Meet The Woman Who’s Spent 4,000 Hours Knitting Christmas Jumpers For Dogs

A dog jumper is for life, not just for Christmas.

One woman has taken this mantra to the extreme, spending more than 4,000 hours knitting Christmas jumpers for abandoned dogs.

Jan Brown, 52, from Seaburn, Sunderland, has created more than 300 designs in the past five years to give to homeless greyhounds each Christmas.

These include woollen jumpers, antlers, hats, scarves, coats and snoods for dogs at rescue centres all over the country.

The mother-of-three spends about 20 hours on each jumper.

“I can’t think of anything I would rather do than knit woolly clothing for dogs,” she said.

“I have spent over 4,000 hours knitting but it’s all worthwhile when I see them sporting their new jumpers and hats.

“I started knitting from an early age and after making a few coats for my own greyhounds it seemed like a great way to help the animal shelters.

“It’s really sweet seeing them in their festive Christmas jumpers, I think they look really sweet and it’s giving much needed help to the rescue centres.

“There are so many dogs that won’t be rehomed this Christmas so for many of them it’s the only gift they will get.”

Mrs Brown started making the jumpers full-time in 2013 after leaving her job as a carer.

The profits she makes through her website, KnittedWithLove.co.uk, goes towards buying material and paying the postage to send items to rescue centres across the UK.

“Eventually I was getting so many orders that my husband told me I should quit my job,” she said.

“Since then we’ve had orders from people all over the world and my supplies for dogs in rescue homes.

“One of the weirdest designs was for a Teacup Chihuahua, it was such a tiny jumper for the dog because the dog weighed less than a pound.”

(Pictures: Caters)