Freeform Seventies Crochet

If you crochet, have you ever tried this style? Or, if you were a kid or teenager in the Seventies perhaps the teacher forced it on you in craft class…

I don’t often find craft books in the trash so my first reaction was ‘how cool’ when the BF spotted it on a heap and handed it to me one night. But it was not for me. Even though I don’t often use patterns I’m a neat stitch counter.

As even the basic instructions taught me nothing new I decided to see if I could list it in my online bookshop. To my surprise it's EAN/ISBN was recognized by the hosting site and the book was ordered a couple of months later. Though I can’t imagine anybody would want to have it, the buyer must have been specifically looking for it. Hope she’s happy. It turned out to be one good rescue after all.

Now I only regret I didn’t scan more pages. This scarf here was really one of the ‘prettier’ designs!

The Turtle And The Bathtub

A few weeks ago when I came home from grocery errands I found this old plastic hip bath which we dragged home earlier this year parked on our garden path where before I left it was still in a corner of the yard. One of those silly curb finds but the plan was to wash my large duvet in it (too large for my machine) and then get rid of it again, but I'm not sure if this will still happen this summer.

A look inside made clear immediately what had happened. The BF had found a turtle in the park, decided it didn't belong there (turtles don't naturally live in the wild in Holland) and brought it home. The tub turned out to be a perfect place to keep it in with a bit of water in the lower part and leaves and branches on the higher side.

With the BF back in the park I started Googling but couldn't find out which kind of turtle I had here. An email to the official turtle rescue centre only gave me an automated answer ('these animals don't belong here, please call your local animal rescue centre') so I decided there was nothing left to do but call the pet paramedics. Where quite disapointingly the telephone operator told me next time to leave the animal where I found it! Oh? She sent out the team anyway because now that I had him I wasn't allowed to bring turtie back to the park.

Well, Googling more I found out this: the most commonly kept pet turtle in Holland is the Red-eared Slider (see picture below). Therefore often dumped it turns out they do manage to get by in the wild and in parks, but our winters are generally too cold for them too procreate (maybe better so). However once every so many years when we have a really harsh winter they all die for sure.

Then again I don't believe what we found was a Red-eared Slider. With that pitch black head and the dotted yellow line he doesn't fit the picture. Best thing was just to wait for the rescue team. Unfortunately when they finally came they also classified him as a Red-eared Slider. I'm still not convinced. The good thing though is they were a lot more happy about our rescue than their co-worker in the office and found his temporary home in the tub quite an ingenious idea.

Now I can only hope they brought him to the right place where he was properly recognized and gets the right treatment. But if anyone recognizes our turtie I'd be happy to hear from you. Sorry the pic was a quick snapshot and not very clear, please click on in to enlarge.

Happy Cat In A Doll's Pram

When I was a little girl my cat would always sleep in my doll's pram. Or sometimes even in my doll house because my parents made it by hand and used these very very nice pure wool carpet samples to cover the floors... I guess it's every girl's story who grew up with a cat or a small dog! Or did you maybe even go for a stroll with your Jack Russell in your pram? Wouldn't surprise me, I've seen our little niece do it.

So we were quite happy to bring home a little wicker pram for my BF's darling, even if the wheels were off. Of course cats love all baskets, but this one just looks super cute, doesn't it? And doesn't he know how cute he looks in it!

Our Pepe only didn't like the bottom of pressed wood. I had to quickly crochet him a tiny blanket to cover that from a curb found sweater. On the right corner you can just see a little bit of the pale blue of it.

That inspired me to start on a larger cat or pet blanket with the rest of the material for my shop. It's almost finished now and available soon. I'm using a special rib cord stitch to make it extra attractive, because I know cats love to feel some sort of structure under their paws. But don't forget reused for them is also more interesting than any brand new material. Because no matter how many times you wash it, they'll still smell the history of it!

Lunch Bags

What's so special about a pack of lunch bags to even blog about? Nothing. But:

- Well, I blog about anything I find in the trash that I think is not trash. This product is complete and even still sealed and clean, so definitely not trash, no matter how cheap or futile.
- I found them in Amsterdam, Holland, that is Europe! How does a USA manufactured product end up on the curb here? Because I wouldn't know where to buy this over here. Besides, any paper lunch bags are nowhere to be found in my country. We use plastic 'boterhamzakjes' or 'sacs a sandwich' as is printed on the box you buy them in.

