Cross Stitch Rotation Variations
Years ago, I had no rotation. I used to work on one project at a time (!). If there was more than one project that I was working on, the additional project was either a quilting or crochet project, or it was such a small project that it was finished pretty quickly.
All of this changed after I went to the Spirit of Cross Stitch (SOXS) Festival in Knoxville in 1997. I picked up several new, large, projects and started all soon afterwards (Gothic Castle, Nova, Dragon Heart). I also had a couple of UFOs by this point (Guardian Angel, Haunted House, Sister Bears), which I didn't pick back up until around 2002.
Anyway, in 1999, for Christmas, my husband (then-boyfriend) gave me a gift certificate to the Stitchin Post. With it I purchased the supplies and fabrics for the three other Black Swan Designs leaflets I had just purchased the month before, Cymberleah, Lucien, and Merrick. Of course, I HAD to start all three immediately.
Then there was the sale at JoAnn's around New Year's Day 2001 where I got 2 kits (Cat Eyes and Snow Leopard) for 85% off. Yep, into the WIPs they went.
Then I discovered the TWBB early in 2001. Until then I had only stitched one of Teresa Wentzler's designs, The Castle. I also had the Fantasy Sampler leaflet, but had never gotten around to starting it. I didn't realize she had done so many designs that I really liked since the time I had gotten the Castle and Fantasy Sampler leaflets. So I began acquiring several of those designs, joined several SALs, and added even MORE to my WIPs.
And my LNS has this special night twice a year called "Market Night" where they show off new designs and of course, that's not the only thing we look at - we stroll around and look everywhere to see if there is anything we might have missed seeing the last time we were in. And I have a friend who's notorious for shoving things in my bag and saying "This is SO YOU!!!" So of course, I've acquired several more leaflets and kits that way.
Oh, and did I mention that they aren't exclusive on the TWBB? There are several forums for discussing non-TW designs, showing off progress pictures and happy dances. So I've learned about lots of other designers and of course, bought LOTS of other designs.
And then the stitchers on the TWBB declared January (2002) "Guilt-Free January"! Start as many projects as you want - without any guilt whatsoever! So I started Unicorn Mystique, Fantasy Sampler, Mother's Arms, Pageant Kings, Ixlandia, and Star Maiden.
And then Taneya started Fantastic Fall Bouquet, and when I saw it in person I knew I had to stitch it. The colors were just SO vibrant.
Which is how I came to have 30+ WIPs (I haven't accounted for every single one above, but you get the idea) in 2002.
For a while I had a "Screaming" rotation (basically, whichever project screamed at me the loudest got worked on). And this led to many unloved, sulking projects because they didn't get worked on often if at all.
Then I tried a "Nights of the Week" rotation. Each night of the week was devoted to a different project, and one on the weekends. Except that this didn't work very well because that only allowed for a maximum of 6 projects, and invariably I'd be busy doing something else the same night every week (say, Mondays), and certain projects in the rotation wouldn't even get much attention.
Frustration led me to research other types of rotations. I discovered the 10-hour rotation, where you work on a project for 10 hours before moving on to the next project. Eventually every project has at least 10 hours of progress (which you can really see from one progress pic to the next). So I started this type of rotation, which works well because every project gets loved, but unless the projects are mostly small, it takes a while to get through the rotation and thus takes a long time to finish a project.
So I came up with a modified 10-hour rotation with a "focus" piece. I chose one design that I really wanted to finish. I worked 10 hours on each of 4 projects in the rotation, then the 5th project was my focus piece. Once I finished my 10 hours on the focus piece, I would go and work through 10 hours each on the next four projects in the rotation, then I'd go back to the focus piece.
In the beginning, it worked out very well. I averaged about 2 projects a week in the rotation, and felt a greater sense of accomplishment. However, I was so close to finishing several projects that I decided to go on a finishing binge, during which I finished up the stitching on 7 WIPs. That was fantastic, but alas, I also started several new projects (somebody STOP ME!!!)...
In 2005 I modified my rotation again (it is constantly evolving), and categorized all of my WIPs into 6 types: BAPs, Black Swan Designs, Teresa Wentzler, Kits (like Dimensions, Lanarte, etc.), Small and / or Samplers, and All Others. Then I chose one WIP from each category to work on until completion, rotating just among those 6 projects. It seemed to be working very well for a while. I finished several projects with this rotation.
Mid-2007 I decided to shake it up again. I don't plan to time myself this time, but I'm going back to a variation of the 10-hour rotation with a focus piece. Now that I have only 17 projects in progress, I've decided that I'd like to see each of them more often. I'll probably work on each project until I'm ready to move on to the next.
If you are considering a rotation for your cross stitch (or other!) projects, feel free to try any of the above, and modify until you have something that works for you. What's most important is enjoying yourself and enjoying your stitching. Have fun!