I’ve been quietly working on something new recently, and I thought it was time to share a little sneak peek 😊
It’s a butterfly shawl — but probably not quite the kind of shawl you might be imagining.
The original inspiration actually came from some of those beautiful AI-generated crochet images online. You know the ones… absolutely stunning, full of flowing organic shapes and impossible details, and then you realise that if you looked closely, half of it couldn’t actually exist in real crochet.
But I kept thinking:
“What if something like this could be made?”
Not copied exactly.
Not trying to force crochet to behave like AI.
But taking that feeling — soft shapes, butterflies, movement and organic lines — and turning it into something that could actually be crocheted.
And honestly, I wanted it to be better.
More natural.
More organic.
More like something crochet would create when allowed to be itself.
I chose to work in freeform crochet because I wanted that organic feeling rather than perfectly repeated rows and shapes. But I also knew I wanted this to become a pattern that other people could actually follow.
That created a few rules for myself:
- no complicated stitches just for the sake of complexity
- techniques that feel approachable
- instructions people can realistically follow
- keeping the freeform feeling without becoming chaotic
The interesting thing is that freeform design isn’t nearly as random as people sometimes imagine.
I actually started by drawing the shawl out to scale and planning the overall shape I wanted to create. Once the framework exists, filling in the shapes becomes surprisingly natural.
The challenge isn’t really creating the shapes.
The challenge is recording everything.
Because the shawl needs to be mirrored, every section has to balance visually, and every decision has to somehow turn into instructions another person can follow later.
That’s actually what I’m testing right now.
I’m currently working through the pattern carefully and making sure everything can be recreated consistently.
After the full shawl version is finished, I plan to make a second version where I follow only my own written instructions while recording the video tutorials step by step for the CAL.
I want to test it the same way someone else would experience it:
Can I recreate the shawl purely from the instructions?
Do the steps make sense?
Does it still keep that organic feeling while being easy to follow?
I’m really excited about this one because it feels like a mix of creativity, experimentation and problem solving all in one project.
And I can’t wait to share more as it develops.
I’d also love to have some extra eyes on it while I’m testing.
If you enjoy trying new patterns, spotting things that could be clearer, and helping shape a design before release, I’ll be looking for pattern testers for the Butterfly Shawl.
→ Become a tester
Want to follow along even if you don’t want to test?
Sign up below for updates on the Butterfly Shawl CAL journey and you’ll also get a launch discount when the pattern is released.
→ Sign up for updates and early access
