Remember this almost-finished knitting project?
It is done! And now I have a sneaky-geeky wrap to keep me warm in the office this winter.
The cowl’s construction is straight forward – garter stitch with increases near the end to fan out the wing. If you are a beginning knitter, I recommend this project. It is a stitch you already know and it gives you a chance to practice one method of increasing stitches. It was a one-skein project for me…just barely. If I had made my cast-on tail shorter, I would have had enough. Thankfully I did buy two skeins.
To make the ridges of the wings, you need to drop stitches on the last row, and then loop them through each other. This was incredibly unsettling for me. I’ve never intentionally dropped stitches, and I’ve been knitting for a decade. This is another reason I recommend this project for newer knitters. If you have this experience, you will know how a dropped stitch behaves (spoiler: it doesn’t unravel all your knitting just the column that has been dropped).
If you want a dragon wing cowl of your own, pick it up this pattern for free! The designer even includes a video on how to make the braided ridges.
Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragon-wing-cowl
Pattern link: http://jessieathome.com/knit-dragon-wing-cowl/
I bought the claw-like buttons from Something Pretty on Etsy. I debated between buttons that looked like dragon claws and buttons that looked light treasure from a dragon’s horde. I really liked the treasure idea, and I wanted to find some hammered metal (rather than shiny jewels) but everything I found was too opulent for my personal style. So, dragon claws it is.
The Fabric Alchemist 
I was so twitchy the first (only?) time I did a project with dropped stitches. It just goes against the grain to intentionally “mess up” like that! I love that wrap though; it might almost make me wear a wrap just so I can make it.
Oh you temptress! I had to give up the knitting for the CTS in both wrists a few years ago (or give up data entry and sewing, which pay better). And here this is, calling my name. And it’s a free pattern on 8s in a fast gauge.
Darn you to heck!