My dog Pedro has very short hair and almost no body fat. He is cold all the time and seeks out heat vents, beds that are and are not his and shivers pitifully. I attempted knitting a sweater for him twice but due to his big boxy chest had a hard time getting a pullover to fit well.
I found this fabulous pattern on
Ravelry. It is called Blaze and is featured in the book
Top Dog Knits by Jil Eaton. It is more coat than sweater. Almost like a horse blanket really. This design seemed fitting for my 80 lb "speeding brick wall" of a dog.
I'm hoping that being felted this will serve as a raincoat on our long rainy walks in Portland. Raincoats for dogs his size run upwards of $80.
He certainly looks distinguished and I haven't seen any shivering since I put it on.
I used Cascade Eco Wool in a natural light grey colorway and size 10.5 needles. I used buttons instead of the Velcro called for in the pattern.
If I were to make this pattern again I would check it mid way through the cycle while felting. It is a wee bit too small which I never would have anticipated looking at the pre-felted garment. It was huge.
