Last year I finally crocheted the "Habitat Cardigan," out of some Cloudborn Fibers Wool Bulky Naturals that I bought on sale from Webs. Although I like the look and feel of the yarn in the skein, when worked up it just wasn't super cozy on me, and I had 3 balls remaining when the sweater was done. Into the stash they went.
Then later this year as it started to approach October I started thinking: WOULDN'T IT BE CUTE TO BUY A SWEATER SET TO MATCH MY DOG??????? I mean, she's a black German Shepard (we got her in April so Sadie is new to The Blog, say hi) and I do wear black nearly every day but wouldn't it be cute if we like, Dressed Up Together???
I scoured Etsy and found some LOVELY ideas. A seller named "FitFrenchie" had some especially cute items, and I ooh-lah-lah'd at this one for quite some time:
Do you see this amazing set???? I am IN LOVE!!
But I was not in love with the cost, as at the moment I'm trying to conserve on my spending. The sweater set is $80.00 which is completely reasonable and if I wasn't being careful with money currently I would absolutely snag it. But... Alas.... Sadly I closed the computer screen and pouted about our lack of matching outfits until I remembered the three forgotten skeins of Cloudborn!
I knew it would be enough to fit Sadie! There was even a partial ball left over too.
So I wound the skeins and found several cute crochet patterns that would match the look of the habitat cardigan. I started the project and got about 5 inches in before realizing I really didn't WANT to crochet a dog sweater. So I unwound it and went looking for knitting patterns. I settled on this
adorable candy corn costume (Which I absolutely want to re-make in the appropriate colors, yes with one to match for myself also- but in the future lol) which had a great looking shape for her and matched my gauge.
Then it was time to start working it up!
Look at her little face as she watches me knit the collar instead of throw the ball for her. So cute!
This pattern had a convenient way to do the legs. You just knit in some waste yarn and then later cut it, pull it out, and pick up and work the sleeves downwards. Very easy and convenient for me.
I think it took me around 3 days to complete, so it was also a quick project which is enjoyable. Then we took a picture of us in our matching sweaters!
I think she likes it.
I didn't change the pattern, other than the colors. Well actually I did misread the short row shaping portion but not with a noticeable enough change for me to unravel and re-do it and I definitely couldn't repeat the mistake so it's really not worth mentioning.
When it starts to get snowy later in the year (earlier in the year?) I will have her wear it when we go on walkies. But for now she just wore it the one day for some pictures outside.
I think the only thing I would redo (besides actually following the proper short row shaping haha) is make the collar section longer so it goes up her neck more. Otherwise it turned out pretty nice. And she definitely didn't complain about the yarn lol.
I can't wait to make more outfits to match my dog! I can already envision several. And then Knitty came out with
this pattern with yet another way to match your dog. I can imagine so many fun patterns to either knit into the sweater or duplicate stitch or embroider on afterwards. I just wish I had more time to knit :)
