Product Review: Custom Silver 8 gauge Earrings with Coral Drops from Lisa's Lovlies

I saved up all my etsy money to buy myself something really special, and I decided to go with a pair of custom earrings from Lisa's Lovlies! While I make jewelry myself, I dont made large gauge earrings. I have 8 gauge main holes and there arent many sellers on etsy who cater to those with stretched lobes. Lisa's Lovlies is one beautiful shop where you can get larger gauge earrings, along with normal sized jewelry.

I contacted Lisa and we quickly worked out exaclty what I wanted, which was a pair of sterling silver 1 inch diameter hoops with beautiful coral drops. She made them in a few days, and I had them at my door with in a week of finalizing the design. I was so giddy when I got them, I just had to get them in as soon as I got them! They are extremely solidly made and they have a great weight to them. I am so happy to have dangly earrings again! I wear them 24 hours a day, and they have been a dream!



Overall Impression: Lisa has excellent customer service and is very attentive. She is great to work with and works extremely fast. These earrings are well made and will last a long time. They are worth every penny for the wonderful quality!

Dot's New Bed

Months and months ago I went looking for some wool sweaters at the local thrift stores for some needle felting projects. I found a few, but before I could try my hand at all of them, one of my kitties (Dot) decided that one of them were here. For weeks she lovingly covered this gray XL sweater with her hair. I figured, since she was so attached to it, she could keep it as a bed. A few days ago, I found it (it had been buried by some boxes... long story) and the thought occurred to me to turn it into a proper cat bed. Dot doesnt use the one we bought her (we actually use it to keep her from sleeping on our towels...), but maybe she would sleep on this one since she already "claimed" it.


First I cut off the sleeves, which I actually have plans for, and hand sewed them shut along with sewing the bottom shut. I hand sewed because not only is our craft room full of boxes, I would have to clear away all of my beading and painting stuff to get out my sewing machine. It was just easier to hand sew it. I debated on putting some decorative stitching on top, but Dot has a funky toe which cant retract it's claw and I dont want that getting stuck in the stitching on accident. I loosely stuffed the body with just one bag of eco-friendly stuffing to give it some fluff, but not a lot of bulk. Dot doesnt like bulk to sleep on. Once I broke it up a bit, after it was inside the body to keep it from getting fibers everywhere, I sewed the neck closed, but below the collar. I did this so it still looks like a sweater that I folded lovingly, but before I could put it away, Dot got to it!

And so far, she seems to like it!

Stuff Like This Makes Me Happy!

LabialPalpLeft_site2_3500x
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I know no one will know what this scanning electron micrograph is... including myself, but it made me dance and sing around the lab today! This is the reason I love science... because no one has ever seen this particular thing before! Whoo hoo! I finally feel like I am accomplishing something!

Finished Cable Neckwarmer!

Finished Cable Neckwarmer!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Man, being sick sure gets my creative juices going. Here is the finished neck warmer! I even blocked it! That is the fourth new technique I learned on this piece! I hope to have it up soon on my etsy shop... but I have to get some help photographing it! I cant do everything myself!

My First Cable!

My First Cable!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I'm so excited! I am actually doing an honest to goodness cable! I took the plunge! I have only had to start over once... so that's not to bad. I even tried a new way to cast on AND made a small button hole in this one! I am learning a lot... like to remember the salvages... because now I have to figure out now to fix this when I finish it. I hope to make this into another neck warmer. Hopefully it will be in my shop soon!

Corset Neck Warmer Prototype

Corset Neck Warmer Prototype
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Here is another design I have been kicking around for a while in my head. It is a corset style neck warmer. The corset actually doesnt really do anything, but it looks cool. I am still fiddling with it, like I want less eyelets next time, but I think it has some potential. I wish I had a different color of the red cording... because I know not everyone will want red! It is very warm though. Let me know what you think!

Shrug Done!

First Try Shrug
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I have been dutifully plugging along on my purple shrug for a couple of weeks now. I finally finished it... but with a little bump in the road. I constructed this by first completing both of the sleeves, then creating a panel to connect the two. Well, about 7 rows from where I planned on ending the panel... one of my two skeins of yarn ran out! To remedy that I decided to try and take what was in my remaining skein in half and try and finish. Well, if I wanted to actually JOIN the pieces together... I had to end it like 4 rows before I wanted to. I decided to give it a shot shorter just to finish this puppy.

