Thursday, March 17, 2011

It Is Spring, So No More Crocheting Wool Clothes :(

I love bulky yarns. The texture, the definition, the speed of knitting. But it is time to start playing with thin cotton threads. I like the delicateness of the result but it is soooo time consuming.

I crocheted this set to sell on Etsy but Z asked to keep it. He probably liked the Michigan colors. :-P
(The shorts photographed with sunlight, and the top - with a flash, hence the difference in colors)


There is such an abundance of this stuff on Etsy, and it doesn't seem to be selling well. Not sure if it is the price tag or just people not liking them?
I look forward to crocheting more bathing suits, though. They look unique and are so pretty when you add some lace.

My advice to you if you decide to crochet something like this and to use it for actual bathing - don't use cotton yarn. Use synthetic yarns. Cotton will get very heavy when it gets wet and it won't hold its shape. You may end up losing your suit in water, too. People around you probably would enjoy the sight, but... you know. Cotton bathing suits are good for just sunbathing/tanning and showing off on the beach.

I can't wait to crochet more for beach shows. :) Although, I should mention that I never swim or tan, but I dream that I will some day.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I made it to the Etsy Treasury!

I cannot express how excited I got when I received a message saying that my crochet skirt was added to the Etsy Treasury only a few minutes after I added it to the shop. I love green color, and it was very nice to see the skirt in the Green Treasury! :)

Thank you, PIGandFiSH!




I still get amazed how much difference makes proper blocking. I was about to frog it in the process. The skirt started making pleats along the "holes"! Eventually, I started liking them but decided to flatten the skirt completely during blocking. I love the result so much that I secretly hope it won't sell. :-P
OK, kidding!

I wish I took time to dress it up with my leather jacket. These photos were taken in a rush while Z was in a good mood. He doesn't like any extra work on weekends.

I have another skirt in my mind that I can't wait to start crocheting. It should turn out pretty unusual...

Fridge and Labs

We have gone through dozens of locks in 1.5 years until Z finally came up with a solution that WORKED.
The problem was that Quincy dog figured how to open fridges, and then freezers. He once even chewed through the seal around the fridge trying to get inside. He is truly a destruction monster. Needless to say, he and Quill, his humble assistant, managed to eat a lot of food... Quincy would get in a pot of food or a cake while Quill would enjoy cheddar cheese and cream cheese (together with foil). Every time we decide to go out with Z, we'd find a huge mess upon returning. We'd get so frustrated that barely thought of taking pictures. After we got our final fridge lock that WORKS, I decided to take before and after pictures but they weren't as impressive as they would have been with regular child-proof locks.

Here is this lock that WORKS... The 1000 lbs logistic strap.


Well, we weren't sure if the strap would work well knowing Quincy, and left all our previous locking systems - the child-proof lock and three velcros (there is one in the bottom, too). And yes, what you also see is a remainder of the previous child-proof lock that was effortlessly broken off by Quincy a couple of weeks earlier.

And here is what we found after we got back in a couple of hours...



All the velcros and the child-proof lock were snapped off.

Hallelujah! The food was still in the fridge and not in someone's tummy or on the floor in a digested form.

But that's not the end of the fridge adventures. They still continue. As we aren't able to keep the fridge strapped all the time, Quincy still tries to sneak in there every now and then (which is several times a day). He opens the fridge with his nose, by pushing it between the door and the fridge. So we needed to find a way to make it impossible for him. And the brilliant Z came up with another solution...






This system still needs to be improved but it works.

Here is an advice for you, folks. Think twice, or even three times, before you get a labrador. Or you may end up dealing with a way too smart pet that is awfully cute, too. :)


Monday, March 14, 2011

Here we go - my new post!

Let me introduce our two very mischievous dogs:
 
Quill


Quincy
























These two 90-lbs monsters are masters of destruction.They also make any food instantly disappear once their noses reach it.

More to come about our fridge adventures...