Showing posts with label Knitting dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knitting dogs. Show all posts

14.8.15

Best in Show: Pedigree knitting


...Well, not quite. It was all going swimmingly until I realised one of the hind legs was on back to front.

If it had been a sewing mistake that would have been a faff (though a manageable one), but it wasn't; for some reason I'd actually knitted the leg onto the body facing the wrong way.... so it stuck out at the back at a rather jaunty angle.

REALLY cross with myself, I'd spent such a long time on it by this stage. The patterns in 'Best in Show: 25 more dogs to knit' are fabulous but they're not for the faint hearted. If I hadn't been knitting the King Charles Spaniel for a friend, or had a bit of a deadline, it would have been slung into the lost world of half finished projects behind the sofa.


Luckily pipe cleaners came to the rescue... Most of the dogs in the book have pipe cleaners sewn into their legs to give them a bit of stability - mine were used to bend  the squiffy leg back into place. And it seemed to work - a critical eye would still spot the mistake, but I think it adds character!

It is a beautiful, clever and challenging book - frustrating at times, yes, for a make-do knitter like me, but well worth the effort. And I learnt how to do loopy stitch. My friend was really touched, it sort of looks a little like her dog... and was the best way I could think of to thank her for all her support and kindness. 

So, two down, just 23 to go...