The Quilt-A-Fair Show 2009

What a fabulous weekend!

Not only did we have a great time at the pug party on Sunday, but Quilt-A-Fair in Longmont, CO was on Saturday! It is one of Melanie and my favorite shows to go to every year.

There were gorgous quilts everywhere!

... and so many wonderful kits, buttons, yards of fabric, fat quarters, ribbons, sewing machines and vintage textiles that we were in heaven!

We bought this cute zipper pouch pattern kit to inspire us to learn how to sew in zippers!

... and lots of new fabrics to play with!

I am excited to make more fabric journals out of these.

The show was filled with people as soon as the doors opened at 9am!

There was so much to see and do. I even found some dog themed quilts!

The dog appliques were made from this wonderful book!

I will have to try and do that one of these days! I have it saved to my wish list.

What a great time!

Melanie and I laugh at these pictures we take of ourselves at every event. We huddle together and I hold my arm out as long as I can to get us in and not chop off our heads.

I need longer arms or to convince Mark and Fred to come to the craft shows with us.

Hmmmm... I think the arm growing idea is more likely. :)

I will have lots more pics to show you next week of Melanie and I crafting. We are leaving on Friday for a 3 day craft retreat to her mountain house. I cannot wait!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Colorado Pugs in the Park ~ 2009

We had the most perfect day on Sunday for the Colorado Pug Rescue's Pugs In the Park ~ 2009!

It was a wonderful day filled with people and pugs, contests and costumes!

Fred and Melanie were the best team.

We had so much fun making lots of new friends all day!

There were wonderful contests!

Here is the hotdog eating contest!

I especially like the puggy in the middle of the shot screaming with his ears up in utter excitement and the puggy in the foreground determined to win!

...and the costumes were just wonderful!

We cannot wait until next year!

If you would like to see all 3 parties we went to this year in San Diego, Seattle and Denver, please click here to see them all!

I am almost all caught up from the day and promise to be by everyone's posts to get all caught up! I cannot wait to see what you have been up to! :)

The Puggy Assistant is "IN"

Happy Monday!

Emmitt, The Puggy Assistant, is in the office today and ready to take your calls. :)

I am on duty by myself today because momma is getting caught up after a very fun and successful show at the Colorado Pug Rescue's Annual Pugs in the Park party on Sunday. :)

There were 100's of pugs and people playing games, winning raffles and wearing costumes for the costume contest!

She is really busy getting pictures ready to show you and filling orders so she asked me to be a big boy and fill in today.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning that I put on my costume,um... I mean uniform, and headed right to the office to get on the computer.

How do I look?

I'm ready for action! Now... all I need is my bed, my favorite stuffie, a bag of blueberry cookies, a bag of pumpkin cookies, a bowl of water and some meatloaf.

Be right back...

*Pug hops off chair... runs around the house collecting all the items on his list, put each one in his bed, drags bed up two flights of stairs and into the office.*

Phew! That was hard work! I need a nap. Time for a little break... where are those cookies? yummmmmm! bluuuuueberry! nom, nom, nom.

Have a super day everyone! If you call I promise not to blow crumbs into the phone. I have been practicing talking with my mouth full all morning and I have gotten really good at it!

Emmitt ~ Over & Out!

Please Join Us ~ Pugs in the Park 2009

We are so excited!

The Colorado Pug Rescue's Pugs in the Park is this Sunday, Sept. 27th from 1-5 pm, at Denver City Park!

Each year there are hundreds of pugs, people, costumes, food, contests and vendors!

Come and join the party and please stop by and say hello! Melanie, Mark, Fred and I will be there in our Pug Notes Booth.

All of the funds raised at the party will help the wonderful foster pugs in the care of the Colorado Pug Rescue.

If you cannot attend, but would like to help the Colorado puggies, the CPR 2010 Calendar has just been released and is packed with wonderful pug photos. Each calendar is only $12 and all proceeds will go right to the pugs in need!

Please click here to get yours today!


I cannot wait to show you pictures from our wonderful day!

We always have so much fun every year!

What are you doing in your part of the world this weekend? Please leave us a comment and let us know. Emmitt and I would love to hear all about it!

Purple Bobble Sweater for Charity ~ Crochet Pattern

Hi Everyone!

I just finished my second Go-Over Sweater for the Knit-A-Square Charity in South Africa.

I love crocheting these wearable blankets for the children.

I decided for my second sweater, that I would incorporate my favorite bobble pattern that I used for the baby blankets in July.

It is very easy to make a bobble stitch. Here is how I make the Bobble Sweater...

The front is formed by crocheting two rectangular panels that are sewn together in the middle to make the front of the sweater with a slight V in the front:

This pattern creates the sweater you see that fits me which would be the size of a child L or an adult S. Please feel free to make adjustments to whatever size you want.

Worsted weight yarn, I hook

Sweater front: (make two panels)

Ch27
Rows 1-5 sc across (26)
Row 6 (change color) Join new color and sc in same stitch, sc in next stitch, *bobble, sc in next 6 stitches, bobble* repeat until end of row. End bobble color (4 bobbles formed and 2 sc on either side of the bobbles at the end.)
Change back to background color.
Rows 7-11 sc across
Row 12 Repeat row 6.

