Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Fur Cap Cometh

I don’t think I told you this but we’re staying in this fancy high-rise down south for a few months to avoid the worst of the New England winter. I was so excited the other day cause dad got a call from Fran (she’s the building’s concierge) informing us that a package had arrived for me. Dad asked Fran to bring it right up and I could hardly contain myself when Fran arrived. My tail was really wagging and my butt was moving all over the place. I got even more excited when I saw the return address. The package was from Aunt Joyce. You may recall in one of my earlier posts I wrote about the book Pet Projects: The Animal Knits Bible. It’s this cool book with instructions (and great pictures) of all these fantastic things that you can knit for your pets. You may also recall that I have been coveting this really groovy hat from the book. I think I told you that I received the book as a Christmas present from Grammy Jill. Well, I quickly had my dad copy the pages with the instructions for the groovy hat and I gave them to Aunt Joyce. You see Aunt Joyce is kinda crafty and I know she knits.

So you can see why I got so excited when a package arrived from Aunt Joyce. I couldn’t open it fast enough. And there it was a beautiful variegated groovy blue hat with baby blue ear warmers. It couldn’t be more perfect. And then I noticed the note that accompanied the hat:

My Dear Suddie,
I hope this fits Angus. I don’t know if the ear muffs are in the right place. I probably should have used wilder colors – to make a statement. Let me know about size and colors for you and Roxie if you like it.
Love,
Aunt Joyce

Hope this fits Angus? What? Well Angus was out and I could have easily lost the note, but when I tried it on it was definitely not my size. Don’t get me wrong. I still looked darn cool in it. Dad thought I looked like Edie Brickell in it. Do you remember her from Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians? They had one hit “What I Am.” Do you remember that song and the video? My dad does. I bet you didn’t know that she is married to Paul Simon. Do you think that makes Carrie Fisher mad?

Anywho…the hat was way too big for me and at 11:03 AM I sent Aunt Joyce this email with two pics of Angus attached:

Subject: Angus loves his new hat











Thank you. It is great.
I tried it on and so did Roxie and the face opening needs to be quite a bit smaller and the neck a few inches less for us. I trust your judgement on the colors. It would be great to have them before spring arrives. Thanks again. We love your work!!!!
XO

You see I was trying to be diplomatic and not let on how disappointed I was that it wasn’t my hat. You know when you ask others to do things for you, you shouldn’t be too pushy or demanding. Then at 11:07 AM I sent Aunt Joyce another email. There wasn’t any content just a subject line and a pic of me in Angus’s hat:

Subject: I want my own hat











And at 11:12 AM Roxie had me send Aunt Joyce the following email and pic:

Subject: Roxie says there must be a mistake…

Aunt Joyce always liked me best.











The next day after putting the hat on Angus and going for a walk we sent Aunt Joyce another email:

Subject: Hat – Field Test Results
So I put the hat on this morning and took it for a test in the field.
Results:
I looked adorable
Neck fits perfectly
Cap needs to be quite a bit more snug. Falls to one side or the other or falls back and off my head while walking. Still somehow looks adorable. We found that if you tuck the cap under it makes quite a handsome scarf.
I think just making the cap smaller and reducing the size of the opening would do the trick.
I can't remember what size you made for me but mom's and Roxie’s hats should be quite a bit smaller.
Thanks again for my winter head gear.
Angus (Roxie and Suddie)

We have yet to hear from Aunt Joyce