Well, it fits... barely. I dont think I will ever be able to wear this with anything with sleeves. Because of the size issue, the sleeves are shorter than I wanted, and they hang at about 3/4th length level. That bugs me, because personally, I hate sleeves that are anywhere in between short sleeve and full sleeve length. I guess I will have to get used to it. It is super warm because I used 2 strands of homespun for the whole thing... so maybe I can wear tank tops in the winter now! I hope it will stretch out a bit with use. I am going to probably make another one... but thinner and a little bit longer, a different pattern. I also want to try making it as one complete piece next time, so I dont have to join the sleeves etc. That means no cuffs, but thats okay.

WIP update

I was thinking that if I keep tabs on my WIP, I would feel more responsible and get the darn things done! I blogged a while ago about starting a blanket for myself. I knew it was going to take a while to make, and I am right on track. I finished my first strip last week. I am going to create several 5 foot strips then sew them together and give the whole thing a boarder. One strip down... I have no idea how many more to go. I was suprised I couldnt get the whole strip in the photo!


This sucker is going to be warm! I only work on it when I dont really have anything else to work on... so it might take me all year to finish it. I think it will be worth it.


I have also started a loom knitted shrug. It is a bit of an experiment, but so far I think it is going well. I have one arm done. I just need one more arm and the back... then sew the whole thing together and I should have one WARM shrug. This sucker is made with two strands of homespun yarn, which makes it really thick. I think I could wear tank tops under it in the winter just about!


I think it will turn out really good... but we shall see! If it does turn out, I may make a few for my shop, modifying and improving the design along the way. I dont know how many different sizes I can make though... since I am knitting this in the round, and that limits the diameter of the sleeves. I just cant wait to get mine done though!

Product Review: Custom Quilt from YankeeCrow

New Quilt!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Looking down the barrel at up to 5 different Christmas celebrations this year, my husband and I decided to shave one off by having ours on Thanksgiving. I was so excited when he opened his gift. It had been waiting for months to be unveiled! But I get ahead of myself...

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what the heck to get my husband. I am a terrible gift giver... I feel I come up with terrible idea or get into a rut of the same thing for years and years. My husband is wonderful at giving me ideas, but I undoubtedly forget them as soon as something shiny comes across my field of view.

One fine day I happened to be in a chat room on etsy and YankeeCrow was in there. I saw her beautiful work and that got me to thinking. My grandmother gave us a wonderful quilt for our wedding and I know he really liked to sleep under it. Unfortunately, it got a little tear in it and we havent been able to get it fix yet (there is a local quilt place that just moved... so we have to take it there). I thought it would be great to give my something beautiful that we could pass down for years. I asked about the possibly of Yankeecrow creating a custom quilt... and the adventure began!

The first hurdle was the colors. My husband loves dark purple and dark green. Picking out the right shades of purple and green were paramount because he is a little bit picky about colors. This had to be the most tricky part of the whole process (for me anyway). Yankeecrow and I chatted about colors and patters. I was worried that it might be a little hard to convey my ideas over the internet... because all the quilts I normally see are very, how shall we say, foo foo girly cutesy things. Neither me, nor my husband, like foo foo girly cutesy things. I have to day, Yankeecrow listened to my every word and worked so hard to get everything perfect. She right away saw my vision of a masculine and simple but bold quilt. She has a great head for colors and concepts! We talked for days, and she continually updated me along the whole time. I am so happy to work with her, and I am glad to say I also gained a friend along the way. There were a few bumps in the road (like finding one of the fabrics was discontinued...) but everything progressed wonderfully.

When my quilt came in the mail, it was just beautiful! As you can see, I also got some matching pillow cases. I wanted to give it to my husband right then, but I knew I couldnt. I dropped a large chunk of change on this beauty and I just couldnt afford to get anything more.

I am so glad that we had Christmas early, so I could share it with everyone out there! I had to wait to write this review because I coudnt risk my husband finding out about it! I am so glad he loves it. He loves the colors and is sleeping under it right now!

Overall Impression: Yankeecrow did a wonderful job. She is a breeze to work with and has great ideas, along with working with input. She tries extremely hard to bring your dreams to fruition. I would definitely use her again if I ever need another gift to wow!

Third time is a charm!

Third time is a charm!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Well, there we go! I finally finally finally have a neck warmer! I know it is a bit hard to see, since it is black and I am wearing a black shirt and a black hoodie (can you tell what my favorite color is?) I can wait to turn out a few more (in different colors) and put them up on my etsy site. There are few little things I will do differently to tweak the pattern, but I really like it. I have worn it all day and it is really super comfy. All these neck, arm, and ear warmers are coming in handy as we have to keep the heat low to conserve on our energy bill. I sorta envy my cats, they have fur coats! My husband doesnt feel the chill because I am convinced he is half yeti.