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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Kindness of Strangers

The universe sometimes has a way of working things out. For instance, this morning I woke up with great difficulty, dragging myself out of bed because I knew I had to get to work, where a huge pile of reading awaited me. When I stopped at the top of the driveway to put a bill in the mailbox, I noticed that the mailman had left two packages on the front stoop. I had to wait until I got to work to open them, and what pleasant surprises were inside!

First was the prize I'd won from Julie for coming up with a name she selected for her latest design, the Haymarket Bag. Have you ever known me to not be excited about a sock book?

The other package was a larger box, from Mari. I knew she'd sent me something because she'd e-mailed me about a week ago asking for my mailing address -- but she only said she had a little surprise for me. As it turns out, when I'd gushed over Dudley, the stuffed daschund she'd made from a Japanese pattern book, she decided that -- although we only "know" each other online -- she had to make me one.

Meet Dudley Junior, or DJ, as I like to call him:

He's made of a beautiful chocolatey linen and stuffed with organic cotton (he came with a hand-written tag telling me all this).

Tell me this is not the cutest doggie face you've ever seen!

Thank you so much, Mari! I've repacked and unpacked DJ several times today, just to get the thrill I got upon first opening the box, and I've squealed with delight each and every time. DJ is going to do a lot to fill the hole I have in my life by not having a real dog (but not forever, J!).

Knitting is coming along without much exciting progress, probably because the heat and the stress at work is wearing me down. Last night I made it into the third lace repeat in the Pea Pod Cardigan. DJ approves of my work thus far:

Tonight will be more of the same. I'll try to have some more interesting knitting pictures in time for my next posting. In the meantime, happy "tails" to you!


(Sorry, I couldn't resist! And I know you're not at all sorry to see the cutest little puppy tushie ever!)

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 AM

    What a cute little daschund. I had one (a real one) growing up and love these dogs. I want another one now, but have a resistant husband.

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  2. Anonymous9:37 AM

    DJ is adorable!

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  3. Awww... DJ looks so happy in his new home! And he's a connoisseur of great knitting - I knew it would be a perfect match. I just looked at all of your pictures with such a huge grin on my face - yippee!

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  4. Hi! I landed here by googling "reynolds sea wool" because I'm thinking of making a baby blanket out of it, and I saw your absolutely adorable baby Red Sox jacket. (I'm a New Englander--Go Sox! Go Pats!) I was glad to read that it was a good baby yarn and have decided yes, that's the yarn for the blanket. And I just had to tell you what a great jacket that is.

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  5. VERY cute puppy! I would love to get a dog, but haven't been able to talk myself into it yet. DJ is the best of both worlds ... he doesn't need to be potty trained, doesn't chew anything and doesn't shed ... but he's still adorable!

    Next week, right (3rd Wed., etc)? Can't wait! :)

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  6. There's nothing like surprise packages in the mail to cheer you up! That little doggie is ADORABLE!!

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  7. Anonymous4:49 PM

    I HAVE TO HAVE one of those dachshunds. HAVE TO. I have two real ones, but I just fell in love with a third. Oh so cute! (And let me just say that I know a few women who want a mini-dachs really badly and the "man" isn't keen. Too bad for the man! He'll fall in love with him or her - he just doesn't know it yet).

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  8. Anonymous12:36 PM

    What a nice blog friend!! DJ is adorable!

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