[I am following Anne Brooke‘s 2021 #52tagshannemade slow stitch challenge to make a little tag every week of the year – see them all here!] With this week being another divisible by four, we were assigned to use the seed stitch, leaving voids of circles for a puffy effect with a layer of batting. I turned one of my circles into a cat, for a lot of reasons.

I learned on Friday, when the challenge was released, that a friend of mine had passed away. I didn’t know her well yet – it was one of those friendships still in development, but it sits with me still. She was young (27) and the future just at her feet with a new job after grad school. We traded cat stories a lot, which is why I decided to add the cat to my tag. But that theme fit well with other thoughts over the week. First, I had congratulated Boy and I about getting better at giving Maya her sub-q fluids. Second, we’ve been feeding a stray at the office, “Packo”, and he’s getting more comfortable with us (he might be a Russian Blue, and he’s very gorgeous!). Third, whilst housesitting, I could have sworn I heard Sasha in the other room so I accepted that she came to pay me a visit. Then, I leave my friend “AirBnB reviews” and they often say something like “I’d give it six stars but needs more cats:)”. And finally, on my way home, I met up with a friend to go hiking and learned my little godchild cat is having some declining health so we talked a lot about Mister Sueño.

Jess would love this tag, and that I immortalized her love of cats in it. I try to think of it that way, rather than as the sorry cover-up to my sadness. That’s why I chose purple – a happy color for me.

I’m not sure what type of fabric it is – something fancy. With the wool batting beneath, it gives it a nice textured effect between the stitching and the voids. The seed stitches are both perle cotton (dark purple) and floss (light purple). I added a different purple floss in the ears, and then black floss to outline the cat and draw the face.

My tag collection is certainly growing. Soon enough, it’ll be time for a larger ring! But, I am thinking I might display them differently – connecting them into rows and columns instead. Still thinking about that!