How to Knit a Chihuahua Sweater

Have you ever wanted to knit a dog sweater? The lady who posted the pattern at https://web.archive.org/web/20170119230054/http:/www.redlipstick.net/knit/chihswe.html gives us a great basic pattern. She wrote it for her chihuahua, but it can be adapted to any size dog.

I've made two of these so far, and plan to make a couple more before Christmas. Two of my daughters have dachshunds. They shiver even in August!


The best part of this pattern is that it is totally adaptable. The pattern as written is plain stockinette. The first change I made was to give it a garter stitch border to keep the edges from rolling. The second sweater I made had a cable pattern across the back. It's amazing how nice that looked!

Hm... what will I do with the next ones?

2022 update: And now the pattern is not longer available at that website! Why didn't I save a copy somewhere????  

FOUND IT at web.archive.org!

 In August, 1999, I lost my best canine friend Wylie to heart disease. He was an incredible dog, we always thought he was a very large dog trapped in a 9 lb. body. He had an exquisitely pronounced personality, and a very gentle nature. This sweater was inspired by, and designed for him. At one point he had 12 of them in all kinds of stitches, colors, styles and fibers.

He wore them with pride and a cocky attitude.

This is a basic pattern, open to creative interpretation. After you've knit one or two, you'll understand how to incorporate texture and colorwork. The pattern can be used for any size dog, male or female.

For those of you interested in the results of Wylie's one day love life, here's a glimpse of the consequences of his hot date with the beautiful and bewitching Diva in Spring of 1996.

-- GLAMOUR ALERT -- One of the offspring has forsaken the ordinary life for one of snapping flashbulbs and beautiful people, first class trips to Paris and Milan, and all of the fluffy purple angora sweaters a 10 pound girl could need.

The Friends of Wylie Chihuahua Sweater Gallery has opened!
...If you'd like to add your dog-in-a-sweater picture here, email it to me. Digital pictures are fine, however, if you have no access to a scanner, you can send it to me snailmail (contact me to arrange), and I'll scan it for you. Please include the names of both the knitter and the lucky dog. Thanks.

MATERIALS:

(1) sizes 5 and 7 knitting needles.

(2) Worsted wool, about 4 ounces.

LET'S GO:

(3) Measure your pet's neck. I usually use a size 5 or 6 needle for a tightly knit ribbing (not too tight!). Wylie's neck is 10", and I cast on, loosely, 40 or 42 stitches.

(4) Knit 1x1, or 2x2 ribbing for 3" for a mock neck, or 6" or 7" for a turtleneck.

(5) Change to a size 7 needle, and commence in the stitch of your choice. After you've knit one or two of these, you can see how easy it is to add cables, colorwork, or other texture stitches in this back area. For the first one, let's knit in my favorite basic stitch, garter. That is, knit every row! Can't beat it for simplicity , stability, and rustic good looks.

(6) Measure the animal's back length, that is, from the back of his neck, just above the shoulder, to the top of his tail. That's how long you will knit straight, in garter stitch. That's right!, No shaping yet! When you have reached 2" short of the correct length, switch to size 5 needles, and knit 2" of the same rib you used for the neck. In garter stitch, this isn't really necessary, but looks good, and if you use another stitch, it keeps the edge from curling. If you used another stitch, you should also have knit the first 4 stitches of every row, to keep the side edges from curling. BInd off.

(7) Now, we will knit the chest piece. Using the size 5 needles, cast on 3 stitches. You will increase 2 stitches every other row, until you reach the width comparable to the distance between your pets front legs. You should increase 1 stitch 2 stitches from each edge. The magic thing about this, is that is usually exactly the length you need to cover that tiny chest. It's really amazing! Now: for a male, knit straight until you get to 1" shorter that where the ribcage stops, and add 1" of ribbing, bind off. For a female, you can knit as long as the body of the sweater, to cover her bald little stomach. (ending with 2" of ribbing, just like the back.) Bind off. The reason I usually knit this piece on the smaller needles, is, it has a tendency to get wet in the snow, and stretch. A slightly smaller gauge helps. If your not using garter stitch, knit the first 4 stitches of every row.

