Happy New Year!

I hope the start of the new year, and the following 365 days and one second are fantastic for everyone.

A Finished Object! Whoopee!
Normally I am extremely lackadaisical about posting, but I have a finished object, I have a finished object!

Yes, this is a tank or shell made from Schaefer Yarn's Laurel in colorway Frida Kahlo. I bought the yarn from Little Knits (I love that place). The colors are even sort of what the real colors look like because I took this without a flash (which made the thing orange).

I also made a baby hat, which took all of an hour or so, out of Crystal Palace Iceland. It's really not quite this orange. The hat will go to Daniel, who is my friend's new baby boy. I'm thinking the little guy at 10 lbs something is going to be a wee bit too big for the sweater I made him before he was born. Oh well, my friend's litle girl's teddy bear will have a nice raglan cardie. LOL!

Also in the photo is another crocheted boot. This time, ELH has made a teeny, tiny work boot, complete with contrast whip stitching and... a tongue! He hasn't made laces for it yet, but that will come when the second shoe is finished. What a gas!

Thanks to LaurieB
A kindly knitter has told me that the little white kitty is what's called a Snowshoe Siamese, so called because of the white feet. Of course I googled around and sure enough, she looks like the pics of Snowshoe Siamese cats. Little Snowshoe's sister, the tabby, also has white shoes (and socks, I guess on the old hinders?). Husband still is torn as to whether or not he wants to commit to keeping them. I say when fate slaps you in the face with a side of bacon, make a delicious breakfast. I so hope he doesn't read this. I know I'll end up dissatisfied with litter box arrangements.

So here are the girls, and the ladies to end the year.

Lots of cute stuff.

First things first: aren't these just the cutest little things ever? Our neighbor had a baby yesterday and ELH crocheted baby cowboy boots out of Berroco Suede (tri-color). I don't know if I can give them up, they are SO DARN CUTE! Yeah, I married a multi-talented crochet guy. I love him to death, too. In the background is a picture that Chester painted.

Look what the ELH dragged in!
So... yesterday was cold and wet. Nasty wet—35 degrees and a half inch of rain. You know, one of those days where the sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So I sat in the house, all that cold, cold wet day. And as I sat in the house, wishing for something to do, why in came dear husband with Thing One and Thing Two!

Actually, the "things" were 2 kitties, whom a friend saw huddled in the dark, cold downpour against our fence. ELH immediately retrieved the two sopping cats and brought them in to his shop for warming and drying. He then went to the store for kitten food, and we gave them that and a raw scrambled egg (mmm). The little white one is shy and retiring, and the gray one is more adventuresome. It sure looks to us like these two were abandoned there, and ELH had the horrid idea that perhaps they were someone's unwanted Christmas present. Ugh, now there's a thought.

Both were completely flea covered, so they spent the night in a dog crate in the warm shop. Today we took them to the vet and found out they were both girls, with the shy white one being 3 pounds and the larger gray one 4 or so. They're about 10 weeks old and got wormer and Advantage de-flea treatment. Of course they're dropping flea eggs, so they're shop cats for now (and the pugs all got a dose of Frontline for "just in case"). The white one is truly pretty, with the gray one being what they call a "tabby". I don't know cats, so this was news to me!

Of course the arrival of two kitties sent me into a frenzy. They need TOYS! They're babies and should play. So I scanned my knitting bookshelf and one of the Stitch N Bitch books has a "catwarming" set that includes knitted mice. Ooo! And I knew what I was going to do with that, since I didn't have the yarn called for. I was going to make a FELTED catnip mouse out of Bernat Lana on size 8 needles.


It turned out so fantastically great that I made two mice (the gray mouse is the second one). I even went outside this morning in my flannel pj top, undies and Uggs and found some surviving catnip which I dehydrated in my DeLongi oven.

Bernat Lana felts really, really well; it's a shame it only comes in the colors of boring men's socks: camel, blue, gray, black and natural. But its felting properties are stellar. The mouse felted in no time at all in hot tap water in my bathroom sink.

