Somplace Soft To Sleep

My dogs love to arrange and rearrange their blankets till they're just right, then they snuggle down into them. They nest. Sometimes they drag their blankets from room to room with them. One of the kindest things we can do for a homeless, shelter animal is to give it something soft to arrange and curl up in, to stay warm in, and to help fight off the fears.


A couple times a year I take a pile of blankets to our local shelter, C.A.R.E. I knit the blankets from leftover yarn or yarn I find on sale. Color doesn't matter. I usually knit stripes just to make it less boring for me. My favorite stitch for a dog blanket is a double seed stitch because it has some thickness for softer bedding.


There is a web site called The Snuggles Project that helps support animal shelters by encouraging their members to make blankets for the animals. They provide patterns to anyone, you don't have to be a member.


They have sewing patterns, including these Easy Sew Snuggles.


This is the stitch for the Quick Easy Crochet Snuggle.


Another crochet pattern is this Double Crochet V Crochet Snuggle.


All the dogs and cats shown in this post are waiting in shelters for a new safe, forever home. That is the very best gift, but in the meantime, they'll appreciate a new blankie.


This is a knitted pattern for the Little Devil Snuggle.


This pattern, also knitted, is called My Favorite Snuggle.

Remember a blanket can be any size, dogs come in all sizes, any color, dogs love even those colors we think are too ugly to wear, any pattern. Just make it soft with a tight weave. Lacy, open patterns make it too easy for a big dog to catch a nail and much too easy for a puppy to find a place to start chewing.

I Wait
by Karen Tracer

days into nights
nights into days
patiently
I wait
for someone
anyone
to like me.

an array of people
pass by
looking
petting
talking
to me
I wait.

I do my antics
I strut my stuff
I sit
chest puffed out
I bark
I purr
I wait.

I am homeless
no family
no master
no love
I wait.

Patiently
I wait
for someone
anyone
to like me
enough
to love me
and
take me home.

I dream
I wait
I am homeless
like me
love me
please.

Not Only For Knitters

OK, It's come to my attention that in my last post about making toys for pets and shelter animals, all but one of the examples and patterns I listed were knitted. What was I thinking? Well, you see I'm a knitter, so I get carried away sometimes when I come across cute knitting patterns. Ask my husband. We have boxes and notebooks full of knitting patterns. I figure I'll need to live to be at least 200 years old to knit up all the things I want to make and that doesn't include the cross stitch patterns and sewing patterns.

So to remedy my error, I'm doing this second post for you crocheters and sewers and those of you who don't do any of the above.


How about crocheting up a turtle for someone furry to love.


Want to crochet a dog bone?


Make a whole pond full of fish.


Every kitty would like a few catnip mice.


This fishy and the octopus, star and bird can all be found at the same place.






Try them. They can be made up in no time at all.


Aren't these furry mice cute. Any cat or kitten would be crazy about them.


While you have your crochet hooks out, how about a hamster hideout?

For those of you who prefer the sewing machine, here are a couple ideas for you.


A dog stuffie, with or without squeaker. The shelters might actually prefer to not have squeakers. Having ten dogs of my own, I know how noisy it can get with everyone squeaking at the same time.

There are several sewn toys such as a daisy and fish at this site. They didn't have pictures, but they have patterns and instructions. Check them out. Try making them from an old pair of jeans that are worn out or too tight.

Now for those of you who don't knit, crochet or sew, you don't get off the hook. How about a no sew blanket? They're quick and easy and awfully cute. I know several people who tell me they're also addictive.


You may wind up making these fleece blankets for everyone on your gift list.

So now I think I've included everyone. Let's all make something for a shelter animal.

Happy Holidays

How did it get to be November so fast?

Ready or not we're on the countdown to the winter holidays. A lot of us, maybe most of us are crafts people. Some of us knit, some crochet and some sew. Some do a combination. Most of us probably have several projects going on at the same time. Here are some ideas for gifts for the family pet.


