Christmas Chihuahua Sweater

Merry Christmas

Someone recently asked for a chihuahua sweater for a male dog.  As requested, here it is.  It’s cut up away from the belly on the bottom so that the boys can do their business without soiling the hem of the sweater.

I will not be including instructions for the color work, only because I’ve had enough pattern writing today.

oh yeah, all the important stuff:

Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Red Sprinkle (I’m going to guess 60 yards or 1/3 of a skein), size 6 double pointed needles, needle to sew in ends, smooth waste yarn (for 2nd version, a small amount of contrasting yarn)

gauge: about 5 stitches to the inch

I’m writing the same pattern twice and leaving out the color work.  The first version is row by row.  If you don’t need all that, the short and simple version is at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional pattern writer.  I just have a small dog who is cold.  Please don’t be rude about correcting my work or asking me to rewrite it for your 100lb dog (no offense to 100lb dogs, but I don’t buy that much yarn at a time).

The long version:

Cast on 40 stitches, distribute over 3 needles

Knit 1×1  ribbing for 3 ”

Knit 2, kfb, k34, kfb, k2 (now you have 42 stitches on the needles)

knit 3, kfb, k34, kfb, k3

knit 4, kfb, k34, kfb, k4

knit 5, kfb, k34, kfb, k5

knit 6, kfb, k34, kfb, k6

knit 7, kfb, k34, kfb, k7

knit 8, kfb, k34, kfb, k8

knit 9, kfb, k34, kfb, k9

knit 10, kfb, k34, kfb, k10

knit 11, kfb, k34, kfb, k11

knit 12, kfb, k34, kfb, k12 (62 stitches total)

Arm holes

on next row knit 7, knit 7 on waste yarn, knit around to last 14 stitches, knit 7 on waste yarn, knit 7 with regular yarn.

Knit in stockinette (knit around) until body is 3″ long from arm holes

cast off last 10 stitches of next row

cast of 1st 10 stitches of the new row, k1, k2 tog, knit 36, k2 tog, k1

purl next row (sweater is now being worked flat)

knit 1, k2 tog, k34, k2tog, k1

purl next row

k1, k2tog, k32, k2tog, k1

purl

k1, k2tog, k30, k2tog, k1

purl

k1, k2tog, k28, k2tog, k1

purl

k1, k2tog, k26, k2tog, k1

purl

k1, k2tog, k24, k2tog, k1, don’t purl back! Pick up 20 stitches evenly around the cast off edge so you have 48 stitches.

do k1p1 ribbing for 1 inch and cast off.

Sleeves; remove the waste yarn and pick up the stitches.  In between the 2 rows grab a loop and twist it so that you don’t have a gap in the sleeves.  Do 1×1 ribbing around for 1 inch.

Sew in your ends and admire your work.

The short version, without all the row-by-row stuff.

cast on 40 sts, divide onto needles as follows, 10 on 1st needle, 20 on 2nd needles, 10 on 3rd needle. Join and knit in k1p1 ribbing for 3″ for turtleneck or 1.5 inches for crew neck, on last row place marker after 3rd stitch and before last 3 stitches.

Increasing for the body

Knit first 2 stitches, knit front and back of stitch before marker, knit around, knit front and back of stitch right after the last marker (you will have 42 stitches now).  repeat 10 more times for 62 stitches.

Leg holes and body

On next row, knit 7 sts with red, knit 7 stitches with waste yarn (that should take you to the stitch marker), knit around to the next stitch marker, knit 7 in waste yarn and then 7 in red.  Knit until body measures 3″ long from armholes.  On next row knit around and cast off last 10 stitches and 1st 10 stitches of next row.  Finish that row by knitting 1, k2tog, knit across to last 3 stitches, k2tog, k1.  Purl the next row.  Continue decreasing by knitting 1, k2tog at the beginning and k2tog, k1 at the end and purling back (so you have stockinette) 7 times total.  at the end of the last knit row, continue by picking up 20 stitches around the body and knit 1″ of 1×1 ribbing.

Finishing up (sleeves)

Pull out the waste yarn and pick up 14 stitches plus 2 extra loops on each side so you don’t get a big gap. k1p1 ribbing for 1″

Sew in all ends and admire your work.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.