Continue with this pattern until 5 rows of bobbles are complete and then sc with background color to form a long rectangle that is 20" long.

Now you should have a rectangle that is about 9 x 20. I then weave in all of the ends and sc 2 rows along each long side so that the rectangle is about 9.5 x 20.

*Repeat the same process for the second panel.*

With wrong sides up, line up the two panels with the way you want you bobbles to appear. (I inverted mine so that there is a bobble patch at the top and one at the bottom.)

Start at the bottom and sew the two seams together with your main color yarn & a yarn needle leaving 2.5 inches open at the top for the v opening. Now sew back down the seam again to the bottom to reinforce the seam and weave in your ends.

Ta da... the front is done.

To form the back, my gauge is to ch 52 and sc a rectangle that is about 19 x 20 that matches the front in size. No worries if it is not wide enough when done because you can add a row or two of sc on the sides to make them match up.

Sleeves:

Sleeves: 16” total (make 2)

I start my sleeves as a flat band to check the gauge and to create a slightly different pattern in the sleeve to form a band at the top that is 5 rows and then sew the seam together and start working in the round. This is my preference, but you can start in the round if you like.

Ch 48
Sc 5 rows across flat band. (17” strip)

Row 6 – join work and work in rounds (sew up seam)

Row 12 – sc 10 decrease 1 (4x) = 44

Row 14 – sc18 decrease 1 (2x) = 42

Row 20 – sc 8 decrease 1 (4x) =38

Row 47 – sc 3 decrease 1 (8x) =30

Row 48 – sc 4 decrease 1 (5x) = 25

Row 49 & 50 – sc AA – end

Row 51 sc AA in contrasting color.

Piecing together: (I always sew all the seams twice to reinforce and to prevent holes.)

I line up the front and back panels and sew 5" in on each side at the top to form the shoulders and leave a comfortable neck hole.

When the top is joined, I line up the bottom and join the sides from the bottom up to about the middle or a little higher to stablized the body to join in the sleeves. (There will be an opening on the sides that have not yet met the sleeve area that I will close once the main part of the sleeves are sewn in.)

I fold the sleeve so that the little seam from joining the 5 top rows is in the arm pit, line up the top at the shoulder, sew the front of the sleeve to the body, flip, sew the back and then close the side while joining in the last little bit of the bottom of the sleeve in the arm pit.

To finish, I pick the bobble color or a third contrasting color to sc around the bottom of the sweater, cuffs and neckline.

Voila, your bobble sweater is done. :)




Melanie was so wonderful to felt and cut (22) 8x8 wool squares for me to include in the package. They will be sewn into blankets for the children to keep them warm. Many of them sleep outdoors and need wool fiber that is more fire retardant than the acrylic yarn.


I am off to take the package to the post office. Whenever I drop off a package, I envision it making a safe journey 1/2 way around the world and bringing lots of children joy and warmth.

Happy Thursday everyone!

P.S. Lilian & Coco had a wonderful comment wanting to donate to Knit-A-Square directly since she wants to help them without knowing how to knit or crochet. I just learned KAS has set up a paypal donate button to make this possible in any amount that is comfortable for you. Every dollar really helps and your love and geneorsity is so appreciated! You are all so wonderful and supportive. Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and ideas!

Emmitt is patiently waiting...

Emmitt is patiently waiting for a morsel of food!

Warning!

Lurking behind every appliance is a hungry pug!

Mine is named Emmitt, and he is very good at popping out at you when you least expect it to try and get you to drop your food on the floor.

He has written a book on how to get more than your fair share of food.

Would you like to learn his secrets?

Just leave him a comment to join in on the fun!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Learning to Spin Yarn with a Drop Spindle

Melanie and I had the best time learning to spin yarn with a drop spindle!

We had no idea what it was all about and we just loved it! Let me say this though ... as with all things that are rewarding, it is not easy! It will take lots of practice for me to make a uniform piece of yarn. However, I will show you that even the most uneven, crazy piece of yarn makes a beautiful piece of art!

I was so impressed that all you need to get started is a drop spindle, wool roving, a leader string and a sense of humor. Here is a great video tutorial that shows what we did in class.

Here is the wool roving before we spun it into yarn.

This is our teacher Maggie Casey. She is an expert in the field and has written books and produced a DVD on the subject. Her store, Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in my opinion is the most wonderful yarn store in the world! The shop and classroom space cover more than 8,000 square feet chock full of colorful yarns, patterns, buttons, dyes, books, just about anything your heart may desire, located in Boulder, CO.


Here we are plying the two strands of yarns we created. One is blue and the other is white.

Ta Da!

Here is the flower I crocheted from my yarn. I did not know how this yarn that in places looked like thread while in other places looked like Q-tips having a really bad day was going to work up.

I was thrilled! Now I am hooked! I am going to have to get a spindle and start practicing. :)

For our next adventure at the yarn store, Melanie and I signed up to learn how to weave yarn baskets at the end of October. I cannot wait!