Hi Candy ! I've been working hard on my stained glass - checking out some new online auctions to sell at and I just got my website up & running. Whew ! I'm in my Windchime Mode right now ! I Know the board has been slow - seems like it's slow everywhere . I have a new project that I'll post when I'm done with it (if it works !) LOL Talk about an addict getting her fix ........ Accent's Arts & Crafts is going out of business here. The discounts get bigger every week - it's 20% off the whole store now ...! When I'm not making stuff - I'm BUYING stuff .. Lord knows where I'm going to put it all !!!! LOL

Those are great Evelyn, IÂm not sure what brand of yarn it was, but the picture you posted looks exactly like it. I got it at Wal-Mart. I thought it would be hard because of all of the little knots of different colors in it but it was quite easy. I'm going to have to be more observant about what brand I get. I'm too busy looking at all of the pretty colors. I'm not sure which ones I like the best. Is your first pic made of the boa yarn? I was wondering how that would look. I really like it. I also think the gray on the black flip flops looks really good. Donna, I did what you did for some of mine I sold. That way the customer gets what they want and I get to keep the left over yarn.

I feel just awful that I recommended a shoe to Red that didn't work for her, and I feel for her frustration and the waste of money. And part of the reason I feel terrible is because the shoe I advocated so strongly is not what Orthaheel is currently selling as the Wave flip-flop. Last month, I ordered a Wave pair and a Tide and found I can't wear either one because OrthaheelUSA has redesigned the product! I measured them for comparison against my older ones. The strap is tighter, the footbed is a little softer and more padded, and the angles and hollows of the footbed are shallower (it's been made just a little flatter). But the worst part is--and I can't understand why they would do such a thing--the thong has been positioned one-quarter inch farther back from the front of the shoe, which means that the thong digs painfully between the toes and prevents the arch and heel from settling fully into the places designed to receive them. A noticeably larger amount of empty sole now extends beyond my toes (enough to be a tripping hazard). The new flip-flops were so uncomfortable that I couldn't keep them on for even half a minute. For any other product, I would have shrugged philosophically and sent them back, but I was so concerned (actually, DH would probably describe it as enraged and distraught) about this threat to long-term physical health and well-being that I fired off emails to the place from which I ordered them, to OrthaheelUSA, and to the office of the Australian doctor who developed them. The redesigned shoes are easily differentiated from the original ones by the Orthaheel logo on the bottom of the shoe---the old good one has ORTHAHEEL in all caps with a squiggly line under the first 4 letters (ORTH), whereas the new logo has larger letters all in lower case with the squiggle under the last 4 letters (heel). If I wear the good flip-flops every day (first thing in the morning and last thing at night), the old Orthaheel design stabilizes my plantar fascitis and my feet NEVER hurt, even if I walk around barefoot for part of the day. I dread the day my old ones wear out and I return to the chronic pain and inflammation of heel spurs that I lived with before I bought my first pair of Orthaheel flip-flops. Anyway, the vendor followed up on my anguished complaint, contacted the manufacturer, and responded as follows: "We learn something new every day! . . . There is a difference between the new foot bed and the old. Apparently, Orthaheel has moved to a new manufacturer (for better quality, they say). The variance on the foot bed is meant to be so slight that it should not be noticeable. Obviously it is for you." Now I will try to locate a bunch of the old version of the flip-flops and stockpile enough of them to last 15 or 20 years. It illustrates something I must have forgotten: Just because you've found a perfect product, don't assume it will always be obtainable. And boy am I kicking myself.

Use the force, that is what I do LOL. Actually, I don't depend on seeing the stitches or catching every one. What I do is keep count of the stitches as I go. If I end up short, simply add stitches by doing more than one in a few stitches to even it up. Usually I am only off by one or two so it's no big deal to increase to make it up and not visible in the finished project. As you work you will develop a Zen for where the stitches are and how to hit them without skipping. I will echo the sentiment that it's easier if you combine it with a strand of regular or thin chenille yarn in a matching/contrasting colour. Combining it in this way gives you a project with more body than just using the fun fur itself, and makes the "lashes" stand out better IMO.