ELH may keep one or both "things." He's been jonesing for a "shop cat" for a while now; apparently Crickett is not doing the trick with her incessant lap sitting. Yeah, I married a crocheting cat guy! I didn't ever see that coming. As long as I don't have to see, smell or otherwise deal with a litter box, I'm thinking I'm OK with it. And he's not averse to kenneling cats when we go on vacation (we have a totally Lux-o cat kennel in town with music and a fountain and carpeting).

Aieeee! My first spring 2006 catalog has arrived: LL Bean
Good night Nelly! It's not even New Year's Day and I have a spring catalog in my hot little hands. Of course I have been thinking about the "spring line 2006" for House of Marley. Somewhere I read that brown is in for spring. Like brown and pink. I can do that.

What I did do was make this great Missoni stripe sweater and hat set, discovering that "Head" is somewhat smaller than a real human head, because the hat fits better on me than on Head. It doesn't flop around on the top of my head. Of course I refuse to be photographed in case some well meaning relative or friend emails me out of concern and says, "Are you OK? You're looking kind of haggard." Heh. So the hats remain the job of Head.

End of Year Yarn Sales are Evil
Especially if you have a head cold and can't go shopping on Dec. 26th. Because then you feel you owe yourself and there ya' go, spending money on yarn when you can't even back your chair all the way away from your desk due to the piles of yarn bags. But I rationalize: the House of Marley Spring Line! Wait until the fabric starts arriving... I hope boucle is hot again this year. Besides, I shared the yarn sale love with the folks on the Knitty Coffeeshop and that made me feel a little better.

Well, no it didn't. I went beserk over Koigu KPPM at personalthreads.com. Geez. Berserk. And who knows what colors I got in reality? I imagine the yarn shop ladies giggling,"Lookit! She's got color 123-a and 506-b! What, is she color blind? What in the world is she going to make?" I just had to have the color called "chew toy." And "candy dish." There was some sort of Italian vegetable color that spoke to me, as well, but I passed on that.

Dilemmas, dilemmas!

Fair warning, I am feeling a bit under the weather today and am drinking a hot toddie.

That said, I have been planning my wardrobe for the February cruise ELH is giving me for Christmas. Holland America Line doesn't allow jeans or t-shirts in the evenings in public areas. Well, ELH and I live in the resort town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and you can go anywhere here in (nice) jeans and people don't look at you funny. So we're wardrobe limited. Hey, at least I can sew. I have already ordered 6 yards of black silk taffeta to make a ball skirt, which will go with various tops. Well, will go with one top: a red silk number that is covered in beads. Size 1 bugle beads, mainly, to be precise. Yeah, I always thought a bugle bead was a bugle bead, but no, they come in various lengths or sizes like seed beads do. Since I decided to embellish my nonexistent ball skirt, I had to mail order size 1 bugles.

Then I got the bright idea that if there are 2 formal nights, well, I would need another top, which I would knit (har, har) out of Karabella Empire Silk, in a light gold color, which would also go with my (um, nonexistent) linen pants. Of course the gold is on back order at kpixie but it should arrive next week and they'll send it on.

Meanwhile, I have started a tank out of Schafer's Laurel cotton, colorway Frida Kahlo. It really is Frida Kahlo colored, I think, except no black. The photo here doesn't do it justice, although it does show me that I will NOT be wearing a white bra under it. LOL. Gotta love 2x2 rib. And then I started Clapotis in Schafer's Helene and I think when all is said and done I will be looking stunning on the cruise. At least in the evenings when I can't run around in my t-shirt and shorts.

Marley is really a bitch
When Marley wants something she signals by barking one single solitary bark, and waiting. Then she barks once again and waits. Repeat. This can go on until you can no longer stand it, because she is 1. relentless and 2. very patient. Marley is a pugwoman of great mystery so you are left to your own devices to figure out what she wants and sometimes (for instance if she wants to go potty) it's better to figure it out sooner rather than later.

So the other day, she utters her mystery bark while she and ELH are in the kitchen. He looks at her and she just stands there. Then she barks again, so he guesses correctly and lets her outside, thinking she wanted to go potty.

Nope. She walked outside the door to the top of the stairs, barked like a maniac towards the back alley, turned and calmly walked back inside.

Sometimes, you just have to bitch at the world.

House of Marley style dilemma
I would like to redesign the House of Marley logo and website so it looks, well, more polished, I guess. In actuality, I am sure I will create a giant cluge/mess. However, I have been auditioning fonts and can't decide on one, so I've created a poll and you can vote for the one you like the best.

