I’m so excited for this weekend, guys!  Vogue Knitting Live is coming to the PNW, and I get to go!  I’m driving across the lake with one of my best friends, and we’re going to spend the day petting yarn, talking knitting, and buying altogether too much yarn.

It’s going to be great!Now, when I go to a knitting show like this, I usually go in with no plan at all.  Maybe I’ll have a vague budget (“Allison, don’t spend more than a hundred bucks… unless you find something really pretty”), or maybe I’ll have a vague idea (“Let’s get a bunch of sock yarn this weekend”).  But, inevitably I end up going way above and beyond what I intend… not that that’s a bad thing.

When I buy a special skein of yarn at a yarn show, or even at a lys, I try to imagine what it might become- I generally try to think about how much I’ll need if I want to make a pair of socks (~100g), or a shawl or scarf (two or three skeins).  That way I won’t get halfway through a project in a couple months, and run out of no-longer-available yarn.  But that’s really my entire thought process.

My friend, however, has been planning out some patterns that she specifically wants yarn for.  She’s been sending me some very cute patterns that she’s planning on making with her Vogue Knitting yarn.  I love her foresight (as a very Type-A person, I love a good plan), but that seems like a lot of work.  I don’t see myself sitting down and coming up with a list of patterns before tomorrow, but that might be a good idea.  Maybe this evening I’ll make myself a cup of hot cocoa and go on a Ravelry bender (before going to bed early, so I have plenty of energy for shopping tomorrow!).

What’s your yarn-show strategy?