Thursday 20 March 2008

Greyt Sweaters!





I am a part time knitwear designer and pattern writer, and goodness knows my hounds could do with covering up, but I just don't find the time to hand knit for my hounds, especially a full size sweater for a 32 Kg dog and a 25 Kg dog! On my searches to see what is out there, I came across a website advertising machine knit sweaters, and they are called Greyt Sweaters and I know I shouldn't really be advertising someone else's knitwear business, but I had to give her credit for the best knitted dog sweaters I have seen for a long time.

















Considering the time it takes to hand knit and make clothes, these are so reasonable in price even though they are machine knitted, see below. I cannot resist and I think that Lily would look good in either Blue, or as she is a little Madam (nickname: Mads) and a princess (her wish is our command) perhaps she would look good in elements of pink, or fucshia.



Dizzy Rascal I can imagine in the urban black and white. Now though, I have to go off and measure my hounds which is when they usually decide to lean against me, move or lie down or jump up and down as any movement in the afternoon could mean dinner is imminent!

Laney, who makes these glorious Greyt Sweaters, donates part of her p
roceeds to a greyhound charity.
She also makes these sweaters for whippets. They are all custom fit and custom designed, with a buttoned chest panel which is ideal for those dogs who get a draught right on their baldy bits on walks!
You could also, if you wanted to, wear a light waterproof mac on top of the coats.
Prices for a Greyhound are UK GB£34.50
Prices for a Whippet are UK GB£29.50
Postage UK £3.50
See website for other details of postage for the rest of the World
and how to measure your hound properly




She has also mad
e sweaters for the Beastly Beasts.

The Beastly Beasts are a group of hounds who go to events and promote charities related to rescuing greyhounds, they are literally' hounds who help hounds' and you can read about all their adventures on their website, as well as get medical and healthcare tips and find out about the arithmetics of racing. I too have the same misgivings as these dog owners with regards to the racing industry, and reading that article confirms what I have seen.

I know that Julie from Essex Greyhound Rescue
often intervenes to take on challenging dogs difficult to home, or bounced from many kennels and homes and without her those dogs might well have 'disappeared' and could well have been the fate of at least one of my dogs, who did not appear to be officially registered from a pup, despite having some ear tattoos.

If anybody feels moved to donate to a lady who single handedly with little funding has rescued about 300 dogs over the past couple of years, I do collect funds for her, and you can donate by sending money to me
via PayPal username erssiemajor@yahoo.co.uk
100% of your donation goes directly to the hounds for food, medicine or vets bills.
I swallow any admin or bank charges
Julie also always has about 20 dogs to choose from for adoption aged from pups who can't be trained for racing (usually from 12mths onwards) to ex racers who are just not fast any more. She is always looking for people to foster dogs that are wasting away in kennels so if you feel moved to take on a dog, even temporarily, either myself or Julie can homecheck you if you are in the Essex area. Email me to find out more.



Anyway, back to the Beastly Beasts, on their walkies above, their website also has useful links, follows individual stories of rescued hounds and talks about large dog agility, walks, meets and greets and shows. One criticism of the site, just a tiny one, perhaps it is me being silly but I can't seem to find one page which has future events. I would like to meet the beasts, their owners and join in some communal greyhound fun.

2 comments:

thebellagreyhound said...

those knitted jackets make me want to start knitting NOW!!

excellent pictures!

Greyhound Gap Official News Blogger said...

Julie does a great job we use to be in regular contact but as the years passed and we both got busier and busier we lost touch. Please give her my love.

One place you can meet the Beastly Beasts will be at our show in Walsall in the Midlands on 25th May. Not sure if its too far for you though? Its a great day and although a show for all breeds being a hound rescue as you can imagine the majority of the likely suspects on the day are hounds. Chris and Gill have raised so much and helped us out so many times we cant thank them enough.

The Beasts wont be in attendance BUT myself and another Gap volunteer will also be attending the All about dogs show in Brentwood Essex if that is nearer and it would be lovely to say hi. Its the 10th and 11th of May and we are there for the two days raising funds and awareness.

Lisa xx

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