Sunday, July 30, 2006

Finished bookmark

I finished the *mumble mumble* without Jacey's help...and got pictures of it tonight. I have a hard time getting the proper color on photographs, and this one is close but not exact:

Bookmark: Granny Squares

Friday, July 28, 2006

Greyhound-to-be

I've ordered "cornmeal" colored yarn to make a crocheted greyhound. And I've already bought 40 ounces of fiberfill for the stuffing. I'll take a picture of Sam with the "ingredients" so you can see just how much 40 ounces of fiberfill really is. (20 ounces is about the size of one bed pillow.)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

The bear is done...and has clothes!

I was off from work today. I've crocheted since 6 am (it's 10:30 pm now) and finally finished the bear for KT's niece, Creeklyn. KT works tomorrow, as do I, and I'll give her the bear then. I'll hope to hear some good news about Creeklyn's condition.

Finished Bear 3

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Barnaby Bear Notes

Crochet notes

Note: After wrestling with a skinny C hook yesterday, I broke down and bought one of the fat (and expensive) Clover hooks. It's lovely, and much easier to work with. But the book with the bear pattern translated a 3.0mm hook as a C hook. This Clover hook is labeled "2.5 mm." I'll keep using this hook for this bear, but I may get a D hook for future bears; slightly bigger stitches will be slightly looser and easier to work. But it'd be nice if everyone would get on the same page regarding hook sizes. (Clover hooks here. Ooh! I may have to get this whole set; cheaper to get the set than to buy them one at a time for $6 each.)

Have I started crocheting aliens from Roswell?

Alien from Roswell?

Well, not exactly. The "eye slits" actually are where the ears will go on the teddy bear I'm crocheting. But this is the tiny opening through which the pattern maker expected me to attach the stuffed muzzle, embroider the eyes, and attach the ears:

They must be kidding

Ridiculous! Anyway, I unraveled all the decreasing rows, did all the facial features, then reworked the decreasing rows, stuffed the head, and closed it off.

Now there's a bear

(That's a troll from The Return of the King on the television in the background.)

...with no holes in his head

Now I just have to finish the bear's body {grin}; it's only taken me two days to get through the head! Meanwhile, I've picked up some yarn to make another bear. Sam's napping on it in this picture:

Sam and yarn


The bear is for coworker KT's infant niece, Creeklyn, who landed in ICU Sunday with breathing difficulties. KT only works at our store on weekends, and we haven't heard anything from her this week. If I don't hear from her Wednesday, I'll give her a call on Thursday and see if there's any news. Your continued vibes are very welcome.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Both dogs get into the act

Some crochet notes (documented here so I'll have notes for the next time I work one of these):
I'm working on a teddy bear from this source: Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers by Lesley Stanfield. The book is British crochet instructions, so their "dc" is our "sc." I'm having to concentrate to keep from misreading an instruction. (It's also a bound book, rather than a stitched/stapled one, so it doesn't stay open at the page with the instructions...a real nuisance.)

And the bear is tiny. The head is not much larger than the size of my fist; finished, the bear will be about 10 inches. This is okay, except that they don't give very logical instructions. You finish crocheting the head, leaving a hole the diameter of a nickel; then you're supposed to stuff and attach the muzzle, embroider the nose and eyes, and attach the ears--all of which require you to be able to get inside the head through that nickel-sized hole. No thank you. Tomorrow I'll unravel the whole decreasing-size section of the head (about six rows), do the muzzle, embroidery, and attach the ears (at that point, the opening into the head will be about four inches wide); then I'll rework the decreasing-size part back down to the nickel-sized hole. And, knowing what I now know about the book's instructions, I'll make sure I don't run into the same tiny-opening problems on other parts of the bear's anatomy.

I'm working this in Caron Perfect Match 4-ply knitting worsted, colors "lace" and "winter white," using a C hook (the book calls for DK yarn and a 3.00mm hook). This weight of yarn crocheted with such a tiny hook makes a very tight, firm piece--fine for a stuffed animal, but it would be hell for clothing or a blanket.

