Dashing dachshund

Dashing Dachshund by Ella Austin

What is Being Made

The Dashing Dachshund is a knitted toy dog designed by Ella Austin. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a charming dachshund figurine measuring 22 cm long and 9 cm tall. The finished toy is suitable for display or play and features a realistic dog shape with distinct body parts including a head, body, legs, ears, and tail.

Knitting Techniques Used

This pattern employs several essential knitting techniques that make it ideal for intermediate crafters looking to expand their skills. The project uses cable cast on to create a firm, structured cast-on edge, which is particularly important for the legs, ears, and tail sections that require stability. The pattern incorporates in-the-round knitting using double-pointed needles, requiring careful attention to avoid twisting when joining. Colorwork is featured in the pattern, with a blocked colorwork section that adds visual interest and depth to the finished toy. The pattern also includes grafting, sometimes called Kitchener stitch, for seamlessly joining sections together for a professional finish.

Stitches Used

The Dashing Dachshund pattern uses fundamental knitting stitches accessible to intermediate knitters. Knit stitches form the foundation of the fabric throughout the toy. Kfb (knit front and back) increases are used to shape the toy's various sections, allowing the knitter to expand stitch counts where needed to create dimensional forms. I-cord may be incorporated for certain details. The pattern relies on stitch markers to track the beginning of rounds and maintain pattern accuracy throughout the in-the-round construction.

Materials and Yarn

The Dashing Dachshund requires three coordinating yarn colors from the Titus yarn line: 25g of Titus Parkin for the main color (MC), 5g of Titus Coal for contrast color 1 (CC1), and 4g of Titus Filey for contrast color 2 (CC2). The pattern is worked on 2mm double-pointed needles (dpn), which are sized to achieve the specified tension of 16 stitches and 18 rows over 5cm when measured on the blocked colorwork section. Additional supplies include toy stuffing for padding the finished toy, a yarn needle for sewing parts together, a stitch marker, and scrap yarn. Two buttons serve as eyes, completing the toy's face. Long yarn tails left from casting on are used to sew the various knitted pieces together during assembly.

Pattern Construction

The pattern begins with the nose, cast on using the cable cast-on method with CC1 yarn. Stitches are divided evenly between double-pointed needles and joined to work in the round. The head section follows, with increases creating the proper shaping. The intermediate difficulty rating reflects the combination of techniques required: managing multiple needles, working colorwork, executing increases and decreases, and assembling multiple components into a finished three-dimensional toy.