Quick and Easy Puppy Sweater
I have a small dog and he really hates the cold. I was also tired of spending 8-10 dollars for a simple sweater.
Most puppy sweaters are complex garments that are annoying to put on and if your pup chews (like mine does) they unravel way to easily. So, here’s one that is not only easy to make, but it’s warm, it’s easy to put off and on and you control if it’s loose enough to unravel!
Here we go:
You’ll need a 3 ounce skein of yarn. I used a bright green
You’ll need a large crochet hook (size H or larger)
Measure your dog from his neck to the stump of his tail to decide how long you need the sweater and measure from hip to hip to get your width.
My measurements:
My sweater is 10” long
My sweater is 9” wide
So here’s the directions:
Create a chain to get your desired width (I used 38 stitches) – this will be your ‘base’ row.
Now chain 1 additional stitch and turn and insert your hook into the 2nd loop from your hook and single crochet – repeat to the end of the row, chain one and repeat!
You’re going to repeat this process through the entire length (in my case I used 39 rows)
Couple of notes: I wanted to have a ‘hole’ so that I could slip the ring from my dog’s harness through it so that I didn’t have to take the harness off to put the sweater on. I did this by skipping 3 stitches in row 30 – that’s simple to do – just chain 3 and skip over your next 3 stitches. Once you reach the length you need to get to the neck then go to the next step.
Creating the ‘neck’ hole
This part might get a little complicated but I’ll tell you exactly how I did it and you can modify it to fit your own dogs needs/neck – and you can adjust as you need it (you might want to have your dog close by while you do this part!).
I repeated single crochet stitch for the first 11 stitches in the row. Then I chained 16 (this means I now have 27 of my original 38 stitches) and then single crochet in the last 11 stitches in the row. Repeat until the opening is wide enough for your dogs head/neck (mine is only 3 rows – I have a Pomeranian).
Then repeat your original stitches (i.e. single crochet in every stitch and 1 chain stitch before turning) until your piece begins to work ‘down’ your dogs chest (in my case I used 10 rows in total).
Now you’re going to reduce the next piece to create a narrower piece to fit across your pups chest. Here’s what I did:
I snipped my work off and I counted off the necessary stitches to make the ‘halter’ part of this. In my case I began working again at the 14th stitch from the end, I repeated across for 12 stitches **note* you want to be in the center of your work at this point – if this isn’t center then move it so it is!!** Then I chained one, turned and repeated until I had the rows that I wanted to have to fit across the pups belly (in my case that’s 24 rows).
Now you want to create an ‘anchor’. You don’t need to snip your work at this point, instead you can turn your work so you’re working from the side of the last row that you did. I created a single crochet up five (5) rows to create a bit of a strap and I repeated this for 12 rows. Once this was complete I snipped off my yarn and wove in the ends.
Now you want to create your anchor on the other side of your ‘halter’ piece – so do exactly the same thing that is listed above under create an ‘anchor’.
Once this is done simply use your yarn needle and sew the edges of your anchor to the body of your sweater. Secure tightly (before you do this make sure it fits ok).
Dress it up! As a final touch – because this is a ‘very square’ sweater and I wanted something a little nicer what I did was turned down the rows that were off on either side of the neck. Using yarn and green (since I used green yarn) shirt buttons I anchored down those little ‘wings’ that were left over at the dogs neckline.
It’s cute, warm and 100% machine washable. Best of all since the stitches are simple single crochet this is perfect for the beginner! It took me 4 ½ hours to create this from start to finish (and the dog loves it!)
Enjoy!
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