Knit4Monarchs

I just thought because of the date I would reshare this video, which surprised me 9 years ago. I can't imagine that monarch butterflies are still not in need of some help. 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 was 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. 

 

#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!

Bugs

I've been so busy crafting for Christmas I have nothing very new to show this week. I am a bit craft-faired out, and am going to get back to making something just for the sheer fun of it next week.

So I just thought I would put together a compilation of all my minibeasts and bugs. Patterns for all the above are on ravelry (some for free), and on the others I have a Minibeast promotion: £1 off if you buy any two of the above patterns together.

Monarch Metamorphosis Collection

What could be in this little calico cotton drawstring bag? A surprise!

Four hand-knitted items which I have been hinting at for a few weeks: a leaf and egg, a monarch caterpillar, a chrysallis, and finally the monarch butterfly. I think children would love them, but perhaps that is just the teacher in me. My son is especially interested in all aspects of nature. I love buying my own children anything that is handmade and educational.

 
I have had the idea of making a small educational toy set for a while. Although my Monarch Butterfly pattern has been fairly popular, it does take quite a bit of work. I wanted to make it available as a finished item to anyone who might find the knitting (and embroidery) a little bit intimidating.

I have only made two of these metamorphosis sets so far, and they will be for sale in my Etsy shop. I'm in the process trying to expand the knitted items section of my shop. But am really trying to keep the items unique and quirky. So most of the items are one-offs. Much more fun for me if I can make items that are individual. In fact this collection is the only one where I have two identical sets for sale.

Caterpillar, Chrysallis, Butterfly

My original Monarch Caterpillar knitting pattern, has been worrying me. It has been downloaded a lot of times, but no one has knitted it. (Hubby corrects me, and says that it may have been knitted plenty of times, but no one has posted a project.)

I think the problem may be that as it was knitted on 4 needles, and with not many stitches, this is a fiddly. It was my very first pattern on ravelry. So I have decided to do a brand new version. This is a bit of a compromise, as it is knitted flat, which makes the knitting much easier, but there is now one seam to sew. I don't want to make it too easy, so the feet are done with a row of french knots. You can see how to do these in the photo tutorial on my sidebar.

I have also added a tiny extra pattern, to make the missing link, a chrysallis. (Hubby adds that for completeness there should also be an egg and a larva pattern! Sigh.) I have no idea why anyone needs to knit a chrysallis, but I think together all three patterns could make a nice educational toy. 

I gave my original monarch butterfly and caterpillar to Caterpillar Class at my school. All the classes at my school are named after minibeasts. This year I work in Cricket Class, and I have been toying with the idea of knitting a cricket for them, but I think it will be a challenge with fiddly legs and wings.

I have not seen a chrysallis in real life, so have had to look at photographs very closely. The colour was a bit of a concern, as they seen to start off a very bright green with some yellow spots, but then before they hatch, change to a dark brown. 

So the new Monarch Caterpillar and Chrysallis are within one pattern, and I am going to try and link it to the Monarch Butterfly pattern, so if anyone fancies making all three they get a discount.