Loom Knitting a Dog Sweater

It's important to remember that we are not the only one's feeling cold this winter...our furry friends need to stay warm, too! Knitting a dog sweater on a round loom is fairly easy and much cheaper & warmer than buying one at the store. I found the idea online and originally used Joann's pattern. I did slightly modify it when making a sweater for my dog.

Things you will need:

• 31 peg round loom
• Soft yarn (two skeins of skinnier yarn or one bulkier)
• Knitting hook
• Knitting needle
• Scissors

I start knitting on the loom like I do in all of my projects. I like using two different colored yarns at the same time to make the sweaters more colorful (and cheaper!). I knit about 15 or so rows, then pull the bottom loops up over the top, knitting those together. This part is the collar that will be around the dogs neck. Once this step is complete, knit only rows 1-9. Now you have to knit backwards. This part was tricky for me at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's really easy. Make sure the yarn is on the INSIDE of the pegs! If it's on the outside, it knots together and you can't continue on. Knit those rows back and forth for 9 rows. This is creating the front of the sweater and the leg holes. Once this is done, cut off 4-5" of yarn.

Cast on at the 10th peg and knit all pegs 10-31. This is creating the back of the sweater. Knit 9 rows back and forth like you did before.

Once you have your 9 rows completed, move the loop on the 31st peg to the 30th peg, and the 9th peg to the 8th peg. I do this to make bigger arm holes for the sweater. The yarn is stretchy, but I don't want my dog to be constrained.

I am still working on this sweater, but you can see in the picture below how it should look as you go through these steps. Knit all the way around the loom until you have the desired length of sweater. I cast off just as I would with headbands and leg warmers.

Here is a picture of a finished sweater that I have previously knitted.

And..my adorable dog Lulu posing for a front view of the sweater.

Back view.

My dog is about 12 pounds and the sweater fits well. I would say this size sweater would fit most 8-12 pound dogs.

Wine Cork Projects

Wine corks can transform any boring or plain object into a beautiful decorative piece! While wandering around Michael's one afternoon, I decided to pick up a few plain wood objects. One was a mirror, and the other was a small box.

For the mirror, I cut the corks in half length wise so they would lay flat on the surface. It took a while to figure out how to get them to fit because the mirror was a little too wide. I laid all the corks out first and realized there was no way to fill all the wood with  corks alone. I picked up a bag of glass marble stones ( I think that's what they are called) and used those around the inside to fill in the extra space. They worked perfectly and added a little burst of color to the mirror. I used hot glue to get everything to stay on. Just be careful hot gluing the glass marbles because they do heat up quick.

The box seemed to be made just for wine cork decoration! The cut corks fit on there pretty easily. Again, I just cut the corks in half with a razor blade and laid them out, then hot glued them into place. Just make sure you leave room for the lock so that it can be easily opened and closed.

This box was one of my favorite projects because I thought it turned out awesome & it is useful! I gave it as a Christmas present and two small bottles of wine fit perfectly in there. (The single glass bottles).

Another thing that is very simple to make is wine cork picture frames. When picking out a frame, look for ones that are flat wood so that the corks can lay flush on the surface.

I used a 4X6 frame and this project only took about 25 minutes start to finish. The longest part is cutting the corks in half. Once that is done, just lay them out to make sure they fit & then hot glue them on!

The frames are a really easy project, only require about 6 corks & also make great presents!