Christmas Puppy Sweater Knitting Pattern

Make your pup the star of every holiday photo with this cozy Christmas puppy sweater.

This little pullover has been designed for a small-sized dog or puppy and is perfect for chilly winter walks, festive family gatherings, and those all-important holiday snapshots.

Knit flat on straight needles with super bulky yarn, this is a quick, satisfying project for advanced beginners.

If you can knit, purl, and work simple decreases, you’re ready to cast on.

Scroll down to view the free pattern, or grab the ad-free printable PDF from my shop here.

Christmas Puppy Sweater Knitting Pattern

Before You Get Started

A few things to know before you dive in:

This sweater is written for a small dog or puppy – you can tweak the length slightly to suit your pet.
You’ll be working flat on straight needles and seaming at the end.
Super bulky yarn makes this a fast knit and gives the sweater lots of squishy warmth.
The pattern uses two colors (classic red and white), but you can easily swap in your own festive shades.
You’ll need to know how to knit, purl, SKPO, and K2tog, plus a few simple cast-on rows to shape the leg openings.

Tools/Materials Needed

Yarn

Lion Brand Hometown USA (or similar super bulky / super chunky / 14-ply yarn)
1 x skein Cincinnati Red – Yarn B
1 x skein New York White – Yarn A

You won’t need full skeins for a tiny pup – especially for the white – so this is a great project for using partial balls.

Suggested Yarn Substitutes

Novita – Folk
Stylecraft – Swift Knit
Grundl – Alaska
Big Twist Yarns – Natural Blend
Buttercream – Luxe Craft Alpaca Solid
Mary Maxim – Starlette Chunky
Lion Brand – Hometown USA
Patons (Australia) – Super Quick
Cascade Yarns – Pacific Bulky
Paintbox Yarns – Wool Mix Super Chunky

Needles

12 mm (US 17) straight knitting needles

Notions

Tape measure
Darning / yarn needle
Scissors

Size & Fit

Size: Small dog or puppy

Finished measurements (approx):

Back piece: 14″ long x 9″ wide (35.5 x 23 cm)
Chest piece (chest girth): 12.5″ long x 9″ wide (32 x 23 cm)

Fit tip: Measure your pup from the base of the neck to just before the tail, and around the widest part of the chest. You can add or subtract a little length in the red stockinette sections to customize.

Gauge

7 sts and 12 rows = 4″ / 10 cm in stockinette stitch (knit on RS, purl on WS) using super bulky yarn and 12 mm (US 17) needles.

The gauge doesn’t need to be absolutely perfect for this tiny sweater, but try to get close so the fit isn’t too tight.

Abbreviations

Approx – Approximately
Beg – Begin(ning)
CO – Cast on
Cont – Continue(ing)
K – Knit
K2tog – Knit next 2 stitches together
P – Purl
M1 – Make 1 stitch
Rem – Remaining
Rep – Repeat
Rnd(s) – Round(s)
SKPO – Slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over (left-leaning decrease)
St(s) – Stitch(es)

Christmas Puppy Sweater – Pattern Overview

Skill Level – Easy (Advanced Beginner)

This festive dog sweater is knit in two flat pieces – a back piece and a chest piece – then seamed together, leaving holes for the front legs.

Most of the fabric is simple K2, P2 ribbing and stockinette stitch, with a few decreases and cast-on rows to shape the chest and leg openings.

Use Yarn A (white) for the fluffy ribbed borders and Yarn B (red) for the main body of the sweater.

Grab the inexpensive, ad-free, PDF printable pattern in my shop here.

Copyright Info

Please do not copy, sell, redistribute, or republish this pattern.
If you wish to share this pattern, link to the pattern page only.
You may sell items produced using this pattern.
Do NOT use copyrighted photos for your product listing.
For the copyright T&C, please read my Terms of Use.

Pattern Instructions

Yarn A -White
Yarn B – Red

Back Piece >

Cast on 16 sts with Yarn A.
Work in K2, P2 ribbing until the piece measures 3.5 inches from the CO edge.
Change to Yarn B and knit in stockinette stitch starting with a knit row until the piece measures 13 inches from the CO edge.
Change to Yarn A, and work in K2, P2 ribbing until you have 1 inch of an edge.
Cast off in rib.
Length of back piece 14′′/Width 9′′

Chest Piece >

Cast on 16 sts with Yarn A.

