February Dragon
This is our 2nd dragon square in 2025’s “Year of…” series of large squares. See more details at https://ashleeslint.com/year-of/2025-year-dragons/.
February Dragon shows the spiked head and scaly neck of a ferocious dragon.
Two Crochet Techniques
As with all my designs, February Dragon is written up for two crochet techniques: interlocking crochet and overlay mosaic crochet. You’ll get the fully written pattern and charts for both techniques.
Large Square
Large Square is one of my standard sizes. With worsted weight yarn your square will be about 20″ / 52 cm.
Get the Pattern
You can purchase my patterns on my Webshop, on Ravelry, or on Etsy. Choose the platform that works best for you.
EBook Discount
The eBook will be updated each month. Pay once and get a full year of dragon squares at a 40% savings compared to buying each individual dragon square.
Interlocking crochet sample of January Dragon by an an Anonymous Squirrel.
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of January Dragon by Angela.
Interlocking crochet sample of January Dragon by Nancy McKain.
Art
I shared a little about my art process on the January Dragon post.
I also showed the adorable art my son made.
This month I’m nervously showing you some art I made.
All my crochet patterns are my art – I don’t use AI. I do usually have a little bit of nerves when sharing my art.
But I am more confident with sharing my patterns because I spend hours on the charts and make sure they’re presentable before presenting them.
This painting was done on a whim one night at a friend’s house. I had no sketch to work off (just my memory of when I drew the February Dragon chart), and it was a pretty rushed process compared to how I usually like to paint.
So, on the one hand I’m embarrassed that it isn’t perfect but on the other hand I’m actually quite proud of myself for trying a quick painting in a room full of other people!
My quick dragon head painting.
I love how the mottled green worked in Eva’s mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon!
Crochet Colorwork Choices
One of the things I love about both interlocking crochet and overlay mosaic crochet is that we can create such an intricate-looking project with minimal crochet trouble.
The tricky spot for a lot of people ends up being the color choices.
For these techniques it’s important to choose colors that are high contrast. Think black and white or super dark blue with a really light blue.
Typically we want to use a solid color because too much variance can distract from the art on the chart and make it invisible or muddy.
Dark Color as Main Color
With these dragon squares (and any of my realistic patterns such as the dog and cat squares or the large tiger blanket, etc) I strongly recommend using the darkest color as the Main Color / MC / first color used.
When I draw, I think of it as pencil lines on a paper, and the MC is what I’m drawing with.
The MC is what I use for shading, for the pupils in the eyes, etc. So I personally think it looks better when that color is the grey or dark blue or whatever happens to be the darkest color in your creation.
BUT! As you can see, sometimes advice is best not taken!
Here are two samples where they’ve used their darkest color for the background instead of the MC; it’s up to you to decide what colors you’d like to use!
Have fun and be creative!
Divya Tellakula used black as the 2nd color so that it’s the background instead of the drawing.
Kim switched the dark and light colors for her mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon.
Tapestry Color Changes for a Pop
Inevitably someone will think, these designs with just two colors are too simple for me – I want to add more colors!
This is definitely something that you can attempt, but I do not have any tutorials to help you with the process (yet).
I personally love the simplicity of having just two colors to worry about but I definitely have no problem with seeing you use my patterns creatively.
Sandi Willoughby used red as the MC for her February Dragon square – except for the eye! In that row she pulled a blue yarn along with the red and switched colors just for the eye portion.
January Trial
Not ready to commit to the eBook? Purchase January Dragon as a trial. If you decide to upgrade to the eBook you will be automatically discounted the cost of January.
Valid on Ravelry only, you must be logged into the same account when purchasing January Dragon for the discount to apply to the 2025: A Year of Dragons eBook. Cannot be combined with other offers.
Monthly Series
The “Year of…” series are all designed with a final blanket of 12 squares in mind but this is not the only way you can use the squares.
Each month’s design is available individually or in the eBook. The eBook is a one-time purchase that will get updated every month throughout the year with the next dragon square. At the end of the year I’ll also add an all-in-one blanket pattern to the eBook that will not be available elsewhere.
You will save 40% with the purchase of the eBook versus buying each month’s square individually.
I’ve loved seeing the creative ways people have used the previous years’ squares; wall hangings, bags, pillows, etc. A blanket of 3 x 3 or even 2 x 2 squares can make the project more manageable. Have fun and enjoy the process!
Cutting Your Yarn with Overlay Mosaic Crochet Squares
One of the biggest deterrents to trying overlay mosaic crochet is the idea that we need to cut the yarn at the end of every row.
I promise it’s not as scary as it sounds!
It is important to have a plan before you begin though.
Will you be adding an envelope border at the end to hide the cut ends? Then they don’t need to be too long. There are even multiple options on how to use envelope borders! Check out these photos where I’ve mixed envelope borders with panels between squares to save on yarn.
Would you rather do some twisting and make the cut ends a feature of your blanket or scarf? Then you’ll need to make sure they’re left long.
If you plan on weaving them in maybe you would also like to crochet over them as you go?
Or maybe you’d rather skip having cut ends altogether? You can use Tunisian mosaic crochet and not have to cut your yarn at all!
Another option is to crochet the squares together as you make them – create your foundation row as wide as three squares, for example, and crochet row 1 of all three squares, one after another, without cutting between them.
