This pattern is a challenge. Working with the yarn in the way this pattern specifies (catching the fur yarn in each crocheted stitch with fingering yarn) is MUCH easier than working directly with fur yarns where you can never see your stitches. However, it was still a bit rough. I made it harder for myself by incorporating the fur yarn on EVERY row. The pattern says to do it every other row but I wanted more robust fur than that produced so I used twice as much fur. It still only took about 2/3 of a skein of the Bunny yarn. I also lowered the position of the eyes from the instructions in the pattern to 2 or 3 rounds lower - it just looked better to me that way on this dog. I am SUPER pleased with the end result, but I have definitely increased my patience quotient in the last two weeks!

A note about the yarn: Himalaya Kuzucuk, the recommended fur yarn, is very hard to come by. However, Premier Yarns ‘Bunny’ is identical and easier to get a hold of in the U.S. I ended up ordering a skein of the Kuzucuk ($12 skein, $11 shipping) after I found the fur to be too thin every other round thinking that maybe the yarn I was using - the Bunny - was just thinner and I might want to start over. But when it arrived I compared it to what I was using and they were completely identical in every way, possibly even the same yarn sold under different labels. I will post a picture soon to show them side by side.

I requested names for this Maltichon pup and got soooo many good suggestions: Andri, Flurry, Holly, Meow and Peaches among others. Michelle, the daughter of the recipient suggested Snowflake, so Snowflake it is!

Pattern on Etsy.

I believe round 29 has an error. Round 30 requires a starting number of 134 stitches to get to the 138 required to close up the back half of the dog and begin work on the head. Round 29 is shown to finish with 133 stitches, which it does if followed exactly. However that doesn’t set you up properly for round 30 and the instructions at the very end of round 29 are not symmetrical with the instructions at the beginning of the round so I believe they are incorrect.

The end of round 29 is written “…35 sc, dec, sc, dec
but I believe it should read “…35 sc, 2 sc, dec” or more correctly “ 37 sc, dec” which gives you the necessary 134 stitches to start round 30 and creates a symmetrical shape on the dog’s bottom.