In this episode, I’m talking all about my own cross stitch routine as well as sharing your routines and the reasons it might be beneficial to have one.
I love routines and plans. I don’t find routines stifling at all. I think it’s Kendra Hennessey who says that routines are freedom, and I agree.
I make so many decisions all day every day that anything I can do to reduce my decision making is always a positive. And that includes deciding what to stitch, and when, in advance.
My Cross Stitch Routine
I stitch in those small cracks of time usually (I talk about this more on my episode about stitching more). But I do have a cross stitch routine as well.
Now I don’t follow this every week. At the minute I’m going through a really busy time with the business and stitching is taking a back seat. However, if everything is “normal”, I do have a basic routine I follow.
I stitch on a Monday and Wednesday night for the business. So
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I package orders.
On Fridays, I try not to do anything. No stitching or work, just watch the soaps and eat pizza.
Saturday nights are usually for personal stitching. This is because I love X factor and that starts around August. It’s on every Saturday for a few months and my husband hates it, so we’re usually in separate rooms on a Saturday night and I don’t feel bad stitching for another night of the week.
Sunday mornings I do another little bit of personal stitching before I jump into work. And Sunday nights I do whatever I feel like or whatever needs doing.
Like I said though this isn’t the only time I cross stitch. I stitch on some rare quiet afternoons or in the morning if I get up before the kids.
Your Cross Stitch Routines
I asked this question in my Facebook group too. And this is definitely a thing!
Nicole said she stitches while watching Riverdale.
Suzy stitches when watching TV of a night and on her commute. And she mentioned a tip I’ve shared on here before about stitching the outlines of your pattern first then just filling in the middle so you don’t need to look at your pattern for some of it. I love doing this.
Sam said she stitches on evenings and weekends but will stitch on a Sunday when the SAL starts, which it has now.
Laura stitches when the kids go off to school, in the morning daylight, and on her evening shifts too.
I love Janet’s because it’s so similar to what I do. She stitches of an evening when the house is quiet while watching an old movie that doesn’t require too much attention but keeps her company. I have to say it’s rare that I stitching with nothing in the background. I usually have the TV or a podcast on.
Julie’s routine is amazing. Monday’s are for weaving, Tuesdays for spinning, Wednesday for cross stitch, Thursday for quilting and Friday free for all. If you listened to my bonus episode you will know that I love having days dedicated to doing certain things.
Lauren stitches when the kids are in bed and brought up a good point that she has a cup of tea when she’s stitching. I also love a nice cup of tea when I’m stitching … however, I do tend to forget about it if I get a little engrossed and then end up drinking a cold cup of tea.
Regina stitches when she’s at the school waiting for her kids to come out. I used to do this when Annie was tiny and I would pick George up from pre-school. Especially after swimming as she always fell asleep in the car and I would get to the school about 20 minutes early. I was probably the only person not scrolling a phone waiting for the kids to come out. I’ll be doing this again when they’re both in school. Nowadays Annie wants to get out of the car as soon as the engine goes off.
Liz stitches of a night with her headphones in but like me, and probably a lot of you, takes it with her where ever she goes in case she has a chance to stitch.
Clare takes her projects into work to do on her dinner hour. Her mum took her knitting everywhere and this made me think that before phones I bet loads of people took their crafts everywhere!
The Cross Stitch Pattern of the Month
From Annaxstitch on Etsy and it’s a Hello Spring one as March is the month of spring.
It’s a pattern that looks good framed in a hoop that’s 8 inches or an 8×8 inch frame.
It’s a wreath design with Hello Spring in the middle and a little bunny on it too.
It uses 13 DMC colours and costs £4.68 right now and she has a few bundles available too with similar patterns.
Extra resources:
- Sign up via iTunes
- Sign up to the newsletter
- My Facebook group
- 5 Ways to Cross Stitch More
- Hints and Tips to Make You a Professional Cross Stitcher
- 5 Tips for Living a Multi-Passionate Life
