little bit like you you need like some boost to get the engine going again um and i think it's definitely you need to take breaks you need to listen to that you can't force it all the time but still i wanted to share these five tips that i stay creatively inspired both for neutral design and content creation [Music] i don't know about you but me sometimes i can get caught up in this feeling that i have to be very productive and do a lot of stuff uh every day especially when you're an entrepreneur and just working for yourself i sometimes get caught up in this feeling of like oh there's so many things to do and sometimes you can feel like there just isn't enough hours in the day and it's kind of hard to take a break and i know that when i don't take a break my brain quickly gets really overwhelmed and really mushy and i just start to feel not so great and i know that one thing that really helps me is when i just do a little workout so i just get like a little bit sweaty um so that could just be going for like a quick 20 minute run or doing like a youtube workout at home in the living room just something to get me moving and one thing that i've added to this little routine recently is after i've been done my workout i usually will just sit down for like 10 minutes and do a little guided meditation and i've been using the aura app they have hundreds or thousands of different guys and therapists and storytellers that you can choose from so you can get it really personalized aura is a little bit like spotify for your mind and soul because they have so many different tracks that you can choose from and if you would like to try them out you can click the link in the description below so that's aurahealth.io forward slash kutubakika and the 500 first people who click that will get a free trial plus you'll then get the exclusive offer of 25 percent off i want to say thank you to aura for sponsoring today's video hey we got this big guy's so cute he just wants to be outside all the time yesterday before i was going to bed i really wanted to start something new because i've just finished this sweater and i brought so much yarn out here to the countryside with me as well and then i usually just like to kind of play with different color combinations and i don't think that's really fun like i feel like colors and choosing colors and yarns is one of the most fun part and i think is one of really the driving forces um and also coming up with new designs so actually my first tip is to have fun and there's this really good quote by bill murray that goes like this the more relaxed you are the better you are that's sort of what i got into acting i realized the more fun i had the better i did it and i thought that's a job i could be proud of so that's a quote by bill murray the actor we made ours with a special rabbit here on the top so we could pipe in some music and i really feel the same way actually the more i think about it and obviously this doesn't apply to everything they're obviously all wise things that are going to be boring and tedious with any job but i feel like with getting inspired and trying to be creative and like the best ideas and all the best videos and the best knitwear designs i've made i feel happen when i have the most fun um so that's kind of a strategy i feel that i use now and i've always used it probably kind of naturally but i think that's just so interesting also like a superstar like bill murray says that you know the more fun i had the better i did so and i think that ties into the whole like being relaxed not forcing it and then you're kind of more the most genuine and authentic yourself and i definitely feel like that really shines truly in the videos that i make here on youtube but also in like the photos or in anything creative i also think that the idea of having fun ties into this whole concept of playfulness which i think is so important especially when you're trying to innovate or come up with new ideas embracing playfulness which is something that i feel like in the adult world we can kind of see as something naive or it's like childish but i definitely think that the thing that has served me most in my work has definitely been like embracing that playful side and um not feeling somehow embarrassed or ashamed of that or there's anything wrong with that or that it makes me somehow naive hello hello welcome to my channel my name is kika my name is kika my name is kika and today my name is and today so i think having fun being playful that is definitely something that i feel like always kick starts my energy or inspiration again um so just looking for ways to you know um do something out of the box or kind of shake things up uh whatever that might be in the moment just you know that could be like in knitwear design that could be for example choosing some like really offlandish colors that i would normally not choose or some like really funky yarn just to get again that like excitement and curiosity going um and with content creation i mean that could be anything like instead doing a vlog if like i've done lots of like tips videos or maybe sharing a bit more or doing like a challenge so just something that has some structure and like changing up some things uh which then makes me feel more excited about it and then i'll have more fun and usually that will lead to better results as well [Music] the second tip that i use so much is walking just walking taking walks during the day this is especially something that i use a lot if i'm you know sitting and working at home um then i like to structure my days where i have walks in between so maybe in the morning i'll start the morning by taking a walk grabbing some coffee on the way i just feel like there's something with walking um which just clears the head and often i get like solve problems when i have walks and i get new ideas um and sometimes i even like emails that i feel like really