A kitty bed for my Shih Tzu...what?

#1

My Ravelry knitting buddy [U]has a kitty[/U] that sleeps on the end of their bed, but she also has a (very expensive!) fantastic Lizard Ridge (knitted) blanket on their bed. Ooops. A kitty and a Lizard Ridge don’t always make for a harmonious couple!

So she is knitting up a the cutest felted kitty basket!

Well, [U]I have a Shih Tzu[/U] who sleeps at the end of our bed, and a Log Cabin (expensive) knitted blanket on top of our bed. Same scenario. Katie sometimes likes to get “nesty” on the bed, bunching up the covers to make a nest…and I don’t want snags in my Log Cabin blanket!

So I’m [U]modifying the Kitty Bed for a Shih Tzu[/U]!

Instead of using two strands of worsted, I’m using two strands of [U]bulky[/U] (stash); instead of casting on 161 st, I cast on [U]207 st[/U]; instead of a US 13, I’m using a [U]US 15[/U].

Anyhoo, I’m almost done with (chevron pattern!) the sides of the dog bed…and will finish by knitting the base tonight…and then on to the felting process.

I think this dog basket will be perfect for the end of our bed, more so than conventional dog beds, due to it’s being lightweight.

Here is the free pattern at Ravelry!

Here is my project page.

Before Felting:

#2

I am smiling, :wink: laughing and generally happy to see your Katie’s bed in the making. I’d make one for Pequina, our poodle, who sleeps IN my bed but she would never use it. She makes up OUR bed to her satisfaction, and generously leaves me, Mama, about 1/3 of a queen-sized bed. I wanna come back as MY dog. Hope your Shih Tzu will use hers. It will be a winner, I know. Have fun knitting for her.

#3

How cute. Here is our yorkie named Fortune (husband named him said that is what he was going to cost us! :0) that sleeps with us too, and he has his own huge doggy pillow in the living room to sleep on, but he prefers providing unnecessary heat to us by snuggling up right next to us and staying there. He also climbs under the covers and sleeps though I have no clue how he breathes with a heavy comforter and sheets on top of him but he seems to like it. I am going to file this one away though as it is really cute and maybe I can make it for someone else.

#4

My dog, Foo, sleeps in the center of the bed, too. She used a dog/cat bed on the floor of the office, but she wouldn’t use it on the bed or even in a carpeted room. I just toss an old, sm fleece blanket on the bed and she woofs that up and makes a nest. Or sleeps with her head on our pillows. :wink:

That’s a cute bed though and would work well for a cat or a dog.

#5

Jan, your little while dog has a wonderfully stain-free face! You must use something the neutralizes the acid in the tears and saliva to prevent the pink stain under the eyes and around the mouth?

What a sweet little pooch? A Maltese?

#6

Nonny, I love the Yorkies! Never had one, but several of my friends do! They are such sweethearts! You’re right…they’re not low-maintenance! But worth every hour, every dollar!

#7

We have THE most unusual yorkie though. He never barks unless he wants something from us. He doesn’t bite, nip, snap ever. I have stuck my fingers down his throat to put medicine in him, prodded his eyes open to put medicine in them, the doc gives him shots and such and he never moves or whimpers. He never yips and yaps, he is quiet as a mouse unless he wants us to let him out or it is feeding time and he insists it be the same time every morning, unfortunately that is 4:30 AM so if it isn’t out there to eat, he lets me know about it as he has digestive problems so his food is homemade by me! lol My dh gets up at 5 so that is where all this early getting up stuff started I guess. We would love to see your doggy in their bed when you make it.
Jan: Foo is adorable though I would hate to have to try and keep that white fur clean. Does she shed much??? Luckily, yorkies don’t shed.

#8

Oh thanks! She’s a Coton de Tulear. Most people haven’t ever heard of them. She’s a little bigger than a Maltese and weighs about 12 lbs. She must have just had a bath in that picture, but she does get some tear stain and stains around her mouth. I give her a bath once ever week or 10 days so it doesn’t get too bad and I use Bio-Groom Super White dog shampoo. I get her groomed every 2+ mos or her fur would be a mess of mats. It’s normally long on these dogs. Here’s a little picture of her freshly groomed. They don’t put bows on her fur now just on her collar. If you’re wondering why on earth we named her Foo (really Foofoo)…we didn’t. She’s our granddog and our daughter named her because she’s totally a Foo Foo dog! :lol: Daughter moved to NYC after her marriage broke up so we got Foo when she was 4 mos old.

#9

What a doll. Love at first sight.

#10

That’s what I was thinking. Would she really use it? My two cats sleep in my twin bed along with my adult kids’ dog downstairs who comes to my apartment to visit sometimes. Occasionally, they actually let me have a small part of the bed. lol They pretty much sleep wherever they want. I think the strangest place the cat napped was in the paper recycling bin.

#11

READY TO FELT!

All knitting done! Now on to the washing machine for felting! [U]I’m worried about[/U] not having a pillow case big enough to prevent the lint from possibly jamming up my washer. Here’s what I think I’ll do: fill washer…agitate, agitate, agitate. Stop. Use a soup strainer that I bought from Pampered Chef to manually pull the lint from the water. Then allow the washer to drain, rinse, etc.

#12

Katie, you are adorable and your bed is going to be really cute!!!

#13

Very cute. Can’t wait to see the finished project!!

You’ve inspired me to make a cat bed, but I’m not knitting it as that will take me forever (even with the large needles), so crochet it is. I sure hope she likes it! I would hate to spend so much time on a project only to have it rejected by . . . . . . the CAT!!!

#14

Hey, did you ever get your dog bed felted?

I made a suggestion of how you might do this on another thread, but you may not have seen it. I suggested using a regular size washer at a laundromat because I think the dog bed will fit in it just fine. And I [I]think[/I] you can open the lids of those machines (maybe?).

The other suggestion I had was to put it in a dirty laundry bag like college kids often use to bring their dirty clothes home to wash.

Let us know how it turned out!!

#15

Oh that is a brilliant idea! That’s what I’ll look for at Fred Meyer! Thanks!