Hello, Sunshine

Taking a break from the baby socks, I thought I would post about a project I started on last weekend. I would give this a Res Completa report, but I did it so quickly and with so little thought that I don't feel like it really counts as a Res Completa. See, I've been commissioned by my mother to design and knit a cat sweater and a dog sweater, to be included in packages that will be auctioned off to raise money for a group she is a member of. I eagerly accepted when she asked me if I would be willing and immediately had some design ideas, but now I'm in a bit of a bind because, well, I have no concept of how cats and dogs are shaped. I mean, I have a cat, and I know how he's shaped, but I have no idea how his shape translates to a sweater pattern. And unfortunately, there is a completely and utter lack of cat and dog sweater patterns on the web that I can use as shaping templates.

Now, in my mad searching last Friday night, I did find a little kitty sweater over at My Fashionable Life (she is just the most fabulous designer! Spending even a moment on this page made me want to start Flicca immediately!). Anna based her pattern on this one, which is meant to be a Chihuahua sweater. Because the "Leon" sweater looks so great, I thought I would use this pattern as a starting point as well. So this is what Stewart is wearing.

Sunshine is simply a test sweater. I desperately needed to know how wide to make it, how to shape the chest, where to put the arm holes, etc. etc. and this gave me a great idea. I need to shorten it, make the chest smaller, and move the armholes up and out about 1". I now have the pattern all charted out in my notebook and bought some Louisa Harding Nautical Cotton in beige and black. My idea, using Stew as my muse, is to make a traditional Chinese shirt, with Mandarin collar and those horizontal clasps.

Maybe a sweater in cotton won't be as hot as this acrylic one. When I put Sunshine on Stewart and sat him in the sun for his photo shoot, I believe he almost passed out. Poor guy. It's tough to be a muse.