it took me 2 1/2 hours to make my first doggy, because martha's instructions are intimidating and because i was also teaching my sister to crochet and watching the sound of music.

take one sock and turn it inside out. cut it anywhere between 2" to 4" from the opening (top). the more you cut from this section, the shorter the dog's legs will be. put the shorter top piece aside; you won't need it.

now lay the rest of the sock flat, so that the heel is on top. cut directly up the middle till you get to the heel.

you've just made the first two legs, the hind legs, as it were. with the sock still inside out, sew up the sides and bottoms of each leg. **be sure to leave an opening at the intersection of the legs (doggy's crotch) to, ahem, add stuffing.

once you've sewn the sides and bottoms of the legs, very carefully pull the sock right side out thru the opening. the area in the red circle is what i mean; i took a few pix of that opening, but they all seemed too graphic, if you knowwhatimean...

now you can stuff your doggy; i was ghetto crafty and used the fiber-fill from an old pillow i had at home. use just enough stuffing to make doggy firm, but not rigid and don't forget to stuff the legs.

look! i tought my dog to sit, and it's not even done yet! now you need to sew up the hole in the crotch. be gentle.

you may or may not want to sew up the feet to look like paws. the pic on the right shows the difference that sewing the feet makes.

now for a bit of sock dog shiatsu; bend back the very top part of the 'body' and sew up about a half inch to make the bend permanent. sorry that is so badly worded... but you've just made the neck.

half time and now the second sock comes into play. cut up as shown: the toe part becomes the ears; the head is the largest part ending just past the ankle; the legs are made from the next section and the opening becomes the tail. yep, it's that simple.

i kinda forgot to take pix, so i hope you can see where i attached the 'head' from the 2nd sock to the 'neck' on the 1st stuffed sock.

ahem, time to feed the dog and - you should have seen this coming - stuff her face. ;)

admittedly the hardest part: fold the insides of the part of the head that is 'open' and sew up the edges to form the snout.

take a break from stuffing. grab the toe section and cut it in half, snipping off a litttle triangle in the middle (at the bottom). you know the drill; turn each piece inside out, sew up the side and flip back right side out. don't stuff.

sew the ears to the sides of the head. and no more cursing in frustration; doggy can hear you now.

remember those two rectangular pieces for the legs? turn them inside out and sew them along the sides and one edge to form two seperate tubes. then turn them right side out and stuff. attach the open end of a tube to your dog; try to align the front leg with the back leg.

by the time i got to the tail i was very tired of stuffing and sewing; you can do the whole "turn inside out, sew up along the sides, turn right side out, stuff, attach" thing - or you can just cut a short strip and attach it to doggy's rear. add a few buttons for eyes and nose, and your doggy is done!