Butterfly Shawl Crochet Along from knit.1 mag

[funkyreporter]

I feel like such a yarn dummy here. One thing I did discover though, the lady at the LYS didn't know much about yarn either and she sells the yummiest of yarns!

 

I've been learning a lot about yarn and thread for this CAL. Yesterday, I found some yarn in the thread section at Hobby Lobby that was labeled category weight 2. It looked like #3 thread size to me so I can see how super fine can be thread.

 

I orderd the Opera in Tea Rose from the site Lisa referred me to (thanks Lisa!). It's $2.89/ball (HL was $2.99/ball) but it was on sale 20% off. Great price! It's on backorder though.

 

I was thinking of changing my order and making this shawl in black. Do you think it will look ok in black? I think it might be hard to work with but I can't picture it in black. I'm thinking black because I bought 2 new outfits. One is for when my dh graduates in Dec. with his MSW. It's a very pretty med. blue. The other is a green outfit for Christmas. I thought a black shawl would work well with both of these outfits. I'm also hoping it would be the envy of all!

 

While I'm waiting for my thread, I am practicing with some thread I have on hand. My first bfly isn't so great. Actually, it's not bad but I'm having trouble figuring out which row to attach the wings to. One wing is higher than the other. I thought I was on the right/same row as the other side but I obviously wasn't. I'm trying not to get discouraged. This is definitely a challenging piece for me. One that will be well worth it when it's done.

 

 

 

Good for you for continuing to try! It gets better! On Noreen's link she has a butterfly she did in black and it is beautiful - so take a look and see what you think! Personally I think it sounds gorgeous for your two upcoming events, and you will definitely be the belle of the ball!

 

I am going to check out the yarn site you mention to see what they have for my shawl I'm doing in the color bruise... that will be after I finish the one I'm doing in the color blah.

 

Also on Noreen's link she shows how she wraps the yarn around a rule and gets a count on wraps per inch... I didn't read it really close, but it definitely helps in figuring the yarn weight... I too am 'yarn challenged' when it comes to fingering weight, and lightweight and such:think

 

Tea Rose sure sounds pretty, though....

[Noreen Crone-Findlay]

Ah, thanks so much,everyone! I really appreciate your kindness!

 

The last couple of years have been really REALLY intense, with meeting a ton of deadlines for magazines and books and dealing with a lot of difficult stuff (my DH's Mum has dementia, and we're her 'parents' *G*) and my sister-in-law has lung cancer and is getting heavy duty palliative chemo and radiation......... and my Dad died at Christmas and so did a dear friend....... you know how it goes sometimes! So, I'm not surprised that I made the errors - just freaked that I did! LOL!

 

I have got the instructions corrected now, and have sent them off to my editor, and am cringing at the blast that may well be headed my way on Monday morning.

 

I've asked if it's okay if I publish the correction to my blog. If not, then, I'll point everybody at the url for the correction.

 

By the way, I posted a really sweet little crocheted heart on my sacred dollmaking blog:

http://www.sacreddollsandbears.com

 

Back to spinning! Boy, this shawl is taking a lotta spin spin spin!

hugs all round

Noreen :o)

[Shelleden]

Oh wow, I have that Creative Crocheted Dolls book!! I LOVE that book. Haven't made any yet, but I want to do so as soon as I get control of this chaos called my life. You can count me in as one who does like dolls. I can't understand why anyone would dislike them. Thanks for that link to your blog. I'll read it some more after while. Gotta go make coffee.... I know.... I'm lazy today. It's 9:30 and I haven't even had my first cuppa yet. (you know what a cuppa is? a cuppa tea, a cuppa coffee....) Hey, it's Sunday - "my day off" - you know what that means - I get to make/start/work-on ANYTHING I want all day - with no guilt. No "Well, I need to finish this first." or "I'll just throw in a load of clothes & run the sweeper real quick." NOPE - it's "MY DAY OFF"!!! Ahhhhh, isn't it lovely?!

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=ZSzeb068&pp=ZNxdm415DHUS

[funkyreporter]

OH, I was so MAD yesterday 'cause I had to work (at home) all day long on this stupid blasted thing for work that's due Monday and I was told about Thursday (and I'M SUPPOSED TO BE ON VACATION, PEOPLE!!!!) Anyway, I didn't get to crochet at all yesterday and I finally finished the thing about an hour ago so hubby can run it into my work tomorrow since I'M ON VACATION.

