My brother and his wife have a pup that rides around in his kennel every where they go. Not to say he spends his whole day in the kennel, but when it's not appropriate for him to be out like at restaurant he's in. Yes, my brother and his wife are those people. I guess I'm one of those people too in that I don't mind a bit if they bring him. I don't bring my dog hardly any where, but I'm a homebody. We're usually home together. My brother when questioned at a restaurant says it's his gym bag. Amazingly, he's very quiet and hasn't got us kicked out of a restaurant yet.
My brother and his wife work. So, Winston goes to work with my brother. He's not welcome at my SILs work. He's really not welcome at my brother's either. His bosses really like him and know he's responsible, so they don't say anything.
Anyhow the comfort of Winston the dog came into question when my SIL would come to my brother's work to pick up Winston at the end of the day. She would find Winston laying in his kennel with his comfy towel balled up at the back of his kennel. SIL would get agitated that my brother wasn't smoothing out his towel when he messed it up. Despite my brother reminding her “he’s a dog I’m sure he’s fine the short amount of time he spends in the kennel.” (Winston has a pacemaker, so naturally she worries.)
To ease his wife's mind and to get him out of the dog house :) my brother asked me if I could make sort of a knitted fitted sheet like piece to go over the bottom plastic insert of the kennel. He gave me the dimensions. I picked an acrylic yarn which could be washed if need be. I knitted a swatch washed and dried it to get an idea of what size I needed to make.
I knitted a rectangle that was slightly longer and wider than the plastic insert. It was then sewn to resemble a fitted sheet. It slips over the plastic insert and Winston can't scratch it up and kick it to the back of the kennel.
As you can see Winston and my SIL are very happy with the results.
Winston is a Poodle/Pomeranian mix.
My brother and his wife work. So, Winston goes to work with my brother. He's not welcome at my SILs work. He's really not welcome at my brother's either. His bosses really like him and know he's responsible, so they don't say anything.
Anyhow the comfort of Winston the dog came into question when my SIL would come to my brother's work to pick up Winston at the end of the day. She would find Winston laying in his kennel with his comfy towel balled up at the back of his kennel. SIL would get agitated that my brother wasn't smoothing out his towel when he messed it up. Despite my brother reminding her “he’s a dog I’m sure he’s fine the short amount of time he spends in the kennel.” (Winston has a pacemaker, so naturally she worries.)
To ease his wife's mind and to get him out of the dog house :) my brother asked me if I could make sort of a knitted fitted sheet like piece to go over the bottom plastic insert of the kennel. He gave me the dimensions. I picked an acrylic yarn which could be washed if need be. I knitted a swatch washed and dried it to get an idea of what size I needed to make.
I knitted a rectangle that was slightly longer and wider than the plastic insert. It was then sewn to resemble a fitted sheet. It slips over the plastic insert and Winston can't scratch it up and kick it to the back of the kennel.
As you can see Winston and my SIL are very happy with the results.
Winston is a Poodle/Pomeranian mix.
Everyone loved the Swirl Blanket. I'm intending to make at least 3 more.
Here's where they start wrestling the sheep in for the shearing. It really struck me as funny. Being the owner of a poodle and we groom her ourselves how very much alike the whole process is. First you have to find them and wrestle them onto the grooming area.
Then you have to wrestle them into position to start the grooming. With me kicking and wiggling to get away the whole time. Just like a poodle once laid on their back they submit to the grooming with very little wiggling from then on.
Oh I'm not saying they don't continue with the "poor pitiful me" look or that "please come rescue me" stare.
The big difference in shearing a poodle and shearing a sheep is the sheep takes just under 5 minutes each. I couldn't believe how fast this guy was. It takes about 3 hours to shear a poodle! I video taped one of the shearings to show my husband just how fast it could be if he just sheared off all the poodle's hair. Not very stylish, but sure would save time.
Once the fleece was off the sheep it was taken over to this make shift table where the women would "skirt" it. That is removing all edges of the fleece that are too mangled or dirty to be used. This was when I was first enlisted to help. I thought I was just there to watch, but when the experienced older lady says jump one jumps. There was a pile of the skirtings that she asked me to put in a pillow case. They still save them. I asked why, but really didn't understand the reasons being new to all this. So, much to learn that day. Anyhow I had my tiny camera and thought I really don't want to get my hands dirty, but as I said I was a guest and I was asked to help. Not going to say no and risk not being invited back next year. I turned off my camera slipped it into my pocket and reached out to grab the small pile of skirting with my 2 hands cupped together. I knew the wool had dirt, pee, poop etc. on it. Nothing soap and water won't take care of. What I didn't realize was how much lanolin was on the wool. I knew lanolin came from sheep. I didn't know how one got it off them. Squeeze a lanolin gland? Pull it out of an ear? Honestly, I hadn't ever thought about where it came from. I know now right off their wool. As soon as the wool touched my hands I was instantly creeped out. My hands were coated thickly with lanolin, pee, poop, dirt and loose wool. I couldn't believe the amount of oil on my hands. I couldn't believe what a big baby I was being ... in my mind... I wasn't about to let the old sages see me whine. I quietly wiped my hands on the pillow case the skirtings went into and walked to the house to wash my hands. I knew then I wasn't touching any more wool that day. I did help with sweeping and shoveling of loose wool to help keep the shearing area clean. The more I thought about it I just wasn't prepared. Next year if I'm asked back I'll dress for digging in and helping with the skirting. I'll just plan on my hands being coat with lanolin all day. Many of the ladies said their hands were so soft after a morning of skirting.
