This is my second dog from this pattern, as I wanted to make a version like my black lab Myka. I originally made this pattern as I was pattern testing for the designer, I made sure to make it exactly as written in the pattern so I could test it properly. You can see my first version of this dog here.

I really wanted to make a second one as soon as I was finished pattern testing as not only did I want a look-a-like to my own Black Labrador, I also wanted to show how easy it was to adapt this pattern to get this look. Generally a Labrador is known as all one colour and does not have a different colour chest, although occasionally you’ll come across a Black Labrador with some white on the chest. This pattern is very easy to make an all black, brown or yellow Labrador so if that’s what you are after this pattern is still suitable. You can read more details of how I made mine further down but I promise it’s very simple to adjust!

You can get this pattern here as it’s not currently listed on Ravelry but it’s for sale in the designers Etsy shop. She sells patterns but also offers her creations pre-made as well :-) so if you don’t want to make this cute dog yourself you can get her to make it for you!

Pattern Notes

I loved making another of these adorable dogs and it was great making a version of my Black Labrador Myka. This time I used a different yarn and I was interested to see what changes this would make, if any. The main differences from this version and my first is that this version is a solid colour and I’m using a different yarn and hook size. I am using exactly the same pattern and I am very happy with the finished results .

•••How do I make a solid colour Labrador version?•••

As I promised earlier it’s really easy to adapt this pattern to make a solid colour Labrador, whether you’d like to make a black one like mine or a different colour lab I.e brown or yellow. All you have to do is follow her pattern and when she changes over to white you ignore this and keep to the same colour yarn. By doing this you are removing the white chest and making a solid colour Labrador. In fact I’d say by doing this you are making the pattern even easier to do because you aren’t having to change over to another yarn colour / carrying another yarn colour .

The only other difference is nose colour and as you may notice from the photos of mine to start with I forgot and made a grey nose just like the pattern opps. Luckily for me it was easy to remove after I had made the head and I could still sew on a new nose afterwards, in fact most patterns I have done add the nose after so I had no difficulties although I do love how she has included adding the nose early on. So just remember if you are wanting to do a life like Labrador, maybe a look-a-like to your own or just a general Labrador to keep the colour the same as the main yarn you use (or maybe you have another colour that’s very close in shade you feel is more accurate).

It really is that simple follow the pattern, when she asks for white yarn ignore and carry on with the same main yarn colour and when it comes to the nose choose a colour accurate to your Labrador/the same colour as your main yarn.

••• Notes on the Eyes •••

I made this pattern in the same order as she did, the only difference was I sewed the eyes in place near the end again (just like my first version). I still find the eyes the trickiest part of this pattern however I did find it a bit easier second time around. Luckily it doesn’t matter whether you sew the eyes in place when she does or do it later like I did. By the way when I say the eyes are the hardest part for me I am refering to sewing them in place rather than actually making them.

I found the eyes easier to do this time and that’s mostly down to the designer as she included a bit more instruction after my feedback of testing the pattern. I really do recommend that you sew the two parts together before sewing the eyes onto the body as it does make it easier. In my first version I did them separately and it was much harder. So like the designer I sewed the black eye onto the white eye and then I used the white yarn tail (from the centre of the white eye where you started making it originally) to make the optional extra stitch. This was a great tip of hers as it was much easier this way compared to my first version where I did this after with more yarn (less yarn tails to deal with!). After I had both eye parts sewn together for both eyes I then went into sewing them in place. I only had what you call a yarn/wool needle which is a bit big for the task but still do-able. Next time I plan to invest in some needles more suitable for sewing lace weight yarn as I have a feeling this would help even further.

••• Notes on stuffing the dog •••

Oh I nearly forgot, the designer doesn’t add stuffing to the arms and legs but I do. I only add a little stuffing, say 2/3 full and I keep it lightly stuffed so not firm. For me personally it’s what I prefer but I always make sure the end of the arms and legs are flat so it makes it easier to sew them in place as well as getting a good finish as you don’t want stuffing to make these parts bulge out. For the leg shapes I really was very light on the stuffing as I wanted to make sure they laid fairly flat to the body but still had some in the end of the foot. At the end of the day you do what you feel is best but I prefer a little light stuffing inside.

