Pup in Knits

We are still happily fostering our little rescue pup Chinso, who is currently doing something very similar to this:

... while occasionally letting out little grunts and sighs of contentment.

Fostering is a very rewarding activity, but obviously comes with much potential for heartache. I'm not going to go into the hows and whys of how I cope with this and please don't ask, because for this particular pup it's going to be very difficult when he is adopted. We are currently trying to arrange a meet and greet with potential adopters and it pulls my heart in two.

Chinso is most likely an Italian greyhound chihuahua mix, with heavy emphasis on the greyhound. He has legs that stretch on for days, the classic narrow but long body, and a big chest that rapidly nips in to a tiny waist. And he's fast!

I'm not really a person who takes pleasure in anthropomorphizing animals, but this little dog needed a sweater to cope with the cold. He was underweight when he came from the shelter and his undercarriage is all but bald! I bought a sweater for him that fit in terms of length but didn't fit anywhere else and was chaffing because of his shape. I cut, sewed and added snaps to adjust it but I still wasn't happy.

So this week I knit him his own custom fit sweater!

He was extremely patient and tolerated multiple fit session during the knitting process, and at least two attempts at figuring out where the button loops should go. This was a fast knit holding two strands of worsted together and knitting 2x2 rib on US10.5mm needles. I did increases and decreases as I saw fit to hug his curves, added a button hole for attaching the leash to the harness, then added slip stitch crocheted button loops for fastening. I blocked it a little bit too much so it's a touch loose now over the harness, but it should snug up on a second wash.

Chinso happily pushes his head through and lifts his front paw whenever the sweater is presented and seems to like this sweater much more than the store bought one! For one thing it isn't acrylic so he no longer gets wickedly static charged during walks and it doesn't chafe anywhere. It's warm too.

It snugs up nice and tight on his belly, but importantly is out of the line of fire of pee. I ran out of yarn or I would have made this a little longer and rounder at the bottom end, but hey, it covers a lot as it is.

Gratuitous chihuahua-face.

Gratuitous cute :)