Finished:

A new pair of underwear from Jalie pattern number 2568. These are the hipster style. I find them a little low in the back for my taste but still very comfortable. The pattern doesn't give any direction on how long to cut the waist and leg elastics and my guesses were a little bit off. I think I might even skip the leg elastic next time I make this style. I love this ruffle trim though; it's so cute.

In progress:

I have a finished quilt top and a pile of freshly washed and pressed flannelette to back it with. I still need to make a label for the back and sew the backing together. I'd like to hand baste the sandwich together instead of using pins this time and that means waiting until Abby goes to bed so I can lay things out on the kitchen floor without interference. Zeke gave his seal of approval last night when I had everything on the floor in my studio.


Started:

Canned asian pears in light honey syrup. I finally got myself some canning equipment. My plan was to make apple sauce but the idea of home canned pears was so appealing I got some of those too. I'm not sure if I'll get to the apple sauce after the pears are finished or if that will wait until tomorrow.

Tiny cabled owl as written up by Ysolda Teague. It should show up nicely against my fall coat.

A year ago last week a litter of pups was welcomed into the world and one of those pups became our Abby.

I am constantly amazed how different our lives and household are with Abby around. We seam to be in a constant state of happy chaos with lots of tail wags, barks, ear rubs and rolls on the floor. We teach Abby commands and tricks and she teaches us a whole new routine and a variety of essential but noiseless signals. We take her for walks and she reminds us how wonderful the place we live really is and we have a new way to watch it change with the seasons. I really can't picture our lives without her.

Walks are not enough to wear out our pup though and there are plenty of indoor games to take up the slack. Top of the list is Eat The Cat closely followed by Hey, That's My Tail. If you happen to be sitting down sooner or later you are going to be roped into a game of Fetch.

Our house is good for playing Fetch. The family room and kitchen run together and create a reasonable fairway for Abby-sized dogs. The laminate floor in the kitchen provides the additional obstacle of uncertain traction and there is always the under-the-fridge trap to be cautious of. One of Abby's toys is particularly good for this game: it's a foot long stuffed dog (complete with squeaker) that Abby got as a Christmas present. It is easy to throw, flies well, wont break things it hits and is easy to pick up and carry - just for the record, it was christened Ralph and Abby knows that. The only problem is that Abby doesn't always want to give Ralph back when she brings him to you.


Enter the Dog Bone for Indoor Fetch. These fly as well as Ralph and are just as easy to pick up and carry (in fact Abby can even get two of them at once). I made three and usually play with two. I keep one in reserve while the first is in the field; when Abby comes back I throw the reserve toy and she drops the first one right at my feet. A perfect recipe for endless fetch - at least until I get tired. They don't stand up to Tug Of War but that isn't so much of an issue when I'm not trying to wrestle the toy back in order to throw it again.


As you can see they also work well in the back yard (we had some incredible weather this weekend).


I thought there might be others out there who would find this sort of thing handy for a puppy or small dog so I'm offering my very first pdf sewing pattern. It's over there on the sidebar under the new "Patterns" heading. Just download the file, print it off (without scaling) and start sewing. Feel free to ask questions and have fun.