A Finished Doily!

Well friends, I’ve completed my first doily. Overall I’m happy with the finished project. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s pretty darn good for a first try! I was able to block and dry the doily in less than 12 hours – a nice change from blocking sweaters which take 36+ hours to dry completely. It’s now tucked away in one of my craft drawers where it will be safe from my ravenous dogs. I’ll use it once I move to a house…and buy some new furniture. My plan is to slowly build up a stash of home decor items. That way when I do move, I’ll be able to decorate with handmade things!

My lovely Vintage Crochet Pineapple Doily:

It measures 9 inches across.
I started a doily for my mom, and it’s not any of the doilies I had previously picked. I decided on the Two-Tone Doily. I’m doing it in light peach and white, and it’s about 80% done. The pattern isn’t difficult, but it includes a technique that was (and still is) foreign to me: the double crochet join. I couldn’t find any information about this technique on-line, but I must admit that I didn’t search too hard. In the end I followed what the pattern said to do to the best of my ability, and I guess it looks alright. It would be nice to see a demonstration, though. In an effort to present a more detailed description of my attempt at the mysterious double crochet join, I present you with the following:

The pattern says to leave the last loop of two double crochets on the hook, yarn over, and then pull through all loops on the hook. Here’s what I did starting with the first double crochet: Yarn over, hook through stitch from row below, pull loop up, yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through one loop on hook (first double crochet done with last loop left on hook), yarn over, hook through stitch from row below, pull loop up, yarn over, pull through two loops on hook, yarn over, pull through one loop on hook (second double crochet done with last loop on hook), yarn over, pull through all three loops on hook. Geez! It looks kind of messy once it’s all typed out, doesn’t it?

I think my next doily will be the Double Pineapple Doily in black. I’m going to finish some knitting projects before I start it, though.

Vet Visit

Last Saturday I was in Newfield to take my pooches to the vet. I’ve been hopping from vet to vet since adopting Darby and Xerxes, and I finally settled on East Oak Veterinary hospital in Vineland. It’s MUCH cheaper than any of the other vets I’ve taken them to see. My bill for two check-ups and four shots: $161. To put it in perspective, Darby’s ear issue cost me $118.50 at the vet in Clementon – and that was for a quick look and swab. East Oak also offers generic heartworm medicine at a fraction of the cost of the name brand. Originally I thought I‘d have to set aside $200 for a year’s worth of heartworm medicine, but now it looks like I’ll only have to spend around $115. Too bad Darby doesn’t weigh 4 lbs less - the cutoff is 51 lbs for the larger, more expensive heartworm medication.

Anywho, the ride to the vet’s office was quite an event. Darby and Xerxes sat nicely for the whole trip, but Madie cried and farted the whole way there. Once we were inside the office, Madie began to panic even more. Unfortunately her attitude was contagious, because it quickly spread to Darby and Xerxes. Holding onto 200 lbs worth of nervous dog wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Here’s a rundown of the visit: Both are healthy. Darby weighs 55.4 lbs and Xerxes weighs 41 lbs. The vet said Darby isn’t that fat, and that if I wanted her to lose weight, I should cut back her food intake by 25% since spayed females need less food than their intact counterparts. I think I’m going to leave her diet as is. He said Xerxes is underweight, but it’s nothing to be concerned about. Each dog got two shots (rabies and distemper). Xerxes got both in his butt while Darby got one in the butt and one in the neck. I’m not sure why Xerxes didn’t get one in his neck. Maybe there wasn’t enough fat? He was none too pleased with getting shots. Darby didn’t even notice. On an interesting note, dogs’ temperatures are now taken via the ear with the same sort of contraption used on humans.

I spoke to the vet about Xerxes’ mental issues. He told me that I should start whacking Xerxes with a newspaper every time he barks. I know it sounds awful, but I’m going to do it. Nothing else has worked, and he needs to learn how to behave.

Remember that bump on Xerxes’ leg that I was talking about before? Well, the vet said it’s a tumor. I was immediately taken aback upon hearing this news, but he quickly followed his diagnosis with, “That’s what we call all growths. Most likely this one is benign.” Well thanks, Mr. Vet. I think he originally called it a tumor to scare the crap out of me and watch my reaction. To be more precise, it’s a "button tumor," and it should go away in 6 months or so. He said that if it gets bigger, or if Xerxes becomes bothered by it, he’ll remove it. I’m relieved that it’s no big deal, but I’m still grossed out by its appearance. At least it’s not on his face.

