Finding My March Rhythm
Hello, lovely stitchers! I am so incredibly happy you are here to look back at the month of March with me. I’ll admit I’m playing catch-up a little bit with these posts, but there is something deeply comforting about taking a slow, intentional step backward to reflect on where our hands and hearts have been. March was a month that beautifully illustrated the balancing act of running a creative business while navigating the messy, wonderful, and sometimes chaotic rhythm of real life.
Behind the scenes in the studio, the energy was focused heavily on building and completing. I spent a lot of time tucked away on the digital side of things, refining new ideas and bringing a massive, year-long landmark project to its official finish line. It was a month where I prioritised the physical act of stitching and designing over the constant hum of content creation, allowing myself the grace to find a quiet, grounding flow state with my needle.
Of course, life outside the studio hoop never quite stands still, does it? From unexpected weather curves and simple family milestones to a literal, heart-stopping project disaster that had me rushing to the public bathrooms, March kept me entirely on my toes. Grab a glass of water, settle into your favourite stitching spot, and let’s dive into everything that made this month so incredibly memorable.
StitchKit
If you happened to tune into FlossTube ep.122 recently, you might have caught me mentioning a little project my husband and I have been quietly keeping under wraps: StitchKit. March marks the very first time I’m officially pulling back the curtain on it, and I am so incredibly excited to finally share what it’s all about. In short, StitchKit is a tool I’m building behind the scenes to help us take the guesswork, friction, and mild math-induced headaches out of our pattern planning and stash tracking.
We’ve got a packed roadmap ahead for where this tool is headed. The main focus right now is creating an intuitive, seamless experience that acts as your ultimate digital stitching companion. We are actively working on building out smart features to help you track your thread inventory, calculate fabric cuts without the stress, and organise your current projects all in one place. It’s all about creating a digital sanctuary that supports your physical stitching time, making the prep work quick so you can get straight to the grounding, repetitive magic of the needle.
Because this is a true labor of love, I want to make sure it is completely polished before it launches to the wider world. We are rapidly approaching the phase where we will need some wonderful humans to jump in, play around with it, and tell us what they think! If you want to be part of the journey and get a front-row seat for when it officially opens for Beta and subsequent public release, you can sign up for the StitchKit waitlist here.
Zodiac Collection
I mention a little later in this post that Zodiac: Pisces is done. And because of that, it means something incredibly huge for me: after twelve full months of designing, charting, and sketching, the entire Zodiac collection is finally complete! Reaching the end of this series feels like such a massive creative milestone. It has been a long and absolutely beautiful journey through the stars, and seeing all twelve signs gathered together at last is a bit of a “pinch-me” moment.
When I first set out to design this tarot-inspired collection a year ago, I wanted to create a series that focused on clean lines, symbolic depth, and a calm, grounding aesthetic. What I didn’t entirely anticipate was just how much this project would wind up anchoring my own creative practice month after month.
While my inner stitcher usually thrives in the middle-ground of a slow work-in-progress, there is a distinct, wonderful sense of mental lightness that comes from seeing a year-long powerhouse project like this officially cross the finish line.
Works-in-progress
March turned out to be a bit of a balancing act on the stitching front. Between navigating a minor project emergency, finding a sudden burst of nostalgic inspiration, and juggling multiple distinct styles of cross-stitch, my rotation felt incredibly alive this month. I love having multiple pieces on the go because it means there is always something that matches my exact energy levels, and March definitely tested that theory across a mix of slow-burn projects, fresh designs, and unexpected finishes.
Stitched
My main project rotation has seen a lovely mix of progress this month, ranging from quick rows added to some major milestones behind the scenes. We’ve got a bit of everything happening right now: I had to officially move my Fairytale HAED SAL in its Q-Snap after filling an 8”x11” area, and I resurrected my old Firefly Sampler out of sheer excitement for the newly announced animated reboot.
There’s also a new Stitch People demo piece on the go, some heavy focus on the [surprisingly] inspiring colour palette of Fantasy Post-Apocalypse, and a brief car-stitching stint on The Secret Grove after an accidental drink spill on Extraordinary Birds washed away my dot-grid layout! Along with Flower Prairie and Circular Logic, it’s a beautifully busy hoop lineup.
Finished
I had a wonderful surprise addition to the rotation this month that moved at absolute lightning speed: “Undiagnosed, But”. This piece was actually both started and finished entirely within the month of March! While the stitching is officially complete, it’s not quite ready for its full public reveal just yet, as it will be launching as a brand-new shop item early next month.
Designed
Over on the digital side of things, I’ve been putting our upcoming tool to the test and actually worked on a fresh design right inside StitchKit!
This upcoming pattern is tentatively titled “1900s Baby”, and it’s a fun, affectionate design that pokes a bit of gentle fun at those of us who happened to be born before the turn of the century.
New Patterns
March brought some incredibly fun and meaningful additions to the shop. Alongside wrapping up a massive year-long series, I also released a little typographic tribute to the quiet nature of our shared craft. Both of these are fresh off the drafting table and ready for your hoops!
“Zodiac: Pisces”
The twelfth and final sign in our tarot-inspired series has officially arrived! “Zodiac: Pisces” captures the ethereal, creative, and deep-feeling spirit of the Fish.
