Holiday Updates + Dogs vs. Cats: MPB VIDEO Exclusive!

This has been a wonderful holiday for me and my family, with a lot to be grateful for.

"And a Child Shall Lead Them" + Rita Moreno!

Friends, if you really want to make a six-year-old's day, let her walk your chihuahua.

How to Make a Dog Coat in "Ruffly" an Hour

The houndstooth sweater knit adventures continue -- now for actual hounds!   (I mean chihuahuas.)

Back to the Kimono

There are two kinds of sewing projects, readers: the ones you think will be hard but end up easy, and the ones you think will be easy but end up hard.  My kimono is the latter kind.

Sunday in the House with Chihuahuas

Friends, when the weather's below freezing, as it is today, we rarely take the dogs outside.  It's just too cold.

Thankfully we've trained them to do what they need to do indoors, in the bathtub to be exact, and most of the time Willy remembers the part about jumping up over the side.

"Out with the Old, In with the New" + CONTEST!

Readers, I'm not a fan of dogmatic people, and I would hate to come across as one.  My Daily Ditch© method of personal transformation does create miracles, but it's important to allow a few things into your life, too -- otherwise, you'll have nothing left to ditch.  Think about it.

Pet Peeves: sewing for dogs

Friends, I'm not one of those people who are into dressing up dogs "cute" and I hope you're not either.

Decaffeinating

Good morning, goths, punks and other disaffected subcultures who may or may not hang out in shopping malls and scare the rest of us.  Yesterday's comments reminded me that I have a much more diverse readership than I'd ever imagined.  How you found me I'll never know but welcome just the same.  Especially you poor unloved Emos.

Plan C -- new shirt, new accessories + chihuahua video!

OK, so I thought long and hard about your comments yesterday.

Though I hate to admit it, I did start to see that the Western shirt -- while lovely and painstakingly stitched on a 1920 Singer treadle -- is not ideally suited to the rest of the outfit.  It is not crisp-looking.  The pants pop; the shirt is dull-toned.

How to 1) mesmerize your dogs and 2) make button loops!

First the dogs.  Reader Debbie Cook sent these lovely drumsticks to me in the mail, but they seemed a little small and tough so I gave them to the dogs.  They love 'em!