Hello again my dears. Hopefully, for you it's been just a few days since I wrote my last update. For me, it's been about an hour, but I want to get as much of this post written in advance as I can.
Before I start, I have a confession to make - I missed off a stash entry in my last post. In my defence, I missed it off because I'd forgotten to record it on Ravelry, and I only realised when I was tidying up the photo reel on my phone, and came across the picture I took on the day it arrived. I guess I must have been really busy, and just took the photo, then put the yarn away, and then got distracted and never recorded it.
Anyway, this is the yarn:
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| 4 pink, yellow, and purple mini-skeins |
As you can probably tell, this is a Made by Penguins Yarnologist club box, and also explains why in my last post there was no club box after September! This is the October and November yarn, plus added stickers and stitch markers.
So, now that I have righted that wrong, I'm going to do something that I've never done before, and that is publish a free knitting pattern right here on this page. It's not a pattern that I ever really intended to write up, but recently someone contacted me asking where I'd found the pattern, so I thought maybe there would be some interest if I made it available.
Easy on/Easy off Dog Coat
I don't know about anyone else, but personally I find getting most garments designed for dogs on and off very difficult. Finn isn't the most resistant pup in the world, but neither is he especially keen or cooperative when it comes to putting "clothes" on him!
However, being a cocker spaniel, he grows very long fur on his belly, especially when it's getting close to time for a visit to the groomers. Also, being a cocker spaniel, he likes to get muddy! So it is useful, when taking a walk through muddy fields is unavoidable, to be able to get a coat on him that covers his belly. This is why I created this pattern in the first place.
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| Cocker Spaniel in a red knitted coat |
The back of the coat is knit in a super bulky yarn with a reflective strand running through it, which makes it very noticeable in car headlights, or torch light. The neck, belly, and trim are all knit in a plain super bulky yarn. The specific yarns that I used are Schachenmayr Lumio, in the colourway "00032", and King Cole Big Value Chunky, in colourway "554". Finn measures 60cm around his ribcage, and 60cm from just above his shoulder blades, to the base of his tail. I used exactly one ball of the Lumio, and less than half a ball of the Big Value Chunky.
I used 6mm needles for the ribbing, knit in Big Value Chunky, and achieved a gauge of 18 stitches by 16 rows creating a 10cm (4") square.
I used 8mm needles for the stockinette and cable pattern, knit in Lumio, and achieved a gauge in stockinette of 9 stitches by 13 rows creating a 10cm (4") square.
You will also need 4 - 6 buttons, large enough to stay securely fastened. The buttons I used at first, which are the ones in the photo above, turned out to be too small, and they came un fastened when Finn was running about. I ended up replacing them with buttons roughly 3.5cm in diameter.
I have estimated numbers for slightly smaller, and slightly larger dogs, but I must stress that I have not tested this pattern in those sizes, so I cannot guarantee that the numbers are entirely accurate. I would expect that given the amount of stretch in knitted fabric in general, and the ribbing of the belly panel in particular, that size Small would fit a dog with a chest circumference of approximately 35 - 55cm, Medium would fit a chest circumference of approximately 55 - 75cm, and Large would fit a chest circumference of approximately 75-95cm.
Using the same yarn that you intend to use for the belly panel, and a moderately stretchy cast on (I used a standard long-tail cast on), cast on 40/60/80 (S/M/L) stitches.
Join in the round, and knit K1, P1 rib for 12 rounds.
Switch to Main colour, and 8mm needles.
Knit 30/45/60 stitches. You will now work these stitches flat. Put the remaining stitches onto a stitch holder, or spare yarn.
Purl 1 row.
*Knit 13/21/28 stitches, C4F, knit to end of row.
Knit 5 rows in stockinette.*
Repeat from * to * until past your dog's elbow. Your next knit row will be your first button hole row.
K2, YO, K2tog, work in pattern as established to 4sts before end of row, SSK, YO,K2.
Work a button hole row every 4th row twice more, unless your pup has a short ribcage, in which case once more should be sufficient. Continue to work the cable pattern every 6 rows, as established until you reach 14/15/16cm shorter than your total desired length.
K3, K2tog, work to 5 stitches before the end of the row, SSK, K3.
Purl 1 row.
Repeat last 2 rows 5/6/7 more times.
Switch to belly panel colour. Work in K1, P1 rib for 12 more rows, then bind off.
Place held stitches back on 6mm needles, and continue working in K1, P1 rib until level with the first buttonhole on the back panel.