While I was working on this crocheting today, Sam and Jacey got into the crochet thread. Jacey took a ball of thread over to her dog bed; Sam came and stole it away from her...but a bit of the thread was stuck to her foot, so the thread unrolled as Sam ran with it. Maybe I need to get these two their own craft supplies.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

A Jacey update

We're still having housebreaking issues, and I try not to let her out of my sight. She's good in the crate when I'm not home, though, so that's a relief.

I'm starting to wean her off the clomipramine. (She came off the Valium in June.) She'll be on a 75% dosage for a week, then 50% for two weeks, then 25% until this batch of pills is gone. It took two weeks for the drug to get to "working strength" in her system, so I'm assuming it'll take about as long before I see any signs of stress as she comes off the pills. But I'd be happy to have her off the pills (for a variety of reasons, including that I could find something else to do with that $60/month), so I'm hoping this goes well. The surest--and easiest to spot--sign of stress with her will be if she starts irritating her feet by pawing at the crate when I'm not home. That was the first sign I noticed--before I even knew she was stressing out.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Craft-y stuff

I'm going to try to post more often, but that means more boring day-to-day stuff, since things are usually not hopping here at Chez Fido. (Hey, I like having an uneventful life.)

Deliveries have kept UPS and the USPS busy today. The letter carrier brought two packages: one from Overstock-dot-com carried the extended version of Return of the King (which I'm watching now) and a book, When Crickets Cry. The other package contained two balls of crochet thread (peach and ecru) that had been on backorder from Herrschners.

And UPS delivered a new order from Herrschners that included a lamp.

Now I'm, um, thrifty. I won't spend $50 on a lamp just because it looks good, if I can find a less expensive lamp that will do. But the new lamp is for craft work, and it's wonderful. It simulates daylight, which is best for sorting thread colors for embroidery, and it's been lovely, just this afternoon, to be working on the mumble-mumble and be able to see it so clearly. And the lamp doesn't burn hot and can be angled to light my work without glaring on my laptop screen or the television (where Return of the King is still running...and running...and running {grin}). Crafters (and readers): Take a look at this. The part that's extended horizontally is the part with the bulb, and it can be at the angle shown in the picture or extended completely straight up. The part that's extended also is the "on" switch; the bulb lights up when the arm is extended, goes off when the arm is collapsed. (The other items from Herrschners: water color pencils for my mother for Christmas, perforated (cream) paper and perforated (clear) plastic for counted cross-stitch. And there's another Herrschners order on its way to me. And I bought some yarn last week at Joann's. I need to shut down that credit card for a while.)

Oh, and I've ordered two new greyhounds. Before you faint--or question my sanity--they're statues. At 63 pounds, they'll weigh about what Sam does--and the size appears to match Sam, too. I'm thinking I might put them on either side of my fireplace. (Yeah, I know: I'm "thrifty"--and I just bought two greyhound statues. But I've wanted a pair of these things for years, this is a terrific sale price [they're often $75 each], and it's a fundraiser for SEGA. But I'm going to have to haul them home when they arrive...)

Jacey takes up crochet...

Literally.

I took a break from the afghan for Shari's baby to work on a mumble-mumble I'm making as a present for mumble-mumble. I paused long enough to go on-line to Papa John's to order a pizza ("perfect pan" with pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers). The delivery guy called to say he was lost (not unusual in a condo complex where every street name begins with "Cedar," but there are street signs). I put down the crocheting and went out to flag the guy down if he cruised past my street. While I was outside, Jacey picked up my crocheting and went to the door to wait for me. She did not, however, pick up the ball of crochet thread. I found about 10 yards of lavender crochet thread stretched across the living room and into the foyer. And this wasn't new thread unraveled from the ball. My crocheted piece was about 10 yards' worth smaller than when I left it.