Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Chicken Sweaters

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my dog, Katie the Amazing Shih Tzu, has a wardrobe to rival Carrie Bradshaw's, and her own Jelly Bean Pink dresser. She has several changes for each of her Halloween photo shoots, and I am very proud that her Bumble Bee won Best Overall in 2012, netting us much-appreciated hockey tickets. Oh, and she did attend a game later that season, dressed in her custom KWings sweater, knit by a friend of our favorite player #8. That made the local online news and the big scoreboard.

But I NEVER dress her for anything other than photo sessions...and personal appearances...and she does share her 3 tiaras and many, many boas if I need them myself.

So you can imagine my amusement when I somehow stumbled upon hand-knit sweaters for chickens.

In general, I am a big fan of Etsy and have friends with successful shops, selling beautiful, handmade, useful articles. I have bought handbags and earrings in multiples, and love that I can receive a bracelet from Israel and a scarf from the Ukraine in the same mail.

Having found these treasures, you can surely understand how one would be led to dig deeper, following the rabbit trail from "red transfer ware" to "lever-back earrings" to..."CHICKEN SWEATERS"!!?

I have no idea how I stumbled on that listing. Yes, the photo was of a real chicken, wearing a homemade sweater (not nearly as fashionable as Katie's). I had no idea that warming a live chicken was a problem. And then to compound my dumbfoundedness, in a separate cruise around Etsy, I found hand made egg warmers, at $40 each. Are those for breakfast eggs? Or is an egg warmer just the first step in creating a spoiled chicken who can't venture out without a sweater? And unless I'm dining alone, can I really afford $480 to keep my dozen cozy.?

There is a "convo" option to let me contact he seller/creator, but Etsy is all about positive interactions and asking "What the heck were you thinking?" Or "does anybody actually PAY you for that" seem likely to put me on some kind of list that I'd rather not occupy.

Feel free to comment with your favorite Etsy creations. I'm sure I've barely scratched the surface