Doily Shmoily

I've officially entered a thread crochet phase. I am now into all things dainty. I found a treasure trove of vintage doily patterns, and I've been printing them out in excess. I thought I'd try a vintage (1918) circular doily as my next thread crochet project, but now I'm thinking I'll do either the Oblong Pineapple Doily or the Double Pineapple Doily as a gift for my mom. She expressed interest in seeing the doily I've put on hold due to lack-of-needle-threader (it's an awful affliction), so I figured I might as well make her one of her own.

I wish the patterns gave yardage amounts instead of x many balls. At one point I tried to look up the yardage in each ball, but I quickly found that doing so was futile. The information isn't readily available, and most of the threads that are called for are either discontinued or come in many different sized balls. I'll have to wing it, I guess. I'm still debating the color I should use. My choices are white, off white, pink, yellow, dark red, black, peach, or light lavender. I'm leaning towards black. Or maybe plain white? Oh, I don't know...

I think that concentrating on doily-making will be a nice change of pace for me. It's a whole lot cheaper than knitting sweaters, which is an unfortunate habit that I've developed over time. Large projects start to feel like homework assignments after they've been on the needles for so long. I never liked homework, and as such I don't much like projects that drag on for months. I'm hoping to move back to socks in the near future. They're small, compact, and reasonably quick. You saw my stash. I need to start using it.

Remember that cardigan I was knitting for my grandmother? It's finito! I thought the torture was never going to end. It didn't take me nearly as long to complete as my mother's cardigan, but it sure felt like it. So, without further ado, here is Grammy's cardigan in all of its glory.


I will be presenting this to her tomorrow when I make the trek to Newfield. My pooches and their "Aunt Madie" have a vet appointment, so I'll be spending the day at my parents' house. I'm hoping for a drama-less wait/exam, but with these three, all bets are off. I suppose I timed the appointment perfectly - I just noticed this morning that Xerxes has developed a "growth" on the back of his leg. It's bald, red, and about the size of a dime. I couldn't get real close to it because 1 - he was pooping when I noticed it and 2 - he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a good look.

I'm kind of nervous about going to the vet. Xerxes looks like he hasn't eaten in well, forever, and Darby looks like she eats a tub of Crisco every five minutes. I'm almost positive that the first thing the vet will say to me is, "Are you sure the fat one isn't eating all of the skinny one's food?" Yes, I'm sure "the fat one" isn't eating all of "the skinny one's" food. I feed them in separate rooms, and Darby's on diet food! Darby has always been beefy. I think that's just the way she was made. I'd love for her to lose a few pounds so she doesn't look so threatening, but I'm not going to starve her. (I follow the directions on the food package.) Last time she was seen by a vet, I was told that she might have a thyroid condition. That sounds...expensive.

A Trip!

I guess this qualifies as exciting news - I'm going on a mini-vacation the weekend after next. I haven't done anything even slightly vacation-like since mid 2004, and I can thank my student loans for that. Maybe I'll be able to go on a real vacation in 2016, but judging by how much this mini-vacation is going to cost me, it's probably not going to happen. Anyway, I suppose I should mention where I'm going. It's Maine. Kai's sister lives there, so we are going to visit her for the weekend. We're taking a plane to cut down on travel time. Our flight departs at 7:15pm on Friday, April 30th, and we'll be back on the plane sometime Sunday night. Kai tells me that Maija's got an itinerary planned, but she won't share the details. So, I can't tell you what I'll be doing during the visit. I hope a lobster feast was squeezed in somewhere.

