Just Pick One Already

As I do nearly every year, I started off January with lofty goals of getting loads of my WIPs completed.  I was going to work on this one, and that one, and the other one, and that guy over there, and that cute little one in the closet, and where oh where did I put that gorgeous one I just have to get done so I can hang it in the bedroom?  If you're a crafter like me and suffer from "ooooh look a shiny new project" syndrome, you know just how my January looked.

I started off on the right foot.  I pulled out all of the projects and organized them into their own little containers to make it easier to grab what I was going to work on.  I did my very best to add all the tools that would be needed into each container so that when it was grabbed, it could be worked on immediately.  I came up with all kinds of "games" to choose what to work on since there are so many, and I do tend to get bored if I work on a large project for too long.  I worked on way too many projects each day and, though with a few exceptions, got just the tiniest bit done on each one.  When January ended and I looked at what I had accomplished, my progress was spread out over too many WIPs, so it looked like I had done precious little.

Why can't I get it through my head that this "work on all of them" thing doesn't work?  I mean, I try it just about every year, and it lasts for about a month, then I remember that in order to see real progress on these big projects, I need to work on them for more than an hour a day, once or twice per week.

Keeping that in mind, I have chosen 2 of my big cross stitch projects to work on daily.  The first is being worked on 18ct Aida, and if I do just under 200 stitches per day, will be complete by the end of the year.  Or thereabouts, considering that I may not work on it each and every day.  I have only completed 1/2 of the first page, but this one is only 9 pages.

The second is being worked on 14ct Aida, and will be complete by end of June working just over 200 stitches per day.

I have also decided that my weekends will be dedicated to one of the many smaller projects I have started.  I will choose a new one to work on if, and when, I get bored with the current one.  No more weekly choosing.  I may still use the handy RNG though, since I spend way too much time trying to decide which one of them I want to show some love to next.  Currently, I will be working on Paul's Christmas stocking, which I started 3 years ago.  I got sidetracked by a bright shiny new project before I had gotten very far, and then this was packed away when we moved and hadn't seen the light of day until now.

I don't have much done yet, but you can definitely see the boy and the girl already.

I had originally planned to continue working on that mermaid until she was done, but when I started working on her last week, I remembered why she had been put away for so long.  I started adding beads the last time I worked on her, and then realized that I couldn't put it in a hoop any more because the beads would get in the way.  I tried putting her on a scroll frame, but the beads caused issues with rolling the work up.  I tried working in hand, and don't care for that at all.  Can you say tension issues?  I have a fairly large q-snap frame that I can put it on and only use clamps on the sides where there aren't beads, but the one I have is awkward and I have problems stitching with it.  I decided to just put her away until I figure out how to resolve this issue.

Of course, there are still the quilting, sewing, knitting, and crocheting projects to be completed too.  Not sure how I'll handle those, but I'll squeeze them in here and there.