On making it up as you go

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I spent last evening knitting with some friends. One of these friends in particular is a fairly ambitious but relatively new knitter. She also is one of the most interesting, dynamic people I've ever met, so it doesn't surprise me that she's not interested in starting with a garter stitch scarf. She knit one of those big enough for a doll, announced that she knew the basics, and demanded to be taught the next step. When I'm not around and she decides she wants to move on, she spends hours on YouTube watching tutorials, trying, ripping out, and trying again. She has decided she needs a pair of wristwarmers, but most of the patterns out there are too advanced for her, so she figured she'd just knit some and figure it out as she went.

WHAT? I totally love this about her. She is fearless. She has just about finished her first wristwarmer, including a somewhat-improvised thumb gusset that she sort of made up as she went along. (For those of you who don't knit or crochet or sew or whatever, thumb gussets are the sort of thing that scare people away from knitting mittens for a long time.)

There are a group of people out there, crafters who don't follow patterns and who feel that trying to follow a pattern restricts one's creativity. Sometimes this results in really bizarre things that you might see while tripping on acid (I'm not even trying to be mean here - Google-search "freeform knitting" and you will see what I mean), but every once in a while you'll find something so stunning that of course it was made up on the spot by a brilliant, inspired mind. That's pretty much happening with my friend's wristwarmers. They're stunning.

I am the kind of knitter who follows a pattern (even if it's one I made up) 96% of the time. I always have an idea what the end result will look like before I even pick up my needles.

This girl is four years my junior, but I want to be like her when I grow up.

Who is inspiring you lately? What lessons are you absorbing?