FREE PATTERN: The Last Butterfly Scarf

For ages I've been looking for the right yarn and the right pattern to make a beautiful scarf for a beautiful lady - it had to be girly and classy, based around purple/black, able to be dressed up and dressed down... a seemingly impossible quandary! 

But then the Australian stockist of Wolltraum, Blayney Sew N More had a sale on Facebook, and ... The Last Unicorn was on offer. Just a 150g cake, but I just KNEW it was the right yarn for this project! It fades from baby pink through to black, with a gorgeous sparkly thread through it.

Next challenge: the right pattern. It needed to be a regular shape (so rectangular, not too modern and asymmetric, and definitely not frilly), a design that worked well with the slow-colour-change yarn, used about 150g of yarn to get the whole effect of the colour change... Yeah, there wasn't anything out there that really ticked all the boxes AND tickled my buttons. But then I found this beautiful triangular shawl of multi-row butterflies and fell in love! 

(c) NJSharon (ravelry.com)

I searched high and low for a straight version of the pattern and found nothing. So, with much swearing, graphing and calculating, I figured it out! As I was making it, I thought - what if there are others like me who want to make a straight scarf using these butterflies!? So, to save you all the effort, the pattern (and chart!) is written out below and I've called it The Last Butterfly Scarf in homage to both the butterflies and yarn :) I am indebted to njSharon and Debi Adams for the beautiful butterfly sequence of stitches.  

The final product came out exactly how I wanted it. Kindly modelled by my friend Alice, it could be worn as a normal scarf, or as a wrap to dress up an outfit!

You can find, queue and favourite this pattern on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-last-butterfly-scarf

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FREE PATTERN: THE LAST BUTTERFLY SCARF
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Finished size: 165cm x 20cm (65" x 8")

Materials

- Wolltraum Glitter Party 150g in "The Last Unicorn"
- 3.5mm hook
- Yarn needle
- Scissors

All stitches are in US/American terminology

fsc - foundation sc (photo tutorial here) 
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
tc - treble crochet
ssdc - stacked standing double crochet: sc into target stitch. Insert hook under two leftmost strands of sc, yarn over hook to do a second sc.

Instructions

Foundation: 359fsc, ch1, turn. To make your scarf longer or shorter, add or subtract fsc in multiples of 14. 

Row 1: ssdc in first stitch. *dc in next 7 st, ch7, skip 7 st* repeat ** to end of row, dc in last 8st. ch1, turn.

Row 2: Repeat Row 1.

Row 3: ssdc in first stitch, dc in next 6 dc. *2dc in next dc, ch2, tc into 4th skipped sc of Foundation below enclosing chains, ch2, 2dc in next dc, dc in next 5dc* repeat ** to end of row, dc in last 2 dc. ch1, turn.

Row 4: sc in first st, sc in next 8 st. *2sc in ch2 space, sc in tc, 2sc in ch2 space, sc in next 9st* repeat ** to end of row. ch1, turn.

Row 5: ssdc in first st. dc in next 14 st. *ch7, skip 7 st, dc in next 7 st* repeat ** to end of row, dc in last 8 dc. ch1, turn.

Row 6: Repeat Row 5

Row 7: ssdc in first stitch, dc in next 13 dc. *2dc in next dc, ch2, tc into 4th skipped sc of Row 4 below enclosing chains, ch2, 2dc in next dc, dc in next 5dc* repeat ** to end of row, dc in last 9 dc. ch1, turn.

Row 8: sc in first st, sc in next 15 st. *2sc in ch2 space, sc in tc, 2sc in ch2 space, sc in next 9st* repeat ** to end of row, sc in last 7 st. ch1, turn.


Repeat Rows 1-8 twice, then do Rows 1-4 again, finishing off after Row 4. 

Weave in ends and block with many pins to make the butterflies show off their sparkles!

Chart 
(using standard US crochet symbols)

A visit to Tarndwarncoort Homestead

Hello lovely people!

During the four weeks we spent in Australia (oh how fast these flew by...), the husband and I traveled the Great Ocean Road for two weeks. One day when it was pretty cloudy and rainy in Apollo Bay, we decided to drive past the mountains as the forecast promised better weather on the other side and guess what! The forecast was right for once!

We discovered the Tarndie farm in a little leaflet about the Otway Harvest trail and as there was yarn mentioned, I just had to go there! After having possible the best pizza ever at the Meating Place Café (pumpkin and goat cheese - oh my god, it was soo amazing!), we drove down to the farm. It was a bit tricky to find and at some point we were close to giving up but in the end we made it.

