When I got up this morning, I did the things I usually do, and shortly after I started a pot of coffee and before I began making breakfast, I checked my Facebook homepage to see what my Facebook friends had been doing while I slept.

At the top of the news feed, I was greeted by a picture of a dog that needed a home. The unnamed (but adorable) dog was at South Los Angeles County Shelter and was slated to be put down this coming Thursday. I wanted to get in my car and make the trek from my home in Raleigh, North Carolina to get the dog.

By lunchtime, my youngest son (who has been lobbying to add a dog to our household for over a month now) had given me an update on the dogs we are interested in adopting. One that I had fallen for particularly hard (a cutie named Latté) had found a home. But if I have learned nothing over the past month of falling in love with dogs, it is that there are a lot of loveable dogs in need of homes.

So after the two dog updates: a virtual one from the west coast, and an in real life one from my kitchen, I sat down to look at recently completed projects at ravelry, and this one caught my eye:

Designed by Kim Werker, this is a pet mat she was inspired to create as a result of time she spent at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.

Captivated by the design, I decided I had to make one. Now.

Using Red Heart Super Saver navy yarn and a ball of Red Heart Super Saver scraps that I have amassed over the year, I got out an L hook (10.00 mm), a moveable stitch marker, and with Kim Werker’s free downloadable pattern at my side, I set to work.

The first thing I discovered was that I was not able to replicate Ms. Werker’s gauge, and rather than laying flat, my pet-mat-to-be cupped. To remedy that problem I unraveled what I had done and began anew making regular half-double and double crochet stitches instead of the extended stitches called for in the pattern, and in short order, I had the beginnings of a pet mat rather than a pet bowl:

The next thing I discovered is that while I like the tweeded effect that I get with the two strands of yarn (one of navy and one of scrap), it is difficult to see exactly what you are doing, which necessitated some frogging back to a point at which I knew what my stitch count was:

While I did not get my bullseye pet mat to-be done before it was time for dinner, there was good news at the end of the day.

Through the power of social networking, the dog whose picture greeted me this morning got a spot at a rescue. While the dog very much needs what is termed a “forever home,” he took up residence this afternoon at Cage Free K-9 Camp, which in addition to all of its other doggy services, has a dog rescue.

As for me, I have pet mat I need to finish, and I encourage anyone who wants to help to read Kim Werker’s blog post so you can find out what you can do.