Knitters love to knit small items, because they go so much more quickly than the full-size version, and they take so much less yarn. This is a big part of what drives the cottage industry of dog sweater knitting patterns.
Once you have a knitter, you also need the other part of the equation: a dog to wear the sweater. This is trickier than it sounds, because not all dogs wear sweaters. By my estimation, 99% of dog sweaters are worn by small dogs. (The remaining 1% are worn by greyhounds, who have roughly zero percent body fat. And they usually wear garments designed along the lines of horse blankets.) But not all small dogs wear sweaters.
Bringing up the issue of dog sweaters is a sure way to start a fight on the internet. People have strong feelings about dog sweaters. Everyone either thinks that dog sweaters are kinda cute and useful for certain dogs, or an affront to canine dignity. There is no in-between.
Personally, I am in the first camp. I have known some dogs who were chronically cold, and who loved their sweaters. Frankly I know a few larger dogs who are chronically could and would probably love a sweater, but whose owners refuse to even consider the idea. I don't know why a small dog looks cute in a sweater and a large dog just looks weird. It is simply the way of the world.
The main problem with knitting a dog sweater is getting the fit right. Dogs vary so much in size and shape. I was reminded of this fact many years ago, when I was asked to knit a sweater for a French bulldog. It ended up looking like a bowling ball cozy with a turtleneck, but then again, the dog pretty much looked like a bowling ball, herself.
There are a number of basic patterns that you can customize. I used this calculator, which worked fairly well. Knit away, and ignore the haters!
Image courtesy Flickr/unertkm
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