Beagle Boy and his Wardrobe

My latest LCR pattern is for making dogs. The Dalmatian was my first one and the Beagle is my second one.. I also want to make a few more. Maybe a pug and a terrier. My next one will be a girl puppy. I'm getting a small collection of dresses made. So I had to have some place to hang them up until I get the critters made.

I made his sweater first. I've been wanting to knit a little cable sweater for a while. This one is faux cable but it looks just as good. 

I also made him so he could sit down and his tail supports him.  Then I decided to make a wardrobe for the clothes to hang on. I used three little wooden boxes I got from the dollar tree. The fronts of the drawers had little butterfly cutouts so I turned them around to put my own door knobs on them.

I made it mostly from poster board and these three little boxes, and a dowel. It makes a darling place to hang up my LCR clothes. And I'm thinking about making a storage wardrobe trunk but I haven't gotten that far yet in my thinking. It will probably be made from dollar tree wood and masonite signs. Their signs are pressed board (aka masonite) and is easily cut with a utility knife.

The side shapes are layers of poster board glued together to a thickness of about 1/4". 

I made the knobs out of polymer clay and push pins. 

My little animals can store their clothes in style now! It cost me about five bucks to make. I already had the glue, dowel, knob pieces and paint. 

New Pattern for Puppies

I'm a big fan of Julie Williams at Little Cotton Rabbits and I love to knit, that's no secret. It's one of my passions. I'm also an avid crocheter. But I think I'm better at knitting so that's what I'm doing now and probably a good part of the upcoming cold season.

Although I've knitted several of these animal patterns, the newest one is puppies in different variations. I just knew I had to make the Dalmation when I saw him. I sewed the legs on with a flat top so he could sit. His tail holds him in the position.

 But first I made his sweater which took me about a day or so. I'd never done the duplicate stitch so I had to practice that too.

Then I made his pants and the doggie head. The other parts of the body followed. My mattress stitch seams are getting better but they wouldn't stand up to scrutiny by an expert just yet.

After I got him put together I thought he might need some shoes. It took me about 4 days to complete him and another day to figure out the shoes in just the right size. I don't have sport weight or dk weight yarn so I had to adjust the pattern for 4 ply worsted. I have a lot of that. 

I finally got the right gauge by using number 2 needles and the pattern for the 7 inch animals' shoes to fit my 9 inch animal.  I'm so proud of these shoes after three tries at getting them just right and spending nearly all day on it, I do like the way they came out And they are not that hard to make but I have to admit, every animal and pattern that Julie Williams makes is a learning experience in itself. 

I have learned how to do more stitches and techniques making these little animals than I ever learned on any other projects I've made. That and the variety is why I keep making them. They're such FUN! 

I'm in love! You know I have to make some more of them.