Dogs on Thursday: the Better Late Than Never Edition

What better time to catch you up with Miss Scout than with a DoT post? She is still as cute as ever, but OMG is she high maintenance! (This is one of the reasons I prefer larger canine varieties.) What a diva - the yipping, whining, squeeking, and high-pitched yowling that goes on when the Princess is not getting her way can get very annoying. We give her a warning, then cover her up like a canary when she gets started. She's starting to catch on.


But she more than makes up for this with her adorable antics. She is a virtual tornado of energy and will get to running so fast, she falls down and rolls before getting up and tearing around some more. She'll grab her tail and go round and round, then leap straight up in the air and take off again. Her ears play a big part in her charm - she looks like she has wings instead of ears.

The wonderful pet-loving people at PetSmart have donated some free puppy training classes to Animal Haven, to be used in helping our adopted and foster dogs more likely to stay in their forever homes. Petsmart, while being a giant chain, has always been very generous in their commitment to animal adoption. The local stores always have on-site adoptions featuring the local rescue groups, and donate generously to our fund-raising efforts. Plus, Abbie and Chloe are always very happy to go shopping there with us.

Scout's new family will get one of these free classes. Which they will more than need since the toy fox terrier breed is very intelligent but very stubborn. While she is well along in becoming house broken, she cannot control her submissive peeing, although we are closely following recommendations from a trainer to help her get it under control. And her idea of "sit" is to do a play-bow, which is actually so cute that I've reinforced it, fully knowing better.




She is loved by, and loves both the big dogs and Kona. In fact, she and Kona seem so devoted that I really hope someone would adopt them together. Abbie seems to have "adopted" Scout as her favorite stuffed animal. She is very gentle and loves to get her between her front paws and nibble/groom her all over. Of course, Scout wiggles much more than Abbie's stuffed animals and licks and nibbles back.



These pictures are from the past 1 1/2 weeks, when she was a 5 pounder of pure muscle. She's still growing and should reach 7-9 pounds. She's almost too big for the collar she arrived in, but she had the good fortune of winning Nichole's weekly review contest and will soon be sporting a beautiful new comfy and earth-friendly Planet Dog collar! We'll take pictures and let you know how she likes it. If she does, we'll have to get some for her foster sisters, too. Thanks, Nichole! Nichole also tagged me with this cool dog lovers button. Double thanks again, Nichole!

The weather here has been gloomy and rainy for the past several days, and since we've had rain every day this week, and when Ike hits, more rain will come our way, so we're under a flash flood warning for the weekend. No wonder my toes are growing webs. Quack. Hurricane Ike will be wrecking havoc in Texas and western Louisiana. One of our fellow knitting/blogging friends, Cheryl, the Knitting Wildflower, is in that area, so please send special wishes her way today and let her know you're thinking about her.

Speaking of the weekend, I'll be at Animal Haven with Kona, trying to help him find his new family. Scout has to stay home, with just her cute picture to help her out because there was an outbreak of parvo at the shelter recently. It's under control there, but they don't want any puppies, whose immune systems are still growing, to come into contact with remaining pathogens. I've spent so much time down there, it's beginning to feel like home. It's certainly cleaner than my home right now, too.

While we're on the subject of the shelter, there is a new movie that will premiere soon, All Roads Lead Home. Clicking on the title will lead you to our joint webpage promoting the movie. You can follow the link to view the trailer. I can't wait to see it and I hope you'll all get the chance too!

I have a bonus day this weekend. I was supposed to have some dental work done today so took off work. Because of my dental phobia, I took a Xanax. For technical reasons, they decided not to do the work today, so I came home and am too whacked out to do much of anything until this wears off. So I may get another blog post in later today. Blogging is like feast or famine lately. Thanks to everyone who left such kind words encouraging me to continue - I love you all! Have a great weekend and take care!

(PS - this post was actually written Friday, under the effects of the Xanax and I apparently forgot to hit the "publish" button. So technically, it's only one day late for DoT!)