FINISHING:

(8) Seam the neck ribbing, remembering to seam halfway, and switch to the inside, if you've made a turtleneck. Now, place the point of the chest piece at the bottom of the neck rib seam, and sew a seam down both sides, until you get to the point where you stopped increasing. Leave a slit for the front legs there, about 2" long, and continue the princess seams down each side. Tuck in your loose ends, wash and block carefully.

COMMENTS:

Don't forget to experiment with your favorite stitches. I highly recommend using natural fibers like wool, alpaca or cashmere.

Happy Knitting!

©1995-2007 Staceyjoy Elkin, all rights reserved. Permission for electronic duplication of this pattern is granted with the limitation that this entire notice remain intact. This pattern may not be reproduced in hard copy, with the exception of personal use, or for profit without my written permission.

Advice for Beginning Knitters

I posted the following message to one of the knitting lists I read. A woman who learned to knit as a child was returning to knitting and wanted some pointers. This note is one spot where I put together everything I usually tell beginners. It's worth posting here, as well.

Knitting is a great way to keep your hands busy. I got back into it a few years ago when I was dieting. Can't do mindless eating when you have two sticks in your hands. :)

Since you are refreshing dormant skills, start with something basic. Don't be too hard on yourself if there are mistakes at the beginning. Frogging (Rip-it! Rip-it! ) and Tinking (Knit spelled backwards which refers to unknitting stitches one at a time) are a very real part of knitting.

I'd suggest a simple garter stitch scarf. I start beginners with size 15 needles, worsted weight yarn of their choice, and have them cast on about 20-25 stitches depending upon how wide they want the scarves. Garter stitch is created by knitting every row. By the time you have a five or six foot scarf, you will have the mechanics of tension and stitch creation under control. Your second scarf can be a k2, p2 rib to let you practice the purl stitch. After that, check some online sites, such as Lion Brand's website ( http://www.lionbrand.com/ ) or www.knittingpatterncentral.com to find new projects to create. The Lion Brand site rates their patterns by difficulty. I'm sure you will find other sites that do the same.

Two mnemonics my grandkids use to remember stitch formation are these ditties:

Knit stitch:

In through the front door,
Run around the back;
Out the window,
Off jumps Jack.

Purl stitch:

Under the fence,
Catch a sheep,
Back we come,
Off we leap.

A note on needles: metal and fiber (bamboo, wood, etc.) needles each have their purposes. Fiber needles work well with slippery yarns because they grab them better than metal. Metal, on the other hand, lets rougher yarns slip off the needles easily. My beginners usually like to start with short, size 15 bamboo needles because they feel good in their hands. It's part of the tactile experience of knitting. You should pick the needles that you like. Many experienced knitters only use circular needles, even on flat project. I prefer circulars when I'm traveling. I can't loose a needle if I drop it. (I can guarantee I will drop a needle at the most awkward moment, in the most crowded situation.)

Another note on yarn: don't work with too cheap yarn. After you put hours of work into a project, you don't want it wasted on a yarn that doesn't hold your stitches well, or that is scratchy and uncomfortable to work or wear. My mother made me a pull-on vest when she was a beginning knitter. She worked too tightly (it's a common problem with beginners) and she literally stretched all the spring out of the yarn. The vest couldn't stretch enough to go over my head and shoulder! I was never able to wear it. We always felt half the problem was her too-tight stitches and the other half was cheap yarn that didn't have a lot of memory. (Memory is the quality that lets yarn spring back after stretching.) Your work is worth decent yarn.

By the same token, don’t be a yarn snob. Every yarn has its purpose. Some folks who start knitting with the “good yarns” such as wools, wool-blends, and other animal fibers, decide they are too good to knit with acrylic or plant fiber yarns. The animal fiber yarns are lovely to touch and work up beautifully, but they require special care and they cause some people to itch. Don't forget to look at the other yarns. Suit the yarn to your project.

If you are making a baby blanket that will be washed constantly or a hat for a rough and tumble child, acrylic is a far better choice. Acrylics and other synthetic fibers can be made to feel like animal fibers, but the are wash and wear. Many of your fun furs, ribbon yarns, and other specialty yarns will only be available in some sort of man-made fiber. If you don't use man-made fiber, you will never have the joy of making items from these yarns. Lower priced acrylics often feel scratchier than those that are more expensive. The oils and sizing used in the processing of the yarn will generally wash out over time and the product will become softer, but that doesn’t help your hands while you are making it. Touch your yarns and see which ones feel better right now. After all, you are going to be handling this yarn a lot while creating your project.

