I was very remiss in my last post in not crediting the designer of the Mediterranean Shawl. The shawl was designed by Maureen Egan Emlet and is featured in A Gathering of Shawls (see sidebar). In restrospect this was a very challenging knit and not for the fainthearted. But would I do it again? You betcha!

And I can’t resist introducing you to the newest member of our family. Here’s Hester:

We had been considering getting a puppy and were investigating the King Charles Spaniel. Unfortunately, we found ourselves priced out of the market. They were so expensive and hard to find. After perusing the AKC site, we decided to investigate the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and really liked what we found. We did give some consideration to getting a “pound puppy”, but in our area it is very rare to find a small dog – they are all lab mixes. We found a very reputable breeder right here on the island. She has been breeding and showing for almost 30 years and has quite a few champions. She has even shown at Westminster (impressed me!). She was very excited about Hester and felt that she had great championship potential. But just before embarking on the dog show circuit, Hester failed her OFA hip exam – she has displaysia in one hip and so cannot be bred or shown. Kathi said she cried for two days. She really considered keeping her as a pet, but they are very committed to the show dogs (they have 10 or 12), so they are placing her with a good home. And because they cannot guarantee that there might not be some problems later on with the hip, they are only charging for the cost of the spay.

So, we hope Hester will come to live with us in about a month, after she is spayed. We passed preliminary approval yesterday and Kathi said barring any unexpected circumstances, she is ours! The owner may want to come out and inspect our house, but she will like what she finds. Hester has the sweetest disposition. She crawls up in you lap and looks at you with adoring eyes as if you are the most special person in the world. And this only five minutes after meeting her. Corgis do SHED like crazy, but generally only twice a year. Then you have to brush every day, but we’re used to that with the Lhasa Apso. We told Kirby he was getting a little sister and he seemed excited, but that may have been all the great smells on us when we got back home.

And here is a picture of Bill and me with a lap full of Corgis. Actually, a couple more jumped down just before the picture was taken.

On the knitting front, I am up to the armhole on the second sleeve of Rogue! That should be done today. I didn’t start on the I-cord trim yet. I wanted to consult with a friend since I’ve never done it before. I cannot believe what a quick knit this has been! But that may have been because I worked on this exclusively – something I don’t normally do. No pictures because I’ve been having way too much fun taking pictures of little dogs!