Pedro's Got a Brand New Coat

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.

Stripes and Cozies Forever

Some FOs for your viewing pleasure, the Noro striped scarf, a la Brooklyn Tweed, finally finished. I am much less enamored with this project than I was at the start. It was just so boring to knit and those four skeins lasted forever. The easy knitting would have been OK but the skeins constantly tried to attack one other and tangle so it was a constant battle to knit in locations I frequent such as the bus or the lunch room at work where space is tight.

The second object is a felted cozy for my new pink phone. I used Cascade 220 and the same needles I used for the scarf, because they were handy. I basically knit an envelope, sewed it up and felted.
I intended to take pre-felted measurements for future reference but forgot. The button is from my tin of buttons that has been passed down over at least four generations and looks like maybe an old coat button.
It is nothing spectacular but it is serving the function of cushioning my phone from myself. The cell phone guy did his best to talk me out of this particular phone, saying it was fragile and many have returned it broken. I did the only sensible thing and bought the phone I wanted and knit it a cozy!






I am off to the beach with old friends and a Hemlock Ring Blanket to knit!

Happy three day weekend!