I've been having trouble cross stitching lately, getting myself to do it. I was thinking about why, and I think I might be ready to start a new stitching project. My current project Olivine is beautiful, but it is an all-over design, which means a LOT of stitching. I've put so many hours into Olivine. For a good month plus I was stitching 2 hours a day minimum. I learned how to cross stitch doing Olivine. But I made a major mistake early on which is becoming more and more visually apparent as I stitch more and more, and that is taking away a lot of the satisfaction of completion. Even once I finish it, there will be this really obvious mistake marring the lovely geometric design. It runs through the whole design on one side, not subtle at all. So I've been avoiding my new hobby.
It occurred to me today that I could just... stop working on Olivine. I've been acquiring other kits. I've got 4 different Avlea cross-stitch kits I could do instead. And two of them are fairly small projects, so I could have the satisfaction of finishing something pretty quickly. Or I could even let myself buy something entirely new. I am contemplating. But I'm pretty sure today I will start a new cross stitch project instead of working more on Olivine. It feels freeing! And I can always put Olivine away and maybe come back to it someday.
Think of your time with Olivine fondly - she's a great teacher and, yes, very dense. It's totally within your right to walk away from something and finish it later or never. You're the boss of your floss!
One thing you might consider if you find counting to be a chore is to stitch a grid before you start so that you can quickly tell if you wander off. You just pull it off as you go. The Man likes to practice his guitar while I'm stitching, and sometimes he makes up crazy lyrics and sings them loudly while I'm trying to count. That's not always a good mix, but his songs make me laugh.