Second Time Around

Puppyhood has proven to be a bit more trying than the first time, twelve years ago. I am starting to think that with Pebs we got lucky. Very lucky. Training Pebelles was hard for me since she was the first dog I had ever had, so it was more me than her. When we would teach her not to do something once, that was it. She wouldn't do that particular thing again. Unlike Duchess who we are constantly correcting on the same issues over and over. With the exception of stuffed animals, Pebs wasn't big on chewing things that were not intended for her, like clothes or worse yet WIPs. That's right. A few months ago I was working on something and left it on the coffee table. When I came back there was yarn all over the house. The only thing that saved her was that the actual project wasn't harmed, only the ball of yarn, or what was left of it. What was supposed to be a long sleeve, ended up being a vest.

I should have learned from that experience not to leave anything on the coffee table. You know, like coffee. Honestly, I never thought that I wouldn't be able to leave coffee on the coffee table. I didn't think that Duchess, a dog, would drink a cup o' joe. I left a cup of coffee on the table and walked away to finish something upstairs. When I got back, the cup was completely empty, except for one piece of dog hair she left in it to let me know that she decided to share with me. Had she not left that little piece of her, I would have thought I drank the entire cup and forgot about it.

The fact the boys love her more than anything and I love them more than anything, keeps her here.

I have been doing a lot of knitting and even crochet. Unlike the 2008 Holiday season, where I was completely organized and had the majority of projects done weeks before Thanksgiving. This year was the complete opposite. I think I only had one project done before the holiday season, if that. I was able to complete at least ten projects that were to be gifted during that time, five of them were crocheted. In the bunch were six scarves and four pair of socks.

Unfortunately, during the mayhem of it all, I didn't photograph any of them. Fortunately, I was able to finish this

right before she was old enough to cause any harm.

I call them Honeycomb Kid. They were designed for Three Irish Girls Sock Yarnista Club. I love, love, love the colorway and like always, their yarn is a joy to work with. If you like the pattern, you can go here to purchase the pattern.

Best Laid Plan

Ever have plans for something, really good plans too, only to not have them go through? The better question is if you ever have had a list and plan for lets say a hundred things and only complete two of them? It seems as though that has been the story of my life for the last year. I make a list (usually mental) of things that I want and or need to do and I prioritize the list. Of course blogging is on the list, unfortunately it has been one of the items that has not been on top of the list. Other things that are on the list (that have yet to be done) include cleaning my baseboards and windows, going through the closet, re-doing my garden (though I wonder if I can really call it a garden, if technically it is nothing but overgrown weeds, rose bushes, and shrubs), you get the idea though.

Most of my time this last year has been spent volunteering for various things that my boys are involved in. And though I have had a lot to say, I'm not sure that you want to hear about things that are not knitting/craft related. Another thing I'm not sure about is whether or not you like to read posts without pictures. I know what I like and I try to give what I like to receive. I love when blogs have pics and since I have not been taking as many pics lately, I have been hesitant to post. I don't know, I just feel as though, there has been a lot on my plate and I have seemed to justify to myself why I haven't posted. I still check on many blogs frequently, I just haven't been giving back.

One of the (many) reasons is we have recently had a new addition to our family.

Obviously, she is not of the human kind, but the canine kind. Her name is Duchess. We are not sure of her exact breed as she was abandoned on the side of the road with four of her siblings. The wife of Hubby's co-worker saw them be abandoned and well, the rest I guess you could say is history. The vet thinks Sheppard/Terrier/Chihuahua mix, though I can honestly say I don't think think there is any chihuahua. The pic above was taken the day we got her home and she weighed in at a whopping 3.8 lbs. That was about five weeks ago. Today she weighs closer to 12 lbs.

If only someone could have reminded me the part about how hard the house training process was going to be...UHG!!!!

Peb's Mat

This is one of the things that I worked on this weekend.

I love the stitch pattern, which is the Spot Stitch. Very simple and yet effective.

The way I see it, she should have something nice to eat off of and we couldn't find a mat that either of us agreed on.