Pet wear you'd wear comes to life.........

The first scarf came in, based on the Lucky Rainbow style and I think this concept is going to work out well. The only thing I'm giving thought to as far as the silhouette, is to modernize it a bit more. Grandma Sophie Lapson made these little neck warmers for all her children, grand children and great grand children and I kind of followed her idea for the shape only longer. Patricia's ladies did a beautiful job, based on my sketch and schematic but I'm used to making the first proto myself so that I can experiment with the style. I don't have the luxury of time to play around with designing right now (the FUN part of having a business) because there's so much to do before the product comes in. I'm pretty clear on the right way to do it after giving it some more thought, I just hope I can clarify how it will work to Patricia. It's not a huge order for her, but I am concerned about timing also.
Meanwhile, the brochures came in and look great! so I'll be busy getting them out in the market and to various publications. I applied to Pet Fashion Week NY and hopefully will be able to get the needed publicity and sales to get this venture up and running. I'm not ready for HH Backer 's Holiday show but who knows, maybe next year!
It's a hot day and Lacy is taking yet another nap. Daughter #1 is in Columbus, Ohio about to embark on her first trade show for her own business, Sonic Legends, at a gaming convention. Daughter #2 is due back Friday morning from a dream trip to Israel though there has been an indication in her facebook posts that she may "never come back" (she will). So, all is as it should be on this Wednesday, June 23,2010. The boss is saying "back to work, Lieberman" and since that's me talking to myself, I guess I better get to it before I'm taken away in a straight jacket.
More later...........

Saving the planet or at least it's canine inhabitants..........

Lacy and I attended the "Dogs in Danger" event in Yorktown Heights this weekend. It was for a good cause, pet adoption and saving dogs from being euthanized, a cause near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, it was not well attended, possibly because it was the first of an annual event and the weather was soggy, but the spirit wasn't dampened by those who attended, and the dogs were wonderful.......... It got me thinking however, about how some people view dogs and the bad press they sometimes get.

To me, most dogs really aren't so called, helpless victims of human cruelty. They're pack animals that know how to survive as such and so, if they feel threatened, they will fight back........as is their nature. It's man however, who has the upper hand. If they do fight back and attack a human who is hurting them, they are classified as "vicious" and are beaten into submission or worse, put down.
My question is, who are we to determine how another species is "supposed to" survive. The rule of nature is, after all, "survival of the fittest". If a dog attacks a child who playfully pulls on his ears, that's a tragedy, without a doubt. But think about the mind of the dog. The child doesn't know that it's a creature who's survival is based on an instinctual behavioral mechanism. The consequences of pulling on the dog's ears one too many times is not in the child's own instinctual behavioural mechanism and so, the dog may react in the only way it knows how......self preservation. The child doesn't know about self preservation because it has it's mom and dad to worry about that for him. Also, the dog doesn't know that the child is only playing, but may read it's behavior as aggression. Neither one's thinking is right or wrong, but the dog "must be distroyed" because we humans say so.
An old cocker spaniel in my neighborhood some, 34 years ago, was startled by my little 4 year old daughter, who visited him now and then because she loved dogs. He was old and deaf and when my child came up behind him, he jumped up and bit off the tip of her nose. Ofcourse, I was upset for my daughter and as a mother, thought in terms of how this would disfigure the face of a young girl but never did I blame the old dog nor demand that as an uncontrollable and vicious beast, it should be killed. That is, however what happened. Sadly, it was put down by its owners, a hard decision for them I'm sure, but when my little 4 year old found out, it was more devastating for her than the plastic surgery she needed to repair her nose.
I know that most people are good and kind hearted when it comes to animals, and if they saw an injured animal on the side of the road, they would stop and help it. Am I naive? Probably, but then, Lacy and I talk about this all the time......or, actually........I talk, Lacy listens..........(I think).

My daughter grew into a beautiful young woman, but to this day, I still feel a twinge of regret about that old cocker spaniel and the people who loved him.

Samples arrived and all is as it should be.

Everything came in on time as planned. Each style in each available size, corrections made with no problems and the only thing that needed watching was the Misty and Candy styles where the turtle neck collars seemed a little wide. Patricia is back from her trip and will be on top of things.

I sent her a schematic of the woman's scarf style for the Lucky which will actually be a neck wrap instead of a full out long scarf. It is more in keeping with the pet sweater style and will use less yarn, and so, save on costs. Waiting to hear the outcome this week. Other scarf styles will follow the same schematic shape but Misty will be a little different, running the length of the scarf instead of the width. Those should be ready for her in the next couple of days, the plan

being that they can be shipped along with the sweaters, due to arrive in mid July in time for the holiday selling season.

Saturday was Emily's graduation party and ofcourse, the place was overrun with dogs...hectic yes but an excellent photo op. Elegant and regal Scooter sat in the middle of the garden, (his choice) and posed until the shot was taken, then turned and struck another pose. Such a natural. Pepper looks great on his pale coloring.

Then came Harry, the newest member of the clan. I was able to get off some great shots of him wearing Tigger and in spite of his puppy energy, he was the perfect model especially when he finally got tired out (which was way AFTER me naturally).

The newest style "Maxine" was developed in pima cotton for the Spring and Fall seasons where alpaca would be too warm. The styling worked out great and so I'll offer an xs-small; and a medium-large because of the stretch in the rib being enough to compensate two sizes in one garment. I also need to work on a more masculine model without the cute little pointed lace collar and sleeve treatment. My mind is racing as I figure out all these scarf and sweater details. Now that the samples are here,there's publicity to get started with. Upcoming events will certainly be helpful but I need to start sending out press kits and rebuild a better website. Here I go again..................