I love butterflies

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Garden soil had been split open to sow seeds and now those seeds have split into plants with lovely blooms, attracting butterflies to split open the pollen sacs and carry on the circle of life.

Hey, don’t split!!! Promise, I’ll behave … Just trying to clue you in :-D

You have already enjoyed & appreciated the lovelies made by friendly tatters. These are my versions of make me pretty butterfly fun. And the ‘split’ comes from this month’s I Love Tatting task set by Justyna – split chains, curlicues, etc. She has compiled an incredible list of tutorials and free patterns for inspiration!
I actually have something more in mind for the task, but till I find time to tat it, this will have to do. 

Tutorials for most of the prettifying techniques mentioned here are listed on these pages -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/my-tut.html

In chronological order … I have literally used scrap threads for most.

Venetian Picots for antennae, dot picots and graduated picots

Here, I made the same mistake Lavi made, but didn’t bother to rectify it. 

These were my very first venetian picots!!!

3¼ x 2½ cms in Anchor 20 cotton

Graduated picots and twisted picots (floating)

2 x 1½ cms in 2 strands of Anchor embroidery thread

Venetian picots for antennae & 4 picots

2 x 1½ cms in Anchor size 40 cotton

The Venetian picots worked out much better in this finer thread.

Right after posting the pattern, I tatted the above 3 versions. Some of the following versions were inspired by the butterflies flying in (Anita, Denise, Ninetta).

Twisted (floating) picots and seed beads

3 x 2 cms in 3 strands of Anchor embroidery thread.

This was inspired by Denise’s 3 beads in the lower half.

Dot picots and decorative picots

This is based on Anita’s stitchcount. I like the broader span of top wings.

2¼ x 1¾ cms in Lizbeth & Anchor size 40 cottons

Since this project was a spin-off from the Common Mormon caterpillar, there just Had to be a couple of butterflies in black and yellow ...

Beads and floating beads in different arrangements

I tried something different – beaded string wrapped around the lower rings. 
These are longer than I had visualized, but let them be.

The antennae uses floating beads (FB) or fringe on chain method.

2½ x 1¾ (or 2 with bead string) cms in Anchor size 40 cotton

The wooden black bead was too large and unseemly. So I decide to remove it. 
Wasn’t as easy as I’d thought. The FB method really does hold the beads in check ;-P

Then I remembered a tip on Jane McLellan’s blog about breaking unwanted beads. 

Yes, that worked! Once broken, I inserted a scrap thread for better grip, and knotted the tips.

Onion rings (Josephine rings inside the upper & graduated picot rings inside the lower halves), twisted (floating) picots, and Curlicues (dead end chains or SSSCh) for antennae.

3 x 2¼ cms in Anchor size 20 cotton

I started with a knot for each curlicue, serving to hold in pinch, 

and worked back with unflipped stitches.

Inward picots, decorative picots, long picots, a head ring, and Venetian picot for body. 

I followed Ninetta’s directions. 

2 x 2¾ cms in 3 strands of Anchor embroidery thread.

  

 

A couple of side views to show the 3D effect.

When making the Venetian picot, I left the scrap thread in it and 

this served well when joining the next ring to it.

 

I include the Venetian picot in this month’s kocham frywolitkę task because both the curlicue and this picot are standalone or floating chains. Although in the former the stitches are unflipped and wrapped manually, in the latter each half stitch is flipped but moved in place manually over the previous stitches.

I couldn’t resist a couple more pics.

 

The background is Monet’s White Clematis an oil he painted in 1887. 

The image is in this amazing book The Life and Works of Monet by Susie Hodge.

UPDATE : My latest butterfly with floating chains tipped with Josephine knots for antennae....

Do stop by to welcome this batch of butterflies :-)

UPDATE - New arrivals (2020) from talented tatters -
 https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/07/welcome-intrusions.html

who, when, where

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... those are the questions ...

(pictures taken from 0640 to 1717 hrs)

April 4th, in the early morning, as I opened the French doors to welcome the new day, 

I noticed this 'bump' ....

Who is this little fellow, wrapped in a camouflage leaf toga ?

Is it a caterpillar or ...?

 Are the eyes peering out through the slit mask ?

And see the 'veins'/striations on the 'toga' - similar to the Curry leaves.
And within 5 hours, the twig had become barren!

 What a rolled leaf backside view! 
Err, don't start getting naughty ideas (it's too small) ;-P

Turns out he 'masked head' is a late April Fools prank .... 

the small brown fuzzy head is under that broad slit mask! 

I saw it turning twice – once at noon and again in the evening, 

but could not capture it in time.

 Here the head is a bit more visible - 
that brown nub peeping out from under 'helmet'.

Notice how barren that same twig has become (leaves from nearby twigs were 

also devoured through the day, though not seen here).
Interestingly during the larval stage, half-eaten leaves give away their presence.
But now, the Entire Leaf disappears!

The last pic was taken in the evening - after 5pm. At 8pm, we went to see how it was - whether it had woven itself into a cocoon or was ready to open it's wings... Huh, it had disappeared completely !!!

Had the green 'leaf' wings opened up and let the moth/butterfly take to the air in such a short span? No bird came to peck it away - I'm sure of it.

When I tried a Google Images search it said this was a lizard. Ughhh! 

So help me answer the question(s). 
What or who is this? At what stage?
Where did it go?
Could it have opened it's wings at night?

I must confess that I should know the answer, having a Masters in Zoology, but well, tatting has devoured what little brain I had ;-P I'm still charmed and amazed - Adaptation, especially morphological, has been a particularly favourite subject in Ecology. 

Spring is the best - new life everywhere ! 

UPDATE : Thanks to the enthusiastic response, the questions are answered. It is a Common Mormon Butterfly caterpillar - 5th instar stage, ready to pupate. Here is an excellent article with pics of each stage . 
There are usually only 2 types of butterflies that visit our balcony - this large black beauty and the smaller yellow ones. I should've started my search from there! But blogging makes you lazy - it's easier to ask and wait for answers ;-P
Now let's wait and see if the butterfly emerges ....