Another picture afghan

Earlier this year, I mentioned having a couple of “commission” projects that I needed to get done before I could truly start on any of my own things. The first was making a Roman shade for a friend out of some sunflower fabric she had been hanging onto for years. It was my first go at making a window dressing more complicated than a rod pocket or tab-top curtain. I spent a lot of time reading tutorials and pondering the logistics of it. So that was January. When I finished up the shade (which I did not photograph, sorry), I immediately began working on an afghan for a friend whose canine companion of 14 years had just died right around Christmas. This wasn’t so much a commission as an idea for which I managed to convince some other friends to help fund me (not that they took much convincing — we were all heartbroken for our sweet friend, S, and wanted to do something to help lift her spirits). I presented my idea to them and the photograph I would use to make the afghan — a picture of S’s dog wearing a birthday party hat that she had posted on Facebook a few years ago. What a fun way to remember her little dog! I worked on this afghan everyday and felt like I couldn’t (shouldn’t) work on anything personal until it was done because I had a whole bunch of people counting on me, plus, I just wanted to get it to S as soon as possible.

I used a J Tunisian/afghan hook and Caron Simply Soft yarn; I like it for the sheen and the softness. Here are some “work in progress” pictures with the grand finale at the end.

A little weird and abstract at the beginning

Now it looks like a dog! 2/3 of the way done with the picture.

All done and with a border on it!

I finished it late one night at the beginning of April and mailed it off the very next day. One of the other ladies contacted S’s husband to let him know that “a package” was coming and when it was to arrive so that he could grab it off the porch before S got home from work. He had agreed to video her opening it and then, with her permission, post it for all of us to see since we’re scattered all over the country. S had no idea that we had been doing any of this, so it was all a huge surprise. She was speechless! But she and her family loved the blanket and that totally made my day. I’m so glad I was able to make something so special for her.

Since then, I’ve been working like a maniac in the garden. Or rather, I made gardens out of overgrown patches of land along our driveway and cleared out another overgrown flower bed. I’ve just about got everything planted and I’m really feeling the itch to sew again, so there should be more consistency (I say. ha ha ha) coming up!

Saturday in Spain V

Today’s episode of Saturday in Spain is brought to you by…

A chihuahua in a window.

He was very perturbed that we walked under his window and was even more agitated that I stopped to take a picture of him. But come on, that’s funny stuff.

French Friday #15: Animal Fair

The French like animals. They really like dogs (always run a perpetual scan of the sidewalk about three feet ahead of you to avoid doggy-generated mishaps). Sometimes animals show up in funny places.

A king can't get any respect around here.

This is the statue of Charlemagne in front of Notre Dame. He’s a great meeting place for people and makes a pretty good lookout for pigeons.

 

Cats grow from seed, apparently.

This cat was on the second floor, enjoying his view from the window box on the Ile-de-la-Cité. I hope he doesn’t use it as a litter box, too…

 

That's a 200 year old dog right there.

Napoleon liked his dog so much, he had him stuffed. His name may or may not be Lauro. He lives in a glass case at the Musée de l’Armée at Les Invalides.

This dog sells home decor.

A lot of French shop owners bring their furry friends to work with them. This bulldog was keeping an eye on things at a store in our town.

Spa for goats

This goat was cooling off at Marie Antoinette’s Hameau on the grounds of Versailles.

Go fish!

These are the greediest, noisiest carp I’ve ever seen. They live in the pond at the Hameau on the grounds of Versailles. They’ve obviously been fed a lot. We threw them a few crumbs of a pulverized granola bar and they went nuts.

A crow strolls around the moat at Vincennes.

We weren’t the only ones hanging out at Vincennes that October day.

Do you wannabe a wallaby?

We were surprised to find a wallaby rescue center on the grounds at Chantilly. There were plaques there explaining why and how, but I can’t remember any of that now. Should have taken a picture of the plaque.

Pretty little orange birds. Anybody know what they are?

The Sunday bird market on the Ile-de-la-Cité was pretty cool. We only got to go one time as we were leaving for vacation. There were all kinds of colorful little birds, and also a few rabbits and hamsters.

Zebras in the parking lot, why not?

And you never know when the circus might come to town. This particular circus had set up camp in a huge parking lot near a supermarket in Dijon. They also had camels, reindeer, llamas, and miniature goats out there. They kept the tiger and lion in their cars, but we could see them occasionally.