Bear's Scent and Savor Collar Accessory
Like our other foster dogs, Bear (pictured at the right) sometimes needs a little help to keep calm and carry on. By making a felt pad for essential oils, we can increase the likelihood of calmness while encountering new situations, like other dogs on a walk, staying home with our other dog, etc.
Special Instructions:
All terms are written in American Crochet terminology.
Yarn/Fiber Requirements:
Sample worked in Cascade 220 Worsted. A very, very small amount of yarn (3-5 yards)!\* \*It is important to be yarn made of an animal fiber so it will receive the needle felted piece well, but other than that, the choice of yarn is yours. A half ounce of wool roving in your choice of color
Crochet Hook:
Short Version: US Size H (5.0mm)
Notions:
Yarn Needle Felting Needle or Felting Tool Felting Mat or Styrofoam Fabric marker/chalk or stitch markers Scissors Bandaids (just in case!) Gauge: Super not important for this pattern! Finished Measurements: An inch wide, 2.5 inches around. Abbreviations and Special Stitches: sl st= slip stitch ch= chain sc= single crochet
Pattern Instructions:
Pre-work: measure the width of your dog's collar. If it is more than 1 inch, or smaller than a half inch, alter the number of repeats to fit. Row 1: Ch 15. Turn. Row 2: Skipping first chain, sc 14. Ch 1 and turn. (14 sts) Row 3-8: Repeat row 2. Fasten off at the end of row 8. Leave a tail long enough to sew in the row on one side, and weave in the beginning end. At this point, you have a rectangle. Before you sew the long ends of the rectangle together, measure out a box the size of the dog's collar in the middle of the rectangle. You can mark this with a fabric marker or chalk or stitch markers. Place the rectangle on your felting mat. Add roving and start needle felting the roving into the box you have measured. When you have about a quarter inch thick of felted roving in an area, move onto the next section and keep felting until the entire box is filled with felted roving.
\*Note: This is a small piece of felting, and as such, you may injure yourself as you felt the roving into the rectangle. Hence the request for Band-Aids in the supply list - you may accidentally stab your finger with the felting needle if you aren't 1o0% careful. Post-work: At this point, you've got a rectangle with a small box of roving. Sew the long ends of the rectangle together, and weave in the last end. From here, you can add the essential oils necessary to calm your dog. I recommend the Calm-aMile RTU, it is what we use on our dogs. We use 2-10 drops depending on the situation. At this point, you can slide the Sniff Zen onto their collar, and then place the Sniff Zen in front of the collar underneath the nose.