The Tarndie farm / Tarndwarncoort Homestead is a sheep farm and is owned by the Dennis family. It is also the place were the Polwarth wool (or rather the Polwarth sheep) origin from. As pure merino sheep weren't made to survive in the Otway climate/landscape well, these sheep were breed in the 1880s - they are 3/4 merino and 1/4 lincoln and next to that they are really cute, they can survive the climate and land in the Otway very well!

At the farm we were greeted my the owners and I was told so much about their yarn and I got to spent as much time in their little shop as I wanted too (the husband got to spend time in the sun with lemonade - so win-win!). Tom and Wendy were very kind and answered all my questions!

 I would have loved to try all their yarn but in the end I bought around 400 grams of white and grayish yarn. I think I will make a sheep (amigurumi) with it - kinda fitting, don't you think?

We got to wander around the farm a bit and man, it is a beautiful place. Best thing: we got to meet some of their sheep who were very friendly (I am pretty sure they are hoping for food). It was just two weeks before the annual shearing, so they were packed with wool.

How I wished we could have stayed longer! They have a little cottage where one can stay for holidays. If I had known before, we would have certainly stayed there. Did you know they have yarn retreats? How wonderful would it be to stay on a sheep farm for a yarn retreat?! Well, I guess, I have to return to Australia soonish, doesn't it? 

Take care

Anne

The Sydney Royal Arts & Crafts Competition - Bring It On!

Hi everyone! 

Apologies again for the blog silence over the last few weeks - Anne and Alex have been visiting me here in Australia (!!) and I've also been super busy with Days for Girls, work and... preparing my items for the Sydney Royal Arts and Crafts Competition! Anne will be posting soon about their Australian adventures with Captain Poprocks, but today is all about my Easter Show entries :D 

All 6 entries are now finished, and with days to spare (I know, what is wrong with me...), and I'm so excited to share them with you! 

1. Stole or Shawl, 4 ply or thicker - Mine Once More

I made this beautiful shawl/scarf last year for my mother - fortunately she has not worn it yet, so I can enter it in the Show! The yarn is Wolltraum My Melodyy in colourway Atemlos, and the pattern is by the ever amazing Michelle duNaier http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mine-once-more. Here it is modelled by my beautiful sister-friend Jess <3 

2. Stole or Shawl, finer than 4 ply - the Raspberry Borealis Shawl

Using Fyberspates Gleem Lace in Mixed Magentas and the Borealis Shawl pattern by Cal Patch (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/borealis-shawl), it worked up beautifully! Much blocking was required to get the lace to actually show up - but I'm so happy with the interesting geometry of this shawl. Modelled here by Anne (!!) when we went up to the lake house a few weeks ago <3

3. Pram or Cot Cover or Bunny Rug, unlined - the Rainbow Cloud Baby Wrap

You probably recognise this pattern - it's the Virus Blanket! Worked in Wolltraum My Melodyy in colourway Mamma Mia, it almost looks like the colour changes are deliberate. Crocheting this pattern was like meditating; I can't wait to make another :D

4. Travel, Knee or Afghan Rug, wool or wool blend - the Lotus Moon Tiles Afghan

You heard all about this one a few weeks ago (http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/ta-dah-lotus-moon-tiles-afghan.html) - I'm so happy with how it came out, but still hoping someone buys it at the show...

5. Adult Crocheted Accessories - Dragon Scale Boots

I LOVE Bonita Designs' gorgeous Crocodile Stitch Booties, and have made many pairs now in all sorts of sizes! These ones are ladies size 7-8, and I used Stylecraft Special DK in Turquoise for hardy soles, and Moda Vera Fayette in Frenzy for the rest. They are so comfortable - maybe I should hope that they don't get sold at the show? Getting the colour changes to be roughly the same on each boot was an interesting challenge for sure!

6. Creative Crochet - Fiesta! 

As soon as I came up with this idea, I knew it had to be my Creative Crochet entry for the show. It's all Stylecraft Special DK, in Black, Turquoise, Empire, Grass Green, Fuchsia Purple, Spice and Citron, lined with charcoal Vilene, and with snaps to finish! It doesn't sit quite straight or flat because of the freeform slipstitching, but hopefully it's good enough. The bag is the perfect size for one Hobbit ;)

So, wish me luck! I'll find out the results on Tuesday 4 April, and will definitely let you know! :D