Jack's Booties

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Y'all know our sweet little 'Jack-Dog' - he of the tender pink paws - (snoozing here in a sunny spot) - well we can't hardly stand to torture him by making him 'go' outside when it's 40 below zero - alas - it's 'out' he must 'go'...

I had made some booties for him before out of an old vinyl tablecloth - thinking that it would keep his trotters dry - but the stiff material made it easy for him to shirk his booties - he's very agile (almost catlike) - so I thought a nice set of clingy knitted trotter covers were in order - I knitted a rectangle in stockinette stitch 40 stitches by 100 rows on size 8 needles.

Then I did a little seam - about 2 inches down from one end - this is the neck.

I slipped it over his head at this point and measured where the front paws would be. I picked up 12 stitches along the side at this point and knit in Stockinette Stitch for 5 rows then increasing one stitch each end every other row for 2 times - work even over the 16 stitches for 45 rows - or until the length matches your dogs legs. Repeat for the other side.

For the back legs - I picked up 20 stitches from the bottom side of the rectangle and knit in Stockinette Stitch across those for 5 rows - then decreasing 1 stitch at each end every other row for 2 times - work across the 16 remaining stitches for 45 rows - or until the length matches your dog's legs. Repeat for the other side.

To finish - using a yarn needle run the yarn through each stitch of the toe and draw up - then seam up the leg several inches to the point where the decreases or increases end. The Man calls this Jack's 'Doggie Union Suit'...

Here's Jack trying on his 'Union Suit'...

After an initial adjustment phase he seemed resigned to wearing it...

As you can see all of his 'privates' (as the Man-Cub calls them) are uncovered and the trial run went extremely well - none of the booties slipped off and he was able to 'go'...