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Custom dog Sweater for fido

This page will chart a custom dog sweater for you to knit by hand or on your machine. The shape of the dog sweater is designed based on dog sweaters pictured in Foster & Smith's catalog. In that catalog, the basic tube shaped sweater is shown two different designs. One design has a fairisle body in a traditional snow flake pattern and ribbed collar, trim and legs. The other design has a shaker rib body; 1 x 1 rib is used for the collar, legs and welt trims around the edges.

I have not knit this sweater, because I don't own a dog. However, the shape is taken from some published dog sweater patterns. Lucky for me, Edie Greiveldinger knit it. Her dog Windsor is modeling the sweater on this page. You can also see Lola modeling the sweater on the schematics page. (When you knit your dog sweater, send me a picture. I'd love to others to see your cute dog too.)

To use this page, you must measure your dog and knit a swatch. Then enter your dog's measurements and some gauge information in the boxes below. You may also chose to work in inches or centimeters. Fill out all measurements and hit "send".

Here is some advice: Practice making some patterns before you knit your swatch. Just go find a yarn, read the gauge off the label, and enter those values in the table. Heck, put in some fake dog measurements, and hit "send". Then read the pattern and see if it makes sense. If you don't understand it, email me .

How to use this page!

When you called this program, it automatically ran once with measurements I selected. If you want a sweater for your dog, first measure your dog. You may measure your pooch snugly, and then select an ease value.

After you enter the data, and hit send. Wait a few moments while the program generates a custom dog sweater pattern for you. If you type in your data incorrectly, don't worry. You'll have another chance!

Type or check your data

Type in the new values for your dog in each box. Each box currently contains measurement choices, but you must change them all to match your dogs measurements and your gauge. Otherwise, the sweater won't fit your dog.

Just type in the new numerical values in either inches or cm. If you wish to use centimeters, be sure to click the cm box because the default is inches.

After you hit send, wait a few moments while the program charts your sweater. The numbers you entered will be echoed back to you, and if you change your mind, you can change the numbers again.

Enter your dog's name:

Choose the units you wish to use.
The current directions assume your input is in inches. inches
cm

Enter your gauge information. Note: The sweater body is knit in the "main" stitch pattern. It can be nearly any pattern you like. The legs, welt and collare are knit in the "welt" stitch. I advise you choose ribbing for this stitch pattern.

Welt row gauge rows =
length (inches) =

Welt stitch gauge stitches =
width (inches) =

Main row gauge row =
length (inches) =

Main stitch gauge stitches =
width (inches) =

Dog measurements
Enter the length of your dog from the shoulder to the back of it's rump in inches:
Enter the length between the dog's collar to his back legs in inches:
Enter the length between the dog's collar to whatever you would call the "front" of his front legs in inches: (This measurement determines where the slits will start.)
Enter the dog's chest measurement in inches: (This measurement determines how big around the sweater is going to be. )
Enter the dog's thighs circumference in inches: (If you want comfy wide legs, hold the tape measure loosely.)
Style features
Enter the collar height for the doggie sweater in inches :
Enter the length of legs on the sweater in inches:
Enter the amount of ease you would like for the sweater in % :( This determines how tight the sweater will be compared to your dog's chest.)

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I am applying an ease of 5% and multiplying the chest, thigh and belly width by 1.05 to determine the widths of the main pieces. The following values are modified:

chest 18.2 -> 19.11 inches;
thigh 4.5 -> 4.725 inches;
I'm finished calculating. Here are the directions. They are custom created for your dog, fido.

General Directions & Design Ideas

The Pieces

The dog sweater is made in 6 parts. To see a general schematic and some sweater design ideas click "schematics".

TOP: The 8 sided "top" piece is the main piece. The cast on is narrow. As you knit, you will increase stitches, knit without increaseing, and then decreases towards the neck. After assembly, the cast on portion of the top will end up by the dogs rump. The cast off portion will be near the dog's neck. The total length of this piece is 10.2 inches; the total width is 12.7 inches.

BOTTOM: The "bottom" is the underside of sweater. It will cover the dog's belly. This piece is a rectangle, and it is shorter than is the top. The two side edges of the bottom "bottom" will be sewn to the "top" matching points "a"-"d" but leaving the portion between "b" and "c" unsewn to form slits. The total length of the bottom is 7 inches; the total width is 6.4 inches.

