Yay, Beads!

So Holi is soon, and this year I decided to celebrate it. That Wikipedia link doesn't really explain too well... Why don't you go take a look at some videos? Basically people in India celebrate spring by having a huge party, throwing colorful powders at each other and dancing and singing. Sounds like fun, yeah? Well, I can't exactly run around the call center pitching color powder at people, so I'm going to get some colorful stickers and just stick them on people and screech 'HAPPY HOLI!' and run off giggling. I'm pretty sure at least one person will get it, and everyone else, well... they know I'm weird.

Anyway. Notice that in those videos, most of the people are wearing all white with colorful scarves or belts? (My theory is that the white is best to show off all the color you're gonna end up covered with.) I decided that for Holi I'd wear a white top, and that I would make my own colorful belt. And what better yarn to use than that pink Mango Moon I got yesterday? It's even made out of recycled saris! Clearly this is meant to be. (The other skein is for the headscarf thing. I'm still planning that.)

And then I dug in the craft drawer and brought out the beads. Now the gold ones are reserved for the headscarf, but some of the others... Well dang it, they'd look pretty darn good on a colorful Holi belt, now wouldn't they! I even have a pattern all worked out, a slightly rethought version of my Rusty scarf, with beads randomly scattered across the dropped stitches, and huge long fringes at the ends to tie it together, with some beads stranded on those too. Sounds pretty awesome to me! I'm gonna be the friggin' queen of Holi!

So I unwound the skein of Mango Moon, wound it into a ball (which took a long time. Like, half of Back To The Future III.) and cast on. The yarn is a lot more finicky than I'm used to, and I am scared to death of breaking it - it's kind of a thick-and-thin effect, and some parts are wire-thin, which makes me incredibly nervous. But once I got used to it, it worked beautifully - exactly the look I wanted. I haven't got any pictures though, because I ended up frogging the whole thing - I tried one beading technique and didn't end up liking it, so I'm gonna start over with a different technique and see if that helps.

Problem is, though, I kinda set myself a dumbass deadline for a Celtic Cable scarf - sure, I'll enter it in your St Patrick's day contest, even though it means it's gotta be finished by the 14th! Doh. That thing is gonna take for-freakin'-ever, there is no way it is gonna be ready for that contest. So instead I may try for a ... I dunno, headband? wristwarmer? Something. In case you're wondering, this is the pattern I am attempting to make. It's pretty, yeah? F#$!ing complicated, but pretty.

In other news, my new hair dryer is the shiznit! It is so much better than my last one, it cut my hair-drying time in half. More time to get ready in the morning is always a good thing.

Also Crystal got hired! YAY CRYSTAL!