On a recent trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to visit my aunt Martha Ann, I spent a good portion of my time playing with her tiny poodle Prissy.  Like any good girly-girl ~ and with a name like Prissy, you would expect a tomboy? ~ Prissy loves to dress up.  And like anybody at all in Tuscaloosa, Prissy loves the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team.  (I grew up obsessing over Bear Bryant’s boys myself, so I can’t blame those Tuscaloosans.)  So when Martha Ann and I dropped in to Serendipity Needleworks, we both fell in love with a specially hand-dyed colorway of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted: “Crimson Pride,” a soft, pleasing combo of crimson, cream and shades of gray (the gray being for Alabama’s elephant mascot).  “You should make Prissy a sweater out of this,” I told my aunt.  “What if I bought it and you made the sweater?” she asked, knowing I love to play “Project Dog Run” with the puppy clothes.

Done!  Here’s the sweater, a sweet little appliqued dress with cheerleader skirt, high neck, elephant applique and a silly pompom.  Since Prissy’s not here to model, I pressed the ever-willing Willie into service.

The easy FREE PATTERN (linked on my Patterns page) comes in three sizes to fit small doggies and can be worked up in any worsted-weight yarn, in any color combination to match your team’s colors.  Got a gator or a tiger for a mascot instead of an elephant?  You can Google clip art, and my pattern includes instructions on how to download a drawing and make your own applique template.  If your pup turns up his nose at wearing a skirt, you can finish this one off with a more-manly ribbed hem to match the neck.

Better hurry!  The Tide kicks off against Virginia Tech in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome Saturday night, and your team likely starts playing soon, too.  Roll Tide!, er, Go Dawgs!