This font would be used for the HOM logo. That said, I want the logo to convey these things: designer, couture, uspcale elegance and expensive. Hah! But also we're kind of casual and happy-go-lucky, so "snooty" is not what I want to convey. See my dilemma? Anyhow, the poll is somewhere over to the right, and of course the pictures of the fonts are off to the left.

Oh, yeah: CLICK ON THE PICTURE so you can actually see the fonts.

Holiday Traditions

What traditions do you have for the holidays? I have one that I've been doing for the past 18 years. Yep, 18 years.

Each year, I dress my pugs up and take them to sit on Santa's lap for their annual Christmas photo. It started back in 1987 with Beijing (my first pug) and Punky (my first rescue and my second pug). That year it was in the auditorium of the Humane Society, and Punky attacked Santa and ripped his beard off (the beard was tickling Punky, it's not that he was a vicous dog). After the photos, Beijing hiked his leg on the corner of Santa's sleigh.

It was a taste of things to come.

The Humane Society moved the photos to a large mall (Bellevue Square). We always had an audience who oo'ed and ahh'ed when Beijing, Punky and later Boomer took their places on Santa's lap. The words to get them to look cute? "MCDONALDS!" "BURGER!" "COOKIE" I'd shout from the floor beneath the camera, and they'd cock their little heads in an endearing fashion. The year I dressed them in angel wings, so many people on the second floor of the mall said "Awww," that the pugs looked up, and the picture turned out great: two pug angels looking towards heaven.

Eventually attendance dwindled and the photos moved to Ikea's parking garage. I moved to North Idaho and the Humane Society stopped doing photos entirely. But the malls took up the slack with "pet night". By then Punky and Beijing were gone, but we added Marley. Boomer showed her how it was done, and she adjusted well to having her picture taken with a person. The final year of Humane Society photos, I conned my best friends into participating and we had 6 well-dressed pugs in the picture.

Last year, Chester, the foster pug who stayed was added to the picture. Santa had to put him in a head lock because Chester had 1. No manners and 2. No clue. He was just a baby and had never worn a sweater and he just didn't know, and Boomer didn't tell him. We finally got a great shot, though—Santa was very understanding.

This year I have 4 pugs. Crickett is a foster pug, but she will always be part of my holiday memories, so she is in the picture too. I made her a sweater out of Lorna's Laces worsted in a cute pastel called Happy Valley. It suits her. But Boomer had a green sweater, Marley a red, and I had just finished Chester's blue sweater all in Lamb's Pride. Crickett was supposed to have a yellow sweater, but guess what? It's still in skeins. So I made due.

On the way to the mall, Crickett and Boomer made out in the back seat of the car. Marley called shotgun before Chester, who had to share the back seat with the two lovebirds. We got to the mall and went in and I was completely stunned when Boomer, the best pug in the world who NEVER potties inside, dropped a log in front of a woman seated on a mall bench. I swiftly grabbed an ever-present baggie and scooped it up without making eye contact and we fled down the mall towards the line for Santa.

Santa was remarkably cheerful given that "pet night" was the last 2 hours of his shift. The line was a mix of people with kids and people with dogs. Every time another dog barked, yelped or squeaked, Crickett went on high alert. Boomer fell asleep (ELH explained it was past his bedtime). Chester just stood there, and Marley gave off an "I want to shop the entire mall" vibe. An hour later we were at the front and I noticed that Santa's belly was... real, and there wasn't room for anyone else in that chair he was in.

We managed, though.

When Mom's away, the pugs will...

... be very, very bad.

I thought I'd go to the fabric store in search of brocade. Before leaving, I noticed Marley sniffing a new, sealed 5 lb. bag of dry dog food. I thought that was suspicious, so I set the bag up on the console table. Not the coffee table that Chester has gotten on, the taller console table by our front door that we throw our mail on.

At the fabric store, I got to swapping dog stories with the ladies that worked there. I regaled them with my tales of Bad Dog Chester, and they in turn told me great tales of the miniature schnauzer that actually put his toys away. I wish. We decided Chester was a lot of personality in a small frame and that's why I couldn't place him—that kind of stuffed personality is hard to deal with.

