Deramores Sausage Dog Draught Excluder Knitting Pattern

Deramores Sausage Dog Draught Excluder

What is Being Made

This is a knitted sausage dog draught excluder designed by Amanda Berry, a London College of Fashion graduate specializing in stuffed knitted toys. The finished draught excluder measures approximately 89cm long, making it a functional homeware piece that combines playful design with practical draft prevention. The project creates a charming dachshund-shaped textile that can be positioned along doorways or windows to block drafts while adding decorative appeal to any room.

Knitting Techniques Used

The pattern employs flat knitting construction, meaning all pieces are worked back and forth on straight knitting needles rather than in the round. This approach allows for straightforward shaping and seaming. The design incorporates fundamental knitting increases and decreases: kfb (knit into the front and back of a stitch) for increases, and both k2tog (knit two stitches together) and ssk (slip, slip, knit) for decreases. These shaping techniques create the contoured body of the sausage dog. The pattern uses mattress stitch for seaming pieces together, a technique that creates nearly invisible seams ideal for stuffed projects.

Stitches Used

The primary stitch throughout this project is stockinette stitch, which involves knitting all right-side rows and purling all wrong-side rows. This creates the smooth, classic knitted fabric visible on the draught excluder's surface. The pattern also incorporates basic shaping stitches including knit and purl stitches for structure, with strategic increases and decreases to form the dog's body, head, and legs.

Materials and Yarn

This pattern requires Deramores Studio DK yarn in eight coordinating colors: Green Tea, Paprika, Gingerbread, Blue Haze, Storm Cloud, Merlot, Shiraz, and Butterscotch. Each color comes in 100g balls. The dog body uses up to 70g of Gingerbread yarn as the primary color, with 30g of Green Tea for accents and up to 20g each of the remaining colors (Butterscotch, Paprika, Blue Haze, Storm Cloud, Merlot, and Shiraz) for details such as ears, spots, or other features. Knitting is worked on 3.75mm (US 5) straight knitting needles. The pattern achieves a tension of approximately 22 stitches and 28 rows over a 10cm x 10cm square in stockinette stitch on these needles. Additional materials include a 250g bag of toy filling for stuffing, 2 x 9mm safety eyes for facial features, and a darning or tapestry needle for weaving in yarn ends and seaming.

Difficulty Level

Although labeled as beginner-friendly in terms of overall project scope, this draught excluder involves intermediate knitting skills. Crafters should be comfortable with basic stitches, increases, decreases, and seaming techniques before beginning. The flat knitting construction and use of stockinette stitch make it accessible, but the shaping required and assembly process demand some knitting experience.