A puppy for Ladybug

Ladybug is my mom's "dog". She's a 6 pound, chocolate brown chihuahua who gets carried everywhere like an accessory. I'm not really a big fan of Ladybug. Mostly because I think she is un-doglike, kind of mean, and also because she's convinced my mom that my dogs want to eat her (so untrue).

But last week my mom put this really pathetic status update on facebook saying that Ladybug is having a false pregnancy. Apparently dogs bodies can trick them into thinking they are pregnant when they aren't. My mom said Ladybug started lactating and was nesting in preparation for a puppy that she wasn't going to have.

As much as I dislike my mom's dog, this really did break my little heart. So I made her a surrogate puppy since she won't be getting a real one. I don't know if the fake puppy is really going to help much, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

I found a pattern online here. I think the pattern assumes you know how to make amigurumis already and skips explanatory steps like stuffing, cutting yarn and sewing pieces together BUT it was free and I could figure it out between the directions and the pictures (made the head much smaller than the pattern called for, though).

Anyway, without further ado, here is "Firefly", Ladybug's surrogate puppy.

(the dog posing with Firefly isn't ladybug, but my 14 pound toy poodle / chihuahua mix, Jack)

Our wee little cupcake

(in case you missed the hint, we're having a boy)

A cupcake in the oven

(fabulous illustration borrowed from: http://blog.roseflash.ca/category/illustration-friday)

So there's something going on that I realized I've started talking about on Facebook and have failed to mention on my blog...I'm growing a cupcake, er baby! I'll be 17 weeks along tomorrow and am due June 1, 2010.

So far things are going well (with the baby anyway...I've been sick and having issues but the baby seems to be just fine) despite being labeled "high risk", which so far has just meant extra monitoring and an ultrasound every 4 weeks (no complaints on that here!).

Because we have been "blessed" with needing extra baby viewage we were able to see the baby last Wednesday AND find out gender a little early (most women don't get their "anatomy check" ultrasound where they check out all the baby's parts and gender until 20-24 weeks...mostly because most women only have a couple of ultrasounds their whole pregnancy). So we're having a.....BABY! lol Sorry. You thought I was going to tell you the gender, eh? Well I will. Just not yet. The night before our ultrasound Husband decided he thought it would be fun to wait and tell everyone on Christmas....so that's the plan. We'll let you know later.

Anyway...that's our fun news. Thanks for letting me share. :-)

Fun Christmas Knitting Project Idea

I was poking around on Ravelry today looking for for Christmas patterns and found this fun thing:

Christmas Lights

Available for download on Ravelry for $4.99

One person had it styled as a cool scarf:

Fun new blog

I just discovered today that one of my friends has a great blog that I never knew about. Not only does she have an adorable little girl and mad photography skillz, but she blogs nearly everyday. Unlike certain blog owners who shall remain nameless.

Anyway, if you're looking for fun and crafty inspiration, fun stories about life with a one year girl or super thriftiness, check out my friend Patti's blog at: http://brettandpatti.blogspot.com/

Cooking MacGyver Style

There is a special place in my heart for doing things differently. Like when Joe and I moved from Boston to Portland and drove cross-country, we utilized what we had (a car) to make lunch a la Manifold Destiny. You can check out our blog entries on this here: Our Little Lunch Experiment Take 1, lunch experiment take 2 and Mmm burrito.

So today, when I was scouring the internet for something completely different but happened upon a post about how to make chicken and cous-cous in your coffee pot I thought it was BRILLIANT. It almost makes me want to go acquire this kind of coffee pot just to experiment to see if it might work.

What about you? What kind of creative cooking (or otherwise) exploits have you undertaken to do things just a little differently than the rest?

And now for something completely different...

So a co-worker made a comment to me yesterday when I asked if she had made something on her desk and said, "Yeah, I'm not really into super lame crafts." So inspired by Amy, here is my post highlighting my favorite, not-necessarilly-super-lame, but definitely quirky crafts of the week:

1) Fake Dog Poo Knitting Pattern

I am not even joking. I found this two nights ago and couldn't stop laughing. For only $0.50 it can be yours. Find it on Ravelry here.


2) Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?]
I actually really really like this pattern. And what's not to like about a hat that looks like a giant fish is eating your head? But you've got to admit....it's quirky. 1,127 Ravelry knitters who have made this pattern can't be wrong! Find it for free on Knitty here or on Ravelry here.

3) Babies in a Blender
It's a hat. It has plastic baby appendages. It's....really weird. In fact, it's so weird, I'm really surprised this woman doesn't live in Portland. It's not a published pattern, but Ravelry users can see it on Ravelry here.


4) Womb
A knitted womb, that is. So in case yours has gone missing, you can knit yourself a replacement. Also featuring pirate version, "biological" clock version and anti-hitch-scrotum version. Pattern available for free at Knitty.








That's all for now! And don't forget: craft weird. It's the Portland way!

Help me name my new "pet"

In the spring, pretty soon after we moved into the house, I bought a beautiful fuschia hanging basket that has flourished and done pretty well for itself...

But the heat wave that we had 2 weeks ago killed it dead. So after failing to be able to revive it, I went to take it down to trim the long dead branches and something flew out of it but I didn't really think much of it, until I got it on the ground and saw a nest with some eggs in it! A bird totally moved into my hanging basket!

This picture was taken a couple days later and you can't see the eggs because it's up pretty high and the bird was mad I was getting close to the nest, so I tried to stay back a little bit.

This is what she looks like:

She's pretty little. Maybe only 2.5 - 3 inches tall. Does anyone know what kind of bird she is? Even better, does anyone have any good name suggestions? Please share in the comments!

For the blanket incompetent

You all know the Snuggie, right? The blanket with sleeves for people that think using a normal blanket is too complicated? Or who wish their choir robe was jut a tad warmer so they could use it as lounge wear?

They have solved the problem every dog owner has...how to keep your dog from being jealous of your Snuggie. Introducing the Snuggie for dogs (no joke!)

I have no more words.