You’ll even be able to find tutorials that change the way the back of your project looks. Personally, I’m not a fan of these options because of the way it affects the final image but I do love knowing all the options available!
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon by Roxy’s Yarnstitchery.
Interlocking crochet sample of February Dragon by an Maja Serec.
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon by Henriette van Wyck.
Joining Squares
I do prefer using the interlocking crochet technique for blankets made of squares because it’s easy to just crochet the squares and then join them. I do not add the optional single crochet border when I know I’ll be joining the squares as a blanket. I add the border to the outer edge of the final blanket instead.
With mosaic crochet you have to deal with the cut ends before joining the squares. The previous section goes over some options for dealing with those ends; my preferred method is to create an envelope after ALL the squares have been crocheted and use that pocket to cover the ends of more than one square at a time.
Whether I’m joining interlocking crochet squares or mosaic crochet squares, my preferred method is the flat braid join.
It’s stretchy enough, and quick enough, to satisfy my needs for getting the project done and having it look good.
See my video on joining squares at https://youtu.be/UXoh8ungXRs.
Wrong Side of February Dragon
I like knowing all the details about something before I make a purchase, so I like to show the wrong side of these squares too.
We are obviously interested in what the finished image is, but sometimes it’s nice to see what the other side will look like as well.
If you use these as a wall hanging you’d never see the back. But a blanket is likely to get twisted and folded so that you’d be seeing the other side of the blanket at some point.
See the right and wrong sides of both techniques.
The interlocking crochet method can create an almost-reversible image on the back as shown here (crocheted by CynCityCrochet).
2025: A Year of Dragons Testers
The 2025: A Year of Dragons series was tested by Altona Newcombe, Angela, Anonymous Squirrel, Cindy Daling, CynCityCrochet, Divya Tellakula, Eva, Henriette van Wyk, Kami, Karen, Keni927, Kim, Linda Bakker, Maja Serec, Margaret Maillet, Marie Sparks, Monique, Nancy McKain, On a Poad Trip, PATYCréations, Pleva, Roxy’s Yarnstitchery, Sandi Willoughby, Scorpios Hook, and Sonjia Rothenburger-Schultz.
I value their feedback tremendously! Thank you!
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon by Karen.
Interlocking crochet sample of February Dragon by Pleva
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon by Linda Bakker.
Left-Handed Crocheters
If you’re a lefty, you’ll get the same dragon head image, but flipped.
When I design patterns with words I include a written pattern that is backwards so that you don’t have to do anything special to get a blanket with legible words.
Since this dragon is still a dragon regardless of which direction he faces I haven’t included a left-handed pattern here. You can see one of my testers is a lefty and this is what the dragon looks like when facing the opposite way.
Interlocking crochet sample of February Dragon by On A Poad Trip (a left-handed crocheter).
Right-handed version of February Dragon crocheted by Marie Sparks.
Important Details for February Dragon
No matter which platform you purchase this pattern on, you will receive the fully written pattern and charts for two colorwork techniques: interlocking crochet and overlay mosaic crochet.
Click here to go to my tutorials for these crochet techniques.
Brackets
Brackets are used in the written pattern to indicate repeated sections. See my detailed explanation: https://ashleeslint.com/2020/08/29/brackets-in-crochet-patterns/ or watch it in action with this mosaic crochet sample at https://youtu.be/IW-vtpHTIjs.
Interlocking Crochet
Each dragon square has a chart size of 81 x 81. This means they begin with 40 windows in the foundation row and will finish to about 20″ square.
My interlocking crochet sample of February Dragon.
Interlocking crochet / LFM crochet file includes:
- line-by-line written pattern (view key)
- instructions on reading a chart (view)
- a one-page chart (good for viewing on a screen)
- a four-page chart (better for printing)
Interlocking Crochet Details
- Chart is 81 x 81
- Gauge: 8 (dc, ch) x 8 rows = 4”
- 20″ x 20″ / 51cm x 51cm
- 4.5 mm hook (US7)
- Worsted weight yarn (490 – 565 yards total)
- Main color (MC) (dragon) – 250 yards plus 75 for optional border
- Accent color (AC) (background) – 240 yards
Monique’s interlocking crochet sample of February Dragon.
Overlay Mosaic Crochet
The mosaic crochet version of each dragon square is a solid design. I’ve removed the interlocking mesh dots and the unneccessary double-border lines. Read more about the differences at https://ashleeslint.com/tutorials/interlocking-and-mosaic-crochet/.
Click here to learn more about the options for dealing with the cut ends at the end of each row when doing overlay mosaic crochet.
My mosaic crochet sample of January Dragon.
Overlay Mosaic Crochet file includes:
- line-by-line written pattern (view key)
- instructions for optional envelope border (view)
- instructions on reading a chart (view)
- a one-page chart marked with X’s (good for viewing on a screen)
- a four-page chart marked with X’s (better for printing)
Mosaic Crochet Details
- Chart is 77 x 77
- Gauge: 14 sc blo stitches x 15 rows = 4”
- 22″ x 20″ / 56cm x 52cm
- 5 mm hook (H-8)
- Worsted weight yarn (565 – 815 yards)
- Main color (dragon) – 265 yards
- Contrasting color (background) – 300 yards
- Optional envelope border – 250 yards
Overlay mosaic crochet sample of February Dragon crocheted by Altona Newcombe.
Are you crocheting one of my designs? I’d love to see it. Tag me on social media or join one of my groups!
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