Plant fibers don't have the spring that animal fibers have, but they are cooler, they wick moisture and they breathe better. A summer tank top or a kitchen dishcloth is far better made from plant fiber (cotton, linen, bamboo, etc.) than from wool. If you want to make socks or something that needs the springiness of animal fiber, but you want to make it from a plant fiber, look for a blend that has some elastic in it. The elastic will help your socks keep their shape.

You can check further on my blog for hints and directions for doing the thumb cast on (a variation of the long-tail cast on) and other helps for beginners.

Happy Knitting!

Summer of Distractions

I am proud of Reyes. He has gone from a couch potato to a real kid this summer. He played summer baseball; has gone swimming nearly everyday; and started weight-training to prepare to football in the fall. He has firmed up, lost a bit of weight (about 10 lbs.) and is a happier kid. He helps me with the garden and has been a real help with the houseful of kids this week. Guess living with Grandpa and Grandma is good for him. :)

I haven't been knitting a lot, except when we are on the road. I have a pair of tabi socks about 1/2 finished. During Reyes' baseball season I worked on the llama-wool sweater (until it got too warm to work with wool.) I have put it away till cooler weather.

Then I started a string bag. It's in the bottom of one of my knitting baskets. I vaguely remember something about needing to frog a bit because I couldn't watch baseball and keep track of the pattern. (Oops!) Guess I'll get back to that one later as well. The socks are better when I am distracted. I'm in the section that is all stockinette for 8 inches.

It's been a busy summer. I am canning or freezing something from the garden every day. This picture shows just ONE DAY'S produce! I managed to "put by" all but the tomatoes that day, and turned them into sauce the next day. Since I have just planted peas and salad greens for a fall garden, the garden will be with us for quite a while yet. (For more on the garden, see my other blog: http://grannytilla.blogspot.com). I want to sew, but have no idea when I'll get time to do it. I really need to get started because school starts in 2 weeks and Reyes needs school clothes.

This week Pat, JJ, and Ashley have gone to Florida to check on Ashley's inheritance after her father was killed. I am watching Kayleigh and Emily while they are gone. Jen expected to be working, so I have Lala, also. Reyes, of course, lives here, so there are 4 grandkids to feed, watch, and entertain along with the other projects. I wish I were twins.... I would like to have a time to let Kayleigh sew a blouse. She is like Lala and loves to sew. Both of them have toy sewing machines that have been a big disappointment. Getting to use a real machine should be much better. Oh, well, you can see I found a way to keep the kids busy. When they weren't at the swimming pool, they helped me process garden produce. This was the day we made ketchup.

There are so many things I want to do and can't get started: refinish a few pieces of furniture; strip and repaint the stained glass window from the front room; transplant the irises, peonies and lilies from the front flower bed; the list goes on. Hm... I am going to be very ready for winter and a lot of quiet knitting time. Just writing this posting is making me tired.

Go, Lala! She Makes Her First Dress

Didn't Lala do a good job on her first big sewing project? She did 80% of the sewing on this dress. As she puts it, "Grandma did the hard parts."

Several years ago, when Lala was six, Uncle Robert gave her a toy sewing machine. Neither Jen nor I thought she was ready for it, so it stayed in the Christmas paper until recently. Lala has been watching her mother sew this Spring and she wanted to sew, too.

Out came the toy machine. Immediate frustration! It wouldn't work right. Stitches broke. It couldn't handle two thicknesses of fabric to sew a doll dress. The experience was horrible.

Her last bad experience was at my house around Easter time. We were making scrunchies for her hair. The toy machine couldn't even handle that simple a project. Remembering the advice "Don't start a beginner with inferior tools. It can kill the desire to learn," I gave Lala a REAL sewing machine -- my old Singer Merritt zigzag machine. She was overwhelmed! It was so big; so fast! It was really hers? She wasn't sure she wanted to sew with it, yet, so she decided it would continue to live at Grandma's house.

