I heard somewhere that when a sculptor looks at at his medium (be it a block of clay, marble, or whatever), he can already SEE the sculpture hidden within. It is his job, simply, to bring it out. I don't know how true that is, but it does seem like our materials tend to guide us as we work.
Like when you have an idea about what you want to crochet and your yarn goes, "...Nah."
Unless I am specifically making a specific character to give to a specific person, I tend not to sketch out my character designs before I get down to business. I probably should, but I don't. I'm a rebel like that. The consequence of this is that you give more of your power to your materials.
That's what happened in my latest short, "Sing, Dance, Date." It all began with the character of Mother... I tossed around a few design ideas in my head, and when I actually started to crochet her, my hook and yarn were like:
Which turned out to be a good thing because, while no where near what I had originally planned for this character, I actually like this better! So thank you, Yarn Spirits! Excellent work.
Moral of the story? If you have something specific in mind that you want to make, definitely sketch it out first as it will help keep you on track. Otherwise, sometimes it's fun to see where the yarn spirits take you. Free style, baby! You never know what you're going to get! (Like maybe some adorable aliens?)
Much love,
Nicole
P.S.
I finally got to use my tiny buttons!! Omg I'm so excited. XD