Thursday, December 11, 2008

Free Knitted Dog Sweater Pattern


Keep your dog warm this winter with this knitted dog sweater. The dog sweater instructions are for sizes small to large. I knitted the small sweater and it fits my friend's miniature schnauzer. I would say that the small size will fit any dog in the small dog group. The large size would probably fit a medium sized dog like a beagle, a dachshund, or a cocker spaniel. I originally got this pattern from Michael's Craft's store but changed it a bit when I knitted it.


I didn't have any trouble with the dog sweater pattern and I'm somewhere between beginner and experienced as a knitter. The knitted sweater pattern has basic knitting including knit, purl, increase, decrease, and slip stitch. There are no complicated cable stitches or popcorn stitches but the neck is knitted with a circular needle.

I had never used a circular needle before and I had no trouble with it for this pattern. The picture shown here is the dog sweater that I knitted. It's being shown on a stuffed animal because I don't have a small dog but it gives you the idea of what the sweater looks like.

Knitted Dog Sweater Pattern

Yarn required: 6.5 oz. sports weight yarn. You can break this up into two different colors if you want a contrasting neck and sleeves.
Needles: Size 8 (5mm), Size 8 (5mm) circular needle/16"
Stitch Holder

Size: S (L) Chest size: 13 ¼" (25") Length: 9 ¼" (21 3/4")
Gauge: 18 sts. and 36 rows equals 4" in garter stitch
(The garter stitch is knitting every row.)
Abbreviations: dec-decrease, inc-increase, k-knit, p-purl, k2tog-knit 2 together, rnd-round, RS-right side
Ssk-slip,slip,knit (slip next 2 sts as if to knit, one at a time, to right needle into fronts of these 2 sts and k them together.
M1 – make 1 stitch. (An increase worked by lifting the horizontal thread lying between the needles and placing it onto the left needle. Work this new stitch through the back loop.)

Back: Cast on 35 (51) sts. with the straight needles. Knit in the garter stitch, increasing 1 stitch at both ends of the row, every 6th (4th) row, 3 (14) times. There are now 41 (79) stitches on the needle. Continue knitting in the garter stitch for 5 ¾" (14 ¼").

Leg Openings: Place a marker at the end of the last row. This will mark the beginning of the leg openings. Decrease Row: K2, ssk, k to last 4 sts., k2 tog., k2. Repeat the decrease row every other row 3 more times – 33 (71) sts. Knit 10 rows. Increase Row: K2, M1, k to last 2 sts., M1, k2. Repeat the increase row every other row 3 more times – 41 (79) sts. Place a marker at each end of the last row to mark the end of the leg openings. Knit 4 rows. Work even in the garter stitch for 1 (5"). Place 41 (79) sts on a holder.

Front: Using straight needles, cast on 19 (33) sts. Knit in the garter stitch for 1 ¼ (6 ¼ "). Shape the leg openings as you did for the back. Place 19 (33)sts. on a holder.

Collar: Using the circular needle, knit across the Back stitches on the holder, then the Front stitches. – 60 (112)sts. Place a marker and join for working in the round. Size L only: *K2, k2tog, k3, k2tog; repeat from *, end with k4 – 88 sts. Both Sizes: Work even in rounds of K2, P2 until collar is 4 (7"). Bind off loosely following the ribbing pattern.


Sleeves: At each leg opening, with right side facing, pick up and knit – 28 sts. Knit in K2, P2 until the sleeve measures 2 ½ (3 ½") Bind off loosely following ribbing pattern.


Finishing: Sew the side seams on either side of the leg openings. Sew the sleeve seams and weave in the ends. Hope this knitted dog sweater keeps you pup warm all winter.


Happy Knitting!






38 comments:

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    Replies
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  2. This could work for my little bishon. I've made some dog sweaters, but none of them looks like yours.
    wish me luck:P

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  3. My dogs measurements are in between the your two sizes- I'll have to figure how many stitches to add onto the s size.

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  4. I am confused about knitting the front. If I cast on 19 st. and follow the leg opening directions, how many stitches do I have on my needles?

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    1. You would have 19 and then doing the decrease to 17, 15, 13, 11 and then add them back on up to 13, 15, 17 and back to 19. You will start and end with 19. I just made this and it's turned out great

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    2. When knitting the back, you say after the increase, now knit for 141/4 inches, does that mean the total, or from the end of the increase?

