Picnic Pooch - Dog Coat Knitting Pattern For Pets in Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran by Debbie Bliss

Picnic Pooch – Dog Coat Knitting Pattern by Harriet Hill for Debbie Bliss

The Picnic Pooch is a charming, colourful dog coat knitting pattern designed by Harriet Hill and published by Debbie Bliss. Released as part of the Rialto Aran collection, this pattern produces a fitted, cosy coat for small to medium or medium to large dogs. It is available as a downloadable PDF and is rated as an intermediate level project, making it an ideal next step for knitters who are comfortable with the basics and ready to explore colourwork techniques.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a dog coat — a practical and stylish garment designed to keep your pet warm and comfortable. The coat features a main body section with decorative straps and hook-and-loop fasteners to secure it in place. Two sizes are provided:

• Small-Medium: Back length 34cm / 13¼in, chest width 24cm / 9½in (excluding straps)
• Medium-Large: Back length 39cm / 15¼in, chest width 31cm / 12¼in (excluding straps)

The coat is designed to sit along the dog's back and fasten underneath, with the chest measurement taken around the body excluding the adjustable straps. The result is a snug, tailored fit that is both functional and visually appealing.

Design and Colourwork

The Picnic Pooch coat features a stranded colourwork main pattern, giving it a bold, decorative appearance reminiscent of traditional Fair Isle or Nordic-style knitting. Stranded colourwork involves carrying two or more yarn colours across the same row, weaving them through the fabric to create repeating motifs or geometric designs. This technique produces a double-layered fabric that adds warmth as well as visual interest — particularly well-suited to a pet coat intended for outdoor use.

Three colours are used throughout the design, referenced in the pattern as A, B, and C:

• Colour A – Rose 16: The main background colour, requiring 2 balls for the small-medium size and 3 balls for the medium-large size
• Colour B – Ecru 02: A neutral contrast colour, 1 ball required in both sizes
• Colour C – Ruby 15: A rich accent colour, 1 ball required in both sizes

The combination of Rose, Ecru, and Ruby gives the coat a warm, vintage-inspired palette that is both playful and elegant — perfectly suited to a picnic-themed design.

Techniques Used

• Stranded colourwork: Multiple yarn colours are worked across each row simultaneously, with unused colours carried (stranded) across the wrong side of the fabric. This creates the characteristic patterned appearance of the main coat body.
• Worked flat: The coat is knitted flat on a pair of straight needles, meaning the fabric is worked back and forth in rows rather than in the round. This is a straightforward construction method that suits the rectangular or shaped panels of a dog coat.
• Shaping: The pattern includes decreases, referenced using techniques such as skpo (slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over) and k2tog (knit two together), to shape the coat to the dog's body.
• Garter stitch (g-st): Used as a structural or border element, garter stitch is produced by knitting every row, creating a ridged, reversible fabric that lies flat and adds stability to edges.
• Finishing and assembly: The completed coat is finished with two pieces of white sew 'n' sew hook-and-loop fastener, each approximately 10cm / 4in in length, sewn on using sewing thread and a needle to allow the coat to be fastened securely around the dog.

Stitches Used

• Knit (k) and purl (p) — the foundational stitches used throughout the pattern