I think the toes are cute

As you may remember, I am working on a slightly larger scale dragon - um yarn chicken! It occured to me that I never actually said where I got the original pattern from and that I needed to fix that error, just in case you needed a yarn chicken - or dragon - for your very own.

Kim Harrison is a writer, and I will be honest and tell you that I don't believe I have read any of her books, but she has a number of them and they keep hitting the best seller list, so when TOB and I were at the library last week I picked one up at random.  Turns out it was the middle book in a series, so I am going to swap it out for the first book or maybe even her newest release (different universe) before I get myself too far into it!

But, as I was saying, Kim Harrison is a writer who knits. And grows orchids, which are pretty amazing in their own right, but we are on her site for the knitting content, not the orchids as I can't keep those alive to save my skin!  During the summer last year she had a knit along for a knitted dragon, which I knew nothing about, until one of her fans (I believe) put a link to the pattern on Ravelry.

As someone who is trying to write really good patterns, I can tell you that pattern writing for something as simple as a plain vanilla sock is harder than it looks!  To have your first, released for all to see pattern be for something as complicated as a dragon just blows my little baby-steps-I-am-just-a-beginner-at-this designer mind! (That link will take you to the materials page, even if you don't want to knit one I highly recommend that you look through the pages at some of the proto-type dragons that Ms Harrison knit coming up with the pattern, they are amazing!)

When I finally finish this dragon/chicken I will take a photo with both my original and the newer one so that you can see the scaling up...for now I just have a few assorted body parts!  I am still working out what to use for the support in the long wing bone across the top of the wings and the spine once I have passed the tail and move onto the hips of the body.

I do have to say, that with all the little details in these dragons, the calves and knees that look so right, how cute the face turns out...the thing that impresses me the most are the little toes!

I had hoped to have some better pictures of my no-name-stranded socks for you, unfortunately the weather was not cooperating with me, so those will have to wait for another day!

We all have tomorrow off - Martin Luther King Day - I plan to settle down with a nice warm cup of coffee and maybe some cashmere.  What are you planning for the week?