Emma

She needs no introduction.

Except to those of you who've never met her.

Emma is the world's sweetest dog and I say that as a dyed in the wool cat person. A mama cat, if you will.

She is some sort of genetic salad originally from Oregon, facts that no doubt set the stage for her beyond mellow demeanor.

She is owned by one of my husband's BFFs. Said BFF is a veterinarian and has a soft spot for animals. (Why yes, I have encouraged him to feature this prominently on his dating profile!) During their college years The Vet (ernarian. We have way too much fun playing off vet and making 'nam jokes. I think they're only funny to us.) was traveling through Oregon with his family. They were minding their own business putting birds on things and paging through Powells' books wearing vintage get-ups, you know, basic Oregon stuff, when a dog ran across the highway in front of them.

The Vet, being the aspiring vet he was at the time, had his family stop the car, pick up the emaciated young dog and take it to an animal shelter. The dog had no collar and I guess they were in the middle of nowhere so, given her condition, assuming no owner seemed a safe bet.

The shelter put animals down if no one claimed or adopted them in 3 days. The Vet flew back home to Long Island and called daily to check on the dog.

On the third day when no one had claimed it and she was mere hours away from the big sleep, he paid to have the dog shipped across the country so he could be its puppy daddy.

My husband accompanied The Vet to JFK where they met *triumphant fanfare*: Emma.

From that moment on it's as though she knew what The Vet did for her, what he saved her from, and she has been the sweetest, most obedient, loyal dog since. (Healthy now, too. She's been with the Vet a solid 7 years at least.)

The Vet decided to move to Denver a few months ago and moved in down the street (thereby bringing me one step closer to a life long dream of having a posse akin to Friends or How I Met Your Mother. He's kind of in a Barney/Ted phase right now. Ted circa season three.) so Emma is a regular presence.

We went camping a few weeks ago and Emma of course dutifully came along. We were in the mountains whose weather is a solid twenty degrees lower than Denver's usually, so at night The Vet put Emma's sweater on and my heart melted.

She's not a teeny dog, she's a solid medium size, probably on the larger end of medium, so her garb was just so cute and utilitarian rather than annoying and pretentious. The sweater was a thick, cabled, heathered yarn number that exuded outdoorsy-ness.

Clearly she needed something more feminine.

Thus, I made Emma a sweater. Something a bit more fetching, and a little lighter for the spring and summer nights.

Why wouldn't I wrap a gift for a dog?

Hottie at the Hydrant!

Robo-Emma. 

Love it.

I used the Hoodie Dog Coat pattern, but left the hoodie part off given the bad rap they get these days. The yarn is a wool blend that I let my husband pick out. The color way is "Whimsy."