‘Stitch your bitch’

Knit Your Own Dog

It goes without saying that handmade dolls are far more charming than mass-produced machine-made ones—yet I said it anyway. Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne achieve such DIY adorableness with their book, Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for Pedigree Pooches (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, $14.95). There’s row-by-row directions on how to knit and purl your way into making a new canine companion, including long-haired Afghan hound, a spotted Dalmatian and a pudgy pug—collar included. Thanks to well-executed photography, it also makes a fetching coffee-table book, if you’re not the type to, as the authors say, “stitch your bitch.” www.knityourowndog.com.