I crocheted a daisy granny square sweater for my Jack Russell terrier
and so can you!
Today is the vernal equinox. This means Spring is officially starting. Since it is still pretty chilly, I decided to make a sweater for my Jack Russell terrier. She can wear it outside instead of her big winter coat. It is not too bulky and still allows me to put her harness on easily. Plus, I would love her to be extra pretty and fashionable for Easter.
I thought granny squares would be the perfect project for the start of Spring. I explored my stash of leftover yarn. Some of the yarn is from the 1960s. It belonged to my grandmother and my mother. They used to knit together. I found some very vibrant apple green yarn that was all curly. I had a bit of scrap yellow and white yarn. It was clear to me that I had to crochet daisy granny squares. Follow along to make the same dog sweater.
Crocheting a small daisy granny square
The small daisy granny squares that I am making for my doggy sweater are made in three rounds. Once completed they should be about 6 to 7 cm wide, i.e. 2.7 inches.
Instructions
3 mm hook.
With yellow yarn.
R1 Ch3. DC11 into 1st ch. Pull the tail to tighten the centre. Weave it in, make a knot to secure it if you feel that it is necessary. SS into the top of ch3, SS into 1st DC. Cut and weave in tails.
With white yarn.
You will be crocheting between DC, not into DC.
R2 Insert your hook in the space between 2 DC stitches anywhere within R1. Join. Ch2 (This is like a first DC) and DC2 together within the same space. Ch1. Then in the next space between 2 DC, DC3 together. Ch2.
You have just made your first two petals.
Then repeat three times: DC3tog. Ch1. DC3tog Ch1. DC3tog Ch2.
Then DC3tog. Ch1. SS into first DC where you started the R2 sequence. Cut and weave in tails.
As you can see, so far it looks round. But everytime you chained 2, you were actually making a corner. So your daisy is actually a square of with 3 petals on each side. Try gently pulling on the 4 Ch2 to discover your little square shape.
With green yarn.
This it the famous green yarn from the 1960s. It really is fabulously bright.
You will be crocheting in the spaces you made with your Ch1 and Ch2 from R2.
R3 Join in a space created by a Ch1 just before a Ch2, that is to say, join in the space that is just before a corner. Ch2. In the same space DC2.
Careful you are not doing DC2tog, you are actually making two DC. Do not chain after making your two DC.
Then in the corner space make: DC3. Ch1. DC3. Yes all of that in that space.
You have just made your first green corner.
Then DC3 in the next 2 spaces.
Then as you have probably guessed because you know you have reached a corner: DC3. Ch1. DC3.
Repeat the sequence until you are done. SS into 1st DC, and voilà! Cut and weave in tails.
When crocheting with yarn that was frogged from a knitted garment, you may be a bit challenged, like I was. You can see on the picture that there are little bumps. I think it is part of the charm. This yarn has a story. It could just have been thrown to the trash and ended up in a landfill. Instead, it’s bringing joy and fun across generations. There is beauty in this little ball of yarn.
Making the dog granny square sweater
Because she’s worth it.
What is the main difference between a sweater made for a human and a sweater made for a dog?
The most obvious answer is the placement of the armholes. On a dog sweater, you should make sure to place the armholes in the top center of the torso and not on the side of the torso.
I had already crocheted a sweater with stripes, so it was very easy to find out how to arrange the granny squares.
You can see that there is only one square placed between the two holes for the legs. You really should not have to use two squares.
Assembling
I used a yarn needle to sew the back of the granny squares together so that the stitching would not be visible. You are welcome to use any joining technique.
I ended up using 48 daisy granny squares.
Both the front and back panels are made with 5 x 5 squares, but I removed two squares to leave room for the legs at the front.
Making it pretty
It should not be gnarly, but the sweater before being fitted with a ribbed collar and ribbed legholes may look a bit weird.
Making the collar
With yellow yarn.
SC all around the top.
If you used 5 x 5 daisy granny squares like I did, you should have 140 SC.
I did 2 rows of regular decreases in DC and chose to stop decreasing when I reached a circumference of about 70 DC.
While this is a good indication of how to proceed, you may have to adapt it to your dog and do multiple fittings.
Then I did 8 rounds of FPDC (front post double crochet), BPDC (back post double crochet) all around to obtain a nice stretchy ribbing.
Again, you may need to change the amount of rows depending on the size of your dog.
Making the leg holes
Proceed in the same manner. SC all around the hole, you should have 52 SC.
Then DC all around making regular decreases, such as (DC3, DC-dec) for instance. I ended up with 40 DC.
Then I did 2 rounds of FPDC, BPDC.
Again, this is an indication. Make sure not to make it too tight so that it does not bother your dog.
Weave in all ends securely.
There you go, your dog and mine are now proud daisy granny squares fashionistas.
I also crocheted a basket of eggs and an Easter peeper.
I loved taking photographs of my sweet Jack Russell wearing her daisy granny square sweater. A great side effect of the sweater is that she was much calmer and less fidgety than usual!
Supporting the creator
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you will have fun crocheting a granny square sweater for your dog too.