I can't bring my dogs, of course, so when I first learned that we'd be going to Maine, I had to look into lodging for them. After hours of research, I came to the realization that kennels are rip-offs. For the sake of brevity, I'll only go over what I learned about one, the Petsmart PetsHotel. I called for a quote and nearly fell over when I heard the price for a weekend stay - $200. I know that kenneling two dogs is more expensive than kenneling one, but in my opinion, $200 is a little steep. To make matters worse, the $200 quote applied to the barest of accommodations. The dogs would be stuck together in one cage, and they would only be let out 3 to 5 times a day for 5 minutes to potty. I don't mind the idea of putting them in a cage together, but I do mind the idea of putting two rather large dogs in a cage meant for one. What really bothered me was the thought that my dogs would have to stay cooped up in a cage all weekend. That thought led me to inquired about Petsmart's doggy daycamp, as I had read about it, and it seemed like something my dogs would enjoy. It's an all day program meant for owners who work but want their dogs to be exercised/supervised. Long story short - Petsmart collects money from each owner and then puts all of the dogs together in a room to play. The price for said program is $18/day per dog. They offer no discount if you're already paying to kennel your dog, so signing my dogs up for doggy daycamp would have added an extra $108 to my bill. Ouch! I should have known at this point to quit digging, but I continued on since my options were limited. Shortly thereafter, I came across a deal breaker - Petsmart's "breedist" rules and regulations. Apparently Petsmart does not allow certain breeds to participate in doggy daycamp, namely the "bully" breeds. In addition, any mix that looks remotely like one of the bully breeds will be excluded from the daycamp. Darby looks an awful lot like a pit bull mix, and I couldn't bear the thought of Xerxes being taken from the cage to play and her being left behind. That was it. Petsmart was crossed off my list.

What I've learned from this experience is to avoid kennels at all costs. They aren't good for your dog(s) or your wallet. Most offer all kinds of "add-ons" that cost extra, but how do you know for sure that your dog received that extra treat, or playtime, or belly rub? Nothing about kennels sits well with me. In the end, I hired my brother to watch them. Although it'll cost me a pretty penny, at least I'll know what they're eating, what they're doing, and that they're not being beaten.

Etiquette - For People Who Throw Showers

Practically everyone knows that sending a thank-you card after receiving a gift is both polite and necessary. It shows that you appreciate the giver's thoughtfulness. Unfortunately, an incredibly rude trend has started to take hold of the "shower world." Not only are there showers for nearly every event in one's life (engagement, bridal, baby, etc.), the throwers of these showers are now demanding that guests fill out their own thank-you cards/envelopes.

Excuse me?! Let me get this straight: I came to shower you with gifts, and you're asking me to thank myself for you? Nothing is more irritating than walking into a shower, having a gift swiped from your hands before you can remove your coat, and hearing someone bellow from another room that you need to fill out your card. Coming in at a close second - receiving the thank-you card weeks later and wondering why you sent yourself mail.

Now, to be fair, the guest of honor may not have know that her thrower intended to employ this rude practice. But, that doesn't make it any less bad-mannered. The thrower managed to collect all of the addresses to send out the invitations, and she should have them on file. Isn't it curious that she had all the information when she asked people to bring gifts, but not when the time came to thank people for them?

I love the excuses these throwers make. "So and so will be too busy to fill all of these out. She's got enough on her plate already." "I figured it would be so much easier for everyone to fill their own out. That way no one is forgotten!" If the guest of honor is too busy to write out her own thank-you cards/envelopes, then she is too busy to attend the shower and receive gifts. We're all busy. Guests have to take time out of their schedules and money out of their pockets to attend a shower with a gift. The least the recipient can do is thank them...personally.

Now that I've made my thoughts heard on the whole thank-you debacle, I've got something even more boorish to throw at you - the sheer size of most showers nowadays. It is NOT okay to invite your aunt's boyfriend's mother, unless of course she is a close friend of the honoree. Showers have gotten too big lately, and throwers are reaching too far in an attempt to secure more and more gifts. If a prospective guest does not know the honoree personally, they should no longer be considered a prospective guest. Showers are supposed to be intimate occasions where the honoree's close friends and relatives supply advice and necessities for a new stage in life. They are not supposed to be huge events attended by everyone who has even the slightest connection to the honoree's family.

While I can control only my own behavior, rest assured that anyone and everyone who's stuck with me as a shower thrower will be filling out their own thank-yous.

Another Monday

Boy do I hate Mondays. Every Monday I feel like I’m never going to make it to the end of the week. Oddly enough, my favorite day is Thursday. It’s strange, but come Thursday, I start to get excited because I only have to wake up “early” one more time. And I use early loosely – my dogs wake me up before 7 almost every day.