Fast forward to her visit this month. She has continued to try to sew with the toy machine at her Mom's but is totally disgusted with it. Now she's ready to use HER machine. I had some pink calico left over from a nightgown I made her. She picked the pattern and I cut out a summer dress for her. She was expecting me to make the dress, but I pulled out the Singer, and said, "Okay, Lala. You're going to make this dress." Her jaw dropped; her eyes got big. She had never made anything larger than a pillow before.

The dress was a Simplicity pattern. We read the instructions step by step and she did most of the work. I did the tricky things, like sewing the bodice lining and inserting the zipper. She and I both laid the hem using the built-in hem-stitch. Lala loved it. She's ready to make something else next week. Well, Hancock's Fabric has a 99 cent pattern sale going on. Perhaps we can go to Lawrence to the fabric store tomorrow...

World Wide Knit in Public Day, June 13

Several KansasKnitters met at Whimsical Wool yarn store in LaHarpe on June 13 to Knit in Public. We combined KIP Day with our KansasKnits picnic. Elizabeth was kind enough to offer her shop for us to meet.

We had planned to have a picnic in the grassy area north of her building, but the day was cloudy, cool and a bit damp, so we made ourselves at home inside. The company was pleasant, the shop was cozy; later we had a small feast and ate ourselves silly. It should be KIP Day every Saturday!

Knitting German

When I was learning to knit all of the books taught you how to "knit American" which is the throw method of knitting. The yarn is carried in your right hand. Many of the older knitters in our community "knitted German" carrying the yarn in their left hands much as it is carried for crochet. "Knitting German" is now called "Knitting Continental."

It seems during one of the World Wars the name got changed out of patriotism, like the failed effort to change the name of French Fries after 9/11. Well, my dog is still a German Shepherd, not an Alsatian, and I still knit German when I carry the yarn in my left hand. I think Great-Grandma Yeager would approve. :) (Hm... I wonder if she knitted? I never got to meet her.)

I know how to knit with both methods, but I use the American method most often. I use the German method when I am two color knitting or double knitting. I will carry the dominate color in my right hand and the secondary color in my left hand. Lately I've been hearing that the German method is used for speed knitting. There are so many things I'd like to make, it would be great to knit faster!

It is pretty easy to form the knit stitches, but the purl stitches slow me down. When I complained about this on one of my chat lists, the members suggested I learn the Norwegian purl. This looks better! I haven't mastered it yet, but I think I'm going to like it.

Here are the Knittinghelp.com links for both knit and purl for German and American knitting. (If you haven't found knittinghelp.com, BOOKMARK THIS SITE! It's wonderful!)

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knit-stitch
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/purl-stitch

Lion Brand Flattering Knit Jacket, Mom's White Sweater and Hurricane Carla

Flattering Jacket from Lion Brand

Since I talked about my finished object, I'll add a note about my on-going project -- the Lion Brand Knitted Flattering Jacket. It's working up nicely with the Montero yarn. I'm about 1/3 of the way up the back. The stitches are more pronounced than they would be with Homespun. I'll need to check gauge again when the section is a bit bigger. The gauge seems right, but the stitches look tighter than I remember the Homespun working when I tried this before.

I started this pattern about eight years ago in the crocheted version, using the recommended Lion Brand yarn in "Denim." I crocheted the back and the left side of the pattern, but could never wrap my mind around reversing the left side instructions to create the right side. It just didn't work out. I ended up frogging the entire sweater and making a Basket Weave Afghan for Reyes. He loves it and still has it on his bed. At least the yarn wasn't wasted.

But I still really like the look of that sweater. When I was a kid, Mom spent nearly a year crocheting a white sweater. It was sewn together but never worn when Dad took a "road job" with Navion, in Galveston, Texas in 1960. (Dad was a tool-and-die maker who did contract work in the aircraft industry. Our home base was in Kansas, but the whole family might travel out of state for periods of time when he had a "road job.") Here is the whole family posing before the palm tree in our front yard. I'm the short one. :)

That fall, Hurricane Carla (a level 5 storm) was heading straight for Galveston. The neighbors told us that our house was high enough that we shouldn't worry about water getting too deep. If we put the important stuff up higher than, say 12", we should be fine. Mom put all of our clothes, including the white sweater, in the moving trunks that we always used. She tucked other valuables inside -- Dad's guns, any breakables she didn't want to lose, that sort of thing, and stacked the trunks on top the kitchen table. Since most of our possessions were still in Kansas, she didn't have a lot of things to rescue from the water. There was no furniture in the house that we were concerned about losing. The "good stuff" was in Kansas.