Knit dog bones

No matter what craft we do, we all have leftover yarn or fabric. Those little bits left from a large project make great pet gifts. Pets don't care about color or prints.


dog toy


knit mice for kitty

You can make some of these up in an evening and give them to your pet, or your grand-pet or a friend's pet for the holiday.


cat bee


fetching ducks


dumbell

Dianne, the next one is for you. I thought about the little chick that went to work with you last spring. Here's the perfect gift.

chicken shawl

How about a bed for a cat to snuggle into on a cold day?


snuggle tubbie

Now here comes the catch. You knew there had to be one, right? While you're whipping out some of these for family and friends, let's remember the shelter animals that don't have a loving home for the holidays. Think how happy it makes your dog or cat to receive a new toy . Shelter animals have the same feelings. They have so little and give so much. Make an extra for one of them.

If you have a shelter near you, drop off a toy or two or many, for the animals who will be spending their holidays behind bars. If you don't have a shelter nearby you can find a list of them here for shelters all over the world.

If you still can't locate a shelter or you can't get to one, contact me. If you want to send your toy to me, I'll distribute them to shelters that need them. There are many shelters that survive on a shoestring. In good economic times they struggle to feed, shelter and care for the homeless animals. These are not good economic times. There are more animals losing their homes and families every day and the shelters are under tremendous pressure to provide the necessities. Let's help the animals with a gift of a special treat.

Our next post will give patterns for blankets to knit, crochet, sew or just tie. They can provide a warm snuggly nest for a lonely animal.

Trick or Treat

Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!



Halloween is here and some of us are dressing up to frighten away the ghosts and spirits, and of course to get some treats.


Honeydew and Sampson stand guard at their gate.



Mack is disguised as Robin Hood.


And would that be Maid Marion? Or is it Sally Ann?


This sweet little devil is Fuji.


Fuji couldn't decide whether to be a devil or a witch. She looks awfully cute either way.


Clementine is a banana.


Is that turtle actually Bluebonnet?


Sparkle's ladybug hat matches her collar.


Sometimes we ladies can't make up our minds which outfit to wear. Sparkle also liked the jester hat.


Charli looks lovely as a princess.


Where there's a beautiful princess, there must be a knight in shining armor. Doesn't Thunder look wonderful?


Little Gretchen makes an adorable bumble bee.


Sissy sports a purple bat hat. She didn't like the costume her Mom picked out without consulting her, so she chose to wear just her hat.


In the 'if looks could kill' department, Fudge models this bonehead hat.

Halloween

That big scary day is coming up at the end of this week. We know that some of you dress your dogs up in great costumes. How about sharing their pictures with us?

Either send me a picture at wilcoxhall@ymail.com or leave a comment with your blog address and I'll take the picture off your blog. We'd love to show them off.

Welcome Angus

There's another new addition to a lucky family.On October 3rd Sonya and her family welcomed this beautiful baby and named him Angus.


Angus was born on July 27 and he's going to be a big boy. He's part Great Pyrenees and part Saint Bernard. Isn't he cute?


Angus has some big brothers at home to play with and learn from. This is Starsky playing with him.


This is Hutch talking with him. Don't you wish you knew what they're saying?


Just remember Starsky and Hutch, this is going to be a big dog when he grows up. He may remember if you don't play nicely and someday he'll be big enough to get even. Congratulations to the whole family, Angus is beautiful.

Remember me?

It's been forever and a day since I posted here.

We're tepidly continuing our vehicle search. Edmunds is getting with the program, and their Top 10 Lists now include a Top 10 Pet-Safe Vehicles list. You can read the list yourself, but they collaborated with Bark BuckleUp, which is a new pet safety site to me. They do pet safety product reviews, and are promoting Bark 10-4, a program that donates pet oxygen masks to emergency service providers.

The Knight - my husband, who happens to be a fire chief - and I - a "retired" firefighter - each have rescued at least one pet in our fire service careers. My first was a nearly unconscious, massive black lab, almost as big as I was at that point, who came around as I was dragging him down the stairs in the fraternity house fire. Too bad the local TV station wasn't there to record it; Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is calm and serene in comparison. All he - my "patient" - needed was fresh air, but not all pet victims are so lucky. I'm also certified in pet first aid, but I can assure you, these masks are much more effective and easier to use than your own mouth and hands for delivering extra air to a pet patient...

Whew! I managed to get this up before the end of October and Fire Safety Month! (Also known as Fire Prevention Month. I won't link, because there are a host of different organizations that promote it and with my ties, I don't want to slight any of them.)