 

It's so hot today... I'm trying to get out of my cranky mood and go make a butterfly but I'm just sitting here being hot! I know, you're wondering, How Hot Is It??? Well, folks, it is 82 degrees today!!!!! I'm melting!

 

I was thinking of going to Michael's because it will be air conditioned inside and I can buy more thread:yarn but the thought of getting in the truck and driving for ten minutes is more than I can bear right now...

[eurolyons]

You have my sympathies about the weather Paulette...we've been melting over here (although today we've had a bit of a break with the humidity...but by dinner time I was sweating...) It's tough to crochet (for me anyway) when I'm hot and miserable...

[GinaLaughed]

I did it! I did it! I made a square!!! I think it's a tad smaller than 8 in. but I did it! I'm gonna practice again and go up a hook size or two for the netting. I crochet pretty tight so that might help.

 

I still can't find the battery charger to my camera (it's gonna really cost to replace it) so I'm working on another way to share.

 

Paulette... I totally hear you on how hot it is! I used to live in So. Cal. and it's usually not so bad. Because of that, the place we lived at did not have AC so when it got hot you just melted!

If it makes you feel any better, I am totally melting here too. We are in the 100's and it's been raining. Our swamp coolers :fan do not work well when it rains so it's hot and muggy! We have all been grumpy about this for over a week now...it's miserable. My family (including dh) and I ended up having shopping marathons last week because stores around here have refrigerated air and not swamp coolers. It was a nice break for us but we came home exhausted.

 

BTW...I just read about the house falling on your foot in another thread. I laughed about it in an earlier post because I did not realize you had actually dropped a real house on your foot! I thought it was like a dollhouse or something. Oh my! I was laughing at the Murphy aspect of it all. Lisa stubbs toe and it's broken but you drop house on foot and you have a tiny mark. I still can't get over that it was a real house!

[funkyreporter]

You have my sympathies about the weather Paulette...we've been melting over here (although today we've had a bit of a break with the humidity...but by dinner time I was sweating...) It's tough to crochet (for me anyway) when I'm hot and miserable...

 

It's only around 2:30 in the afternoon here (you mentioned dinner time in your post) and I know there's a lot of places that are a lot hotter than 82.... but I'm really spoiled with the So Cal weather... My 14-yr-old son just got out of the shower after mowing the lawn and he's standing naked in front of a fan... we're a pretty laid back family...

[smithdls]

I would love to join the CAL for the butterfly shawl.

 

What do I do.

[funkyreporter]

I would love to join the CAL for the butterfly shawl.

 

What do I do.

 

get the pattern - the information is in the very first posting - it's in a magazine called knit.1 available either at your local book store, yarn store, craft store, or online. If you want to choose your thread while you're waiting for your magazine then read through the thread and see what some of the crocheters are using and figure out how you want yours to look! The designer has joined us on this CAL and is putting out an addenda for the small butterfly motif as there was a printing error in the magazine, but the big butterflies are good to go!

 

You need a size F hook and a size B hook and #10 thread is what is recommended by Noreen...

 

Then start crocheting, and if you get into trouble yell for help on this thread and we'll get through it!

 

Glad to have you along!

[eurolyons]

It's only around 2:30 in the afternoon here (you mentioned dinner time in your post) and I know there's a lot of places that are a lot hotter than 82.... but I'm really spoiled with the So Cal weather... My 14-yr-old son just got out of the shower after mowing the lawn and he's standing naked in front of a fan... we're a pretty laid back family...

 

I make my husband giggle when I get so hot I'm standing in front of either the rolling a/c or the fan and pull my top up...

 

Oh yeah, I know about other places being hotter...DH reads the temps and I'm like...dying here...Northern California in the Central Valley is about as bad as Arizona...a total blast furnace. Still...

 

Me, I'm walking around saying, 'Okay, I officially hate summer...'

[sail149]

It's c-oo-old here, in "sub-tropical" Brisbane, Queensland! I miss the heat, but reading about your northern summer makes me think that perhaps I should enjoy the respite while I can, because we will no doubt have a very hot season in our turn.That is my time of year to huddle in the airconditioning and knit, crochet and tat.

Did a bit more research into my choice of thread. I'm still going to use the Madame Tricote in hot pink, but have gone off the idea of combining weights of cottons, because it was too hard to match the colours. Instead, I'm going to invest in a handy gadget which will wind the thread into smaller balls for me, so I won't have to cope with four rather large and cumbersome balls of thread for the butterflies.