Catch Up With Criquette, Chapter 2

"K" is for knitting, of which I have pictures. "K" is also for kittens, of which we have one foster kitty. As in "K" for Kona.

My beautiful boy, Kona was adopted 2 weeks ago by a lady who really wanted him to replace her older male cat who had recently passed away. She had a 1 year old cat who was lonely and wanted company. And a husband who wanted a buddy to sit in his lap while he watched tv. Kona seemed to take to her and I thought we had a happy ending.

Two nights after adopting him, I started getting calls from her - Kona won't use the litter box, Kona (a 12-week old kitten) is being "mean" to my cat, my husband isn't bonding with Kona and wants him to have a more manly name (they changed it to Conan)blahblahblah, whinewhinewhine. I asked her several questions, since this was such a shock to me. I offered several pieces of advice, most of which had been discussed with her at the time of adoption. Apparently she thought she was an expert since she neglected to follow any of the advice. By the end of the week, she called to tell me she was bringing him back.

I wish there was a device that would detect boneheads, so those of us who are not boneheads could be alerted and take appropriate action (such as slapping them silly). I'd pay good money for that.

At least she did the right thing, finally. So I picked him up at the shelter and brought him home, where he promptly greeted all of his canine siblings and his foster dad, then went straight to his litter box, like the excellent little kitty he is. I am so relieved he's out of that other house. I'm so mad at that woman for not following the instructions she was given on introducing a new pet into her home. The adoption counselor at the shelter has told her that although she has a credit for another pet, she will not be able to adopt another kitten. I did get a small degree of satisfaction from that!

So now we are once again trying to find him a good home and you can bet I'll ask lots more questions next time around. He is the most loving boy, who is more doglike than catlike. He wants to be held and petted more than anything else, and is very good-natured. He likes to play in water and follows us around. He doesn't get out into the house, since Criquette turns into the spawn of Satan when she senses he is in her part of the house. I started putting him in the bathroom upstairs where they can get acquainted under the closed door last night, because I have a feeling he may be with us for a while (and no, as much as we would love to keep him, we are resolved not to break our rule regarding fosters.)

Kona's marketing picture - who could resist such a cutie?

Kona's favorite hobby is "helping" Mr. Criquette as he tries to work in his office (he works from home). Kona rearranges papers and piles, knocks all pens and office supplies to the floor, (trying to help Mr. C maintain his youthful waistline, heehee), and laying with his paws wrapped around Mr. C's hand as he tries to use the computer. Here he is, taking a well-earned nap (on Mr. C's desk, of course).

And now for a completely random change of subject - recent knitting projects revealed! I competed in the Ravelympics, representing Team GRITS in WIP Wrestling. I went into the opening ceremonies with 6 projects and went into the closing ceremonies with these:

I faithfully watched and knitted every night. I completed 2 scarves and 6 hats (not included in the picture are the 2 hats I shipped off to Nichole). In addition, I frogged 2 former UFO scarves and the sleeve and upper left side of the Baby Einstein jacket.

You too could finish this many if you only had to pompom and weave in ends on 3 baby hats!

Not only did I finish all of those WIP's, I also made some new ones during the Olympics. The Baby Einstein is in the bottom right corner. I frogged because I saw that I would run out of yarn part way into the second sleeve. And of course, it's discontinued. So I picked up a solid blue that I will knit the front yokes with, which will give me enough to complete the sleeves in variegated. I also cast on for a charity baby hat, a yellow & white dishcloth, another Stormfront scarf (this one for my North Carolina niece who is going to college up in the mountains and so will need wooly goodies to stay warm), and a silk/wool lattice scarf for a Christmas gift.

After the Olympics ended, I thought I would have severe withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately, the Democratic and Republican conventions came along to take it's place. I come from a family where politics were passionately discussed all of the time. It is probably a moral failing on my part that I have very little interest in any kind of politics, ever. But, this year is different. The presidential race has really captured my interest, in terms of the issues that I care about as well as the cast of characters involved.