Cast on 6 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Work these 6 extra stitches either side of the belly panel in garter stitch, but continue to work the centre part of the panel in 1&1 rib.
Continue until the belly panel is just longer than your pup's ribcage, then bind off.
Weave in all loose ends, and sew buttons onto the garter stitch edges of the belly panel so that they meet the buttonholes when the coat is being worn.
Congratulations! You now have a dog coat!
If you do happen to knit this, please let me know how it turns out!
Advent Adventure 2022
Now it's time to introduce you to this year's selection of advent calendars!
I'm afraid there's a lot less yarn here than there usually is in my Advent Adventures, but being honest with myself, I don't think I really need any more mini-skeins, no matter how beautiful they may be.
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| My personal advent calendar selection |
It has now been 7 years since my advent blogging adventures began, with a single yarny advent calendar by Opal. Since then I've tried so many different advent calendars! In 2019, the year I lost my dad, I went utterly crazy and had 12 different countdown calendars!
I seem to have settled down to my core favourites now, with something I've never seen before now and then. So let's see what we have this year...
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| Lindt chocolate advent calendar |
The traditional chocolate calendar.
Our favourite Lindt version. We tried a different version last year, but we like this one better.
I first discovered this 4 years ago, and I love this idea so much! A little bit of feel good every day, as you learn which charities have benefited from you buying this calendar.
What could be better than an advent calendar that gives to those who need it most, doesn't contribute to your inevitable Christmas weight gain, and is 100% recyclable?
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| Northern Waxes wax melt calendar |
The lovely smells calendar.
I couldn't properly enjoy the Northern Waxes calendar that I got last year, as the essential oil vapour seemed to irritate Stephen's injured eye. I ended up with Christmas scents in my burner in the middle of June! This year it will be so lovely to have a house that feels, and smells like Christmas during December!
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| Cuddlebums 12 days of yarn |
The yarn calendar.
There is a little bit of yarn, just not very much. This is the Cuddlebums 12 days of Christmas calendar, but I shall open it during Advent. I haven't yet decided if I will open one door every alternate day, or if I will not open any doors until after December 12th. I have a few days yet to decide.
It's also only 5g micro-skeins. Enough to make squares for my mitred squares blanket, but not with much left over. That's all I need though.
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| English Tea Shop minimal packaging calendar |
The tea calendar.
While I loved the design of last years English Tea Shop advent calendar, and it was almost entirely made of cardboard, so easy to recycle, I am really pleased to find that this year they've made a minimal packaging version. There's no more packaging here than there would be in an ordinary pack of teabags. Instead of opening a little door each day, you slide the next paper envelope out of a slot at the bottom of the box, so tomorrow's flavour remains a surprise without the need for complex individual compartments. It's perfect!
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| Mint and Mustard Dice calendar |
The Random something different calendar.
If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm a rampant geek. Every Saturday we get together with friends, and Stephen becomes our Game Master, leading us as we play characters of our own invention through epic adventures in fantastical worlds of his own creation, all conducted in the Theatre of the Mind, using dice to determine the success or failure of many of our endeavours. You've probably heard of Dungeons and Dragons. This is not D&D, or at least the game we've been playing for the last few years isn't, but it is very similar.
The dice, especially those with more, or less than 6 sides, are more than just the random element in our adventures. They have become a symbol across the table top role playing game community of our shared nerdiness. A nerdiness that we are 100% proud of. Most TTRPG nerds collect dice.
This advent calendar by Mint and Mustard has a die behind every door, 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, and 20-sided dice. I look forward to them joining my personal collection.
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| "Escape Room" advent calendar |
Stephen's calendar.
Stephen gets a chocolate advent calendar as well, but I like to try and get something a bit more interesting if I can find anything suitable. This year I discovered that Escape Room calendars are a thing. Basically, each day there is a puzzle to solve, and you need to solve the puzzle before you can move on to the next day. I believe that the story in this version is that the Golden Book, in which all of the names of the Good little children are listed telling Santa Claus where to deliver presents, has been stolen, and you have to find it before Christmas Eve in order to save Christmas for all the little kiddies.
I will try to get Stephen to keep me up to date with how this goes, and share his comments in my updates.
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| Doggy advent calendar |
Finn's calendar.
This is different than the advent calendar we've previously got for Finn, but I thought I'd try something new, and this is highly rated on a lot of doggy websites. I'm certain that Finn won't mind!
That my dears, is us completely up to date, and prepared for this December's Advent Adventure! I shall update you all again when we return from our long awaited holiday. Take care my lovelies.
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