New Addition

We have a new addition to our family! We picked up Roxy on Saturday in Hainesville, Illinois. We went to "look."

We immediately spotted Roxy--she was the puppy in the pen on her hind legs looking like a miniature--and I mean miniature--grizzly bear.

I looked at other puppies. I had gone there with the idea that a Yorkie Maltese would be nice. They were adorable.

But Roxy won our hearts. She is a Pomehuahua--a Pomeranian Chihuahua mix. She weighs 2 pounds and will probably get to 5. Her dad--Easy the Pomeranian--and her mom--Ida the Chihuahua are both very small.

So far everyone is in love with her. Well, almost everyone. Belvedere the cat isn't too crazy about her--especially because his tail is prime puppy target at the moment. But they look so cute together!

The dogs have been great with her. Dylan the Sheltie/Cocker spaniel pretty much ignores her. He has no use for her. But Nikki the German Shepherd/Husky/possibly Akita mix is her surrogate father. He guides her around the yard. Watches her in the house. Today, he even got mad at her when she started barking madly. Which is pretty funny since Dylan is a mega barker! Guess Nikki doesn't like it.

Roxy's been exploring the house. She likes to find things bigger than her--like the newspaper--and drag them around the house.

The boys love her. They all pet and coo at her when they are home. But she really seems to have Jim wrapped around her little tail. They make quite the pair!

And, me? I absolutely adore her. I have been asking/suggesting/begging that we get a smaller dog for awhile. I like the idea of a purse dog you can take places. But Roxy has different ideas. She hates to ride in the car...hates the carrier...and isn't much of a lap dog either. She's a big mean fighting dog and wants to be in the middle of the action all the time. So I keep her in a playpen to keep her out of harms way when someone can't be right there watching her.

Stay tuned for more Roxy tales!

Roxy 

Eek! October is Half Over!

How did this happen?! Yikes!

I don't know what I do all day, every day. Time seems to fly and I seem to get nothing done. Weird. This has to be a scientific phenomenon!

On Wednesday, October 5, I went to Wool and Company for a lace knitting seminar. It was interesting. And difficult. I think the hard part was being in the same room as twenty other women all muttering "knit...purl...yarn over..." in some demented nursery rhyme sing song round. I found a pattern on the internet for a lace shawl and am adapting it for a scarf. The traditional feather and fan pattern. So far it looks pretty cool! And the pattern is easy so I am not messing up much.

The seminar was taught by Myrna Stahlman and focused on faroese shawls. The shawls hug your body like no other shawl I've seen. I want to make one! But I'll start with the scarf first.

I'm continuing to work on my sweatshirt jacket. So far I have over ten hours invested in this thing. And, frankly, I'm not too wild about it so far. I finished the free motion quilting yesterday and need to go through and fix a few spots. Some places my bobbin thread went wonky so I'll just re-quilt over it.

I learn all about sewing needles this week and it really helped. On a yahoo list, Pirate Karen Cote recommends changing your needle with each new project and with every third bobbin. I did this and what a difference. The new needles make a big difference! I also learned from Pirate Owen Wolf explained that Singer needles are a touch longer than Schmetz needles and work ideally in Singer sewing machines. This whole conversation started when Pirate Steph explained how she almost took out an eye with a breaking needle! Safety glasses!

This past Wednesday I attended the monthly PAQA meeting. I was inspired to finish up some things. Namely the jacket. I also have the painted quilt tops I made earlier this year and they need to be quilted. I also have a paper pieced pattern that I created for a class I was to teach at a local quilt shop. That needs to be assembled and quilted. It feels good to stay home and sew all day.