Monkey business, a new doll and Joey

I managed to finish crocheting all the parts for a new little monkey. After putting Joey to bed last night I was able to stuff and sew the monkey. I stitched his little face this morning and now he's done. Isn't he adorable!?!



He's only 3 1/2 inches tall. He's made of size 8 perle cotton with a size 7 steel hook. A friend of mine gave me a new book from Annie's Attic-Itty Bitty Animals. It's got a bunch of really darling, tiny crocheted animals. quick to make up (if you don't mind working tiny). I ended up making three ears because I think Joey ate one of the first two. when it was time to sew the ears on the monkey I could only find one-and that was on the floor-so I had to make a new one. I can't tell you how many times while crocheting these pieces parts I had to stop and make Joey "Leave It" and then go retrieve either the part he stole or one of the balls of crochet thread. LOL. He was just looking for someone to play with him-the poor bored puppy! LOL.


Sooo, this afternoon I wanted a little sewing time so Daddy had to watch Joey. I put the baby gate up across my sewing room door. (thank god for baby gates) I tried without it at first, but it was 'game on' with Joey. He decided that to get Mommy's attention, he would come in and look around and figure out what he could grab and run thus getting Mommy's attention really quick. Riiiigggght, that game only last for 2 grabs when Mommy declared it was done and put up the baby gate! LOL Mommy wins! Daddy now had to watch him so when Joey couldn't get into any more trouble he decided to take a nap. whew!


I actually got to sew and put together a new doll. I won the parts for a China Head doll when I went to a luncheon in May. She's so beautiful. She's 10" tall. I got the head, arms and legs. I had to make the body, upper arms and upper legs and put it all together. I used the last piece of drill for the body. She came out just lovely. Now I have to do a little research and decide what kind of clothing she'll need.


soooo, life with Joey is fun, unpredictable, constantly saying 'NO', "Leave It", "Joey Sit", 'No', 'No', "Leave It".....he's gonna think his name is "Joey Leave It". ! LOL....I think I've lost 5 lbs in 2 days of correcting him. It's easy to tell that he wants to be a good boy, it's just going to take lots and lots of love and training.....and Daddy loves him way, way much. .....life is good....sigh.....

We've got a new baby!

Meet Joey.

He's a King Standard Poodle.

He's only 7 months old and he's already so tall that he just rests his head on the kitchen table. ....no reaching for him, it's right there at mouth level...sigh....LOL. He came to live with us today. He's a rescue. A little old lady had bought him and kept him chained in the house on a 3ft chain for over 4 months. In spite of the harsh beginning, he's got a fabulous personality. Is not afraid of anything and is very, very friendly. He's showing alot of intelligence and catches on to things quickly. We're sure he'll train up in no time at all. He's already house broke! Yeah!

I'm so giddy about this. We used to have a Royal Giant Standard (Merlyne). He was a big boy weighing in at 125lbs and lived to a lovely 12 yrs old. Imagine a 125lb poodle coming atcha! LOL. that'll get your attention. We also had a teacup poodle. our little 4lb Gabby. She lived to 12 yrs old also. We lost Merlyn about 8 yrs ago and Gabby about 3 yrs ago. Our lives have been very empty and hubby refused to get another dog. He was adamant about it and the answer was always NO. Something happened to him when he saw Joey. Hubby just absolutely melted. He's absolutely giggly about this dog and has taken him on two walks, played outside with him. Scrubbed, dried and painted his kennel to look like new and made me run inside to get the camera for him to take pictures of Joey. I've had to upload the pics and get them ready so hubby can email them to all his relatives and friends when I get off the computer. this is just too funny. My life is so happy again. I sure missed having a dog in the house.

Joey is now happily tired out and sleeping at our feet.....Life is good..........

Always the bridesmaid...

I just finished a darling little dolly outfit to fit Sophie (a Tonner doll). This is my Sophie modeling it. The dress is for Pat's doll. Pat's daughter is getting married on the 28th of this month so Sophie needed a dress for the wedding. Sophie goes everywhere that Pat goes and I thought it would be sweet if she had her own little Junior Bridesmaid Dress. I asked Pat to send me a pic of the bridesmaid dress. (click here to see) So I studied the dress and this is what I made. It needed to be more demure since it was for a 'little girl' so I slightly redesigned the bodice so it wouldn't plunge to her navel. LOL! and gave it just a regular back bodice. I left the full length of the design and did all the gathers to one side. I made it just short enough so she could walk and dance without tripping and made her matching little satin panties. The dress is completely lined so that no seams show on the inside at all. It closes with two little snaps in back.

Just a crocheting maniac

This was the last surgery. Yeah!!!! The doctor removed a growth from the bone then repaired the tendons of my left thumb. Ohhhhh so good to have my hands back!!. Now it's healing nicely. the stitches came out on Tuesday and it's so good to be able to work with my hand again. I've been crocheting like crazy. I'm the hostess of the "Sock it To Me Baby" sock swap at the Bleuette group I belong to so I'm working on my socks and slippers. The bonus of the swap is one pair of slippers. I wanted to do something different so I'm making a pair of little yellow ducky slippers. I had made one a few weeks ago but I just wasn't happy with it. I thought about it the whole time my hand was out of commission and today I set to work it out. this is the results of today's work and I couldn't be happier.This slipper is barely 1 1/2 inches long just so you get the perspective of what I was working on. It's just sooooooo doggone cute!

Yesterday I worked on a new sock. I wanted something lacey and pretty but thin enough to fit under a tight shoe. I usually work in size 8 perle cotton or one strand of candlewicking thread. now, those make beautiful socks but they're a tad bulky so I pulled out my size 12 perle cotton. I made a sock that's solid on the toe and heel but the foot and upper are all lacey and fine. I"m quite pleased with the result. This fits so nice in a tighter shoe. take a look:

Ahhhhh, I'm getting back in the groove.......

What a class!

Two weeks ago I was privelaged to take a class with Susie McMahon of Tasmania. (My BFF came into town and went with me and helped me in class.) Susie's dolls are just awesome and I made a really darling doll in her class. Actually, she was kind enough to make the doll body for me since I was waiting to get the surgery on my left hand. I did the face mask and then the clothing/shoes. I wanted to go for a soft ''goth'' look and I'm happy with how she came out. Here's a close-up of her really beautiful face. Thank you Suzie!!