So someone, on vacation or a business trip, flies from Holland to the US, buys paper lunch bags (maybe because we don't have them over here, I can follow it until there), drags them home, but then never uses them and (years later I presume) trashes them. I think that's amazing. Or ridiculous!

Now if you think this means I'll bring 50 lunches to work in paper instead of plastic you're wrong. Because I've recycled plastic bread bags for that for years and I won't change that. I use one bag (they're that strong) for at least a week (just shake out the crumbs and it's good for another day), then I still don't throw it away, but use it for cleaning the cat litter box. We use the lump making litter stuff, a day or two of the cats 'production' fits perfectly in one reused bread bag and it keeps the smell from my trash bag and in case I get a hole in that, no harm is done (allows me to use the thinner, cheaper and more eco-friendly trash bags as well).

The paper bags I will take to my next craft fair. With a card stapled on them they will make great and neat looking eco-friendly packaging! Brings me to my craft: if you still want a chance to win an item from my shop or a lovely (curb found) booklet, you can still enter my contest. Previous post or click here.

The Staircase

Just returning from a trash excursion out in the cold and in times when everybody talks about X-mas decorations I'd like to go back to last summer and sunny afternoons in my garden for a moment. If you read the post about my house you'll remember that I have to pass outside on the street to visit my BF upstairs. It's not really a problem, but when we saw a complete staircase in the trash across the street, taken from the renovation site there, we got ideas. But it turned out to be too short to reach the balcony and I didn't want to have it indoors, as that would take up precious space and the whole operation would be too costly and drastic, so it ended up lying in the garden for a couple of weeks.

Then the BF put it up against the shed, right in the middle of my newly created 'lawn' of 3 square meters, claiming he needed it to clean the roof. Yeah, how many times a year does he do that? But I said nothing thinking I'd throw it out as soon as I had enough of it and put some of my found plants on it to give it at least a sort of a function.

But then it was discovered by our two furry fellow residents. Of course they have other ways to reach that shed roof, like a tree or fences or even an iron bar in between our and the neighbour's shed. Did you think cats would prefer these much more fun and adventurous ways? You're totally wrong. These creatures appreciate convenience and above all style. Isn't it much more elegant coming down for your meal after an afternoon in the sun on a broad staircase than climbing down a tree? They seem to accept the fact that I too now can easily reach the roof and take them in if I decide it's time to come home.

But there's more. I soon noticed that the roof became immensely popular. In fact they would have spent all day and night on it if they could. The top steps being slightly higher than the roof also turned out to be a great vantage point. Or just sitting anywhere on it is simply cool. But it's logic. Of course such a fun place has to be guarded and defended at all cost: don't forget we are not alone in the garden. The new neighbour's cats from two houses down got curious seeing those two up there. Even though they had to use the tree or the fence, of course they had to check it out. Yeah, right! Who do they think they are? Newcomers at that! Uh!

So we had some fierce fighting going on up there for a couple of weeks. Of course my cats won. After all they were there first and it's their shed. That's how it's supposed to be. We are the good ones. Even the neighbour's part of the shed belongs to the next door neighbour (who luckily has no cats), not those intruder's owners. They don't have a shed there, it was broken down years ago. Their problem.

So take a look at Oskar and Cézar after the peace had settled in again. Can you see victory on their faces? Although I must admit that Cézar, the fat one below left most of the work to his more courageous brother. This tough one is sitting on my knees right now as I'm writing this. The brother is upstairs with the BF.

Obviously the staircase is a keeper. I wouldn't dare taking it away now. Just too bad for my lawn then. Anyway the whole idea behind that was to have some grass for the cats. They need it sometimes. It doesn't have to look pretty.

My Footstool

What is this weird hairy fluffy pink thing? A cat sofa? They tried, but decided it wasn't a keeper. A prayer bench? The color seems a bit too wild for that.

My beloved BF had promised to make me a footstool from scrap wood, but he was procrastinating as so often when he has to make something for ME. Then on one Sunday evening excursion he disappeared behind a building container where I saw only dirty and broken stuff, and returned with this hilarious piece. It's bordeaux red laquered legs make me think of a Chinese origin, but whatever, I'm happy to use it as a footstool and maybe that's just what it is.

I'd never buy a thing like this, but that's what makes curbside shopping so exciting and it matches perfectly with the reds, purples and pinks in my office/bedroom (yep, the misery of a tiny 2-room flat).