NaKniCroMo Photo Challenge, Day 17: Pattern or Freehand?
Well...
Yes!
I mean, it depends on the type of project and my purposes for it and also where I’m doing the knitting. I love working from patterns especially when I’m developing a new skill, like when I first wanted to learn lace knitting I found a really simple lace pattern for a sock and did that. Or when I see a pattern that’s already really neat and I want to knit it just as it is. I also love experimenting with existing patterns, or, especially when it comes to socks, just knitting freestyle! (I mean, after knitting a few dozen socks or so, it’s a process more than a pattern. I know about how many stitches to cast on for my sock size - unless I drastically change the size of yarn/needle, so I avoid changing that for the socks I keep at school to work on - and I know a few different cuff styles I like, and how long to work the leg before doing the heel, and how well different heel styles fit me, and how long to knit the foot before starting the toe, and what style of toe shaping fits me best. So I just do that and take some notes on what I did for the first sock so that the second can match well enough.)
I also like developing patterns of my own sometimes (CritRole blanket! Doll clothes for Aloth and Fenris and, above, Watcher Forsythia! Gloves of Missile Snaring, though I still haven’t quite figured out how to size that pattern for publishing!), taking notes while I knit something new so that I can share it, maybe, or at least be able to make it again for someone else.