Rainbow Cat renamed

This pattern marks a first for me, well a couple of firsts really.  It is the first time I have seen a pattern shared on a facebook page, thought I like that, I know who I could make that for and immediately looked for the pattern found it and bought it.

It is also the first pattern I have bought as a download ( I have had some free patterns online) and the first time I have used Etsy.  At least using Etsy I could be sure I was buying from the designer.

To save on printing ink I only printed out the pattern and not the accompanying picture.  That made stitching it interesting as working from left to right in the bold bright colours the composition of the final image was not clear for the longest time.

as I worked I came across an article with another person starting on the same pattern mentioning their plan on when to do the white, which resulted in an earlier post on that issue.  But as I had not yet gifted the item the pictures were cryptic.

Those that saw me working on it thought it was a tropical fish or a parrot, not even the first eye made the guesses match the image.

Cat's eye

 The second eye was not much help

Cat's eye

The turning point was the nose, the two eyes and nose whilst not the whole pattern still captures the power of the cats gaze.

Cats gaze

The last sections of black were odd to do under that gaze

Almost done.

Finished I entered it unframed in the local show, I did not share a picture at the time as still it had not been gifted. It came second.  Oddly it took me a month from start to finish to stitch this.  It then took me three months to find just the right frame. 

                                                   

Here it is finally framed and ready to go to the recipients intended from the first moment I saw it... my brother and sister-in-law. 

Rainbow Cat        

As they unwrapped it they said "oh a psychedelic cat" and thus as it passed from my hands it was renamed. They love cats, love the colours and style of the 60's and 70's , they loved their psychedelic cat and at that moment of unwrapping jointly knew just where in their home it would hang.  Now that is the kind of result we all long for, instant acceptance and absorption into the recipient's life. 

I would pop a link on the the home of the pattern but I am not finding it so easily the second time round, I think in addition to the cat, there is a lion a dog and other rainbow creatures, I like the cat best, but then perhaps I am a little biased.