Once upon a time I acquired a pattern or kit for a cat-themed cross-stitch pillow. Since it had four cats and we had four cats, and there was a certain basic correspondence between the looks of these four, I decided to make it over in our cats’ images.

And I put a lot of work into it – twenty years ago or more.

As much work as I put into it, there is a lot left. I never did figure out good colors for Tabitha (the unfinished grey and tan cat) – she wasn’t as high contrast as that stitching. And at this point the discoloration of the fabric and white thread may be permanent.

I used the pattern for O.D., the calico, in another setting already, and I’ll save what I have for the other three as well. The stitching itself, however – it’s time to let it go.

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I stitched it up again this week, though I made a counting mistake (per usual) and used three strands for everything including backstitch, which was also a mistake.

What a difference a face makes! I wasn’t sure whether the eyes and nose were to be outlined in tan or black, nor whether the box around the pattern was backstitched or not, since it was not explicitly addressed in the backstitch color instructions and I didn’t see a clear inference to be made. The non-mouth facial features were probably intended to be outlined in tan, upon reflection, although that would make the mouth stand out a lot. As it is, though, he kind of looks like he’s wearing thick-rimmed glasses with an attached nose and mustache.

Why I thought a koala should be tan, however, is one question that cannot be answered.

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Oh You! A Periodical is the hubby’s zine, and the first picture is the banner for the accompanying blog. The other is from an individual blog entry. Click the pictures to go to the blog and the entry, respectively.

He made both originals on the computer, the unicorn with a program that allowed pixel-by-pixel control (so the pattern is a literal representation, though I made a minor error in the stitching), and the man by drawing with the trackpad on his laptop (!!!). I printed a large version of the man and went over it with graph paper to turn it into a cross-stitch pattern.

The stitching is all half stitches on 28-count evenweave with two strands of floss. Full cross stitches were too difficult at that scale.

His birthday was yesterday and I gave him the finished embroideries with a request that he tell me whether he would actually like them made into a pencil case, or into something else. He chose the pencil case, and we’ll be designing it to suit his use. I’ll show you when it’s done!

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This one isn’t actually ours, it’s one I made for a friend, which is why it looks pristine. The pattern is available as a pdf download. Colors are not included; I used unlabeled floss left over from other projects, and neither of them appears to be DMC (according to my color card).

If you want to make one that looks like the one above, you’ll need a crisp dark blue floss and one that variegates between tan and sand color. Don’t worry about matching up the colors in the variegated side; sudden changes, stitches that are half one color and half another, and pools of one or the other extreme color add to the “dirty” vibe. I used 2 strands on 14 count Aida; you might decide the fuller look of 3 strands would be better.

After stitching the middle, I used a single strand of white floss to secure the edging inside the fringe (which had yet to be cut) with a neat whipstitch. I secured each end of each strand in the colored floss of the interior, came out one square away from the image, and went back down two squares outward of that. Repeat in the next square over, so the back of the work shows gently slanted stitches. At the corners, five stitches share an inner corner.

For extra security (our magnet is showing most of its wear in the fringe region), I backstitched across the middle of the whipstitches all the way around and out to the edge of the whipstitch (i.e., the 2nd and 4th whipstitches sharing an inner corner actually share two inner corners, because a second stitch goes from their outer end to the corner of the backstitch line). This thread was also secured in the colored stitching.

To make it easier to remove the magnet from the dishwasher without pulling the fringe out, I wanted to bevel the magnet with my utility knife. However, I realized it was far too thin for that, so I beveled it by rubbing the outer edges on sandpaper. After wiping off the dust, I peeled off the paper backing and pressed it onto the back of the stitching.

Finally, for extra extra security, I taped off the fabric outside the white stitching with masking tape and brushed a thin layer of Mod Podge on the interior. After that dried, I peeled off the tape, trimmed the fabric to 3 rows outside the white stitching, and pulled out the crosswise threads of the fabric outside the white stitching to make fringe.

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Of course, although I begin all four of them, I ran into troubles with accurate colors for one cat (Tabitha was basically done in watercolor; hard to match the subtle variegation with thread) and ran out of steam on two others. The one I completed is my sister’s dearly departed O.D., originally our eldest brother‘s until he married a woman who is allergic to cats, then living in the family home, and finally sent to my sister in college in the Cat Diaspora when our father became allergic.

Framing stitched pieces is kind of a trick. A double mat might keep the glass from flattening the stitches, but I went with a shadowbox frame – a half-inch spacer between the glass and the image. I think this is actually the first time I’ve ever framed a piece of stitching in a proper frame.

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I made one little pattern that I’ve started stitching and tweaking, so more on that later, but with one of the included alphabets I made the following:

Click the picture for the pattern in pdf. There is no overlap between the pieces of the pattern, which unfortunately is not indicated.

While you’re waiting for my full review, enjoy this little guy I whipped up last night:

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When I say small, I mean small. I discovered as soon as I started to stitch that I had made some tactical oversights – in particular, stitching over one strand on 28-count Monaco does not allow for half stitches. However, I made some alterations and omissions on the fly and came up with what I think is rather a nice finished product.

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I have the pattern available as a jpg should you want to make one yourself. There are no markings for the solid-color regions; the backstitching and keyboard keys are shown, and the rest is filling in appropriate regions. I wrote a personal message on the screen in backstitch; you can make your message more or less subtle by varying the color contrast. All color numbers are DMC, and of course the selections should be adjusted to your taste.

The one I have to share that I am more proud of, however, is the following.  

The camera and ticket may be stitched together or separately; the pattern specifies DMC color numbers, but you merely need black and dark yellow of some flavor.

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