Experiments in Knitting

I'm trying something new, and I'm a little proud of myself. See this stuff?

It's Yarn Bee Princess. You may not be able to see, but there's two strands plied together there -- a matt yarn and a shiny yarn. It is beautiful unto me, and I wants it.

But, in a very different move from the typical, I have decided to choose a pattern before I actually buy the yarn. That way, I get enough yarn but not too much.

Who am I, and what have I done with myself?

Typically I'll just stash yarn and then when I find it again will decide what I can do with the yardage I have. This is the first time I've actually considered choosing the project first and then buying the yarn. It feels rather weird to me, like putting on a new pair of shoes for the first time. Sort of right while still managing to be sort of wrong.

But I don't want to end up with an extra skein that I can't use and have to attempt and trade or just leave to languish. Nor do I want to end up one or two skeins short of the project I really desire. I want enough yarn, and only just enough yarn, but not yarn lying around at sixes and sevens in my stash with no purpose. In other words, I want the yarn to use, not just to have.

Am I growing up as a knitter? Have I passed some sort of knitting maturity test? Or am I just trying something new in my knitting to see how it works as opposed to my other methods?

Gah.

Anyway, I've got my Little Loki pattern off with a friend who is going to check it for clarity. I tend to be a "pantser" when it comes to my personal designs -- the only thing I actually wrote down as I knit was the bead chart; all the rest was catch-as-catch-can.

I hope to have it back, revised, edited and posted within the week, both here and on Ravelry.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Bestiest Besties Evar, Part Deux

Heh, and she even spelled my name right:

Too right, sister. Too right.

It's so very pretty, I'm going to put it between two sheets of clear plastic in a frame and hang it against my wall -- which is a bright jade green, so it will contrast beautifully.

In other knitting news, someone actually asked for my Little Loki pattern, so I'm transcribing it. It's harder than I was expecting, actually. I had to build the chart and now I'm filling in the chart. When I did it by hand, it was much easier. Typing it up on a computer, though, is about to drive me nuts.

You'll see it when it's done, though. As will everyone else on Ravelry. If I can figure out how to post it....

Oops. Gotta go do some more thinking, I think!

Oh, my Bob, sometimes you do get rewards!

You know, on those silly little plastic cards companies give you, nominally so they can offer you discounts on their products and services, but that they really use to track your spending and thereby tailor advertising just for you?

I got 20% off my total purchase as a 'gift' for my birthday at Michael's -- not my big box store of choice, but it'll do in a pinch. I wasn't sure what I wanted to use it for, but I've been in a deep blue funk lately, so I went anyway. You never know, do you, and it got me out of the house.

I bought these:

Charms!

Don't ask about this:

other than it was big, sparkly and on clearance. And I needed something to use that 20% on.

I don't wear bracelets, in the main, or necklaces, so what, pray tell, was I going to use them for? You may well ask:

Ain'tent I clever?

I love those J Hooks, they are so useful. I revamped my old earrings a few months ago and now this. What's next?

Actually, some of the newer beading supplies (pendants and the like) are pretty cool. I might get a new pack of J Hooks and some beads and make my Giftmas presents for the friends again. Maybe.

Or I might just invest in some Half Price Books gift cards. Everyone I know loves Half Price.

In other news, I am bored, bored, bored, bored. Bored in an existential fashion. I'm not entirely sure how to shake myself out of it, either. I've done it before, by doing new things or something else fun like that, but I might have reached the upper limits of new in a town where I've lived for over 30 years.

Maybe I should learn something new to me, like French, or go back to studying piano. Or take up Legos. Something. Anything, really, to shake myself up a bit.

I feel like throwing myself down on the ground, rolling around growling and tearing something up, like my dog used to do when he was frustrated. I miss him, you know. Having him there sort of gave me a focus, or at least a priority. I need a priority right about now.