I am an Independent, so don't have a strong preference for either the donkeys or elephants. But I would probably join a party that had meerkats as the party mascot. They represent such a strong sense of community and family values, have an excellent work ethic, are loyal and courageous and know how to kick enemy butt. Sure, they have a few unsavory tendencies but no one's perfect. But I digress.




Anyway, I have watched every night of both conventions and have a very messy house but lots of knitting to show for it. Plus, I can actually carry on a semi-intelligent conversation now about current events. I still haven't completely decided who I will vote for come November. I think both candidates are essentially decent people and they each have some ideas with which I agree, as well as ideas with which I do not agree. As with meerkats, no one's perfect. It's a matter of figuring out who is the least imperfect, I guess.

Two weekends ago I was on pins and needles, obsessively watching all of the national news stations and the Weather Channel, hoping and praying that Gustav would miraculously downsize and bypass New Orleans. (It did. God is good.) I was having trouble focusing on my WIP's and decided I needed to make a hat. A little search on Ravelry, and voila!

This looks weird, but it's the best I could get. It's taken from the back, with my arms up and over my head.

If you look closely, you can make out the little "bands" of purl stitches swirling around.

How could I not make the Hurricane Hat? I went into the stash and pulled out a lone ball of Moda Dea silk/wool in a dusky teal colorway, cast on and around and around I went, my needles mimicking the furious swirling winds. I finished the hat last night and I'm keeping it for myself, I love it that much. I highly recommend this pattern. It looks like it can be easily adapted to fit larger and smaller heads, and would make fast-knitting, attractive chemo hats. This is one of those patterns that I will knit several times because it's quite addicting. In fact, since Ike is heading into the gulf, I think I'll go cast one on now, while saying a prayer for Texas.

Catch Up With Criquette, Chapter 1

I can't figure out what exactly has made my schedule exponentially explode into "busyness", the likes of which is consuming what little free time I had. I suspect it's a combination of work, extra critters, an increased commitment on my part to spend more time with friends, tackling some overdue home and office organizing projects, and other miscellany that is interfering with the time I used to spend blogging.

Unfortunately, none of these reasons will be going away anytime soon. I have also allowed myself to finally be talked into writing a book with my friend, who is a child psychiatrist. It's geared towards kids, so won't be a ridiculously major undertaking, but will eat up some more time on weekends. What this means is that I won't be able to blog with any predictable frequency.

I thought about even giving it up, but I'm still loving the whole experience too much to do something that drastic. I don't want to lose touch with the friends I've made through our mutual love of blogging and knitting, and I need to have the time to visit you all at your blogs. So it may be a couple of weeks between posts, but I will still be around.

I've had a lot to blog about and instead of one massive post, I'm dividing it up into a few that I'm hoping to post in the next couple of days. Since I haven't run much knitting content to speak of, I thought I'd start with that.

There have been a couple of wonderful sales sponsored by 2 of my favorite local dealers where I scored some serious wooly crack. The first (and best) took place at The Studio, where the entire store contents were on sale. I could have easily bought more since I saw so many yarns that screamed my name, but this is what I managed to squeeze out of the remnants of my Christmas gift cards:

Addicting, but 100% legal

After knitting a Calorimetry in the mossy green version, I grabbed some more of the scrumptious Colinette Cadenza in a summery periwinkle hand-painted merino:


And even though sock-knitting and I don't seem destined to become a couple, I saw this and fell instantly in love -


It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd superwash (Franklin's Panacopticon colorway). It's a limited edition yarn, so if you too think this is a fabulous new color combination, scoop some up now.



I also made a couple of Calorimetry's with this lovely handpainted Peruvian merino, Mirasol Hachu. The colors are very intense and just pop, and the yarn is nice and springy to work with.

Here's my favorite score of the day, a huge hunk of the soft and sproingy goodness that is Shaeffer Elaine, in the byooteous "Shirley Chisholm" colorway. I am most excited by this because I first experienced this wonderous yarn as a newbie knitter. It was the yarn that suffered an identity crisis but, with therapy from moi, was able to decide it wanted to be this lovely length of squishy warmth.



