A Lesson in Hypocrisy

"My inspiration comes from the resourcefulness of people who don’t have money to buy everything." -- Quoted from an interview with Etsy seller: sartoria. That quote is on Etsy's front page.

And here's what she sells:


"Upcycled" (I hate that fucking word) cashmere underwear for $45.57 a pair. And this is the cheapest thing you can buy from her store. Oh don't forget to add $9.11 to ship ONE PANTY to the US from Canada. Canada. SNORT. I should have known....




Have I mentioned lately how much I hate everyone? No? I HATE EVERYONE.

Had To Commit This To "Paper"

Virtual paper.

Ok so remember the post I wrote about that incredibly generous etsy seller Rose at CakeWalkYarns? Here's a picture of the two skeins of yarn that I received from her:

To refresh everyone's memory (mostly mine): The yarn colorway is called Hero Squad. And here's how it got that name:

Color: HERO SQUAD
Another yarn inspired by my favorite (albeit canceled) TV show, Arrested Development. Buster got distracted by the claw machine game in the bus station & missed his bus to the Army base. Forgetting all about boot camp, he arrived home with an armful of stuffed animal prizes. Buster (suddenly realizing his mistake) explained to the family that these were awards & that the army had assigned him to Hero Squad…mistaking the children’s cartoon for an actual military program. This yarn is inspired by the Buster’s imagination – it is a very bright green, speckled with many, many colors.




Ok. So how awesome and funny would it be if I made that knitted bunny using THIS yarn? Huh? HUH?? A stuffed animal knitted with yarn inspired by an Arrested Development episode about stuffed animals. Sweet. Even if I'm the only person who gets it, it's still good enough for me! And the other good thing about using this yarn is that it's washable because it's sock yarn! And a second --- no third --- good thing is that it will be super soft too for a baby. And the forth---I'll come in again.

Various and Sundry

Ok, I don't know why, but I kinda LOVE this.

http://stitchmana.com/pattern/spoilt-for-choice/

It's a free pattern called Spoilt for Choice. The designer's little story about how this garment came into being is quite amusing. There are about 15 ways to wear this thing. I just think it's super chic and unique. I might make one for Amy, my friend and colleague here at work who is super fun and funky and appreciates artistic quirkiness. Then I really want to make one for me. Although, I don't know if a very busty chick, like me, could pull this off.









Other things:

The scarf for my boss is done. But he's been all weird lately. My friend Amy (same one I mentioned above) and I tried to take him to lunch at the end of July (for which event I furiously knit away to complete that scarf). And he made some weird, cryptic remark (what a surprise) about how "no lunches will be had until September." What. Ever. Here's the scarf:


















Back at the end of April, my mom and sister got together and ordered a set of "Darn Pretty" Dyakcraft needles for me as a birthday present. Well, given that they were inundated with orders (because their needles are amazing), the folks at Dyakcraft could not manage to get them out to me until around 8-9 weeks later. But I did receive them around July 4, and the needles are pretty freakin' sweet. Pictures to follow.

I got the 3.5" set (sizes 4-10) in Hazelnut wood. The set also came with 4 stoppers and a beautiful, hand-sewn needle case in a brick red color with a chocolate brown grosgrain ribbon closure. Really pretty. I ordered the shorter length cables. Super smooth wood, but not lacquered. So there is no threat of something rubbing or flaking off. Joins for the cables are quite good, as are the cables themselves --- not too thick (like Denise) or thin as fishing lure (like Hiya Hiya). I think they are the right combination of flexible and thin. I will definitely order more cables for my needles. I am also very tempted to order a set of 5" needles. Maybe for Christmas or next year for my 40th birthday (GAH).

Now I see that they have sets of sock-sized DPNs for $40. You get FIVE sets of needles (US 0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3). That's a REALLY good price for 5 sets of hand-turned needles. I hate being broke. LOL

Anyway here are some pics of the 3.5" Hazlenut set:


































I apologize for the quality of the photos. They looked better on the iPhone.











I am so pleased with the depth and variation of color in this set.













Anyway, I really like these needles a lot! And if you are in the market for a set of quality, interchangeable, wood needles, then these are definitely worth the $140 price tag.


