Fierce Little Dragon

One of the first crochet patterns I wrote was for a dragon - my 'fierce but friendly really dragon'. I love dragons, and it's hard to find nice toys of them, so that was a real incentive to make one myself. Lots of people liked it and asked for the pattern, so eventually I wrote up my notes and put them on Craftster and Livejournal. The notes were quite rough, and though many people had no problem following them, some asked if I could write the pattern up properly. And, finally, I got round to it!

I had to make a dragon to check the pattern, and while I was doing that I tweaked a few bits - I used to crochet a lot more loosely, and I found some parts came up too small - and I used different stitches on the wings to make them much stiffer.

I won't post the pattern here as it's seven pages long, but it is available as a free download from Ravelry: Fierce Little Dragon free pattern

Edited to add: this pattern has now been translated into Spanish by Ana, over at her blog.

Edited to add 2: this pattern has now kindly been translated into French by FilACroche on Ravelry. You can download it here

Dragonet Pattern

Have you ever wanted your own pet dragon? Well, generally they're a bit big to fit in the house, so what you need is a Dragonet, a small or young dragon. I've finally finished my latest pattern, so now you can crochet yourself a Dragonet, a fantastical friend who will hang around your home.

Small for a dragon, but pretty big for an amigurumi - they are about 17.5" long and have a wingspan of 22". Of course, if you're a Lego person, they are just the right size for a ride, as one of my pattern testers discovered:
 http://tossedcookies.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/just-another-bedtime-story/

I'm very happy, after a certain amount of experimentation, with the wings. I managed to make them fairly stiff without using any wire or anything else apart from crochet and stuffing. I also tried out different eyes - they can be made with either safety eyes (ones with a slit rather than a round pupil look best, I think) or with round beads - the red Dragonet has clear glass ones.

If you want to make your own Dragonet, the pattern is for sale in my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lucyravenscar

Golden Dragonet

I made this last autumn for a 'Dragonriders of Pern' swap on Craftster. The series of books by Anne McCaffrey, which are about dragons and their riders, also feature miniature dragons, or firelizards, which make very intelligent pets. I tried to make my crochet version roughly life-size as they are described in the books, although I think she's quite young. Golden ones are the queens and consider themselves the most important!



It took quite a long time to work out the right dimensions and shape while I was crocheting her, and I remade the wings about four times! I think this will be my next project to write up as a pattern, so I'll have to start making it again soon. I will do a few variations for the details on the head - shape of the eyes, ears or horns, and so on. Hopefully it won't take me too long.

Dandelion Dragon

I've been thinking vaguely about making some kind of Chinese dragon for a while now. I like their sinuous bodies and the fact that they're usually seen as good-natured rather than fierce. I decided I wanted to make one that was sitting up, so it would seem curious and not so active. This is what I came up with.

I gave him a ruff, which, particularly with addition of horns, gave the impression of venerable white hair and a beard. That made me think of him as a very old, peaceful dragon. I imagine that he moves slowly about the garden, bending his long neck to peer at all the plants and contemplating the world.

I like that Chinese dragons often seem furry rather than scaly, so I gave him a soft, fuzzy mohair spine frill.

I'm very fond of his face and pleased at how it came out, it seems quite youthful and innocent (maybe it's those big blue eyes), but I still feel he's been around for a long time.