Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Projects Status

After going through my stash - and I hope I have gone through it all, I find these are my current WIPs:


WIPs
Size
Year
Completed
Status
Rotation Slot
  Rose Garden
Large
1996
75%
Active
Hold
  BC Snappers
Large
2005
90%
Active
1A
  Paradigm Lost
X Large
2006
25%
Active
1 Thread
  Rainbow Borders
X Large
2007
60%
Active
2A
  Home-Work
Medium
?
50%
Active
1B 
  Mermaid Sampler
Medium
2013
10%
Active
2B
  5 Golden Rings
Small
2008
95%
Active
Finish Now
  Chatelaine Mystery VIII
X Large
2005
25%
Inactive
  Sunshine State Sampler
Large
2005
33%
Inactive
  Petal Fairy
Large
2006
10%
Inactive
Last edit: Sept 18, 2013

I've decided to make the last three inactive because, frankly, there's only so much one can tackle and these are challenging projects which have the least amount of stitching done.  Best to focus on what can be finished quickly to make room for them.

The last column is where it is in my rotation. I’ve struggled a bit on how I am going to be working these projects and think going back to a rotation is probably best until my stitching mojo returns.  Some caveats to the rotation: 1) I will finish the “Five Golden Rings” ornament this week because there’s so little left to stitch and, 2) I don’t want to have more than one X-Large project active at a time, but I do wish to continue to make regular progress on Paradigm Lost. I’ve decided to continue with the one strand at a time system I had before, except that I will limit this to a minimum of 3 times a week (which is one true 6-ply strand per week).

The rotation itself is not the average hour based rotation that some stitchers use, but rather dependent on the day of the week.  Weekdays will be for stitching on Medium or Small projects and weekends, when I have more time, will be for Large or Extra Large projects, alternating between weeks.  For example, this weekend, I will stitch on the BC Snappers project and next week I will stitch on Home-Work during weekdays followed by Rainbow Borders next weekend and Mermaid Sampler the weekdays following until the project is completed and a slot opens.  I hope to limit myself to no more than 1 XLarge, 2 Large, 2 Medium & 2 Small projects at one time.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Returning to Stitching

Last week, I spent some time going through some of my stitching.  I think that part of the reason I haven’t begun to stitch again is because I’m just not organized and the thought of spending 20+ minutes putting together what I need is discouraging. I want to maximize the brief time I have available to stitch and get the most “bang for my buck”.  I’m not completely finished going through everything, but I have discovered two pieces that only need a button added to be completed and a half-stitched piece I forgot I had.  I also threw away two pieces that I know that I really have no intention to complete.  Will got through more of my stitching tonight to see if there are more.  Sometimes, we just need to cut our loses and stop putting energy into something that no longer brings us joy.  The next step is to decide what I can realistically complete by the end of the year and come up with a WIPocalypse rotation for 2014.

I started a new piece a month ago – hoping it would get my stitching mojo going.  It didn’t. Getting organized always does it for me though.  Here is where I am on the new piece:


Not much, as you can see!  I'll be back after I have finished tallying the projects with the lists of which to complete this year and which to rotate next.  Don't give up on me, please!