Let's see what else? Oh, the Helix scarf. Done. Here's a picture:



















I also started knitting a February Lady sweater. I know several people who have knit this sweater. And there are over 11000 (yes eleven THOUSAND) knitters who have the February Lady sweater among their projects. I've been tossing around the idea of knitting this sweater for a couple years. I just wasn't sure how good the style would look on me. But, wanting to finally knit a sweater for ME, I decided to just go for it.

I'm using Valley Yarns Colrain. Very lovely, soft merino/tencel blend. The color I chose is called "Gray Teal." This is the most absurd color name for this yarn because it's neither gray NOR teal (which I hate, as you know), or even remotely close to one of those colors. It's more of a Nile green or even a jungle green. I mean seriously, just look at the swatch color. Gray Teal? Nope. Anyway, the label calls it heavy worsted, but it's really regular to light worsted. I'm knitting on size 8, which it what the pattern calls for and I seem to be getting gauge with no problem, albeit, the gull lace pattern seems pretty lacy already and I haven't finished yet (so no blocking yet).

Here's a picture:


Coming along nicely, I think! I'm knitting the 41" size. I tried it on (ah the beauty of top-down raglan construction) and it seems to be fitting pretty well. A little closer around the bust than I maybe like. But again, this is pre-blocked and it's still on the needles, which makes the measurements a little smaller.








I also got the MOST gorgeous buttons for this from etsy. Check THESE out:




The seller is LiDDesignsSupplies in Hoboken, NJ. All her buttons are super nice and unique.








Speaking of etsy, I've encountered some really nice sellers on there (and some freakin' idiots). One super nice person in particular is Rose over at Cakewalk Yarns. I saw this yarn on there the other day and flipped over sideways. HAD to have it:

It's 463 yards of sock yarn and the colorway was called Hero Squad. It got it's name from an episode of Arrested Development, which I thought was just too hilarious.
Here's her description:

Color: HERO SQUAD
Another yarn inspired by my favorite (albeit canceled) TV show, Arrested Development. Buster got distracted by the claw machine game in the bus station & missed his bus to the Army base. Forgetting all about boot camp, he arrived home with an armful of stuffed animal prizes. Buster (suddenly realizing his mistake) explained to the family that these were awards & that the army had assigned him to Hero Squad…mistaking the children’s cartoon for an actual military program. This yarn is inspired by the Buster’s imagination – it is a very bright green, speckled with many, many colors.

It was $21 for the skein plus $2 to ship. Not bad, especially since it's hand-dyed and on etsy (which tends to be uber expensive for sock yarn). So later that day I saw a convo from Rose. She said she re-skeined the yarn so that it didn't look exactly like the picture. But that if I was a yarn "collector" (oh how she knows us knitters!) she'd send me a re-re-skeined one. So I told her that I'd love to have one that looked like the picture, if only to admire (and show off!) for a little while before using it. This just HAS to be knit into something. But here are the rest of our convos:

Rose: Ok-I sent it off this afternoon before I got your note so I will get another one out to you in the morning. Not a problem! --Rose

Me: OH that's ok! Don't worry about it! Since you've already mailed it!
Gina

Rose: I insist! I should have asked you beforehand, I was just in a hurry to get to the post office before they close. You keep both, please. I think you are going to love Hero Squad & that way you can knit someone a gift.
Thanks very much—Rose

Me: Oh my gosh! That is so nice of you!!! Thank you so very much!
Gina

So now I am getting TWO skeins of this incredible yarn. I can't believe how generous and thoughtful some people are. Thank you, Rose from Cakewalk Yarns, for resorting my faith in humanity just a teeny bit!

Oh My...

How adorable are these?!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40907961

And these?
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42059676

Damn you, etsy!

Need Your Opinion

Ok, so I want to update the look of my living room wall.

Right now, I have three 20 x 28 frames hanging all next to each other, with about 8 inches in between each one. In each of these frames is a blown-up photo that I took in a state park in Vermont when we were on vacation there in 2006.

Here's what the wall currently looks like:


While I like the photos enough, the problem has always been the frames. I purchased these 3 frames from Ikea. Trying to open the backs up to put the photos in resulted in the glass breaking on all 3. YES, ALL THREE. So the frames are hanging without the glass. My dad rigged up the frames with some stuffing in the back to make the photos come to the front, so it wouldn't look weird. But...it looks weird. Because now the photos are starting to buckle out from the matting. Sigh.

