Featured!

Donna of DZ Fantasy recently interviewed me for her blog. Please check out the feature! By the way, she is currently running a giveaway, so head on over to her blog for a chance to win one of her handmade fairy dolls!

New Hamster Lair!

I did not like the bright plastic igloos sold at the pet store for hamsters, so I placed a request on Alchemy for a ceramic hideout for my hamsters. Etsy artist Black Dachshund Potter responded and made this gorgeous piece for my little ones! I love how it turned out, so do the hamsters, but they don't know they are the owners of a piece of art!

Etsy Item of the Day - from Galleria Linda LOFT

It has been quite awhile since I last wrote an "Etsy Item of the Day" feature, but today I began spring cleaning, so I thought I would dust off the old feature list (well, not literally - it's on the computer) and write a feature.

It is easy to get so drawn in by all the wonderful handmade items on Etsy that one forgets that Etsy also contains vintage finds and supplies. Thus, today's featured item is a beautiful vintage circle brooch listed in the Loft at GalleriaLinda!

This elegant piece reminds me of my grandmother's jewelry and appears to date to the 1960s. It features golden leaves and two "flowers" of faux pearl and green stone. The diameter measures 1.5 inches [3.8 cm].

Ships from the United States. International shipping is available.

Two Hamsters and a Food Dish

In the midst of all the madness in the world, one needs a little cuteness to look upon every once and awhile to set things aright.

Meet my two new furry friends!

See Pooh Ponder...

... why his much beloved four book set is now suddenly deemed hazardous by the US government.
Date: 1978

Heather, who commented on yesterday's post, wrote a Dr. Suess inspired tale about the CPSIA. I suggest you all read it. It's quite clever!

The CPSIA and Books

Few children's items are safe from the CPSIA, and books are not among them. "Ordinary" children's books printed since 1985 are exempt from the testing requirements. Yes, 1985. Thus, many of the books we loved as children are effectively deemed hazardous, unless someone has the time and money to test each title and edition. Furthermore, any "unusual" books, such as those containing staples, are not exempt, regardless of printing date. If the law is kept as is and is enforced, it will have profound effects on libraries and bookstores. Some of us on Etsy have begun posting pictures of endangered books in a Flickr group, and I will post some here as well. Here is a useful article on the subject. Take some time today to share a vintage book with a child!

"Dragolin" is a story about a little dragon who eventually learned to breathe fire. Unfortunately, his flame was snuffed out by the CPSIA.
Date: 1978.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

In order to improve the safety of children's items, the US government has put into place a series of regulations regarding items intended for children under the age of 12. Unfortunately, these regulations are having devastating repercussions for children, parents, sellers of used items, certain crafters, and others. Many items will eventually be required to undergo expensive testing for lead and phthalates in order to be sold, as noted in Etsy's recent Storque article. Thankfully, yarn is exempt from the testing, so Dragon in Knots will only be affected in that children's items will not contain any buttons or other findings until some sort of solution is found. However, I believe the new regulations will have an effect on all of us sooner or later, so I urge everyone to learn more about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. I will be posting more on this later.

There and Back Again

Long story short, things did not work out in Tennessee, and I moved back to Albuquerque last month. On the bright side, this means less disruption for my Etsy store and less rainy days!

The Ten-Foot Scarf

Every once and a while it is fun to just crochet and crochet until the yarn runs out. The Bordeaux scarf is the result of one of these bursts of crocheting and is the work of many months. Made in my favorite color, burgundy, this scarf measures to three meters!

Be sure to check out the matching fingerless gloves!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Java Chip!

The rules:
~ Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.
~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven random facts about myself:
~ I have a confession to make. My favorite of all the scarves I own was not made by me. In fact, it is older than me and dates from my dad's college days. It is made from a very itchy wool and has a few holes and stains. Like a distorted predecessor of the first Harry Potter scarf (you know, the one with wide burgundy and mustard stripes), it is made of blocks of mustard, ranch red, and, yes, plum! It is positively horrid, and I want to make a replica of it one day, though perhaps in a less itchy version.
~ I own a sword. It was a gift from one of my closest friends. It currently lives on the top of a book shelf, surrounded by girly knick-knacks.
~ I hate off-white walls. I painted the walls in my room a beautiful shade of light green when I was living with my parents some years ago. Now I am going to graduate school and have to live in an apartment. Guess what color nearly all apartments are...
~ I am somewhat germaphobic. I tend to be slightly more normal when traveling, but once, on a class trip, my roommate started counting how many times I washed my hands. She got to six before breakfast.
~ I have lived in three cities (two countries, two US states) since July.
~ I love fairy tales (the traditional versions, not the cleaned-up Disney ones). I have read all the Grimm fairy tales and am starting to branch out from there.
~ I am a firm believer that we should reinstate the dual pronouns "wit" and "git" back into the English language.

The seven people I have tagged:
~ The Tin Thimble
~ Stacey Winters
~ German Dolls
~ Sweet Figments
~ Ruby Blue Treasures
~ Second Sister
~ Crayon Monster

Introducing Elevenish!

Elevenish is a relatively new shop on Etsy, set up just this September. Carolyne, the artist, works with both acrylics and watercolors to create whimsical paintings of children and animals. Her shop offers a delightful collection of originals and prints, including this original watercolor painting, entitled Mother Red Bird.

Ships from the United States. International shipping is available.

Whew!

After much fussing and fighting with my camera, I finally got decent pictures for my newest item: gauntlets! These sparkling crocheted armwarmers are basically like my wrist cuffs, except they cover the entire forearm. Just in time for Halloween and cool weather!