Pona's First Sweater

In my last post I mentioned getting a book about knitting for one's dog. But before I delve into that, I'm going to make Pona a sweater using a totally different pattern.

My good friend and knitting designer wiz Staci fostered Pona for five long months after he was brought in to the BRAT breed rescue organization. She saw him through many surgeries and treatments, and he spent a long time bonding with her three dogs. She recently designed and knit a sweater for the eldest and alpha of her pack, Ike. And, wonderful person that she is, she posted this pattern for free at Ravelry. So I'm going to take crack at it. How often do I get to knit a breed-specific pattern by a knitter that I know personally and who has a strong connection to one of the critters living in my house?

Pona is a bit smaller than Ike (and most other adult male basenjis, I would imagine), so I had to do a bit of measuring -- with Jeff's help. While Ike is 22 inches around the chest, Pona packs a much punier 19. So instead of increasing to 100 stitches from the cast-on 50, I only increased to 86. I'm already at the point where I start knitting in the round. If I'd gotten an earlier start, I might have even finished this today.

I'm using leftover Knit Picks Swish Bulky superwash from the Whitfield Jacket I made in the fall. I figure it should be easy to maintain. But I'm knitting it on size 8 needles instead of the size 10-11 that the label calls for, so this should be pretty dense and snug. Lord knows this skinny dog could use the help on chilly walks. As you can see in the photo, Kate's a little more interested than Pona is. I suppose she'll need one too...