%/@#*($*@(#$ corgi !!!

Ok. I like corgis. The four-legged ones that are warm-blooded and bark. But let's face it, knitting one out of sock yarn on US #0 needles (which, in case you didn't know, are pointy and like to make holes in your fingertips) is not going to be my idea of a good time. And sewing it up is going to be... uh. Even. More. Fun.

Here are some of the parts:

Why am I doing this, you ask? Well. My friend Deb begged for a knitted corgi. She begged many times over a long period of time. She wore me down.

If I get through this without stabbing someone with those needles, I'll be doing well.

Coming along quickly!

I'm actually making good progress on the boys' cardis. This one just needs the arms hemmed, sewn in, ends woven in, blocked and buttons:

 

 And believe it or not, this one is almost done too. I'm just finishing up the hood now; then I'll do the orange button band and hem/sew in arms. The arms are knitted.

As usual, I'm looking forward to button shopping. As the buttons will go on the contrast-color bands, I'm thinking of going with purple, but I'll see what strikes me at the button shop.

Meantime, I've started a project that is going to make me cuss my way into the lower layers of Hell – the corgi from the book Best in Show. Tiny needles, tiny yarn, colorwork (which I am not yet comfortable with), tons of little pieces, tons of sewing up. I must really like the friend I am knitting this for. Might not like her so much by the time it's done. ;-)

Still here, really!

I know, I haven't been posting. For a long time that was because I wasn't knitting. But I'm knitting now!

We've had house guests non-stop (with lots of overlaps) since Thanksgiving, but they have all gone home now, and I feel I can breathe a little and blog a little :-) Don't get me wrong — it was great fun — but it's also nice to have a little time for my own hobbies again.

I've been knitting on two lovely hooded cardigans for a pair of twin five-year-old boys.  One said his favorite colors were purple and red; the other, purple and orange. So that's what they will get. This is the Bar Harbor Hoodie from Creative Knitting.

I am using Cascade 220 Superwash, by the way — one of my go-to yarns for knitting for kids. Not so much babies, because it's not crazy-crazy soft; but it is a nice cross between soft and hard-wearing, perfect for kids.

This one is done except for the arms and weaving in the ends. Oh, and buttons. Purple heather and red heather — love it.

 This one's obviously the orange ones. I tried three different "orange" colors from Cascade and ended up with this tangerine one. It needed to go well with the purple, be different enough from the red, and look more orange than yellow. I think this is good. As usual, the photo isn't perfect, but you can catch the luminous quality of this tangerine.

I'm doing a trick with the sleeves. Instead of just knitting 1.5" of the 3x1 rib, I knit 1.5", then a row of purls, then another 1.5" of rib. The bottom 1.5" will be turned in and sewn like a hem. This makes it reversible, and this means that the ribbing can be turned back and still look good. I think this will help the 5-year-olds wear this size-6 cardi right away, and it'll fold down when they're ready for it. Finally, if they can wear it long enough, I can take the hem out and let them wear the ribbing as 3" long (the purls won't detract too much, I don't think — they'll look like a design element).

What have you all been up to? I'm hoping to get bloggin' a bit more in 2012.