Thursday 2 April 2015

#Knit4Monarchs


Well yesterday really was a strange and exciting day. It started off when I noticed I had sold two of my Monarch Caterpillar Chrysallis Patterns on ravelry, both to Canadians. It's not my biggest seller, but I thought perhaps a local knitting group was doing a project. But then things started going a bit bonkers - messages on ravelry and more visitors to my blog than I have ever had.

This is why 


Please watch the video right to the end, as you will then find out that the best thing you can do if you live in areas of the world where the monarch is endangered is not to knit a home for a caterpillar but to plant milkweed. #gotmilkweed The next best thing would be to make a donation to the David Suzuki Foundation

So although knitting a chrysallis will not directly help monarchs, it is a very cute and fun thing to do. It was a very gentle April Fool joke, along the lines of a similar one to knit a coat for a penguin. It is quite funny to think I am a bit of a joke in Canada. 

I was really happy that my pattern was used in this campaign to raise awareness of a serious problem.




A Monarch Butterfly resting on Milkweed

Sorry to the Saturday Snapshotters if you have seen some of these photos before. I did have a really Easter themed post, but could not resist linking this one instead. Hope you are having a Happy Easter!


25 comments:

  1. What a very generous offer. I had seen the video posted on Facebook but hadn't watched it yet...
    I wonder, will your monarch fit inside your chrysallis if it's folded up?

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  2. Ha! I saw that video going around as well and giggled. Your patterns are beautiful.

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  3. How fantastic! David Suzuki using your pattern would have to make your day, or year. Cute knits as always. Now you're helping monarch butterflies too.

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  4. I'm not sure if Monarchs are endangered in our area or not but I will have to look into that. I may have to plant milkweed anyway as it would be nice to have butterflies come by to visit.

    Sean at His and Her Hobbies

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  5. What a great project! And we definitely want to help those Monarch butterflies....I remember a picture book written by Leo Politi, called The Butterflies Come, with gorgeous photos of the Monarch butterflies journeying to the coast in California. It left an impression.

    Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog. And my little ice cream table, which you couldn't see properly in my photo, worked well as a place to pull up chairs and have a snack...even ice cream.

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  6. Congratulations on having your design featured in the David Suzuki video. What a thrill! You're very generous to donate half your proceeds from the design's sale to the David Suzuki Foundation.
    My son and his wife had two Monarch chrysalis attached to their deck when they lived in northern Florida. I'd never seen one before! They were fascinated by its evolution into a butterfly. Yes, they had planted milkweed in their yard.

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  7. Lovely crafts! So colorful!

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  8. I LOVE the red butterfly in the green fern :)

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  9. Hi there! Stopping by from Craft Schooling Sunday. Your work is beautiful!

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  10. Wow! What a fun and wonderful way to be featured.

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  11. What a lovely way to raise money and a very generous offer for you to make. I love all of your butterfly knits.

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  12. THANK YOU!
    We used to get Monarchs here [Ottawa] all the time when I was growing up, but now... I think I might have seen ONE last year..? It's doubtful that I'll see any this year! - Still have a foot of icy snow on most of my front lawn & garden!
    :-D

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  13. Congratulations and good luck on your sales for a wonderful cause. Beautiful!

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  14. How wonderful, and very generous of you.

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  15. That is a very cool story. I think it's great that your pattern is helping real creatures!

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  16. I had no idea this was a joke when I saw these popping up in IG. They are cute though!

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  17. So lovely, and what a wonderful thing to do!

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  18. How fantastic, and what a great cause.

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  19. I don't know if I'll ever need to knit a caterpillar or a chrysalis, but now I can with your pattern. I'll be checking to see if milkweed grows where I live.

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  20. Your ingenious patterns never cease to amaze me. This is not only lovely but so educational too. I hope you're having a great week.

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  21. I am so amazed by the projects you come up with - they are some awesome! You are very talented.
    I hope you'll be stopping by our Yarn Fanatic Party to share this - new one goes live tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.
    Alexandra
    EyeLoveKnots.blogspot.com

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    1. I am seeing that you've shared it at last week's party - sorry I hadn't looked sooner. I am choosing it as one of my Yarn Favorites for this week's party. Not only is it inclusive of beautiful creatures, but also supports a beautiful cause.
      Alexandra
      EyeLoveKnots.blogspot.com

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