Butterfly Kisses

It started last year when a knitter loved the dropped stitch motifs in Air Bender and I challenged myself to see if I could turn the abstract butterflies into real butterflies with the same techniques.

Then…

Covid hit.

My day to day life didn’t change much – I’m always at home, except perhaps for a lot more social interaction due to zoom!  My parent’s church, now my church, started offering services on zoom.  I got to virtually meet a lot of people I’d heard stories of over the years.  Several of these people work for Samaritan’s Purse, which is headquartered here in the mountains.  They shared stories of first the field hospital being set up in Italy and then shockingly, one going up in New York city!

Concurrently, as I frogged, tinkered, and worked to translate abstract to realism, I began to sense a feeling these butterflies were for a special purpose.  One of the things you know about me by now is that I have 2^nd sock syndrome, so I started to add variations in as I worked out how to make the butterfly take flight.

Then the feeling became a reality when my neighbour sent a prayer request for her daughter who is a doctor in NYC working in the NICU.  Picking up my third sample – beaded outline with drops – a prayer went into each stitch.  I used the leftover yarn from her mom’s Solar Flare Circular Shawl so the future recipient would feel the love in each stitch… and the connection to home with the butterfly kisses.  (Butterflies are very popular here in the mountains).

As the prayer requests continued to come in, this “fun little project” turned from an experiment into a mission to spread love and healing through stitches.  Sample after sample in beautiful blue yarns, it felt like different people were being brought into my life through each one.

Who will be touched by your hand knit butterfly kisses and prayers with your Milady Admiral?

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A special note on Milady Admiral:
Dedicated to all the hands battling on the Covid-19 front lines that continue to reach out and bring healing despite the risks. Thank you!
To say “thank you” in addition to the amount donated to our annual sharing partner, Handspun Hope, another donation will be sent to Samaritan’s Purse for each sale until the end of June. If you have the spoons (emotional ability), please read their blog about a night in their NYC covid-19 tent hospital here.