I loved the pattern, the colors and the whole sensory pleasure of knitting with this wool so much that I have felt several pangs of regret at gifting it to my SIL (who wears it a lot and seems to like it). I've been keeping my eye out for a colorway that is different than the original, that I like as much as that one, and this was the one. I am savoring the anticipation of casting on, but it will have to wait until my September vacation.

This yarn is to die for!

I also picked up some Araucania merino in this pretty pink color for my Dogs on Thursday swap partner.


I thought I was done with stash enhancement for the rest of the year when I discovered that the Knit Wit, another of my favorites, was having a summer sale. Jan usually puts good stuff into the big sale boxes, and all kinds of things jumped into my basket before I knew it.



I picked up some Trendsetter Scoubi Do (the 2 bright pink balls) for chemo caps, the Cervinia Madrid for a baby jacket and a couple of baby hats, the Berrocco Comfort DK for baby hats and matching booties, and the 2 single skeins of sock yarn for the 1st two squares of the Barn-Raising Quilt I will be making for Mr. C and I (over the next several years). I also picked up about a million balls of Fixation for chemo and baby hats, and a pair of house socks for me.

And speaking of stash enhancements, I wasn't the only one getting a fix around here. The lovely lady who adopted Gumbo gave us an obscene amount of her finest organic home-grown catnip. While it was drying on the back porch, Criquette kept a close watch, guarding her stash from the notorious nip-head, Bitsy BonTon.


Sadly, Criquette couldn't stand guard 24/7, and Bitsy consumed vast numbers of leaves before they could even fully dry out.

After eating her way through an entire pan of catnip brownies, Bitsy awaits her next fix, not realizing that plans are already in the works for rehab

In Which Criquette Discovers That Rat-Dogs Aren't So Bad After All

Since when did I start liking little bitty dogs? When I brought home this little bit of attitude last weekend. She was surrendered as "Demi" but none of us liked that name. We were joking around at the shelter when she came in, that we didn't want to give her a foo-foo name, like FiFi or Princess or Teensy or anything obvious like that, but that she should have a tough name. I made a wise-crack about calling her Butchy Sue and now the shelter staff want that to be her official name. Um...no. But it was good for lots of laughs.

"That's MISS Butchy Sue to you"

She is a toy fox terrier/chihuahua "designer dog" who was dropped off by a rather impatient young woman who claimed to be doing it for her "friend". We see this a lot at the shelter - people buy pets on an impulse, get them home and are shocked to learn they have to do things like TRAIN THEM and PAY ATTENTION TO THEM and HOUSEBREAK THEM. Imagine the nerve of these animals! So they bring them to shelters and unload the problems on someone else (better than dumping them in the country, I guess). Unfortunately, they've usually had the cat/dog long enough for the problem to become entrenched and harder to eliminate. And many times, they're not cute little babies anymore, but are gawky and wild teenagers and so take longer to adopt.

Fortunately this girl realized her mistake while this little pup is still young enough to retrain. We were told that this puppy was being picked on by the owner's other dogs. There is no evidence of that, and in fact, she really likes Chloe, Abbie and the kittens and shows appropriate submissive behavior and no fear.

I did not volunteer to foster her - Mr. C and I are both ready for a break. I've barely had time to take care of the daily responsibilities over the past few months and was looking forward to catching up with knitting and blogging and visiting all of you at your blogs. And we still have Kona and Java looking for homes. And Chloe and Abbie are recovering from some kind of bug that resulted in a festival of expelled body fluids over last weekend. But no one else had room for a foster, and Mr. C and I have just signed on to head the new foster program at the shelter, and she was just so darned cute, so what's an animal lover to do?

She was so very well behaved in her little carrier while she waited for me to take her home, and on the ride home, and getting set up in her larger crate in the foster/guest room. She used her potty pad very nicely and walked better on her leash than either of our big dogs. We got her all settled in with a cushy bed and chew bones and stuffed toys and some mellow indie-rock on the radio with 3 lively and friendly kittens to keep her company. And then we left the room to go make dinner. And OMG!!! we quickly found out why an expensive purse-pup was dropped off at an animal shelter. Pupzilla!!!

