S.........nakes and snails and puppy dog tails...

Is that really what little boys are made of? I hardly think so, but it does seems that it is easier to find patterns for cute sweaters for baby girls. When I found this pattern, however, it was fun to tailor it to be a little more on the masculine side. I added a brightly colored stripe and made the tie interchangeable in both the cream and bold color. Can't you just see bringing a little guy home from the hospital in one of these?

S.........pring!!

Even though it's not "officially" spring until next week, I am so ready for it to arrive, and the rain falling now makes me feel it is here. The present Etsy Bloggers Carnival has asked if we had spring items in our Etsy shops, so I quickly got to work and am introducing some new thank you notes in lovely spring colors. These feature my hand crocheted Irish roses accented with a gold brad. Spring flowers and polka dots complete the look. They are available in green, blue, and gold and are sold in sets of four. C'mon, Spring!!!!

P.........resenting: DizzyDragonflies

As a knitter and crocheter, it was most exciting to find that the Etsy Blogger of the Month is Dizzy Dragonflies, purveyor of luscious hand dyed yarns. Not only does she dye yarns, she spins and knits finished projects from her efforts.

The two gorgeous spring colored skeins of yarn that you see to your right are some of the many colorful yarns that are available in her shop at http://dizzydragonflies.etsy.com She will even custom dye yarn in quantities for large projects!

More about her and the process she uses is available on her blog at http://knittingdragonflies.etsy.com Congratulations for being our blogger of the month; your yarns are all gorgeous!

C.........oncerto!

Thanks to some dear friends who gave us tickets to perfect seating, we were treated to a wonderful performance of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra yesterday afternoon. It was an all-Beethoven concert, which we knew would be special, but we had no idea what was in store!

First we attended a most informative presentation by an area musicologist who gave us more insight into the Pastoral Symphony and the Concerto in D Major for violin and orchestra.

The concerto featured a young, Russian violinist, Vadin Repin who absolutely astounded us with his talent. He plays on a violin made in 1736 by Guarneri del Gesu. Even though I'm no expert, it was obvious that he played superbly, and it will be a performance we will long remember.

The concert concluded with the Pastoral Symphony which is certainly more familiar, and we went home humming the themes and most grateful for a spectacular afternoon. Thank you, Joan and Lou!!

(The photo of the violin seen here is by http://jwphotos.etsy.com/ )

A..........lmost Wordless Wednesday 4

First Date

"P.........in Money"

How many of you are familiar with this phrase? Many years ago, rural women sold items to earn money so that they could purchase pins and needles that not only were expensive, but not always easy to come by. We take these items for granted today, but the phrase still means monies we accumulate so that we can buy little "extras" for ourselves.

Because I'm retired, I have the great luxury of looking at my Etsy account for this purpose. I truly admire those Etsians who have great economic success with their shops, but mine is really just for fun. How lucky I am!

Now for the February Experiment analysis. I'm happy to report that I fulfilled the majority of my goals. I relisted, renewed, or listed a new item every day. Most of my shop has been retagged. I was able to blog at least half of the days and introduced a new item, the heavy duty scrubbie. And finally, I was more active with the teams to which I belong. While my first purpose was to find out how this extra activity affected my sales, there turned out to be additional benefits as well. It surprised me that my sales actually fell in February compared to January, but the financial outcome was exactly the same...down to the last dollar! The non-financial benefits were lovely, however. I did more connecting with people than ever, and it is a great feeling. It also made Etsy more exciting than it had been in the past.

Isn't it ironic that what we set out do can take such twists and turns and have benefits of which we never dreamed? And aren't I happy to add each month to my "pin money"?