like sticky to reply maybe i don't know how to reply to them when i'm walking it's just much easier like i know how to phrase it and i know what to do um and often also just like um if i'm gonna organize something meet up with friends or something i just find it easier when like on the move so when i'm walking and that's usually when i like suggest people like hey should we meet for a coffee and i don't know there's something in walking that just makes me like do things and it just feels like a smaller task and um what i would used to do especially like around a year ago i had this rhythm of during the day i would walk for like one or two hours a days days a day um and then obviously that depends a little bit but i definitely feel like walking is one of my most treasured things uh during a work day that you can do and also i mean obviously moving your body is really good for you so and it's such a easy and cheap way also to just get like more inspired so that's been something that i've and i've always really liked walking um so i don't know maybe if you're not like a person who really likes to take walks i feel like it also helps sometimes so it depends a little bit on what mood i am sometimes i don't want to listen to anything i just want to walk and kind of clear my head and sometimes it's really nice to you know listen to like a podcast maybe like in your area um so i listened especially before i used to listen to a lot of like online marketing podcasts and then about making courses um and of course about like instagram and social media and all that um i haven't found that many knitting podcasts that i've really liked hooked on yet even though i've tried a couple um but i think that's also like a nice way that you can still kind of educate yourself like and kind of do work even if you're not like sitting behind your laptop um and sometimes it's just nice then to listen to something completely else or just listen to the music or just like call somebody um but then you still have that you're like moving and you're like going somewhere um and it also actually ties into i really like during a day like structured i can't sit in like just one place for eight hours and just like sit at work so usually i like to change spots as well and then walking just tight into that really organically and nice it's so so windy i hope this audio is not gonna be terrible and you can hear what i'm saying yesterday i was knitting in the evening and then i just left my this thing that i'm working on um on the bed and during the night i went up to pee and then when i crawled back in bed uh i just heard like a snap and uh my knitting needle broke so now i have a little bit of a situation here where i have to try to fix it or i have to um get all these stitches onto a new needle so if anybody ever says that knitting is not full of all kinds of excitement i would beg to deeper [Music] while i try to catch my stitches um my third tip is creating white space so white space is basically a concept of having just space for doing nothing where you don't have a lot of plans and stuff crammed into so essentially you just have time to kind of wonder aimlessly just let your thoughts be um even be bored and just like do nothing and i think especially in this day and age where you have your phone all the time ready to scroll and there's always like new influences um to kind of cram your brain with and there's always something to do i think that that can sometimes be a little bit of a problem when you um are gonna create something because at least for me happens that if i scroll a lot and i look at a lot of what other people are doing which is really nice because you can get inspired especially with like knitting and just like well photography as well but especially with knitting i get so so inspired just seeing what everybody else does but sometimes i get also overwhelmed um and then i find that it's quite difficult to really choose what the prog next project is gonna be or i just get kind of stuck because there's so many options so i don't really know where to start and in those moments i've found that actually not being that much on my phone like to be honest i'm not i don't spend that much time on social media um when i'm creating a lot of stuff myself and then maybe when i have periods like now in a few in a couple of few weeks a couple of few weeks in the last few weeks um i haven't been creating that much myself then maybe i'll spend more time just looking at what others are making but i sometimes feel like if i spend a lot of time just looking at what's out there or if i browse on pinterest there's just so many photos and so many ideas out there that then i can get a little stuck so then i find what helps is to just kind of scale back and create that space for not doing anything and i mean not doing anything could be again like going for a walk or um just having that somehow clarity in your mind so that then new ideas can come and then the new ideas come more from i feel at least from like a more authentic or genuine place because then i'm not being so influenced from what i'm seeing somewhere and maybe i think oh that's something i should be doing but instead when i have somehow that space um then it comes arise more from myself and from like an actual genuine place which also brings back a little bit that kind of playfulness and having fun like we talked in the first tip [Music] also maybe i should show you the progress of this so this is i think i showed you in my last video this cotton cable white rib knit sweater i'm working on i'm using two colors of cotton and uh it's already pretty heavy um and i still haven't made the sleeves um but i think it's gonna be really nice to wear like i already feel like just the cotton fabric um becomes so nice um i'm not really sure i will have to see when i block it but i did this um italian bind off but it became pretty chunky so i don't