UPDATED with pattern notes:

First off, I have to thank everyone for the kind words and compliments, and apologize profusely for everyone who has asked for the pattern. I’ve been horribly lazy and hardly on Ravelry at all. Perhaps I can get this pattern out in just enough time for people to knit some last minute gifts for their dogs’ stockings!

One note: the ears and antlers are taken straight from the “deer with little antlers hat” pattern from tiny owl knits linked above. That pattern is private intellectual property, so I can’t share it, but it is available for purchase.

Second note: I knit the snood in an ad hoc manner, trying it on my dog as I went, and unfortunately didn’t record the pattern at all at the time. I’ve tried to recreate it based on my memory and looking at the finished product, but I can’t guarantee that my recreated notes are error-free. If I’ve said something that seems wrong or doesn’t make sense, you’re probably right!

All that I did was knit a tube to attach the ears and antlers to. To knit my tube, which was sized to fit my dog, I cast on 48 stitches and worked a K2P2 rib. I didn’t track my gauge (just used trial and error) but the resulting ribbed tube, laid flat, measures almost exactly 4” across. Be sure to use a very stretchy cast-on for the bottom, as it shouldn’t be tight on your dog’s neck.

When my tube was about 11” long, I began the short row shaping. In retrospect, I wish I had made it a little shorter, because now it’s long enough that it sometimes folds up on itself at the bottom where it comes down to my dog’s shoulders.

Unfortunately I didn’t note how I did the short rows. Honestly, I think it would fit just about as well without them, so if you don’t want to bother, just try skipping them and just making a straight tube. If you’d like to use the short row shaping but haven’t done short rows before, I’d recommend looking up an online explanation of them as my explanation probably won’t be very clear to someone who hasn’t used them before.

1) k2p2 for 36 stitches, wrap next stitch and turn
2) continue k2p2 rib in pattern for 24 stitches, wrap next stitch and turn
3) continue in k2p2 rib in pattern until you get to one stitch before the prior wrapped stitch. Wrap stitch and turn.
4) continue in this manner until you have 7 wrapped stitches on each side. You can make more wrapped stitches or fewer to create more of a curve or less of one, respectively.
5) Once you have enough wrapped stitches, return to working in the round in the k2p2 pattern as before, picking up the wraps as you come to them. Knit 3 more rows and bind off (or knit as many rows as fits your dog before binding off).
6) Knit the ears and antlers as given in the tiny owl knits pattern. I used trial and error to get the ears the right size, as I wanted them big enough to look somewhat realistic.
7) Put the snood on your dog, and gently feel around to see where his or her ears are. Mark those places with locking stitch markers or something similar, to know where to put the ears.
8) Sew the ears into place where you’ve marked. Put the snood on again, and experiment to see where the antlers should go. Take the snood off, attach the antlers, and weave in the ends. I did stuff the antlers very slightly with fiberfill stuffing, prior to sewing them into place, to give them added firmness, but that probably wasn’t necessary.

A couple final notes: My dog doesn’t mind this snood too much, but it isn’t his favorite. One downside of the pattern is that when he shakes his head, the extra weight of the ears and antlers makes the snood shift around, usually scootching down his neck a bit until his ears are free. One Raveler suggested leaving openings for the dog’s ears to make the snood a bit more comfortable and secure, which would be a great idea. I didn’t make any ear openings because my dog is a greyhound, and I made the snood primarily to keep his ears warm and prevent frostbite in cold weather (which can happen with the breed). But where this isn’t a concern, ear holes either near the “deer ears” or in place of them would likely make the snood more comfortable for the dog and more secure.

Hopefully these terribly terribly belated pattern notes are helpful! Please feel free to send me any corrections or alterations that would improve the above; it was knit as an improvisation and recorded well after the fact, which is less than ideal.

ONE final note: Please use good judgment regarding use of this pattern, especially with a fawn-colored dog, in areas where people hunt. We live in an urban environment, but Lucky is certainly not allowed to wear his snood when he visits his dogparents in West Virginia (in fact, he has his own doggie blaze-orange vest as an extra precaution)!

Okay, I know, fawns don’t have antlers. But from the very first day we brought Lucky home from his foster family, when he curled up in the backseat, we’ve always thought he looked like a little fawn. So obviously, when the weather started turning colder and he needed a cowl to keep his ears warm, I knew this pattern would be perfect.

10/5/2011: Finally knit and felted the antlers and assembled. I can’t believe I waited a month to complete! Probably could have finished in two to three days if I’d worked straight through. Very pleased with the results, even though for some reason the antlers didn’t fully felt despite my best efforts. They still felted enough to shape properly, and I added a bit of roving stuffed into the antler to help keep it properly shaped, although it may not have needed this step. Very adorable--I’ll just have to be sure he never wears this while out in the woods!

9/5/2011: Sewed pink portion of ears to tan portion of ears. All needed now is to make the antlers and sew all pieces together. Project may go on the back burner for a while, though.

9/4/2011: Began yesterday and already finished with cowl and tan portion of both ears, and pink portion of ears. Cast on 48 st. for the cowl, worked at a k2p2 rib, and did some short row shaping to create the curved skull cap portion. Very fast pattern when made with bulky wool. All that’s left are the antlers.