Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts

07 May 2011

Dogs and Quilts

Being pregnant has lead to some odder-than-usual observations; for instance, it makes me understand my dogs better.  They're beagles and they're known for a number of traits: their enthusiastic greetings, their loud beagling (beagle literally means "to trumpet"), their insanely sensitive noses, their insatiable appetites, and their willingness to nap on the couch at any time.

I can't compete with the noise they make (or their joy at meeting someone!), but in the first trimester, my hyper sensitive nose revealed all sorts of smells of which I was previously unaware.  For instance, I now know why my dogs run over every time I open the fridge or pull the kitchen garbage bag out.  Even though they never get anything out of either event, it smells like food... all the time.

Now that I'm past that stage, my sense of hunger has returned.  I'm actually supposed to eat every couple of hours because of sugar problems, so I'm also never allowed to over indulge.  This leaves me in a perpetual fix-food/eat-food/hungry-for-food cycle.  I often joke that my dogs will eat anything that will stay still, or occasionally just move slowly (Dog #2 and grasshoppers are great entertainment!).  In any case, I'm beginning to seriously sympathize with their continual drive to eat!

As I write this, both dogs are lounging on the couch "watching" the Yankees game with us.  Even with the increased energy of the second trimester (relatively speaking) I'm spending more time resting these days and can tire myself out in a hurry.  And when I need to sit and rest, it is nice to have two warm dogs to lay next to me on the couch.  :-)

In the mean time, I'm (ambitiously) starting my first quilt this weekend!  Well, let's be honest... my second quilt.  I started one way back when I was... 8?  9?  Anyway, it's a patchwork quilt that never got past the piecing stage (I'm seriously considering seam ripping the squares and using them for other projects).  I've meant to learn some quilting techniques for several months now and, as so often happens, it looks like I'm largely going to teach myself.  Pictures of the pattern and fabrics I've chosen are coming soon!

20 October 2010

Yankee Beagles

If you've ever met my husband, you know he's a Yankees fan.  Actually, maybe even if you haven't met him... his fandom is that strong.  Since the Yankees are on a bit of a dive this week (as in, 3-1 against in a 7 game playoff series) I decided to finish this project.  And by "finish" I mean "do" because even though I've had the material for over a year, I hadn't actually cut anything out before today.  Take a look:
Yankee capes
These are little capes for the dogs.  Those of you familiar with my Facebook page know that a couple years ago I made some bandannas for the dogs which have our football teams on them.  Specifically, they are reversible so the dogs can "cheer" for either the NY Giants or the SF 49ers (guess who cheers for which team?).  George has wanted some similar doggy gear for the Yankees, so today he gets his wish.  And they only took an hour to do!
Close up
I'm not sure why I cared enough about dog gear to really work on those straps... they were the hardest part with all the turning inside out.  Other than that, the cape material is fleece, so not much sewing is required.  Very easy!  And hopefully they'll bring some luck to the Yankees tonight!

Further dog-modeling pictures are likely coming soon.

15 October 2010

New Blanket

I went on a bit of a creativity spree yesterday and worked on a couple of lapsed projects.  I was going to take pictures of the dog blanket that I finished last night, but I encountered a problem:


I thought the pictures could wait and I intended to try again this morning.  This was the result:


I guess I must have done alright.