It's time for a change. Seriously. Buying a large, framed or stretched-canvas art piece for the wall space above the sofa isn't going to be cheap, even if it's a print. We're talking about a framed piece that's at least 64" wide by 22" high, or a combination of framed art (or prints) equal that amount. I can't afford it; and I can't think of anything I actually like enough to be willing to shell out the cash, either.

And something tells me that Todd wouldn't be thrilled to see three of these on the walls:


Damn.
















Anyway, that wall is a light green. Not quite sage because sage has more of a brown/yellow undertone and this green color has definite notes of gray or blue in it. It's a little darker than how it appears in the photo. You can't really see the sofa too well, but it's a dark marine blue.

I've been thinking of doing the removable, vinyl wall decals. Etsy has TONS of them. And I can re-do the look of the wall for well under $100. I've favorited several, and would like your opinions on what you think might look good in that space.

Here are a few that are in high consideration, in no particular preferential order:


I would probably do dark brown branches, white flowers, and turquoise birds. Unless you think some other color combo would be better with the wall color I have.













Again, for color, I was thinking either the chocolate or the matte black. I really like this one. My only complaint is that it's only one color. But the picture is interesting enough that I think it would be ok. Maybe? How about the silver?










This decal has a TON of color options. I still think I'd do brown for the blocks and then the birds in a turquoise color.
















This would be more of a departure from what I have now, but I think it looks so cool. And seriously, I think the wall could handle it. Also, GREAT price for the size! Colors? Trees in brown, gray, or silver, birds in turquoise? Beige? Not sure.








This is similar to the first one, but it's a good bit larger. Still thinking brown tree and blue birds. But the black does look good.









Another triptych style. I like how this looks in black. I think it would look great with that light green coming from behind it too. This is a really inexpensive option too, under $50.














Ok, last one! This one is another large one (80" wide). I'd have to really think about where to position this, but it could work if it came from the other direction. If you look at the picture of my wall up there, I have a doorway to the right and a lot of empty space between that doorway and the sofa. I'd probably chose similar colors to the ones pictured here in this photo.





Hope I didn't bombard you with too many options! I think I might do the same thing in the master bedroom and possibly in the powder room, since I can't seem to get around to painting it!

Updates

Hello all! I have good news and bad (well, not seriously bad) news. Good news first: I am happy to report that my attempt to destash some yarn and make a little cash in the process has been successful so far! It's been really nice to have a little bit of a balance in my PayPal account to buy a skein of "must-have" yarn, or a knitting notion or two, or a little something special from etsy.

So far I've made $131 from selling yarn in my etsy shop; and another $61 selling directly from my Ravelry "will-trade-or-sell" list. So $192--- not too shabby! That total does not include the shipping amounts, either! There's still more that I want to get rid of. Given the good results so far, I am very encouraged!

Some more good news: I did finish the pair of socks for Jen (the orange striped ones). And I am on track to finish the slate blue "Data Socks" for Josh, hopefully at some point this weekend! So I'll be all set for them come the Valentine's Day weekend.

Now the "bad" news. Remember that wedding wrap that I started for my future sister-in-law? Yeah, well there is no way that I am ever going to get that thing finished. In yesterday's mail I got the invitation to her bridal shower, which is March 13. ACK. I didn't expect it to be that soon. Although, I must admit that I don't know where my brain is! I mean really, it IS already the end of the first week of February and the wedding is early May. Sigh. Anyway, it's not going to happen. I only just found where I stashed it away (to keep it from feline influence). Talk about out of sight, out of mind!

And here's some potentially actually bad news: we need to take Sophie to the vet again for a thyroid check-up. These never turn out well. First of all, she's always half a pound lighter than she was the time before. Not good. Sophie used to be a 22-pound cat. Seriously. One day a few years ago I happened to be paying closer attention to her and realized that she looked great. A routine vet visit confirmed that she had lost a lot of weight; she was down to about 16 pounds. But since that time, which was not more than 3 years ago, she's consistently lost about 1.5 pounds a year. This is a lot for a cat. So in less than 3 years, she's gone from 16 to 11.5 pounds. :-(

She started on a thyroid regime about the same time we first noticed the weight loss. So, obviously, we're STILL not getting the dosage right. I just want her to stop losing weight. Thankfully, her appetite is still good. She doesn't drink as much water as I'd like. In fact, the last time we brought her in to the vet, Sophie was pretty dehydrated and they gave her some fluids. The sight of the bag of fluids makes me very sad. That was the last step before euthanasia for Mr. Chesterfield.

