Catstronaut - finish! (plus goals update)

Here's the Catstronaut in all its glory! I was able to adjust the colors pretty well this time, so this is actually accurate for once. The fabric is the perfect space background. :3

I only made one small change, and that was changing 553 to 552 in the purple yarn ball planet. 553 was too light, especially in the piece of unraveling yarn, but 552 looks perfect. I don't think changes would be needed on a lighter fabric (the model is on light blue) but my dark fabric made the lighter purple look too washed out, especially in comparison to 550 which is very dark.

~~~

And let's do goals since the month is almost over and I achieved them all. :3

January goals: all done! 

• frame my sister's birthday present and send it to her ON TIME
• one section of Jessica stitches on Peacock Band Sampler
• one section of central band fills on Peacock Band Sampler
• start a small (probably Catstronaut)
• 100% no buy of any stitching stuff 

February goals: (pretty much an exact copy of January)

• one section of Jessica stitches on Peacock Band Sampler
• one section of central band fills on Peacock Band Sampler
• start a small (TBD) one flower on Pennelate di Magia
• 100% no buy of any stitching stuff 

So here are the two spots I want to fill in:

If I end up doing more than planned (like I did this month) I'll be happy with that, but I won't push for more because the Jessica stitches can be very tedious. I don't want to get burned out like I did last year and put this project aside for months. Slow and steady!

Not sure what small I want to start yet. I have a lot of cute patterns from Etsy, but many of them are quite large. Catstronaut was one of the smallest out of the pile I purchased last year, easy enough to finish in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll spend a little time playing with fabric to see what feels interesting. :)

ETA: Wait, I just remembered that I started Pennelate di Magia by Renato Parolin a while back, didn't like the fabric, never blogged about it, and shoved it to the bottom of the WIP pile! There's nothing actually wrong with the fabric other than it being 28ct evenweave (I prefer 32ct linen) soooo... that's going to be my small for next month. One flower panel!

Picture next time because I don't seem to have any in my records. Hmm. Well, here is the model picture instead! I'm doing the color version:

Hard to see, I know, but they are beautiful in person!

Catstronaut in progress!

Here is Catstronaut by NeedleLot Designs, a little more than halfway done! The kitty is complete and all that's left are some yarn planets and other cute background motifs. :3

The fabric is Old Witch's Cape by Fiberlicious, which is a lot more blue than the picture on the website, making it a perfect dark navy space background. Exactly what I wanted for this kitty! The color is a little darker than my picture shows but I had trouble adjusting the color balance (as usual, sigh).

Why are the kitty's paws and tail sticking out of the spacesuit with no protection? Well... maybe they are actually gloves and a tail cover that just happen to match the cat's fur color, haha.

I'll probably continue with this one until a finish because it's soooo cute and fun! 

Peacock Band Sampler update!

I've already reached my goal on Peacock Band Sampler for this month! Exceeded it, actually, by doing a full repeat of Jessica stitches instead of just filling one enclosed section.

 
Somehow the Jessica stitches were much less annoying than usual. Absence really makes the heart grow fonder, I guess. :p

I even felt like I could do MORE of them, but I held off to avoid getting burned out again.

And here's a closeup of the purple fill because it is SO NICE.

The darkest color was waaaay too dark (almost black! could barely tell it was meant to be purple) so I swapped it for a HDF silk from my stash. This had the added bonus of insanely good stitch definition. Seriously, zoom in on that picture, the lines are CRISP. The Fiberlicious silks in the kit are quite frizzy in comparison (which makes them tangle and knot constantly) but HDF is always so smooth.

I look forward to doing more of these eight pointed stars because they are sooo nice. But first it's time for a little break so I can start Catstronaut! I found a great dark navy blue to use for the background and even the dark colors pop on it, so it's ready to go. :) 

2026 goals (bonus January goals!)

Here we go again. Happy new year or whatever. 🎉

In an effort to retain what little remains of my sanity, let's set some goals for the year. As a bonus, I'll include my January goals here as well. In fact, let's start with those.

• frame my sister's birthday present and send it to her ON TIME
• one section of Jessica stitches on Peacock Band Sampler
• one section of central band fills on Peacock Band Sampler
• start a small (probably Catstronaut)
• 100% no buy of any stitching stuff 

Here's Peacock Band Sampler as it stands today. Well, almost? I already finished the light blue stitching between the satin stitch parts of the huge band, but I guess this picture is a tiny bit older than that. Anyway, I want to fill in the two areas circled in yellow.

And this is the Catstronaut. The light blue fabric is cute, but I wonder if it would look as good on darker fabric to give it more of an outer space vibe. I think the colors are light/vibrant enough to stand out on a dark blue but I might have to tweak a few things.

Alright, good stuff. Now for the year-long goals, mostly copied from last year.

• no large starts until one is finished
• start and finish as many small projects as I want
• sell all finished/destashed charts
• low buy of charts/materials

And more detailed goals for specific WIPs: 

• Amethyste Band Sampler: complete part 1 (of 3)
• Chinese Garden Mandala: complete one side
• Raven Queen: finish 
• Rosarium: complete center
• Peacock Band Sampler: finish Jessica and central bands, then as much of the rest as I like!
• Violet Patch Mandala: complete SE corner, E violet, redo some border colors

I think that's pretty good. Time to go make some Jessica stitches...