The Start of a Flock

Pattern: Butterfly from Rowan 37
Materials: Approximately 400 yards of Handpainted Yarn's laceweight wool, about 300 seed beads, size 3, 7, and 8 circular needles.
Guage: This thing is so stretchy it doesn't even matter. Besides, how often do I actually swatch? o_O
Modifications: Knit in the round instead of flat, straps solid instead of tied (yes, I know there are little bows. They ended up too long after blocking and I didn't care to shorten them.), a little extra room added for the boobs.
Thoughts: After I got used to the pattern this went surprisingly quickly. I love how it turned out. It's a gorgeous, ethereal, complex-looking FO with a minimal time investment. Because I've planned on making more than one Butterfly from the beginning I've also planned on making each one with slightly different construction details. I think I'll make the next one flat and use a smaller needle for the @(#*%ing picot bind-off. Hell, I may just use a smaller needle for the whole thing. I also want to try the tiny crochet hook method of attaching the beads.

In addition to the two Butterflies I already have yarn for (both for me), I've ordered enough yarn for 3 more, all for other people. Hopefully when they're all done I can get a picture of them as a flock. ^_^



So the Butterfly is done and the Jaywalkers are stalled. Of course I needed a new project, so I started in on the immense challenge of simultaneously translating and knitting this gorgeous French pattern.



I joined the knitalong sometime last year, and it's so far been immensely helpful. They've managed to translate a large portion of the pattern into English and even though I haven't been working on Colchique for more than a couple of weeks I've kept track of enough posts to not be completely lost. So far the only real downside to this pattern is that it's a terrible strain on my fingers. Because it's knit with worsted weight yarn on size 4s the resulting fabric is ridiculously dense. Pretty, yes, but very, very tight. After realizing that I can't work on Colchique for more than a couple of hours each day I decided that another project would have to be started to give my joints some relief.

In the middle of my search for the perfect pattern salvation found me in the form of a surprise package. Apparently my Unconditional Swap recipient loved her stuff so much that she felt the urge to repay me in kind. Her package contained an altered tin that she'd made from one of the Altoids tins I sent, handmade purple stitch markers, purple glass gems, 2 balls of a chunky mauve cashmere blend (CASHMERE!), and something I've been lusting after for almost a year.



Yeah, you heard what I said. Adrienne Vittadini Spring '05 pattern book featuring the utterly gorgeous Lace and Ruffle Cardigan, pictured on the cover. Oh. Baby. I spent a few days drooling over it, then put it on the shelf while I mentally went through my stash to find a suitable yarn. Nothing was really coming to mind until I reached into one of the stash crates to get another skein for Colchique and espied a cake of purple cotton that had once been part of a huge thrift store sweater. Ah-HA!

Last night I finally swatched (shush, I know.) and, having gotten gauge on the first try, cast on. The stitch pattern is fabulous, even though it took me the better part of the evening to work through 2 12-row repeats and I couldn't really do anything else while working on it. It may have to be set aside for awhile when the yarn for more Butterflies arrives, as I have self-imposed birthday deadlines to meet, but I'm going to try my best to have it done before Spring gets here.