As I was driving home, I thought to myself, "My next blog entry should be about why I really actually love Chester. He does cute, dear things from time to time."

I got home with my purchases and the pugs weren't by the door. That's unusual because pugs always assume you've gone grocery shopping and they want to see what's in the bag. I heard a "Wuf!" out of Boomer from the vicinity of the living room. Those dumb pugs! They knew I went out the back door, but there they are, waiting by the front door.

Then Chester came into view and I dropped everything on the floor. Chester's left side was bulging in a major fashion. Like he... OH SHEESH! Boomer waddled into the room with the same bulge. He looked like a very full hot water bottle with legs. Crickett bounced in, looking fairly normal but after copping a feel, I could tell she was full of something, too. Marley? Where was she? Oh man, she was bulging! Pugs internal arrangement is such that their stomachs are on their left sides, which was very obvious. But what would cause the bulge?

AIEEE! The 5 lb. bag of dog food was now a 2.5 lb bag. It had been removed from the console table (oh heck, it was knocked off) and a corner of the bag was chewed away. I think this action was taken at the behest of Marley. Chester got the most of the food, but Boomer certainly got his fair share, as did Marley. Crickett was at the bottom of the food chain, because her eyesight, as well as her vacuuming instincts are poor. Every dog water dish in the house was empty, too; consuming contraband kibble is very thirsty work.

Here I thought I was so clever, putting the bag on the taller table. I am again reminded that no, I am a mere pug-loving idiot. Sigh. Thankfully, the dog food contained no known food allergens for Chester. At least there was that.

Epilogue
I took the pugs for a walk around the block to ease their pain. Crickett and Boomer both relieved themselves, and Chester seemed fat, dumb and happy, but Marley showed no improvement.

The pugs were extremely thirsty, but I regulated their water intake because I didn't want them to bloat. Marley, whose innards just don't work right, fared the worst: she threw up several times during the night and was relegated to a crate in the bathroom, where she projectile vomited into my bathrobe that I'd used as a crate cover. Boomer was a different story altogether. He's an old pro at the bacchanal, so his suffering was minor. We have had parties at our house where we roast a 100-lb. pig. Boomer knows to take up residence under the pig carving table, and when the carving is done, he begs off everyone (which can be up to 100 people). Da Boom has also been known to devour entire bowls of dog food when we visit people that feed their dogs freely. So Boomer knows the feeling of now-and-again overindulgence. After Disruptive Puking Marley was removed from the room, he and Crickett settled down to sleep.

At 6am, Chester began pounding on his crate door, which usually means he's having an emergency. All pugs were herded outside and after, um, eliminating, came back in and went straight to their food dishes. AS IF!

Marley is still relegated to an area of no carpet: she's in the kitchen. The other pugs seem to have recovered from their orgy of eating, however Marley has not (damn her innards to heck). She is still extremely thirsty, so I'm allowing her water every hour. She may get another half of a Pepto Bismol tablet later today, and she certainly will get a walk after my haircut.

Haircut
After last night's disaster, I discovered it's time again for my haircut. I have long hair, and from time to time, I cut 10" of ponytail off and send it off to Locks of Love, who make wigs for disadvantaged kids with medical hair loss. ELH got me started; he had a haircut last year. We sometimes refer to ourselves as hair farmers and have sent in at least 7 ponytails between us. My hair was really annoying last night while I was trying to attend to Marley, so today is haircut day.

Holy Threads Fashion Show (before all this pug mess)
Crickett was the Belle of the Ball at her first fashion show. There were several little girls there that Crickett bonded with. One little girl didn't really want to model until I suggested she take Crickett with her and then we couldn't get her to stop modeling. That's a nice thing about pugs, they're game for anything.

Marley acted like her professional self and did the proper turns and twirls. Heck, since she did binge and then purge all night last night, I can call her a supermodel. The owner of Holy Threads commented that the pugs demeanor was different when they were modeling—like they knew what they were doing. Marley is an old pro at modeling, since she is the primary model for House of Marley, and she's gotten additional modeling chops at the Fashion Show Elegante put on by the Northern California Pug Club. Marley really has got Nicky and Paris Hilton beat, but no Internet videos, thank heavens! She truly does act differently when she wears clothes.