Some time ago, I donated a custom-knit dog to a raffle to benefit a friend (sad details here). The lucky winner was the family of Zacharia the mini poodle. Everyone say, “Aw, what a cutie!”
This project turned out to be harder than I initially anticipated. It was hard to find the right fiber to make the poodle’s fur look right. I ended up with Bernat Pipsqueak … which was WAY WAY to large a yarn. So, I un-plied it, and knit with individual strands — this took a lot of time, but it gave me the look I was going for. Eventually.
Project: Poodle for Hire
Pattern: Poodle
Designer: Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir
Available: in Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches
Yarn: Bernat Pipsqueak and Swish DK
As I have come to expect from the KYOD series, this toy poodle was constructed in multiple flat pieces, then sewn together. I used Swish DK for the toes and face, and the Pipsqueak every else. I ended up modding the ears and tail, but other than that this was knit as-written. Doing the PULT stitch is Pipsqueak was especially exciting.
I’m not completely happy with how the legs came together with the body, but I think Knit Zacharia is recognizably a poodle … so I am satisfied.
Remily Knits 
I adore this yarn (a little upset it’s difficult to find and now only sold in 100g skeins). That said the stitches are difficult to see (which is part of why I like the yarn it looks like a piece of fleece when knitted together). Because I struggle crocheting with this type of yarn I prefer to knit and have made a gorgeous blanket for my cousin who is having a baby boy. I used a pattern found on the Bernat site and is called a diagonal blanket. You cast on 5 stitches, then knit two, yarn over, and continue knitting. The pattern calls for you to continue increasing up to 168 stitches I go until the blanket is the size I want and then decrease. To decrease you knit two, knit two together, yarn over, and knit two together. The yarn over provides a cute little eyelet border. With the pipsqueak yarn you can’t really see the eyelet so you could probably take out the yarn over and increase a different way.
I am now making a poodle but since I’m 12 sometimes it is hard to do some of the stitches and the only one I’m having trouble with this time is the loopy stitch and well, I’ve redone those rows over and over again but it never works. Can you please help me! If this doesn’t work out should I just sew the head fluff on?
It might help to try a swatch of the loopy stitch with swatch yarn, rather than going at it on the head itself. But, if it’s killing you — I think it would work fine to sew the head fluff on later. Good luck! I’d love to see a photo when you’re done.