Bernie

Barb got a new puppy this summer. 

One of Bernie's baby pictures

Bernie is a black Shih Tzu who is quite the little charmer. He's not even 3 pounds and probably won't get to more than 5 pounds when full grown. 

And being so tiny means it's even harder to keep warm when the temperatures drop. Last week we could tell he wasn't fond of those cold mornings, and the brisk wind didn't really do it for him either.

So on Saturday we decided he needed his very first sweater. First we chose the yarn... Plymouth Encore. It was an easy decision. We wanted something that would wash easily (after all, Bernie is so tiny that each outing onto grass gets him pretty wet!) We also figured that since he's just getting into the naughty toddler teething phase, he'd be chewing on his sweater like a bad boy. So we certainly weren't going to splurge for superwash merino wool...

Then it was on to picking a color. With 69 solids, 9 tweeds and 26 colorspuns, the choice was a little overwhelming! We ended up going with one of the new neon colors. We figured that with the daylight hours on the decline, it was the safest choice!

I could have found a pattern for a teeny tiny dog sweater but I figured it would be more fun to wing it. So I grabbed Bernie and a tape measure and sketched some measurements. (You can tell I have cats. My drawing is clearly feline.) 

With a basic drawing of what I wanted, Bernie's measurements and a gauge swatch, I was off and knitting. This was a quick project and I brought it in for Bernie to wear this morning. 

He wasn't quite sure what to think of his new sweater. He chased his tail (and the back end of the sweater) for 5 minutes straight, and then was exhausted and napped it in for about an hour. Typical puppy behavior.

Seriously? I have to WEAR this!?

Note the buttons... skull & crossbones buttons... perfect for this little sweet terror.

So my attempt at a dog sweater was pretty good! We decided we'll move the buttons to make it more snug around his back for now, and as he grows we'll move them back again. 

Tiny sleeves are just the right size for his little chicken legs.

Settling in for my nap.

And sorry, I did not write down the pattern for this. It's really all about measurements and gauge... really not too difficult!