Because we live on the wet, west coast, and it rains (and sprays mud-slime) here constantly, I thought four or five sweaters would be best for the grit-covered canine in the fog and rain. Enjoy the “Griff so Spiff” sweater set. They are all steeked, shaped in finishing, and are made from tiny balls of leftover yarn. They can dry out, while the dog sports a clean/fresh one.

How to knit:

Knit a cylinder with a steek, that starts at the rear end of the dog with an half-inch or so of ribbing (smaller needles for ribbing). This cylinder, when later split open down the central steek, should width-wise cover up to to 2/3rds to 3/4s of total chest circumference of the dog. The chest will be filled in 1/3rd ir 1/4 of the chest measurement with a flat piece that’s sewn into place later, and the space for the legs will be in the un-sewn joining up of the back piece and chest-piece.
(see drawing at left, bottom.)

But in making the tube, you are simply making the back piece up to the collar edge. You may need to increase as you go, if dog is not totally tubular like mine was (tiny poodle had no shaping!). Shape to fit, and then end your knitted tube either with neck ribbing, or with casting off around the neck and picking up, or sewing on a shawl collar (see last photo) as I did.

My dog was cylindrical, so I did no shaping in the body, but did taper inward during the last inch of the neck. (K2tog, K5, K2tog etc.)

Machine-sew and cut the steek. Sew it down neatly.Back is now complete.

Chest piece:

Flat knitting: Knit a short, square chest piece (see 3rd photo from bottom to see all pieces before sewing) which will be later sewn to side-seams of back, leaving 3-4 inches un-sewn as leg openings. (larger dogs, or dogs with high elbows may need more space for leg motion).

The rectangular chest-piece also can be knit with a centered rectangular opening for the shawl collar, by binding off the center third. After binding off the center, the two “shoulder strap” extensions are finished one at a time.

Shawl Collar:

Fantastic for leaving the throat free, and tags and buckles have room to hang down.

Knit a ribbed shawl collar piece, long and narrow, leaving it on a dpn, because you will stretch it to fit when sewn, and won’t know exactly how long to make it until you fit all pieces.
Collar is 8 to 12 stitches (on 4.5 mm) knit in 1x1 rib, then sewn on, stretching as you go, with both ends meeting at center front and overlapping. You can add rows or subtract rows if you leave one working end on the dpn.

Fit and sew all pieces together using backstitch.

Sew as you go. Weave in ends.

Curl rear end downward over the butt, as required, by taking a darning needle and a length of working yarn anchored at the ribbing end, and sewing invisibly through the sewn steek edge. Backstitch every now and then to anchor. This line of stitches should be pulled taut as you work, to curve the back-flap downward, choosing the tautness as you go, by feel, one inch at a time, then anchored with another backstitch. Takes only a minute to do.

See final photos for shawl collar created with sewn pieces. Enjoy!

ps. Apparently male dogs need less fabric on the tummy due to spillage. A good line for the ribbed end of the chest piece for male dogs is perhaps the solar plexis, I was told. That’s what I have done here. Females can have more tummy coverage, esp. in very cold climates.

Who is Griffin?
A tiny poodle owned by a friend, feels better when he’s wearing a sweater.
She says it helps his anxiety. I bet it’s because he thinks that bigger dogs cannot bite through worsted fairisle. ha ha!
:>)