Of Knitting and Etsy and Mutant Ladybugs

Of Knitting:

Here is my progress on the Simple Knitted Bodice. I worked on it during the long drive to, and the longer drive from, Hayley's all-day fun day to celebrate the end of Grade-5. I am nearly done the body, and can move onto a sleeve. The pattern called for two skeins of the beaded Rock Star yarn, and it took one whole skein to do the lace section of the body. The second skein is supposed to handle a similar lace section on each sleeve, as well as neckline trim, bottom edge trim, and sleeve edge trim. Wondering about that...I wanted to get the neckline out of the way, but I think I'd better do the sleeves first to see how much of Rock Star is actually leftover for those other jobs. I have to say this top is a thorougly satisfying knit so far, and the Tilli Tomas yarn is some of the nicest I have ever knit. Yesterday I even had some women oohing and aaahing at the field trip when I pulled it out to do a few rows at lunch.


Of Etsy:

One of my fiber colleagues over at Etsy has written a wonderful blog post on what Etsy means to her -- and to many of us. I am in full agreement with Deb of Fearless Fibers. If you are interested in knowing more about the community that is Etsy, and in spreading the word of the site, please read her blog post.

I agree with her comments that Etsy is bigger than my own shop, or hers, it is a vibrant, inspiring community of artisans and buyers. I am impressed over and over with the range and quality of items that are available, and with the artists themselves. Deb makes a gentle appeal to spread the word of Etsy as a site and a community where artisans and buyers deal directly with each other.

For myself, I am grateful to Etsy as a site that allows me to support and be supported by a variety of artists from all over the world. I am grateful for the ethics and philosophy on which the site was founded, and that the administration maintains. I am grateful for the opportunity to work from home in what has become a fully viable and satisfying business. I already do a great deal of my personal and gift shopping through etsy, and I'm sure that will only increase as I become ever more familiar with all that the site offers.

Of Mutant Ladybugs:

I got in a large shipment of funky glass beads for making stitch markers yesterday. The box arrived, and I couldn't wait to dig in. Stuff for fall, stuff for Christmas/winter, more Skully's, all kinds of cool beads, and...Mutant Ladybugs.

The other beads are all fine, but I have no idea what happened to these ladybugs. They are not quite as advertised. They are genuine lampwork, but just who did they trust the blowtorch to? A six-year-old?

When I got over my surprise as, yes, every ladybug in the package is a little bit lunatic, I found the funny. They began to grow on me in about thirty seconds. My kids came home from school and agreed that the ladybugs were endearing. So if you have an off-beat sense of humour and enjoy the wabi-sabi in all things, you might want to adopt a set of mutant ladybugs.



The penguins are pretty cute too...