The ear-piercing yelps and incessant, maniacal barking gave us the first clue. The second clue was in the form of the shredded and soiled contents of the crate. The traumatized kittens will need years of therapy, I predict, as they were huddled together behind the stack of pillows on the bed.

The problem was resolved quickly when Mr. C moved her to his office, along with the kittens. He comes and goes on a regular basis, so she has ample opportunities to learn that even if people leave, they come back. After one week, she can be left totally alone for hours at a stretch (with the kittens in the other room and Mr. C gone) and keep herself calm and occupied. If anyone is wondering, we followed many of the dog whisperer's guidelines, including taking her on the twice daily "pack walks" with the big dogs, ignoring her temper tantrums, and taking her out of her kennel for lots of attention only when she is in a calm state of mind.

She is very tiny and it is hilarious to see her on the walks. Chloe and Abbie will let her walk at the head of the group after a bit and she actually prances like she's the pup in charge. We've decided to call her "Scout" because the name just fits her. She's incredibly intelligent, which has surprised me. At this age (10 weeks), none of other puppies (except the brilliant Griff) has caught on as quickly as she does. She's way far along in her house-training, almost always using her potty pad when she is out in the play yard or on the porch at home.

11" and 1.5 lbs. of pure cuteness

We'll probably only have Scout for another 2-3 weeks, as there is already a list of potential adopters for her after she's spayed. But even in that short time, I can see that she'll have us all wrapped around those tiny little paws.

Pooches Gracias, Nichole!

We are very happy here at Los Casa de Critters because we hit the lottery in the Dogs on Thursday Summer Swap. Que? you may ask. Because we were lucky enough to be spoiled by Nichole and her posse over at Lapdog Creations!

See for yourself....

Chloe and Abbie knew there were goodies in the box before I even opened it.

Chloe snagged the treats.

Abbie goes berserk for the bunny.

Aunt Nichole knows what doggies like: their favorite treats and toys, and see those little round things that look like waffles? They're little rawhides filled with maple syrup! They smell heavenly and at first I thought maybe they were for me (I loooooove maple syrup!). Sadly, not unless I take up rawhide chewing.

But don't feel sorry for me. Look what she sent me: the Yarn Harlot's newest book (which was on my to-buy list!), Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (in the puppy-sized version), an adorable photo or recipe album (there was a recipe for Frosty Paws in there), some yummy and healthy lemon-flavored green tea, a book of Pampered Chef summer recipes, some luscious lavender bath bombs, bookmarks and bumper stickers.

One of my favorite quotes, soon to be attached to my ride.

And some adorable little business cards featuring her furbabies.

Nichole, you made our week better with this great and thoughtful package. We'll all definitely stay cool with these goodies! Thank you so much.

Since I have all but disappeared from blogland this summer, let me reassure you all that I have been squeezing in a bit of knitting. I made 2 chemo caps to send to Nichole for her parents' local cancer center.

The pink and purple one was knit in Cascade Fixation, making a very stretchable cap. I love the way the color patterned on this.


The multi-colored one is knit in Berrocco Comfort, a very soft nylon/acrylic blend. Somehow I made a small mistake on the decreases and now the top of the hat looks like a boob. Hope no one else notices!


I'm also participating in the Ravelympics. I am representing Team GRITS in the WIP wrestling event. So far, I've finished the 2 hats and a scarf. I have 2 hats, 1 scarf and 1 baby sweater left to go. Don't know if I'll make it, but I'll have a lot fewer UFO's lounging around and taking up valuable space that could be filled up with yarn!

This scarf is so squishy and soft, I wish I could sleep in it! It's a bulky weight alpaca in a beautiful plum color. The pattern is the Yarn Harlot's One-Row scarf. It's a Christmas gift, so that's an added bonus!

So now I must get back to watching the Olympics and knitting up a storm. I hope to be able to post again soon, since there's lots more knitting news and more.