Work in K2, P2 ribbing until the piece measures 3.5 inches from the CO edge.

Change to Yarn B and knit in stockinette stitch starting with a knit row until the piece measures 9.5 inches from the CO edge.

Decrease as follows:

SKPO – Knit to last 2 sts K2TOG.
Purl row.
SKPO – Knit to last 2 sts K2TOG.
Purl row.
SKPO – Knit to last 2 sts K2TOG.
Purl row.
Cast on 2 sts, knit to the end of the row.
Cast on 2 sts, purl to the end of the row.
Cast on 1 st, knit to the end of the row.
Cast on 1st, purl to the end of the row.
Change to Yarn A and work in K2, P2 ribbing until that edge measures 1 inch.
Cast off in rib
Length of chest piece 12.5′′/Width 9′′

Making Up >

Seam the Sweater

With right sides together:
Line up the back piece and chest piece.
On one side, seam from the top of the neck down 7″.
Leave a 3″ gap for the leg hole.
Seam the remaining 2.5″ at the bottom edge.
Repeat for the second side.

Weave In Ends

Turn the sweater right side out and neatly weave in all yarn tails.

Try It On Your Pup

Slip the sweater over your dog’s head, then gently guide each front leg through the openings.
Adjust if needed so the collar sits comfortably and the back edge covers the body without restricting movement.

I love seeing your finished projects on social media.

If you enjoyed making the pattern, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, tag me @handylittleme or #handylittleme.

If you are on Facebook, stop over to the handylittleme Facebook group and share a photo.

I’d love to see your work.

Happy Knitting!

puppy-christmas-sweater-knitting-pattern

FAQs & Extra Tips

→ Can I make this sweater longer or shorter?

Yes! Add or subtract length from the red stockinette sections of the back and chest pieces.

Try your work against your dog as you go to check the fit.

→ How are the leg holes made?

They’re created by the decrease rows in the chest piece, then emphasized when you seam the two pieces together and leave a gap on each side.

→ Can I knit this in one color?

Absolutely. If you’d like a solid sweater, simply skip the yarn changes and work everything in one shade (or add stripes if you’re feeling playful).

→ What kind of dogs will this fit?

This pattern is sized for a small puppy or small dog.

If your pup is a bit bigger or smaller, you can:

Adjust your needle size or yarn weight, or
Add/remove a few rows in the red sections while keeping the borders and shaping the same.

→ Is this pattern beginner-friendly?

It’s great for advanced beginners who are comfortable with knit and purl stitches and are ready to try simple increases/decreases and color changes.

More Dog Sweaters

If you want to see more dog jumpers, please take a look at these posts,

Free Knitting Patterns For Christmas

4 Comments

Becky says:

November 2, 2019 at 7:57 pm

I M stuck on number 4 of the back piece: can you explain.

1. handylittleme says:
  
  November 3, 2019 at 12:21 pm
  
  Hello Becky, step 4 of the back piece says – Change to white yarn K2, P2 in rib until you have 1″ of an edge. You need to add in the white yarn for the border and then work in ribbing (Knit 2, Purl 2) until you have knitted 1 inch. You join in the yarn for the yarn change by knitting the next stitch with the white yarn – but if you just want the sweater to all one colour you don’t need to do that. I hope that helps 🙂
  
Kylie says:

December 23, 2019 at 9:54 pm

Hi! I’m trying to knit this for my new puppy and since it’s near the holidays I looked at this pattern. And I finished the back, and it all seemed all right, but once I got to the chest and I started doing it, I was right about to finish when I realized that there were no instructions on how to do the cut outs for the arms. I am still learning how to knit, and this is my first dog sweater pattern, so I have no idea how to do the sleeves! I do love the look of the sweater, so I really hope that I can get an answer for this so I can put it on my dog!

1. Louise Bollanos says:
  
  December 24, 2019 at 8:34 am
  
  Hello Kylie, the leg holes are created through the decreases in the pattern. Then when you seam the back piece and front piece together, you leave gaps for the legs – where you can see those cutouts in the chest piece. I hope that makes sense 🙂

Christmas Puppy Sweater Knitting Pattern

Before You Get Started

Tools/Materials Needed