 

May I ask a question of the designer? I mentioned that I need my shawl to be a bit shorter, because I am short - I was going to achieve this by making less motifs, but it occurred to me that perhaps if I were to use a fiiner thread - size 20? - and stick to the original instructions, that that would have the same end-result? Or would the shawl lose it's impact, butterfly-wise, if I did this?

 

I appreciate any advice you can give me .

 

Maureen

[funkyreporter]

It's c-oo-old here, in "sub-tropical" Brisbane, Queensland! I miss the heat, but reading about your northern summer makes me think that perhaps I should enjoy the respite while I can, because we will no doubt have a very hot season in our turn.That is my time of year to huddle in the airconditioning and knit, crochet and tat.

Did a bit more research into my choice of thread. I'm still going to use the Madame Tricote in hot pink, but have gone off the idea of combining weights of cottons, because it was too hard to match the colours. Instead, I'm going to invest in a handy gadget which will wind the thread into smaller balls for me, so I won't have to cope with four rather large and cumbersome balls of thread for the butterflies.

 

May I ask a question of the designer? I mentioned that I need my shawl to be a bit shorter, because I am short - I was going to achieve this by making less motifs, but it occurred to me that perhaps if I were to use a fiiner thread - size 20? - and stick to the original instructions, that that would have the same end-result? Or would the shawl lose it's impact, butterfly-wise, if I did this?

 

I appreciate any advice you can give me .

 

Maureen

 

You're reminding me of another post recently where one of our members was surprised to learn it was winter in the Southern Hemisphere and then went onto ask if it was winter there then what month is it... if it was still July! That cracked me up, but I guess that's how strongly we in the States associate June through September with summer, kids out of school... As far as being cold I say start crocheting FAST on an afghan! And a Martha poncho (Coming Home I think one was called - free internet pattern) those are great! So warm - especially when made with two strands of Homespun held together!

 

AS far as making the shawl smaller, Shortie, I'm no designer but your logic works for me - IF you go down a hook size or two. If you stay with the same hook size I think you're just going to end up with emaciated butterflies the same size - but if you downsize everything - thread weight and hook size - and also Noreen does mention shortening the fringe to use less thread (not sure if that was in the magazine, on her blog, or in this thread) Can't wait to see your hot pink butteflies!!!!

[sakurasaku]

Okay, I would like to join the ranks of people who have finished a square! Well, it's just a practice square, really...but I see that it gets better every time I do a wing.

 

(Image is clickable)

 

Actually, my square came out smaller than 8 inches, too. It's 7 1/4 to 7 1/2 or something around that... I, like some other people, am also vertically challenged, so I am actually happy that it will come out just a bit smaller. I think I'll stick with this hook size and it will come out just right for me.

 

I so Northern NM! I've lived in Santa Fe before and it's my most favorite place to live! Right now I'm (unfortunately) in Southern NM. It's not so enchanting. Maybe growing up an hour away from here has something to do with it. Nah.....the enchantment is definitely up North.

 

When dh graduates we are trying to figure out where we want to live. I'm hoping to go back up North but we are actually considering TN.

 

Gina, Taos is my favorite, but I would love to see the southern part of NM as well.

 

Can you please post the link to the site through which you purchaced the Opera thread? I am considering using it as well, especially I'm going to spend so much darn time and effort on this project.

 

Stay cool everyone (except for those in the Southern hemisphere...stay warm in that case) ! It's really hot and humid up here in NY as well.

[funkyreporter]

SAKURSAKU, that is gorgeous! You did a wonderful job on that... please tell me that's not a 'practice' - that one deserve to be in the finished shawl! It's perfect!!!!! Love the color, too!

 

What thread are you using and how many strands? Your butterfly looks so full and even!

[funkyreporter]

Finished another half butterfly last night... experimenting with the colors for the 'bruise' shawl (you know, to match the bruise I DIDN'T get dropping the house on my foot!)

 

I had gone out yesterday and bought all this thread in different shades of what I thought matched a bruise, but I think I may go with just this one variagated thread... I really love the way the colors came out. It is Royale Gemini Double Strand Crochet Thread, Size #3... on closer inspection it looks like two strands of #10 loosely wound together, but that's what I'm using on my 'blah' colored shawl, two strands of #10, 'cause I can't get it to work with four strands... no patience:blush .

