People with little dogs, in particular, often seem to have a passion for dressing up and accessorizing their pooches. Knitters (and crocheters) who feel that impulse will find plenty of ways to satisfy it in Sys Fredens' book Dress Your Dog: Nifty Knits for Classy Canines.
The book has more than 30 patterns for dogs, ranging from collars, leashes and decorative flowers to sweaters and vests, bowl rugs and pillows.
The Patterns
Twenty-two of the patterns in Dress Your Dog are for knitters, while nine are crochet projects. The sweaters, shrugs and vests are designed for small- to medium-sized dogs, but usually offer three sizing options.
The patterns for garments usually involve a bit of shaping, but many are suitable for knitters with a little bit of experience. Some of the designs even give you good experience for knitting human-sized sweaters after you've tried your hand at some of these projects.
In addition to sweaters there are projects for leashes and collars, knit and crocheted flowers to decorate collars or sweaters, felted carrying bags, a crocheted chew toy and sleeping pillows, among other projects. There's even a project that includes a sweater for the dog and matching legwarmers for "mom."
The patterns don't specify specific yarns other than the handful of projects that use Noro Silk Garden; superwash wool is often called for in patterns that aren't felted. The projects could also be made with a nice acrylic yarn to make them even harder wearing without a lot of loss of warmth.
I must disclose that I don't own a dog, but some of these sweaters are pretty darn cute. The nice thing about them, to my mind, is that they're not to cutesy. These are actually useful sweaters that look nice -- classic, even -- and would be great for dogs of either gender and even for people who don't consider themselves the sort to dress their dogs up.
Consider the cute Raglan Sweater, for instance. This one is shaped just like a sweater for a human would be, and it has little stripes to make it more interesting to knit and to wear. Some of my other faves include the Cabled Sweater with Roll Collar, which also has little rolled sleeves on the legs; the Ribbed Wraparound Vest, which is just a rectangle with leg holes; and the Colorful Coat, a relatively simple shape livened up with Noro.
There's also a super-cute Norwegian Sweater that would be a great introduction to Fair Isle for someone who hasn't used that technique before. I also think the crocheted chew toy, worked in bulky hemp, is a brilliant idea.
Bottom Line
People who love little dogs -- and love dressing them up in outfits -- will certainly enjoy Dress Your Dog. Knitters with little dogs who didn't before consider themselves the type to knit a sweater for their dog might change their mind after looking at some of these patterns.
The wide variety of options (there are some frou-frou ones, too) should please a variety of tastes, and the quick projects will have you knitting more than one for your favorite pooch.
Publication date: November 2009.
