By Cross Stitch Library · October 19, 2026
A golden, floppy-eared puppy bundled in a chunky rust cable-knit scarf with a little leaf pendant — a warm dog portrait cross-stitch for fall and dog lovers.
Your pattern is at the end of this page, right after the stitching guide below.
Floppy ears, a soft half-smile and a scarf wound twice around its neck: this golden puppy looks like it has just come in from a cold walk and is waiting for someone to notice how good it looks.
It’s a chest-up portrait, the way you’d frame a photo of your own dog, and it’s the scarf that makes it — a thick cable knit with tassels hanging down one side and a small leaf pendant resting on the fur. At 131 x 167 stitches it finishes 9.4“ x 11.9“ on 14-count Aida, a good size for a gift for a dog owner or a fall shelf display. Only nine colors build the whole thing, which keeps the floss pile small for a piece this size. Hang it beside the Red Fox Holding a Maple Leaf — same scarf weather, almost the same size — or with the Hedgehog in a Knit Sweater for a row of animals dressed for the cold.
At 15,783 full cross stitches this is a big project, but not a fiddly one — six colors do almost all the work, and the three smallest (951, 783 and B5200) add up to only 80 stitches. The challenge is stamina and keeping your place in the fur, not tricky technique. If you’ve finished a couple of smaller charts and want your first large piece, this one is a fair test.
The outlines aren’t black: they’re DMC 939 Navy Blue Very Dark (2,967 stitches), which reads as near-black on the fabric but stays softer around the eyes and fur. Don’t swap in 310 to save a skein — the face goes noticeably harsher. The scarf is mostly 976 Golden Brown with 300 Mahogany Very Dark in the cable grooves; stitch the 300 lines first and the plaited cable shape appears before you’ve filled anything in, which makes the 976 fill easy to count. Buy 300 from one dye lot, since at 3,521 stitches it’s the biggest color and runs through both the fur and the scarf. At nearly 16,000 stitches, it’s worth reading our guide to planning a large cross-stitch project before you cut fabric; you’ll also find it in our fall animal round-up.
Choose your paper size and color or black & white, then download the Golden Puppy in a Cable-Knit Scarf PDF chart and thread list — free, no sign-up.