Dogs on Thursday: Dogs Who Love Cats

I do believe that if Chloe and Abbie had their choice that they would become cats. Since the time I adopted each of them, they will lay down close to Criquette or Bitsy, head on paws, gazing with adoration. The cats, of course, totally ignore the dogs, and seem to think they are big goofballs.

Since we have fostered kittens, they are even more besotted with kitty-love, and spend long hours laying outside the door of the kittens' room (which doubles as Mr. Criquette's office).


When we let them in for visits, it is obvious that the kittens are equally
infatuated with the dogs.




What I didn't photograph is that in exchange for their services as kitten playgrounds, the kittens allow Abbie and Chloe to herd and smell them to their hearts' content. It's a win-win situation.

These days, there is one less kitten for Abbie and Chloe to obsess over.


The divine Miss Chicory (who has been renamed Chickory), has gone to live with a wonderful new mom and a new kitten sister, who is also black and white. Her new mom originally thought she wanted an orange or tabby male kitten, but could not resist Chicory's charm. She sent us an email yesterday to update us. After a couple of days of hissing and fussing, Chick and her new sister are now the best of friends. It was hard to let her go, but I'm really happy with her new family.

For a total change of subject, if you are a Mozart lover like I am, be sure to pop over to Yarn Over Manhattan because the multi-talented Sophia is having a contest. Let her know your favorite Mozart composition and you will have a chance to win some very yummy yarn. Do yourself a huge favor and while you're there, spend some time perusing her blog and enjoying the beautiful confections she knits.

And speaking of knitting, I will actually have some knitting show-and-tell in my next post. And I heard a rumor that there may be a contest. Stay tuned...

Kitty Kaboodle

At last, my camera software is working again, I just had a 4-day weekend and I can catch up with my life. And give you an update on the kittens. They've all pulled through and are happy and healthy little fluffballs. The 3 girls (Chicory, Mocha and Frappachino) are bigger than the 2 boys (Kona and Java). So last week they met the weight limit and were spayed. (The boys were too little so will have to wait until they weigh more.)

So the girls are officially up for adoption this week. To get them ready for the real world, I've taken them on "field trips" every day since last week. Sometimes they get to hang out with me in my office, or Mr. C in his office. They got to spend 2 mornings on the porch getting used to outdoor noises and things like birds swooping by. They were initially nervous, but soon got used to it all and ended up having a great time. Here are a few of the pictures that got taken:

Chicory

Frapp

Mocha

Java

Kona

They played so hard, they all wore themselves out,



with the exception of the Energizer Kitty!


But I didn't just lounge around with kittens during my 2 days off. I made some snuggles for the shelter:


learned the Turkish cast-on and started my first pair of socks:



and frogged my first pair of socks (numerous times, actually):

The socks will remain in the frogged position until I either take a class or make something else with the yarn. I was knitting and making gauge, but the toes were so big that had I kept knitting, the socks would have fit a professional NBA player.

I'm disappointed that I didn't get to knit socks while I had some time off, but I am not afraid to know when to throw in the towel. So for now, I will content myself with the little projects I have been dabbling with these past several weeks and lounging around with the kittens. Life could be worse.


Speaking of life being worse, did it ever occur to you that you could be struck by lightning while knitting with Addi's? Me neither. But it has occurred to fellow dog-spoiler Grace (who seems like a sane, level-headed knitter) and to some of her commenters, so maybe we should take heed. And do take heed of her fun and whimsical contest and take a few minutes to answer her question and write about it your blog.

I used to be terrified of lightning. And then our house was struck by lightning during a storm 9 years ago, which set our roof on fire. It felt and sounded like a bomb had gone off. Thank God we were home and that the firefighters responded so quickly and did such an awesome job and kept our house from burning down. There's nothing like surviving something you fear so intensely to help you get over the fear. So I guess I'll keep knitting with the Addi's through storms and sleet and tornadoes and everything else Mother Nature decides to throw at us. But I promise I wan't laugh if you decide to do something safer, like hide in the closet.