Featuring two graceful fish circling one another in a harmonious, mirrored dance, this design uses a soft palette of 14 colours, all nestled within the collection’s signature arched frame. Like the rest of the series, it is entirely full cross-stitches with no backstitching required, making it a beautiful, meditative stitch for any skill level.
“Introverted Club”
If your favourite way to recharge after a long day of “peopling” is to curl up with a needle and thread, this one is for you. “Introverted Club” is a playful, “meta” typographic design celebrating the quiet magic of our hobby.
Stitched using just 10 striking colours, it features an engaging mix of three distinct lettering styles. It’s the perfect, tongue-in-cheek piece to hang in your stitching nook or gift to a fellow maker who understands the introvert struggle.
Haul
A couple of very exciting packages found their way to my doorstep this month, bringing a fresh wave of creative energy and some incredibly practical tools into the studio.
First up, the lovely humans at NeedleLot Designs reached out to ask if I would like an early copy of their upcoming book, “Fantasy Cross-Stitch”. Of course, I couldn’t say “yes!” fast enough! My copy arrived right at the tail end of the month, and it is absolutely packed with magical inspiration.
I also placed a much-needed restock order over at 123stitch.com, loading up on a bunch of fresh fabric -mostly 18ct Aida- and picking up two highly-recommended embroidery hoops by Nurge. These hoops are famous for holding your fabric wonderfully taut even when being handled constantly, making them the perfect companion for my rotating WIPs.
New Blog Posts
If you’ve noticed the blog and video feeds have been a little quieter than usual lately, there is a very good reason for it: I’ve been so deeply focused on the actual stitching side of Two Little Kits that I haven’t really felt like leaning into heavy content creation.
It has been incredibly nice to just let my mind quiet down and purely enjoy the rhythm of the needle without a camera or script always attached to it. That being said, I did have something to share..! First, I put together a guide on 10 Essential Tools every cross-stitcher needs in their stash, and I also uploaded usual FlossTube Episodes.
IRL
Drink Spill
On the real-life front, March kicked off with what can only be described as a stitcher’s absolute worst nightmare.
I was out and about with my Extraordinary Birds WIP tucked safely into my favourite tote bag alongside a drink when the unthinkable happened — the drink spilled, completely flooding the inside of the bag and soaking the fabric. My heart absolutely stopped!
Thankfully, after a lightning-fast rescue mission involving a quick rinse in the public restroom, a gentle wash in the machine and some patient air-drying, the piece itself is completely unscathed; the thread colours didn’t bleed and the printer ink didn’t stain. The only casualty was my meticulously placed water-soluble dot-grid, which completely washed away — as expected. It was a massive scare, but it served as a very good reminder that our work is often much more resilient than we give it credit for.
Reading
If you follow along with my FlossTube posts (specifically on my website), you might have noticed my current reading list pop up — I’ve finally gotten back into reading! It’s a habit I slowly managed to rebuild all the way back since September of last year, and it has brought so much quiet joy back into my routine.
To be entirely transparent, I’m not actually interested in sitting down to physically read a book. Instead, I am incredibly thankful that nearly every major book released nowadays comes with a fantastic audiobook version, making storytelling accessible while keeping my hands completely free to stitch (or while I’m driving, cooking, cleaning… etc.).
Miscellaneous
Rounding out the month, life at home brought a lovely mix of cozy surprises and exciting household milestones.
Mother Nature decided to throw us a bit of a curveball with another sudden, completely unexpected snowfall that blanked everything and actually stuck around for a few days, forcing us into a few slow, cold days.
Inside the house, we welcomed a brand-new robot vacuum to the family, much to my daughter’s absolute delight! She is completely obsessed with robot vacuums, so watching it trundle across the floor has become her new favourite spectator sport.
Finally, my youngest kiddo got a much-needed, absolutely adorable new haircut. After a really rough, disappointing salon appointment a few weeks prior left her a bit frazzled, I took her to see my personal hair stylist this month instead. The experience was a total night-and-day difference; she walked out so happy, and her new style looks incredibly adorable on her.
Closing the Hoop: Final Reflections
Looking back at everything we managed to pack into these four short weeks, my overwhelming feeling is one of immense gratitude. March taught me a lot about resilience, both in my creative practice and at home — proving that whether we are dealing with a ruined dot-grid on a favourite piece or a completely botched haircut, there is almost always a gentle way to fix things if we just take a deep breath and change our approach. Crossing the finish line on huge milestones like the full Zodiac collection has left me feeling creatively refreshed and eager for the chapters ahead.
Looking forward into next month, I can’t wait to pull back the curtain even further on the things we’ve been building. Between the exciting journey ahead for StitchKit and some highly anticipated new arrivals hitting the shop shelves early next month, the design board is looking beautifully vibrant. I’m so thankful to have this wonderful community walking alongside me, reminding me every day that the magic of handwork is as much about the shared journey as it is about the final stitch.
Before you head back to your own hoops and projects, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below! Have you ever survived a terrifying project spill, or have you managed to dive back into a long-lost hobby recently like I did with my audiobooks? Let me know what you’ve been working on, be gentle with yourselves, and happy stitching!
👋 Kate