Simply did double crochet for the collar, and doubled-over to make a thick collar (bassets have long necks). The collar itself acts as a sort of thick scarf, attached to the sweater body. From there, I did an x-stitch for the body and ended the body with several rows of single crochet. For the arms, I did a row of single crochet as a base, then did x-stitch in the round, doing the outer part with a triple crochet instead of double, to account for her arm proportions. I ended the arms with several rows of single crochet, which I doubled-over to make thick and keep them up. I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarn, and an x-crochet stitch on the body, to keep her warm, while letting the sweater breathe a bit.

This particular breed has very thick skin and bones, but she gets really cold when running in the snow, so this was to help her enjoy the snow without freezing. She is still a bit thin--we adopted her from a shelter only two months ago, when she was 14 months old. She was extremely thin when we got her (much more than dogs who don’t like to eat at shelters because they’re nervous). She was 31 lbs when we brought her home, and she now tops over 40. Her packmates include 4 standard Dachshunds and a Min Pin. Now that she has her sweater, she can play with them outside (most of the Dachshunds are longhairs, so they grow their own sweaters) in the snow without getting too cold.