Sea Dragon’s Tail

Talking about this piece is bitter sweet for me. I know I probably shouldn’t bring the mood down by telling you the real story of how this pashmina came to be, but I’m gonna go for it. So, if you want to keep things light and skip my story, scroll down until you see Megan-Anne and Mabel the Merciless wrapped up in the shawl together.

My grandfather passed away last August from complications caused by his late stage Alzheimers. We all miss him dearly, but are happy that he’s not suffering anymore. I like to imagine he’s haunting a golf course somewhere with Arnold Palmer’s ghost.

I wanted to knit something special for my grandmother for Christmas. Something that she could wrap herself in and know that even though I live 600 miles away, I love her and think of her often. It needed to be a piece that would be sophisticated enough that she could wear it as a statement piece when she met up with her friends for cocktails or as a decadent scarf when she hit the green early in the morning. And, most importantly, it needed to be an interesting enough design to keep me knitting.

I love knitting shawls, but there is something about scarves and pashminas that make me want to bang my head against a wall before I even reach the halfway point. Academically, I know that I’ve knitted pieces with twice as much yardage, but scarves feel different. It’s why I don’t recommend it as a beginner’s first or even fourth project. They are the black hole of knitting. I think it’s because they don’t change. It’s just the same row count over and over and over. So, the design needed to ride the line between being an interesting knit from beginning to end while also still looking like a cohesive design and not just a “sampler.”

I felt passionately about putting love into every stitch, I didn’t want to resent it by the time I bound off.

I came up with a few motifs that blended nicely into each other. I shook them up, turned them into a cohesive look, and never got bored. Honestly, that in and of itself is my greatest achievement as a designer. Never mind that I think it’s my most beautiful piece to date, it was a legitimately fun knit! A balance of color, texture, and lace.

The sea is wide and vast and does not like to be restrained. For those of you who wish to conquer the sea, or Pashmina scarves in this instance, the Sea Dragon’s Tail will guide you over and under the waves. Just when you think the bleak depths will overwhelm you, the pattern changes and a thrilling pulse of adventure will send you to the heart of the great ocean or, as we like to call it, the bind off.

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About the Pattern

The Sea Dragon’s Tail combines the concept of mosaic knitting with simple lace to create a beautiful pashmina fit for a quick jaunt to the market or as a wrap to punctuate any formal attire. Meanwhile, tiny bobbles are sprinkled throughout to create texture and movement, which reinvent bobbles into something whimsical and cute rather than bulky and excessive.

This pattern is an Intermediate level knit.

Required Skills: Knit; Purl; K2Tog; SK2P (Slip Knit 2 Pass: sl 1, K2Tog, pass sl st over K2Tog); sl 1 wyif; sl 1 wyib; YO; Stripes-Colorwork; small bobbles.

Recommended Yarn: Lattes & Llamas Adventure Yarn (100 grams/ 400 yards) or a comparable fingering weight yarn in three contrasting colorways. 

Sample is shown in ‘Stars Hollow’ (Color A), ‘Pegleg Point’ (Color B), and ‘Mad Hatter’ (Color C).

Color A: Approximately 85 grams/ 340 yards
Color B: Approximately 95 grams/ 380 yards
Color C: Approximately 95 grams/ 380 yards

Needles: US5 /3.75 mm straight or circular needles

Sizing: Measurements are taken after blocking.
Length: 90”
Width: 15”

Also, I’m really proud of the fact that the design incorporates tiny bobbles that are super cute. These aren’t the usual bobbles you’re used to. They will make you use the words bobble and cute in the same sentence without the word “gaudy” ever even occurring to you. They are nicely unobtrusive.

~ Jac

I know people don’t believe me when I say that about my bobbles, but then I make them look at them and they’re always like, “Well, shit. You were right.”