Vacation Butterfly: A Conversation with the Designer

Why did you name this pattern “Vacation Butterfly”?

There’s more than one answer to that question. The first being that it has elements of the original Butterfly Shawl, but it also has some contemplative space that is not as complex. To my mind that’s like a little mini-vacation. So that was the original thought for the name, but in reality I had been working on another design and hit a road block and I stopped knitting altogether and was very frustrated. I needed a project that would provide inspiration and satisfaction and I found it in this pattern. Using this new piece as a sidebar and being able to ignore the other design gave my brain the vacation it needed to start working on the previous work again and enjoy knitting.

I noticed that you have divided this pattern into three very distinct sections: ‘Packing’, ‘Travel’, and ‘Back to Work’. What is the significance of each of them and why did you choose to make these separations?

That’s kind of funny, I think - going with the theme of vacation and also in conjunction with what was going on in my own life. I started this project before I went on vacation so I called the first section ‘Packing’. I wanted to complete that before I traveled because the section I call ‘Travel’ is very easy knitting and I was able to do it on planes and in airports without needing the pattern. [Of course the first version I made used Urth yarn and I wasn’t changing colors.]

The last section is the complicated section. To me returning from vacation usually means I want a staycation at home in order to return to reality, but I never seem to get one, so I have called this section ‘Back to Work’. It’s the part of the shawl where you need to pay the most attention and really follow carefully in order to achieve magnificent results.

You mentioned the original butterfly design. What’s different about this one?

This new design certainly pays homage to the original, however it is larger, and this is achieved by having more stitches in the bottom section. One of the reasons for this change is that I didn’t want the bottom of this shawl to be exactly the same in the center as the previous Butterfly. There’s also a very different ending with simple open work, interesting shaping placement, and finally an applied garter bind-off to match the top garter edge. In conclusion, there are few new ideas in this revisit of the original design, but with a fun challenge ahead. I hope you enjoy!