Come Play with Color at the Butterfly Waltz

Hello, everyone!

You know how much I love color, right? Choosing colors for crochet projects is definitely one of my favorite things about being a designer. I get such a kick out of trying unexpected color combinations and using color to show off the details in crochet stitch patterns and motifs.

This week, I’m so excited to share with you my latest color crochet project: the Butterfly Waltz Scarf! This scarf uses the same trapezoid-shaped motif that I used in the Butterfly Waltz Baby Blanket, which was released earlier this year. I’ve paired the scarf with a very special yarn to make this project oh, so enjoyable.

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In today’s newsletter, I’ll be sharing more about this unique pattern and the yarn I chose, as well as providing tips for choosing colors for your butterfly motifs, whether you want to use the same yarn I did or create your own color palette to complement your style and budget.

And be sure to keep your eye out — the Butterfly Waltz Scarf pattern will be landing on August 29, with a special subscriber-only discount for you.

If you love color, this is the project for you! Each motif is made with 3 colors. The first color (color A), which you use in Round 1 is actually the same color that you’ll use for the wings. The second color (color B) is used to create the center circle. And color C is used for the background.

I used Manos del Uruguay Fino for my scarves, pairing a mini skein set for the butterflies with a full hank of Fino for the background. Fino is a luxurious, hand-dyed, single-ply, fingering-weight yarn known for its softness and subtle sheen. It's a blend of 70% extrafine Merino wool and 30% silk, resulting in a yarn that is both warm and lustrous. The yarn is hand-dyed in Uruguay by women in fair trade cooperatives, and each skein is unique due to the hand-dyeing process, creating a subtle, tonal effect.

I had so much fun coming up with color palettes for this scarf! The team at Manos del Uruguay really outdid themselves when they put together all the mini skein sets. Their website currently shows 22 sets and each is more eye catching and gorgeous than the last. The Fino line contains 40 different colorways. You can imagine the fun I’ve had pairing mini skein sets with potential Fino background colors!

If you’re looking to use yarn you already have on hand, this is also a great stash-busting project. It’s a wonderful way to show off those mini skeins and single hanks of hand-dyed sock yarn you may have collected over the years.

Check Out These Stunning Scarves!

For my first sample, I paired the Esme mini skein set for the butterflies with a full hank of Fino in Admiral blue for the background. With this scarf, I wanted to make those bright colors in the butterflies really pop. Pairing it with a dark blue gives the scarf a bold and vivid overall look.

After crocheting the Esme scarf, I wanted to make another version that was a little more subdued. Well, to be honest, here’s what really happened: I found myself lingering on the Fino mini skein page of my favorite yarn shop’s website. I couldn’t stop dreaming of different color combinations! I just had to see what the Willa set would look like worked up in my butterfly scarf.

And so, I chose to pair Willa with a full hank of Fino in the Whalebone colorway. When I was looking at Whalebone online, most of the pictures showed this colorway as a cream color with speckles or hints of lavender. I was a little surprised when it arrived in the mail and was more lavender than cream. But I think it works great anyway! It picks up some of the lighter shades in the butterflies and gives the scarf a softer look overall.

Last but not least, we have a scarf made by my talented tester, Heather. Heather chose to pair the mini skein set Irene with a full skein of Fino in the Amethyst Earring colorway, which is a deep purple.

She mentioned that, at first, she wanted to pair the Dorothea mini skein set with Amethyst, but she was distracted (naturally!) by the colors in Irene and purchased it instead, not realizing that the set also contains the color Amethyst. The tough part about using a set that includes the same color as your background color is that the wings on some of your butterflies will just blend into the background.

To remedy this, Heather used a few yarns from her stash for some of the butterflies. I think it looks fantastic! Heather made such great color choices, and I still haven’t been able to figure out which colors are from her stash and which are from the set!

Heather’s advice for anyone making a Butterfly Waltz Scarf is to choose colors with a high level of contrast. I couldn’t agree more.

Create Your Own Butterfly Waltz Colorway

One of the tricks to creating eye-catching and visually stunning butterflies in this pattern is to make sure you choose 2 contrasting colors for your butterflies. Using 2 colors that can hold their own when placed side by side will ensure that the details in your butterflies stand out. Consider complementary colors (those opposite each other on the color wheel) or even a darker shade paired with a lighter shade of the same color.

Whether you’re combining a mini skein set with a solid hank of Fino or building a custom palette from your stash, one of the simplest ways to ensure your butterflies shine is to test your colors in natural light.

Take your chosen colors outside or hold them near a sunny window. If you can see a crisp line between them, they’ll stand out beautifully in the butterfly motif. If they blend together too closely — think light pink and light orange — they may blur into each other and the details will be lost.

But that’s just the beginning. In the Butterfly Waltz Scarf pattern, I’ve tucked in extra tools to make your color-choosing process easier and more fun:

• A printable coloring sheet so you can experiment with palettes before you crochet your first stitch.

• Exact yarn quantities needed for each color in one motif, so you can check your stash with a gram scale before you start.

• An assembly diagram to help you arrange your motifs for the most eye-catching effect.

• A curated collection of potential color palettes. I’ve chosen 8 mini skein sets and paired each with 3 possible background colors ranging from subtle to neutral to bold so you’re sure to find one that suits your personal style.

When I was designing these scarves, I had plenty of surprises. Some color combos I thought would be perfect, fell flat, and others I doubted, turned out to be absolute stunners. That’s part of the magic of working with color: through the process, you can discover what makes your heart sing.

The Butterfly Waltz Scarf pattern will guide you through that adventure while giving you all the tools to make your scarf uniquely yours.

Get Ready to See the Butterfly Waltz Motif in Action!

I’ve decided to also release the Butterfly Waltz motif video tutorial to the public next week. The tutorial guides you step by step and round by round through how to make the motif, while thoughtfully handling any tricky parts. This way, you can see how the motif is made before diving into the bigger project. And whenever you return, you can always navigate to the spot you need by clicking the timestamped round in the video description.

With this video, you’ll also get a rather nerdy introduction from me that includes many of the details I shared here about choosing colors, in case you need a reminder later.

I’ll send you a link to the video next Friday (August 22), but there’s a good chance I’ll release the actual video before then. If you’d like to know when the video drops, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I’d love to see you there!

I can’t wait to see the color combinations you dream up. Mark your calendar for August 29 — the Butterfly Waltz Scarf pattern will be ready, and you’ll have your exclusive 20% subscriber discount waiting.

Until then, keep playing with color… and maybe a few butterflies will land on your hook.

Thanks for spending a little handmade time with me,

Jennifer

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