Tuesday 17 October 2017

Making the wings for the Fierce Little Dragon

My Fierce Little Dragon pattern is one of my most popular patterns - since I made it available on Ravelry in 2011 it has been downloaded over 90000 times! However, it's not necessarily a pattern for total beginners, as there are some more complicated elements, in particular the wings.


I'm happy with the basic design, which is different from the normal bat-wing look of dragon wings, and was somewhat inspired by Wayne Anderson's illustrations for The Flight of Dragons.


I used front post stitches in the wings to make ridges that give them stiffness, but as the pattern stands the two wings aren't totally symmetrical. This doesn't show very obviously when they are sewn on, but I had a bit of a play with the design and came up with something that makes the wings a bit more symmetrical. I have updated the pattern with the new details (so go and download it again to get them) and I decided to make a little tutorial to show the more fiddly parts of making them. Whenever you want to make the dragon, read through the pattern for the wings, and follow this tutorial to help.

So, here are the new, improved wings. Upper side:


And lower side:


For many of the stitches (sc, hdc and dc, in US terms) you will be working around the 'posts' of the stitches, which is the main body of the stitch, rather than through the two loops at the top. With front post stitches (fpsc, fphdc and fpdc) you insert your hook from right to left around the back of the post, and that makes a ridge at the back of your work.

Working around a double crochet (dc) stitch, it's quite easy to see where to put your hook. Here are the dc stitches from the previous row:


Here's an arrow to show where your hook should go:


And here's the hook being inserted (after doing a yarn over hook):


You work around the hdc and the sc stitches in the same way. It can be a bit harder to see where to put your hook with the sc stitches, but once you have done it with the larger stitches you'll start to get the hang of it. Here's a photo showing how you do an fpsc around the last sc on the row:


At the end of the row, you then work an sc into the top of the last sc you worked around. This stops the edge of the wing ending up sloping to the right. This is what it looks like when you work into the last sc:


You then ch 1 and turn, here's what the wing looks like when turned (I undid the ch 1 as it's hard to count the stitches in a photo otherwise):


For the next row, you miss the first sc and instead work around the second sc. This is part of what stops the edge forming a slope. Here's where your hook should go:


And here's a photo showing the hook inserted:


I hope this helps, just ask if you have any other questions about the pattern, and have fun making your dragons!






10 comments:

Sheri said...

Love your creatures! I just bought some yarn through lovecrochet, where I seen your pattern, but the yarn looks different than in your pattern picture. They sent me stylecraft special in do, and green in same brand. The colors are a bit different than yours, is there any way you could show me where to buy some yarn like what you used? Your yarn looks to have different tones in them, and the ones I got is just one color.

Thanks....Sheri

LucyRavenscar said...

Hi Sheri, I'm pleased you like my creatures! I didn't use those yarns, and I don't think I listed those yarns in the pattern myself, since you can make the dragon in any colours you want. The purple I used was Hayfield Bonus DK Velvet Plum (906), I'm not sure the green I used is still available now, but it was something like Stylecraft Life DK Gorse Nepp (2337). I hope that helps!

Sheri said...

Yes! Thanks so much for the brand and colors. I need to start keeping track of all that for the projects I make for others...so thankful you do!

L'Atelier de Lunina said...

Thank you for your tuto !
I love your colors
https://latelierdelunina.blogspot.com/2019/06/diy-celebrons-la-fin-de-game-of-trone.html

Anonymous said...

The dragon is adorable, but I don’t understand the ears. Do you turn and ss into the back loop of previous 4 sts or continue around?

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU FOR THE PATTERN AND THE TUTO FOR THE WINGS. It made it a lot easier to follow. My teenage boy who asked for a dragon and except a baby toy will be quite surprised

Cleveland Tree Removal said...

Thanks ffor writing

LucyRavenscar said...

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy, I purchased this before the pattern was free, and I started it a couple yrs ago, and due to some carpal tunnel issues, put it away for a while. I've since had surgery, and now I'm hoping to finish it for my grandson for C'mas, but now the pattern opens with tons of extra letters and characters, as if it has been corrupted. I've tried redownloading it but it keeps doing the same. Is it possible to email me screenshots of the pattern so I can follow it to finish it? Thanks, Diana

LucyRavenscar said...

Hi Diana,
This pattern has always been free, and you should be able to download it from Ravelry (I've just tested it and it works). Try deleting the PDF before you download it again, but if you still have problems, send me your email on a private message on Etsy or Ravelry, and I'll send the file to you.
All the best,
Lucy