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  5. Hi Mo Royal, You measure the 14 1/4 inches from the beginning of the garter stitch. Since the garter stitch is such a basic stitch, you can adjust this length to fit your dog's back.

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  7. Hi!

    I have a question regarding the size...I would like to make this for my American cocker spaniel, but she is smaller than most Cockers. Does it mean that small starts at chest size 13 1/4" and goes up to 24", or does it mean that small is up to 13 1/4" and large is up to 25"? She has a chest size of 21".

    Thank-you,

    Betsy

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  8. Dogs look so cute in dressing but at the same time I think that dogs feel really bad in them. They want to stay in open environment. However, Dog clothes have more benefits so we should train them for clothes.

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  9. I don't understand the ssk.

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  10. I have loads of worsted yarn is there a doggie sweater I can use the worsted yarn on

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  11. I knitted this sweater with worsted yarn. It's the only kind I use. Thanks for asking.

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  12. Not very clear instructions! I too measured a further 5 3/4 inches on back...giving me a total of over 8 inches. also on the collar I have 41 stitches on holder how do I arrive at 60 stitches. not sure how to knit the front and then back of stitches. Please help.

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    1. This sweater turned pit perfect for me knit the front in another needle and place a marker at the end of the row where you do yoru increases this is your legs.

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  13. just figured it out......front and back stitches combined!!!! will carry on. Thanks.

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  14. Hi, I'm from the UK and found your dog sweater pattern and would love to have a go. Could you please clarify for me what is meant by 'sport weight' yarn? Is it the same as UK Double Knitting (8ply) yarn?
    Many thanks!

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  15. Sorry, me again - I've seen a comment lower down that says you actually used worsted weight yarn. Is this the same as UK Aran (10ply) yarn? There's lots of different conversion tables out there saying different things! I'm guessing it would be 10ply as you have used 5mm needles?
    Thank you!

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    1. Aran yarn is the same weight as worsted. I always use worsted weight for my knitting projects. Sports weight yarn is a bit lighter. It's best to knit about a 4-inch swatch to determine the correct gauge. You can use smaller needles, if you need to correct the gauge for use with Aran. The gauge is listed at the beginning of the instructions. Thanks for asking.

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  16. Thanks for your help :)

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  17. Hello, am I missing something with the leg openings? Do you use the circular needles to knit these bits? I can figure out why I need to place a stitch marker at the end of the row. I'm very confused! Thanks for your help.

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  18. I'm confused with how to put the back stitches onto the circular needle what's confusing me is it appears as if I'm getting into the same stitches twice if you could get some clarity on that I'd appreciate it

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  19. When beginning the leg openings, i have 41 stitches on my needle. I try to do the decrease row but i am left with 2 stitches remaining? The decrease row instructions do read as: knit 2, slip slip knit, knit to last 4 stitches correct?

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    1. It says to pick up 19 stitches I believe it is for each leg then after you knit 2 and 1/4 inch you'll seem it all together after ita knitted. It turned out perfect for me.

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  20. I just made this sweater for "Sophie" and she loves it. I worked off the pattern on my iPad but sometimes I want to make notations to save and also like to take it with me when I'm out so I want to print it..... the red background looks 'pretty' but wastes and huge amount of ink.

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    1. Copy and paste to a document. Change ink color to black.
      Should work

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  21. Hi Katherine, I'm so glad Sophie likes her sweater and that you like the pattern. Thanks.

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  22. If I needed to increase the chest size, do I just add 18 stitches to make it 4 inches larger?

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  23. You can do that to make the large size, four inches bigger. I'm not sure if you'll have to adjust the front leg openings too.

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  24. Can you provide sweater machine directions, please?

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    1. Hi, I don't have a knitting machine so I really don't know what the directions would be for that. I only do hand knitting.

      If anyone else visiting this blog knows machine directions, please feel free to post them.

      Sorry I can't help you with that.

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  26. I made this for my small dog it turned out perfect I have a boxer I was wondering should I just double the stitches. I'm going to try it.

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  28. Thank you for sharing this amazingly simple yet very cute design pattern.

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  29. Hi...how do you figure 5 3/4 inches only from the begining of the back to the leg opening? On your model it looks a lot longer???

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