 

So here's the pics:

 

 

My butterfly is definitely improving! I do need to work on better neck strangling, though... I thought I strangled him pretty good, but by the time I finished the one side his head was flopping. Oh well. Once the lacey mesh goes around he'll be holding his head up high!

 

So whatcha think? Is this representative of a bruise and should I take the purple, navy, dark green and burgundy thread back and trade it for more of this Frosty Green/Oasis?

[sakurasaku]

My butterfly is definitely improving! I do need to work on better neck strangling, though... I thought I strangled him pretty good, but by the time I finished the one side his head was flopping

 

That's exactly what I'm finding. The butterfly gets better every time, but my neck is loose by the time I'm done with a butterfly. I'm looking at it thinking "What happened? I thought I really choked you up good." Mine gets loose and it looks a bit like it has a noose around its neck.

 

Paulette, I really like the "bruise" colors and how they show in the butterfly. Your half-butterfly is quite lovely. And thanks for your kind words. I know there is plenty of room for improvement, but it IS getting better.

 

I used three strands of Royale size 10 thread, with an F hook for the butterfly and a 2.3 mm hook I got from my mother in Japan many years ago for the mesh. I think I may need to go a size down in the smaller hook, though.

[Lisaizme]

Can you please post the link to the site through which you purchaced the Opera thread? I am considering using it as well, especially I'm going to spend so much darn time and effort on this project.

 

Stay cool everyone (except for those in the Southern hemisphere...stay warm in that case) ! It's really hot and humid up here in NY as well.

 

Opera thread is at http://www.yarn-and-threadbylisa.com (no association, we just share the same first name) She did have a 20% off sale.

 

I think HandyHands (a tatting resource site) also has Opera, but I don't know the URL to it.

 

....still going for the baroque.... if i ever find it.

[AUSongbird]

Your family sounds like mine....clothing optional in the summertime. My 11-year-old doesn't seem to grasp the concept of changing into a swimsuit indoors. Of course, the only pool he swims in belongs to his Nana and has a 6' privacy fence, but I suspect if we took him elsewhere he'd strip at pool side the same way he does at the Nana's.

 

Weatherwise 100 degrees around here on a regular basis in the summer and if we're lucky the humidity doesn't go above 75% but we're not that lucky most summers. This year, it's really dry here in Alabama. We've not had any real rain for 7 weeks until tonight. When it mercifully rained about 3/4 of an inch, cooled off about 10 degrees, down to the high 80s. Heat index today was 106, real temp high was 100.

 

Best of all, my new air conditioner got installed! Two days with no AC in 100 degree heat is a nasty thing.

 

Plus I went to the nearest "city" which is 45 miles away and found out that Hobby Lobby and AC Moore are on the same block. Wow does ACM have lots of gorgeous yarns. On top of that I walked into the middle of their crochet and knitting class, which is apparently a weekly event. Even though it will take me an hour, I think I'm going to join the knitting class and learn something new. Never have been able to do that two needle business.

 

Betty

 

It's only around 2:30 in the afternoon here (you mentioned dinner time in your post) and I know there's a lot of places that are a lot hotter than 82.... but I'm really spoiled with the So Cal weather... My 14-yr-old son just got out of the shower after mowing the lawn and he's standing naked in front of a fan... we're a pretty laid back family...

[eurolyons]

Okay, just wanted to report that I received the magazine yesterday (that was so fast Paulette...) and tonight I did a rough draft with fingering yarn (just one strand on the F hook) just to see if I could get the concept before breaking out the crochet cotton...looks good...have to remember to print out the corrections for the triangles though...I'm not gonna rush this though...I'm gonna try to just complete a square a day...

[sakurasaku]

Thanks for the link, Lisa! Those are pretty good prices.

 

I don't have the magazine with me here at work...how many skeins do we need for the shawl? I don't mind having to re-roll to get multiple strands, so although I'm using 3 strands, it won't have to be a multiple of 3...

[Noreen Crone-Findlay]

Oh!

I have just figured out how to reply to individual messages! Duh!

LOL!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, Maureen! I have been overwhelmed by the response to my Peace Dolls Project on http://www.sacreddollsandbears.com

so I haven't had a chance to get back here....