Carla went in at Port Aransas, south of the Island, but it was the worst storm to hit Galveston since 1900. In today's parlance, it was equal to Hurricane Katrina. A young weatherman on one of the Houston stations did a master's effort keeping everyone informed and reporting the story of the storm. (CBS was impressed enough with his work to put him on national TV. He's still around. His name is Dan Rather.)

Dan Rather and the Weather Bureau told folks to evacuate and we believed him. We went west toward Austin, but danged if the Hurricane didn't follow us. We were in a building in a state park when the eye of the storm when right over our heads. The storm veered north and played havoc with weather systems clear to Canada for a goodly time afterward. We worked our way back to Pearland, Texas and stayed with friends until people were allowed back on the Island.

Houses tossed into a jumble by Hurricane Carla

The devastation was mind-blowing. They had taken bulldozers and pushed debris off the streets to allow cars to move. The piles that lined the boulevard as we got off the causeway were as tall as a building. Boards, mud, pieces of furniture, toys -- everything was caught in those piles. One-ton concrete benches that were bolted to the seawall had been ripped loose and tossed across a six lane road. Many houses were destroyed or totally gone. Murdock's Bath House, a landmark from the turn of the century, didn't survive. The Pleasure Pier with its drive-in theater over the water would never be the same. The picture posted here shows houses that sat on the beach below the seawall. They were picked up and tossed together like abandoned toys. The City was under martial law. We lived on the airport which had been a World War II military base. Armed National Guardsmen manned the gates just like in the war years and we had to prove we lived there to get inside.

The seawall held and none of the direct water from the storm reached our house, but Offat's Bayou backed up and got us from the rear. We had three feet of water in the house. When Dad opened the front door the kidney-shaped vanity from my room and my accordion were crumpled in the mud. It looked like they were trying to get out. The moving trunks that held all our clothes and important things had floated around the kitchen and the sheet rock was dissolved from the walls as high as the water had stood. Dad told us to watch out for snakes and be careful as we started cleaning up.

The snakes worried me. I was twelve and from rural Kansas, but I didn't like snakes. That first night, I pulled my camp cot into my brother's room and tried to coax his dog onto the cot with me. My dog was already curled against my legs. I don't know how fourteen-year-old Skip or his dog Dixie could have saved me from a snake in the night, but I was sure they would do it.

Dad and Skip grabbed shovels and started pushing the mud out of the house. Mom and I rummaged through the muck to salvage anything that could be cleaned. It took weeks. When Mom got to the trunks, the guns had rusted all over the clothes. The white sweater was ruined. She boiled it on the stove with Rit Color Remover. The fiber didn't felt, but it stretched badly. However, the rust went away.

I LOVED THAT SWEATER! It stretched to tunic length, had great boxy pockets and was warm enough to wear as a jacket. I grabbed it and wore it all through high school. I don't know why I didn't take it off to college with me. Mom, on the other hand, saw the sweater as a failure. She took it to Goodwill when my back was turned. Whimper.

So now, 40-some years later, I'm going to replace that sweater come Hell or High Water. It looked much like the Lion Brand Flattering Jacket. (If I ever find Mom's crochet pattern in her stash, I'll post the picture to this blog entry.) Since I didn't get the crocheted version of the Lion Brand sweater to work, I'm back to it with the knitted version. I'm using llama-wool yarn called Montera that is wonderful to touch. I just want to snuggle it! I purchased it at the Emporia Fiber Fest from Ann O'Neil. From her stash to mine...

Since Spring has arrived, I haven't done much knitting at home. Most of my knitting has been done in the car when we are running errands. I've found a bag big enough to carry the sweater, so it may become my traveling project. I'd really like to be able to wear it this fall. Hm... Reyes has all those baseball practices and ball games coming up... KNITTING TIME!!