know if i have to redo it which i really don't want to do because it took so long to to make this italian bind off but i'm still a little unsure because it is pretty like thick um but i'm thinking maybe it's something that when i soak it in water maybe that will just fix the problem i hope okay and my next tip actually relates to the previous one which is unleashing my inner fangirl so then when you've had enough of that white space obviously getting inspired by other network designers or just fashion brands that is something that i come back to all the time and you know i might walk past a window and just see something in the window that i just get super super inspired by um and then take a photo so i'll have a little album on my phone with uh inspiring knitwear designs or back in the days when i was doing more photography i would save a lot on pinterest and yeah just basically go all like fangirl mode and just seek inspiration from others and some of the ones that have really inspired me lately um in terms of knitwear design have been um vitre design she's a norwegian knitwear designer and for some reason i've just really really been into her style lately just her choice of color it's very kind of simple kind of like trendy her and like cool her style um and just yeah her choices of color and then also she does quite a lot of like summer knits which i haven't done that many summer nights before so that's why i think i found just so much inspiration from her and just how to how to go about it somehow uh and it just feels like her style is so effortless and it feels like it comes i mean i'm sure there's a lot of work and effort behind it but also i really like her way of using social media or i mean mostly instagram um so that is something that i have been i've been going on fangirl mode for sure uh then obviously like petit knit i think everybody uh just her style is so simple and kind of scandinavian and just uh has that um i don't know like her life the way she lives in denmark i think is something that a lot of us somehow aspire to be or it just looks really really nice and cozy with her family there and having her business and all that um and then i found this brand called scallo studio which is also a danish brand and their style also like they are a fashion brand but i really really like their style um and also then completely the opposite back center guard which is also a danish brand i'm somehow feeling the the danish vibes at the moment it seems um they have like a lot of like colorful stuff so like and it will go sort of in phases i'll find something new that i just get super inspired by and then that influences me um and then it goes kind of in and out but i definitely recommend that when you find something or find somebody who really inspires you to i mean copying is maybe not something that you should ever strive to but i think it's okay to get inspired and take influence from that because that is also how you'll learn and then you always will put your own twist on it no matter what it is so like straight up copying is i don't think generally a great idea or it's just not so good practice but getting inspired and then putting your own twist on it i think i mean what's the point i mean especially with like knitwear there's you know yeah unless you're like some kind of a knit genius i think it's still like we're still fairly tied to you know the same stitches the same construction for a garment um so then it's all really in the details and i think that's fine like it's in the details that then matter and i think with fashion especially it's always in the details really and that makes up the bigger hole [Music] my last tip is to find strategies for a fresh start over and over again one of the things that i do often in a day is switch places for example like i did now for a fresh start and i know um i forget what his name is called but the writer of west wing he said in an interview that he takes like you know seven to eight showers in a day when he has to write just to get that sense of a fresh start so taking showers i think is also a good way to find a fresh start or going for a walk switching places um you know changing outfit whatever you need to do or just ripping off the work and starting from blank again just to get a fresh start because i think that is also something that can sometimes slow down the process and the feeling of inspiration is when you feel tied down to maybe previous work that you don't feel that inspired by it anymore and kind of weighs you down so then maybe you have to find a way to just start fresh and there are different ways you can do that and one way i definitely do that is that i do switch places during the day so i can kind of get like these little mini chunks in a day all right thank you so much for watching this video i hope you found these tips valuable or insightful i would love to know if you have any tips or strategies that you use when you need a little bit of a creative boost so let us know in a comment below i think it's always so fun to just read your tips because then these videos become so much richer when we get more tips and more information i was gonna say but that sounds so dry but more um inspiration maybe we can call it that instead so let us know in the comments below if you'd like to come and see more of my work and more on my knits and just what's going on i post quite a lot about it on instagram so i'm over at kudakiko over there come and say hi and i hope to see you in the next video all alright take care bye and now i'm off to start editing this video because that is how it works how fast oh not that fast [Music] you

Channel: Kutovakika

Views: 15,181

Keywords: tips to stay creatively inspired, tips for motivation, content creation tips, knitwear design tips, creativity tips

Id: pOKZal9IroM

Length: 23min 12sec (1392 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 11 2022