COLLAR: The collar will be a turtleneck. The directions suggest you knit it separately, and then sew it to the body. However, you can can also pick up stitches from the neck edge and knit until the collar is long enough.

LEGS: These are two little rectangles which are knit and the folded in half, matching points "c" on the two sides. These legs should be sewn to leg slits matching points "b" and "c". One of the main purposes of the legs is to keep the edges of the body from curling at the leg openings. If you knit the body in a stitch that doesn't curl, you may omit the legs. Or, if you know how to crochet, you can crochet around the edges.

WELT: The welt is a long narrow strip of ribbing that is applied to hip edge of the sweater. It is decorative, but also prevents the body from curling. It is best to knit this in a non-curling stitch like ribbing or garterstitch. Th welt be knitted separately and sewn to the body, or you can pick up stitches from the body. The total length of this piece is 1 inches.

You pick your main pattern. This could be fairisle, stockinette, DJ or nearly anything you like. But for your dog's comfort, select a stretchy stitch. For a good fit, the collar and legs should be knitted in a stitch that draws in like ribbing.

Construction and Assembly Order

Knit top and bottom. Mattress stitch top to bottom on one side matching points "a-d", but leaving slits between "b" and "c".

Knit collar. Attach to the front using your preferred method.

Knit welt. Attach to rump portion of sweater.

Mattress stitch top to bottom at the remaining side, once again leaving the slit.

Knit the legs. Cast off. Fold over matching the sides and sew sides to form a tube.

Sew the cast off edge of the legs to the slit openings.

Find your dog; dress him and take him for a walk.

Note: The directions specify both rows and the length of the piece whenever you need to shape or cast off. Handknitters generally use length information. Machine knitters prefer the row information. Don't worry about the extra information.

Top

Cast on 36 stitches and begin to knit using the main stitch pattern. (width is 6.4 inches) When cast on is complete: if you are hand knitting, knit 1 or 2 rows, ending with knit sidefacing, if you are knitting with a japanese machine, make 2 carriage passes ending with carriage on the right (COR), if you are knitting with a Passap, the cast on took a few passes, so you are ready to shape.

Now, begin shaping: increase at both sides as follows:
increase 2 stitches every two rows 6 times then increase 1 stitches every two rows 6 times
There are now 72 stitches and the width is 12.7 inches. The row count is 24. (Length is 3.2 inches). Set a row marker; I will call this marker "d". Knit without increasing to row 38. (Length is 4.9 inches). Set a marker; I will call this marker point "c". This is where the leg slit starts. Knit to row 60. (Length is 7.9 inches.) Set another marker; I will call this marker "b". (The slit opening for the dogs legs will be between markers "b" and "c".) The chest shaping also starts here. Decrease 14 stitches over 16 rows on both outside edges as follows:
decrease 1 stitches every two rows 2 times then decrease 2 stitches every two rows 6 times
Knit the remaining 44 stitches without shaping to row 76. (Length is 10.2 inches) Cast off the all stitches. This row could be marked "a".

Bottom

Cast on 38 stitches and begin to knit using the main pattern. (width is 6.4 inches) Knit to row 14. Set a marker c. (This will be the one end of the slit for the dog legs.) Knit to row 36. Set another marker b. (The slit opening for the dogs legs will be between markers "b" and "c".) Knit straight to row count 52. (Length is 7 inches) Cast off all stitches. Hang a marker to indicate this row is point "a".

Collar

Method 1: Cast on 108 stitches and begin to knit in the welt pattern-- which should be some sort of ribbing. Knit in rib until row count 16 (Length is 3 in inches.) Bind off and sew turtleneck to sweater body. Method 2: This is useful for handknitters. Attach top to bottom at one shoulder. Pick up 108 stitches around neckline. Knit until row count 16 (Length is 3 in inches.) Cast off.

Legs

Knit two.

Cast on 34 stitches and knit using the welt stitch pattern. This should be some sort of ribbing. The width is twice the leg slit opening. Knit in rib until row count 6. (Length is 1.2 inches.) Cast off. Fold in half matching sides "c".

Welt

Make one.

Cast on (or pick up on rump end of sweater) 120 stitches in the welt stitch pattern. This should be some sort of ribbing. (This will be attached to the rump of the sweater which is 21.8 inches long.) Knit to row count 6. (length is 1 inches.) Bind off and sew to rump edge of dog sweater.