#nonogram

Leif: Ah. The cutest of the seedling family.

Vi: Come on, Leif, we talked about this. The cutest seedling is the Cactiling.

Leif: We all have some bad opinions.

Leif: They have such an adorable round body, with those little feet. Isn’t it so endearing how their leaves drape over their face like hair?

Vi: You know what has a rounder body? And littler feet? A CACTILING. Plus it has all those awesome spikes!

Leif: ‘Awesome’ is not the same as ‘cute.’ Besides, it’s not about having the most extreme features, it’s about having the right balance. Cactilings are trying too hard.

Kabbu: (I think Plumplings are cuter…)

Vi: Oh, eugh.

Kabbu: Not a tea fan, Vi?

Vi: Heck no, not this kind. It’s crazy syrupy, makes me feel like I’m drinking medicine.

Leif: …Isn’t it? Isau’s always recommending it whenever Kabbu’s in for another elytra fracture.

Kabbu: C-calling me out!?

Vi: No wonder this stuff’s garbage. Nothing tasty ever comes out of the doctor’s office.

Leif: Except for the lollipops?

There are 14 nonograms in the stitch-a-long, each 35 squares long and 10 squares tall. Once they are solved, the patterns can be stitched together in a 70x70 grid to make a single complete cross stitch design.

On 14-count fabric the design is 5 inches square-- plus leave some extra for framing-- and is stitched in a single color of your choosing. Since the design is monochrome, there's plenty of room to be adventurous with fabric and thread choice-- I chose a bright variegated floss on black fabric.

Also, as an aside, making nonograms is WAY harder than I thought. It turns out that nine times out of ten the design elements that make a good-looking cross-stitch make an unsolvable nonogram. but I think the final compromise turned out pretty neat!