A mesh tee, a poncho, ankle socks and a dog sweater

Which of the four to start with

Start with the poncho if you want a finished thing quickly. It is knit and purl only, two rectangles, and the worst that can happen is a twisted seam. The tee and the dog sweater sit one step up. The socks ask for the most patience.

Sizes are chosen by a body measurement, not by a label, so measure before you buy yarn.

• Hillside Poncho: knit, Beginner, S–M to 2X–3X, to fit bust 32 to 54 in (81 to 137 cm).
• Filet Mesh Tee: crochet, Advanced beginner, XS to 2X, to fit bust 30 to 50 in (76 to 127 cm).
• Puddle Dog Sweater: knit, Advanced beginner, XS to L, to fit a dog with a chest of 13 to 25 in (33 to 63.5 cm).
• Morning Walk Ankle Socks: knit, Intermediate, S to L, to fit a foot 7½ to 9½ in (19 to 24 cm) around the ball.

The tee is two rectangles and a pick-up rate

Each panel starts with two rows of single crochet, then settles into mesh: double crochet, chain 1, double crochet, all the way up. Both panels are identical. You seam the shoulders, leave a wide boat neck open, sew the sides to the underarm markers and turn it right side out.

The sleeves are the only fiddly part. You join yarn at the underarm and work (double crochet, chain 1) into the row ends round the armhole, about 6 mesh spaces for every 5 rows. Too few and the sleeve pulls, too many and it frills, so lay the armhole flat and space them before you commit. Four rounds of mesh and two of single crochet finish a sleeve about 3 in (7.5 cm) long.

The fit is boxy, with about 4¾ in (12 cm) of ease, and the finished bust runs from 34¾ to 54¾ in. Gauge is 20 stitches (10 mesh spaces) and 8 mesh rows to 4 in (10 cm), measured after blocking. Cotton grows when it is wet, so press the water out in a towel and pat each panel to its measurements on a flat surface. Hanging it to dry undoes the work.

To change the length, repeat the plain mesh row more or fewer times: each row adds about ½ in (1.3 cm), and every extra 2 in (5 cm) takes roughly 35 to 55 yd more.

The poncho neck is a sum, not a shape

Each panel is knitted sideways. The cast-on edge becomes the hem, the bound-off edge becomes the neck, and the garter stitch grows towards it. There is no neck shaping anywhere. The opening comes from how you seam: one short end sewn to the top of the other panel's bound-off edge, then the second short end brought round, untwisted, to the other end of the same stretch. What stays open is the V, with one point at the front and one at the back.

That makes the neck opening twice the panel's length minus its width, about 25½ in (65 cm) in the smallest size before it relaxes. If your shoulders are narrow, that is the number to check against.

The ribbed bands are counted in rows, the garter in ridges. The 2×2 rib is worked on the same needle as the garter and draws in, which is why the hem band is only 10 rows and the neck band 6. Gauge is 13 stitches and 26 rows (13 ridges) to 4 in (10 cm). From neck to front point the finished poncho measures about 21¼ in (54 cm) in S–M and 26¾ in (68 cm) in 2X–3X.

A sock heel worked in two halves

Morning Walk Ankle Socks start at the toe with a closed cast-on (Turkish or figure-eight) and grow by increasing at both sides of both needles every other round. The sole stays plain. Only the instep carries the staggered purl dashes, short and spaced so they do not pull the gauge in.

Because you are working up from the toe, you try the sock on. Stop when the foot is about 2 in (5 cm) shorter than yours, 2¼ in in the largest size, because the heel takes that length. Each four-round repeat adds about ⅜ in (1 cm), so the foot is yours to adjust.

The heel uses German short rows, the double-stitch kind, done in two halves with two plain rounds between them. The first half builds double stitches out to each side. The second half works back in from a shorter starting point until the last double stitches sit on the first and last sole stitches. In the small size the closing pair of rows repeats 9 times, which is where Row & Round is useful: lose count there and the heel loses its shape.

The finished sock is 7 to 9 in (18 to 23 cm) round, a little smaller than your foot so it hugs. Gauge is 32 stitches and 44 rounds to 4 in (10 cm). If a small hole shows at the heel corner, close it with the tail when you weave in the ends.

Measuring a dog for a sweater

Choose the size by the chest, measured where the dog is widest, just behind the front legs. Neck and back length matter too, but the chest decides. The finished sweater has about 1 in (2.5 cm) of ease.

The sweater is a top-down tube: a 2×2 rib collar, increases at two side markers, then the leg openings. For those you bind off 4 to 8 stitches at each side, work the underside and the back separately with a second ball of yarn, and cast the same number back on over each gap. A ribbed belly band follows, ending 7 to 13¾ in (18 to 35 cm) from the collar edge. The back flap is shaped with a decrease at each edge and stops short of the tail.

Body length changes at one plain round: every 6 more rounds adds about 1 in (2.5 cm). Gauge is 18 stitches and 26 rounds to 4 in (10 cm) on the larger needle. In XS the round is too small for a 16 in circular, so use double-pointed needles or magic loop.

Try it on as you go. Your dog should move its front legs freely, and the belly band should sit clear of where a male dog pees. Never leave a dog alone in a sweater, and take it off if your dog gets warm or starts to chew it.

What to have in the basket

Yardages are estimates, worked out per stitch and rounded up, so buy a skein more than you think you need if the yarn is hard to match later.

• Tee: DK-weight (#3) cotton or cotton blend, about 410 to 770 yd (375 to 704 m), US G-6 (4 mm) hook, two removable markers.
• Poncho: chunky-weight (#5) wool or blend, about 610 to 960 yd (558 to 878 m), US 10½ (6.5 mm) 32 in circular used flat.
• Socks: fingering-weight (#1) yarn with some nylon, about 200 to 300 yd (183 to 274 m) for the pair, US 1 (2.25 mm) on a 32 in circular or two 16 in circulars.
• Dog sweater: worsted-weight (#4) machine-washable wool or blend, about 100 to 340 yd (91 to 311 m), US 8 (5 mm) and US 7 (4.5 mm) 16 in circulars.