There are other potential issues with Sophie, too. For one thing, I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of her date of birth, something we have long thought to be March 1996. My sister adopted Sophie in November of 1997 and was told at that time that Sophie was "a year and a half old." Given the debacle with Mr. Chesterfield's age when we adopted him, I have an ever increasing terror that Sophie isn't approaching 14, but 19 or 20. Also, she was in bad shape when she was initially rescued. She had a really bad case of pneumonia, the effects of which still plague her today. She is prone to respiratory infections and has had fluid around her heart and lungs a couple of times. Plus at her last vet check-up we learned that she has fractal cataracts. She can still see, but she might see as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope or faceted glass. Great.
AND she's been having accidents again around the house, which is really disconcerting. We had to move a small litter box into the front foyer for her to use because she was just randomly peeing on the floor right there for no reason. Todd is very diligent about keeping the boxes in good order and no other cats take issue with them.

I just don't want her to suffer along, getting skinnier and skinnier, sicker and sicker. Sometimes I truly wonder if the vet's office has Sophie's best interests at heart. She's a veritable goldmine for them by way of check-ups, medicine, tests, shots, fluids, etc. Maybe that's crazy talk, but....

The Worst of Etsy

You all know how much I lurve etsy. About 95% of time time, the items I see on etsy are fantastic. Even if it's something I don't particularly like, I still see the value is its handmade nature, its quality, its function. As someone who creates things by hand, I get it. I really do.

However....

There are certain offerings that I've seen on etsy for which I am just, well, sort of, "you gotta be kidding me?!?"

This is one such item. Yeah. I have friends who are photographers: most amateur, but for one it's his livelihood. This, I think, is insulting to photographers everywhere. Also? Get a gander at the shipping charges. Excuse me? Now, I happened to peruse this seller's other items. They are mostly amusing, quirky, and innovative. Not stuff I'd buy. But again, I see the value and craftsmanship in them. Like this one is just plain neat.


Here's another. This isn't as bad, though, as that photographic rip-off I just mentioned. But it still falls well into the parameters of useless, too-expensive-for-what-it-is, and just sort of phoney. I don't know why, but this thing really pissed me off. As someone who knits and knows plenty of people who knit and knit INSANELY WELL at that, I , again, found this little thing kind of insulting, especially because of the price. It's $12. Yes, TWELVE dollars. It uses, what, about 25 yards of cotton yarn? Maybe? And has a $.25 plastic button on it. And I can't imagine it taking a long time to knit. So even if this seller were not using the cones of cotton yarn (which are cheaper in the long-run), this knitted item would only cost them about $.75 to make. Period. Why is it $12? It should no more than about $4. ARGH


Another travesty. Ok so my first reaction to this was, "AGGHHH! TEAL! And it's FUR and TEAL. MY EYES!" Then once I got beyond that I thought, "Wait? Isn't etsy the place for things handmade? This isn't some hand-spun or hand-dyed yarn. It's BERNAT." What the crap is a cheesy skein of Bernat fun-fur yarn doing on etsy? Then upon even further pondering, I thought, "FOUR DOLLARS?? Why is it $4?" Look chick, take your random, shitty, leftover skeins of Bernat novelty yarn to ebay. K? THX!


Just...WHY??? Don't you think that someone with this kind of obvious ability (casting metals and making jewelry) should direct their talents elsewhere? Lame. But hey, at least it IS handmade....


But, thankfully, esty always redeems itself with abundant wonderfulness:

AWESOME. Cheap and awesome and useful and cool. I'd pay twice that amount for something so well-made and useful.

ME WANTY. So cute and nicely-done.


I'll take about 50, please.


YUMMY. And it's $3. THREE DOLLARS? HOW is that even possible?


Fantastic. I've ordered hilarious magnets from this person. And the little funny books he wrote about birds.


So, whew, I feel a little better.