Custom Made Needle and Stitch Gauge

Being that there are two new knitters in our household I thought perhaps we needed a few new toys to assist us in our knitting adventures.  My mother, over the past few years, has amassed us a collection of knitting needles from a really neat sale that a local senior citizens group has every year.  She always brings us some goodies that she bought for amazing prices.  Some of the needles don't have the needle size on them though, so voila!  A need for a needle gauge.  And, so I've been told, every good knitter worth her weight in exotic fiber should swatch her knitting I thought we might need a stitch gauge too. 

Yes, one can buy both of those things at a craft store but they are more functional than they are beautiful.  Why not have both?  There is a lovely lady on Etsy whose shop name is KaratStix and she makes beautiful pieces out of sustainably harvested wood.  I contacted her to make us custom pieces with our animals.  She did an AMAZING job!  She came to the blog for photo inspiration and she captured our woolies in appearance and spirit in her artwork.  Recognize anyone?  I can't recommend her work enough.