We officially have the first batch of our dear cast for the Counting Stitches project! Which character caught your interest 👀?

1. Jesse Purl (He/him): He is the protagonist of our story! An anxious and paranoid 18 year old who's struggling through the hardships of adulthood and the grief of losing his grandpa. He loves old cartoons and paper crafts as it helps to calm him down, even with trembling hands he can be persistent when facing his fears. He carries a Walkman with himself and plays his grandpa's favorite songs to sleep or in moments of self doubt. After falling asleep watching a VHS tape gifted by his grandpa before his passing, he wakes up in a puppet-like world that is slowly rotting away in the grasp of two entities, but he's the only one who can see it while the other puppets remain clueless to the chaos beneath their stitches.

2. Twixt le Nynx (He/him): He’s responsible for the fun performances in the neighborhood. He can be too mean or performative at times, but he doesn’t mean ill and due to his struggle to verbalize his feelings he apologizes through actions or fun games to cheer his friends up.

3. Barry Bribe (They/them, He/him): A scammy business man that lives in a trash can who’s too afraid of originality. He usually resells… “trash” kind of ironic huh? He believes in the missing worth a thrown away item can have… which would sound sweet if he didn’t sell them for such absurdly high prices-

4. Pity Party (She/her): She loves parties and celebrating things in general! (a bit too much even…) She likes collecting balloons and birthday candles! Even though she’s usually very cheerful and loves to spread joy wherever she goes, she’s been really quiet lately… I wonder why.

5. Reflecto Van Dyke (He/him): The personification of perfection and ultra symmetry! Ok.. maybe that was a bit too dramatic- AHEM! He likes having things in order and prefers colder colors due to bright colors hurting his eyes! Which.. If i stop to think about it.. It sounds a bit ironic since he lives in such a colorful city. He reads by the fireplace and also enjoys studying about birds or bugs. He’s probably one of the very few actually responsible ones in the neighborhood

6. Ganzo Gonzalo (He/him): An old farmer that decided to open a flower shop in the city, cool ain’t it? He likes growing his own vegetables/fruits and selling them as well! He can be a bit gruff at times, but he’s just a huge sweetheart, his flower shop is cozy and often a spot for comfort. He sometimes tends to remind the protagonist of his own dead grandpa, how sweet + huge bug lover

7. Bravo M. Ster (They/them): They own an art museum filled with exhibitions based/made of themselves. Due to their pride this often leads them to desperately seek praise,attention, approval or reassurance to hide the hollowness they have from the inside. Despite all that they can be quite dramatic at times so make sure to praise them- i mean.. Bow..? Before you leave!

8. Sadie Storm (She/her): Poor little lamb… always bottling her emotions to herself, she can be quite socially anxious and shy around newcomers so don’t be offended if she hasn't reached out to you yet! She often hangs out at Ganzo’s flower shop and they drink tea together! She reminds him of his own daughter sometimes and likes to catch bugs together to help her get distracted and have fun! She likes making collage in her “Friendship Memory Book” as she likes to call it, even if the stickers getting stuck on her wool tends to annoy her quite a bit!

9. The Mime(???): An unseen entity that solely reaches out through a red telephone. They can't talk, the only thing you hear is it's heavy breathing and sometimes knocking. From the rumours it is said they used to be Pity Party's best friend before something happened and they mysteriously vanished, a few say they've gone insane, others say they're just going through a "hard time" but what exactly is someone mute trying to warn through a telephone?