Wednesday, June 1, 2011

FO: Catching Butterflies

Quoting Pooh Bear, "It's a blustery day" up here in Duluth. June has rolled around quite sneakily, and it looks like we won't hit 60 degrees until (hopefully) tomorrow up here in the north. Until then, I feel no guilt as I blast onward with the hood for my Vivian sweater while starting and finishing other little projects on the side.
This weekend I was able to give one of my closest friends her birthday gift, the Catching Butterflies handwarmers!
I fell in love with this pattern a long time ago, and knew that it would be perfect for her. It took awhile to track it down, because it was printed in a magazine that we didn't get here in the US (and certainly didn't get here in northern MN) so I ended up having to order an online digital copy of the magazine, and I plan on printing out about five copies while I still know where on the internet it's stored.
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Fresco for the main handwarmers in white (om nom!), leftover Mirasol Nanu in bright blue for the butterflies on the palm, and leftover Tahki Cotton Classic in light pink for the butterflies on the knuckle.
Time Frame: May 23- May 26 (when I really want to knit something, apparently I can crank it out...)
Needles: US sizes 1, 2, and 3
Modifications: Instead of stitching down completely the butterflies on the top of the handwarmers, I only attached them by the "body" of the butterflies- that way the wings could come up and "fly". Because the cotton yarn was a worsted weight, they actual stay up on their own really well! I also cast on only six stitches for the smaller butterflies on top, again due to the thicker worsted weight yarn. It worked well!
Best Part: It's a tie between the pattern and the yarn. The Classic Elite was soft and feathery and felt like butter to knit with, and it worked perfectly for what this project was. The pattern is simple and well-written, and the finished product is adorable. I plan on making at least a pair for myself, if not more for gift knitting if it will fit the personality of the person receiving it!
Worst Part: Probably tracking down the pattern. It's always frustrating when there's picture of it on Ravelry, it seems available, and then there's a lot of hoop-jumping to finally get the pattern. I don't like that I can only access my paid-for pattern now through a website- I would rather just have the PDF.
A big thank you to my Mom's flower garden for providing a pretty background for the pictures, and my Dad for learning the art of taking "knitting pictures"! :)
I'm still working my way through the Vivian, and it's my goal this month (besides training like crazy for Yosemite) to blog at least every other day before I leave (hopefully about all my finished projects I have planned). A friend actually made this website for me to keep track of when exactly I head out- check out the URL title! :) I have a lot to get done in the next few weeks- let's see how it goes.
Off to work soon, hopefully I don't get blown away trying to get there... ;)

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