Tag Archives: dragon

New Dragon in Town

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You might remember me knitting Tarragon the Dragon once before. He came out very cute, so recently I was tempted to knit him a friend.

Here’s my post about the green Tarragon.

And here’s the new arrival, Tarragon II:

Tarragon, knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Kroy Sock

This one is knit of plain old Patons Kroy (that’s a link to Yarnspirations) in a discontinued colourway called Paintbox. (That’s a Ravelry link.) The contrast yellow is Knitpicks Palette in Maize. (That link goes to the KP site.) I actually found a package of 6mm eyes with locking washers at Len’s Mills after I finished the first dragon, so used them on this one. (Four more pairs in the pack!) I didn’t give him beads for nostrils this time, but did add ears (which aren’t specified in the pattern) because I think they’re cute. (That modification is from the other projects on Ravelry.)

Two Tarragons knit by Deborah Cooke

Here are the two new buddies together. I think they’re getting along pretty well.

It’s interesting that even though they’re knitted on the same size of needle, the green one is a little bigger – but then Lichen & Lace Sock is slightly thicker than Kroy, plus the green dragon has a strand of KSH held together with the sock yarn. Just that little bit of difference to the thickness made him a bit bigger. He’s also squishier – I can see the fibrefil stuffing between the stitches of the red one, just a little bit. So, if I knit another one in just sock yarn, I’d drop a needle size or add a strand of KSH.

It’s entirely possible that there’s a third Tarragon in my future. These little guys are just so cute, and the second one was much quicker to make.

Tarragon the Dragon

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This little guy has been sitting around for a long time with just one arm and no eyes. I finally got him finished up this past weekend, and he’s just as cute as I’d hoped.

Meet Tarragon:

Tarragon the dragon knit by Deborah Cooke

This is a free pattern by Knit-a-Zoo – you can download it here on Ravelry.

I knit him out of a fingering yarn—Lichen & Lace 80/20 Sock, in Citron—held together with a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in the fabulous shade called Jelly. He’s not just lime green: he’s fuzzy! The contrast colour is Shibui Knits Sock. (It’s discontinued so that’s a Ravelry link.) All the yarns came out of my stash of partial balls so I’m not sure how much I used.

I did make a few changes to the pattern. I added ears, as suggested by other Ravellers, and used a navy seed bead for each nostril. I also made the wings in two colours, suggested on Ravelry, and am really pleased with how they look. There are a lot of projects for this little guy on Ravelry and I’m not sure who first suggested the contrast wings or the ears. Both are terrific ideas!

Like most toys, this dragon is a bit fiddly to assemble but totally worth it. I couldn’t find small enough eyes until after I’d stuffed and sewn the head – I came across them quite by surprise, but then, you never know what you’ll find at Len’s Mills – so maybe I’ll have to make another. This guy has button eyes instead.

I love the detail at the end of his tail!

We did go to the Woolstock Fleece Festival last weekend, which was held in Paris, Ontario, this year, and it was wonderful to be able to squish yarn again. There were a lot of indie dyers in attendance and the displays were beautiful. I found a purple handpainted sock yarn that’s perfect to finish my Crystal Twist Shawl. I bought a cake of a gradient dyed fingering yarn – Merino Silk Shawl Length – from Coriand3r Knits, which was just what I’d been hoping to find for the Don’t Panic shawl by Nim Teasdale. And I fell hard for yarn from The Loving Path—I bought a kit for a Love Note sweater from them but am knitting a cardigan with it instead. That project has jumped to the front of the line, so I may have a finished project to show you soon. All in all, it was a wonderful day. 🙂

The Dark Dragon

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I knit this dragon out of Noro Kureyon Sock from my stash. It used about half a skein. I’m not actually sure what to do with it now that it’s done, but when I saw the pattern, I just had to cast on. The pattern is called Doughty Dragon and it’s a free Ravelry download. (That’s a Ravelry link.)Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah Cooke

Above, he is clearly as outraged as I am that some squirrel has sampled my pumpkin two weeks before Halloween.

Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah CookeHere, he looks like he’s going to eat something off the steps. (Bad dragon!)

I seriously lost my enthusiasm after making the body of the dragon – I think the toes nearly finished me – so he’s been waiting headless for me to get back to him. This summer, I made his head, then he waited in two parts – because I didn’t enjoy making the teeth and still think I did them wrong – until about two weeks ago. I was trying to clean up my office, and there he was, on the floor, in parts. How sad. I picked up my needles and worked away on those back scales – which I also did wrong. There’s supposed to be two rows, and you’re supposed to pick up every second stitch on the back as you go – alternating would be a good idea – but I misread it and picked up every stitch. Rather than frog back, I just kept going but only did a single row of scales.

Trust me. By then I was done with this project. It was fiddly knitting and slow going.Doughty Dragon by Joan Rowe knit in Noro Kureyon Sock by Deborah Cooke

I think his back scales look good, even if they are wrong!

Making this dragon took even longer than I thought: when I went back into Ravelry to mark my project done, I saw that I’d cast on in July 2015. More than three years to completion! Ha. I won’t be making another one of these.

Although he is kind of cute, isn’t he? I have to find him a perch in my office.

What do you think?