Other than this I do use tights before adding my stuffing to keep the stuffing from coming through my work, this not only keeps the finished project safer for children but it also helps to give a nice neat finish as no stuffing will ever come through the pieces. I only did this to the head and body though as the arms and legs were small, and I only added a small amount of stuffing to them (it would of been very fiddly to do this in the smaller parts and usually you can get away with not doing it).

••• Notes on Sewing the dog (including notes on making the nose)•••

When it came to sewing the dog nose I did make a few changes. If you remember from an earlier comment I made a mistake early on and in auto pilot I made the nose in grey at the start of the pattern. Luckily when I realised my mistake it was easy to sort out and I didn’t have to make the head again. I was able to cut the yarn off that I’d added as the nose and sew the nose on after, thankfully most patterns I follow do this so I am used to it (I do love the way she does it though!). My notes below refer to the secind version of the nose I did;

As I was doing the nose in the same colour as the main body I noticed I needed to make a small change. Don’t worry, its simple and you may not even feel you need to do this for yours (go on whst you think looks best). I still followed exactly how she said to sew the nose by the way, the only difference was I expanded it a little. I am guessing as it was the same yarn colour as the body that it changed how it looked a little? Basically I did the same amount along for the width of the nose but to me it looked a little too small so I ended up doing an extra one either side of the original ones she asks you to start with. This basically means I had another two lines of yarn so the width of the nose was a little bigger. I followed exactly what she does, so I went over several times until it was looking right and then I did the horizontal stitches at the top just like the pattern. At the end of the day I went by what looked right for me, you might feel the existing size is perfect and if you do that’s fine but if not this is what I did so you can get yours to look like mine if you wanted too.

I did add some tacking down stitches to the arms as well, this is to help keep them in the place I would like them to sit. This is purely personal preference and up to you whether you’d like to do this or not .

••• General Notes •••

I am not sure I have much more to add as this pattern was easy to follow and make. I had very little problems and I loved making this pattern again. The yarn I was using definately made a big difference and I was much happier with the results right from the start. I have a feeling this yarn was a lot closer to the yarn thickness the designer was using too. As I was using a different yarn I did increase my hook size a little so this dog has ended up a little bigger bit not by much, so it still fits in the palm of my hand and looks super cute!

Please excuse some of the poor photos I took during the making of this project. Black yarn is so hard to photograph and it seems to pick up any little thing so no matter how much I tried to keep the yarn clean often a hair would get in the photo. I hope you’ll still enjoy my work in progress photos even though they are not up to my usual standards.

••• Note on Hook Sizes and Yarn Used •••

For the main pattern I used a 2.5mm hook and Drops Muskat 100% Mercersised Cotton DK weight yarn.

For the eyes I used a 1mm hook and Scheepjes Maxi Bon Bon (now known as Sweet Treat) 100% Cotton lace weight yarn.

I did not record the amount of yarn used for the eyes because I used so little it was impossible to record the amount I used. I still added the yarn and the colours used as reference though.

•••Quick Note on duration of project•••

I am aware this dog took me longer to make than my first but please know this is nothing to do with the pattern. The pattern is really quick to make and you should easily be able to make it within a few days . In fact I’d say this dog was quicker to make as I didn’t have to change over yarn colour throughout making the body compared to my first version.

The reason it took me longer this time was due to my poor health at the time and taking more rests during the making of this project as I knew I didn’t have a deadline to meet so I took it more slowly this time. I didn’t worry if I didn’t work on it for a few days and things like this. So this is the only reason for the longer make time as this is a fairly quick amigurumi project. I hope this helps!

WILL UPDATE/FINISH UPDATING THIS PROJECT ASAP!!!