Category: Crossed & Found

March brought a whole new look to my temperature cross stitch project. The purples and light teals that represent cooler temperatures are almost completely gone, and I’ve started working with deeper teals, greens, and even some yellows as the weather warms up. It’s been so satisfying to watch the colors gradually shift over the course of the month.

In Burke, the average daily temps ranged from 28.9ºF to 73.8ºF. That’s quite the range! It really felt like I was stitching the slow, steady arrival of spring right into the fabric each day.

March also brought a different kind of upgrade to my stitching setup. I swapped out the traditional round wooden hoop for my new favorite find—a square Q-Snap frame. It holds the fabric much more evenly, which makes it easier to work with. I also added a grime guard to keep the edges protected and prevent my fingers from dirtying the fabric as I stitch. They’re small changes, but they’ve made a big difference in how much I enjoy the process.

I just love how these three adorable little cats look seated next to each other. This project is such a mood booster, giving me a daily dose of serotonin. I can’t wait to see how April’s cat will look beside these three. I’m anticipating lots of greens and yellows ahead. Hopefully we’ll save the even warmer oranges and reds for later in the year, but only time will tell!

When the Eras Tour first started back in 2023, I watched in awe as makers took to TikTok showing off their knitting skills and tracking the surprise songs in the form of blankets and scarves. I wished I was that crafty, but also knew I had no business picking up a new hobby at that point.

Fast forward to early 2024 when I had a failed attempt at making a surprise song quilt. If mashups had never entered the picture it would have been a heck of a lot easier. (Also I would have missed the mash ups terribly.) I struggled to find a template that worked for quilt squares when there was anywhere between 2 and 6 songs every night. It was too much. I got overwhelmed quickly and just stopped working on it.

In late 2024 as the Eras Tour was concluding, I still hadn’t come up with a way to honor the tour — and especially the surprise songs. I fiddled with the idea of designing something and having it printed and framed, but I couldn’t ever settle on a design. Then, as I was packing my car for my final craft show of the year, I sprained my ankle. I didn’t want to sew, I didn’t want to just sit around and watch TV, especially since I was going home for a couple of weeks for the holidays. On a total whim, I decided my next “granny hobby” would be cross stitching. I had a brief flirtation with cross stitch as a kid, but hadn’t touched a needle or hoop since. I quickly picked it up and had a great time working on patterns I purchased on Etsy.

In early 2025, I decided I would try my hand at creating my own patterns. Some day I’ll post about those. All of this to say, inspiration finally struck (kinda) — I should commemorate my beloved Eras Tour and surprise songs in cross stitch. I tried a couple different things, but nothing stuck at first. I was making it too complicated, too much. I saw a temperature cross stitch pattern with hearts and thought that’s the one! I can make this work. Fortunately I’d already tracked the surprise songs and colors, so I just needed to work them up into the pattern. I found thread colors that closely matched the Eras colors as shown in the tour poster. And then I got to stitching.

The tour has been over for more than 100 days now (*sob*, I miss it every day) and I’ve only finished shows through June 2023. It’s an easy pattern, but it’s also one of maybe 5 works in progress I have going on at the moment. My goal is to have it finished well before the anniversary of the final show in December. I’ll keep you posted.

As I mentioned last month, one of my (many) current WIPs is a temperature cross stitch featuring the most adorable little cats. I’m honestly having the best time with this project. It pretty much guarantees I’ll do at least a little stitching every day, and it’s so fun to see how the colors shift over the course of a month. I imagine it’ll be even more interesting as we move into spring and summer. It’s such a cool visual representation of the year.

February brought some more temperature swings, which meant I got to introduce several new colors into the mix! The average daily temps ranged from 20.2ºF to 53.8ºF, and I loved watching the palette shift in both directions throughout the month. Also, can I just say—I’m completely obsessed with these purple and teal hues? It might be tough to top these combos.

Another month of tiny cats stitched, and this project just keeps getting more fun. Just look at how cute those two kitties look sitting side by side! I can’t wait to see what March brings.

At the end of 2024, after spraining my ankle just before the holidays, I found myself looking for a new craft to keep me busy while visiting my folks for Christmas. That’s when I fell down the delightful rabbit hole of cross stitch. What started as a simple way to keep my hands occupied (and avoid doing nothing but binge-watching TV all vacation) quickly turned into something I genuinely looked forward to each day. There’s something incredibly satisfying about cross stitching. It helps quiet my mind, and I love watching the bigger picture slowly come to life with each stitch.

Once I returned home after the holidays, I probably spent as much time on Etsy looking for my next project as I did actually stitching. As I explored patterns and ideas, I stumbled across something that immediately caught my attention: temperature cross stitch projects. I’d seen temperature blankets before (and even considered making one at some point, you know, if I knew how to knit or wanted to learn), but translating that concept into a cross stitch piece felt so much more manageable.

If you’re unfamiliar with the idea, a temperature project uses the high, low, or average temperature of each day and assigns it a specific color. Over the course of the year, you stitch one little piece per day, and by the end, you have this beautiful gradient of colors that represents an entire year of weather. It’s kind of like a crafty time capsule, and I love that.

After spending a lot of time on Etsy looking for the perfect pattern and palette, I finally committed to the project. I’m using the average temperature each day and stitching a freaking adorable cat pattern. I fell in love with the design instantly, but wasn’t really into the original color scheme, so I found a different palette from another pattern maker. The vibrant rainbow hues she selected, along with the wide range of colors, captured my attention immediately.

With January in the books, I’m officially 1/12 of the way through my temperature cross stitch journey! The weather was all over the place, but overall pretty cold, so I saw a lot of teals and purples. The average daily temp ranged from 15.4º to 48.2º. Pretty wild range, huh? Watching the days stack up and the cat begin to take shape was honestly so satisfying.

Looking ahead, I can’t wait to see how the colors shift with the changing weather. I’m guessing February will bring more of the same, but I’m still so excited to stitch another adorable little striped cat.

This project has quickly become a quiet daily ritual that I genuinely enjoy. It only takes a few minutes to mark the day and make steady progress on something that will grow right alongside the year.