Anyway, I had a pretty productive weekend. I am incredibly close to finishing my grandmother’s cardigan. In fact, as soon as I’m done posting this entry, I’ll be finishing the button bands. Sewing everything together was quite irritating. I’ve sworn off knitting articles of clothing that are constructed using pieces from this point forth. My seaming skills are pretty awful, and it took me approximately 4 hours to seam the whole thing. I’ll give myself this, though – I can mattress stitch plain stockinette to plain stockinette like a pro!

I did start that Vintage Crochet Pineapple Doily I mentioned in my prior post. It’s moving along really quickly. I chose to crochet it in size 10 “Antique Lace” crochet cotton. All I have to say is that it definitely looks “antique.” The color is very convincing. Presently, I’ve got 4 more pineapple points and the edging to do. Barring any natural disasters, I anticipate finishing it sometime tomorrow.

So, what’s next? Well, I’ve got my eye on another doily pattern. It’s from 1918. I think I’m going to have to start those hats I have queued, though. I must fulfill my promises! And there’s that cardigan that I mentioned many posts ago. I should start that soon. According to my track record, if I were to start it now, I’d have it done by the time it starts to get cold.

Enough jibber jabber – it’s time to share my favorite part of the weekend – THE DOG PARK! I’ve been taking Darby and Xerxes to the Freedom Dog Park in Medford, NJ once a week for the past 4 or 5 weeks. I’d love to take them more, but Kai seems pretty set on one trip a week. He doesn’t like it very much, but that’s probably because he doesn’t really like dogs. It’s the most beautiful dog park I’ve ever seen. The park is set far off the road in a woodsy area. It’s 20 acres of pure bliss in my opinion. I haven’t explored the whole of it yet, but the parts I have explored alternate between big open fields and dense foliage. There are various bodies of water scattered throughout that serve as great “swimming pools.” Darby and Xerxes love to swim, if what they do can even be called swimming. Xerxes splashes around with the other dogs, and Darby lays down like a hippo. Neither of them has gone deep enough to require paddling.

Xerxes is a very high energy dog, and yesterday he made a spectacle by bursting through the gate like a bat out of hell. He located the nearest dog and proceeded to run very large, very fast circles around his victim. (He hunkers down, puts his ears back, and gallops. It’s quite a sight.) The dog’s owner laughed and asked me if Xerxes was part greyhound. I told her I don’t know, but at this point, I have my suspicions. I haven’t been able to put weight on him since adopting him last July, and neither labs nor boxers are known for being slender dogs. (The shelter said he was a lab/boxer mix.) When allowed, he runs for hours, and he’s pretty quick, too. I think I’ll ask the vet when I take the two of them for their check-ups this coming Saturday.

Darby and Xerxes love to mow the lawn.


Darby, in the water, drooling.


My little hippo!

Nearing Completion

So that Hey Teach! cardigan I was working on, it's almost done! I put all of the pieces on the blocking board last night. I was kind of hoping they'd be dry this morning, but I knew they probably wouldn't. Maybe they'll be dry tomorrow. I'm anxious to sew everything together and get this thing out of my hair.



I stretched everything to the max. It was looking a little small, and after all that work, it better fit! I'm finding the sleeves especially worrisome - they were a bit tight compared to my upper arm, but I think Grammy has small upper arms, so they might work out.

I've already been thinking about my next project. Although my queue is loaded with stuff, and I've got hot pads and hats on order, I kind of want to try my hand at this Vinage Crochet Pineapple Doily. I'll probably finish up the hot pad that's on the hook right now and then start start the doily. I know, I'm bad.

Well, I can't end this post without updating you on the snails. I took another picture of them. I REALLY need a new camera. This one takes awful, blurry pictures. With no point of reference, it's difficult to tell that the snails doubled in size, but they did.



I bought them a new house a couple of days ago. I'm almost positive they'll be able to squeeze through the slots in the lid, so the big move will have to wait. I've seriously considered decorating their new abode with artificial plants - for aesthetic reasons. You know, because a snail habitat MUST be aesthetically pleasing.