 

Now.... about making the shawl smaller.....

several ways of doing that (I am tree sized! LOL! That's what my short friend says: My husband and our son are 6'2" and 6'4" and our daughter and I both are close to 6' if not more, when we wear our shoes of choice: clogs! LOL!, so when my tiny friend walks in, she says she feels dwarfed by us! Too funny....) BUT! you can see how big the shawl is by looking at the pic of my holding it up (see http://www.hankeringforyarn.com)

 

This is what the fashion director stated she wanted. When I make the fringe for my daughter's wedding shawl, I will be making it a whole heck of a lot shorter than 18 inches, which is what I was told to do.

 

That's one way of shortening it up.

 

And, yes, making the motifs smaller is also a good way of making the shawl smaller.

 

If you are proportionally smaller, you could also get away with making fewer motifs..... look at the schematic in the pattern and you'll see that you could nip off a row of 'em.....

 

But, if you are built like my short friend, who calls us giants, (she's a Venus of Willendorf, which I think is gorgeious, but she thinks isn't), then you may want to keep the number of motifs to get the wrap factor.

 

You could also substitute a triangle motif for the square motif at the point.

Lots of ways of getting where you need to go.

 

I hope that this helps!

hugs

Noreen

 

It's c-oo-old here, in "sub-tropical" Brisbane, Queensland! I miss the heat, but reading about your northern summer makes me think that perhaps I should enjoy the respite while I can, because we will no doubt have a very hot season in our turn.That is my time of year to huddle in the airconditioning and knit, crochet and tat.

Did a bit more research into my choice of thread. I'm still going to use the Madame Tricote in hot pink, but have gone off the idea of combining weights of cottons, because it was too hard to match the colours. Instead, I'm going to invest in a handy gadget which will wind the thread into smaller balls for me, so I won't have to cope with four rather large and cumbersome balls of thread for the butterflies.

 

May I ask a question of the designer? I mentioned that I need my shawl to be a bit shorter, because I am short - I was going to achieve this by making less motifs, but it occurred to me that perhaps if I were to use a fiiner thread - size 20? - and stick to the original instructions, that that would have the same end-result? Or would the shawl lose it's impact, butterfly-wise, if I did this?

 

I appreciate any advice you can give me .

 

Maureen

[Noreen Crone-Findlay]

I am so pleased that you like Creative Crocheted Dolls! And, I hope that you'll feel inspired to join in on the Peace Dolls Project! You are soooooooo welcome to join!

It's at http://www.sacreddollsandbears.com

big hugs

Noreen (who is drinking a cuppa tea right now:yes)

 

Oh wow, I have that Creative Crocheted Dolls book!! I LOVE that book. Haven't made any yet, but I want to do so as soon as I get control of this chaos called my life. You can count me in as one who does like dolls. I can't understand why anyone would dislike them. Thanks for that link to your blog. I'll read it some more after while. Gotta go make coffee.... I know.... I'm lazy today. It's 9:30 and I haven't even had my first cuppa yet. (you know what a cuppa is? a cuppa tea, a cuppa coffee....) Hey, it's Sunday - "my day off" - you know what that means - I get to make/start/work-on ANYTHING I want all day - with no guilt. No "Well, I need to finish this first." or "I'll just throw in a load of clothes & run the sweeper real quick." NOPE - it's "MY DAY OFF"!!! Ahhhhh, isn't it lovely?!

 

 

 

 

 

[/url]http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=ZSzeb068&pp=ZNxdm415DHUS

[Noreen Crone-Findlay]

Sakurasaku, your butterfly is gorgeous! Well done!

yay!

hugs, Noreen

 

Okay, I would like to join the ranks of people who have finished a square! Well, it's just a practice square, really...but I see that it gets better every time I do a wing.

 

(Image is clickable)

 

Actually, my square came out smaller than 8 inches, too. It's 7 1/4 to 7 1/2 or something around that... I, like some other people, am also vertically challenged, so I am actually happy that it will come out just a bit smaller. I think I'll stick with this hook size and it will come out just right for me.

[rdani']

Oh, how I loved this shawl!! I have been looking at it for so long and envision the butterflies in various pastel colors...........

[Noreen Crone-Findlay]

Thank you so much, Rdani!

and YES! colors will be fabulous! one of the CAL members has done several of the butterflies in colors and they are glorious!

 

By the way, the butterflies that I based the designs on, are REAL butterflies...

The butterfly in the square is the Monarch and the Butterfly in the triangle is the Postman butterfly.

:o)

hugs

Noreen:yarn:)

Oh' date=' how I loved this shawl!! I have been looking at it for so long and envision the butterflies in various pastel colors...........[/quote']