Secret Pal 10 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love Bamboo. That said I also crave wools and woody fibers. I absolutely do not like fake fibers. I do not consider wood pulps and such fake. I just can't stand petroleum based fibers, which considering I am allergic to petroleum based face and body products. It's no surprise.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a circular needle case, dpn case and a crochet hook case from the organized knitter. They were a rather lovely late Christmas / early birthday present from my husband last spring.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting since Christmas 1997. So that calculates to almost 10 years. That is kind of a shock for me. I have been crocheting since summer of 1993 (I think, Junior High was a bit fuzzy). I was maybe a beginner for about a day. My first project was a fair isle hat in the round on dpns. I did not know any better, but the book I had said it was a beginner project so I proceeded without hesitation. Since then nothing has scared me, oh ok maybe my first sleeve placement. I stuck with hats, mitts, and gloves for my first 5 years. It took me a little bit longer to get up my nerve to do a sweater and then I started with a vest in the round. I am past the sleeve fear, but my finishing needs help. To me the more complicated the pattern the more fun it is. I have been known to come up with patterns or so modify a pattern that it is no longer the same thing.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Yes I do. It has a Smorgasbord of things that I want or desire. Sometimes need but have not made a fully educated guess on.

5. What's your favorite scent?

I love scents that would be described as Christmas baking - cinnamon, clove, coffee, cardamom, chai and such wondrous smells.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I have a sweet tooth but my blood does not like my sweet tooth so I limit myself. I try to only have good chocolate in the house since most chocolates contain petroleum products and I get sick really fast. At this current moment, my favorite chocolate bar is Dagoba Chai. I also like some of there other dark chocolates. If you have not tried one for yourself, I recommend buying one for you and trying it and letting me live vicariously through your experience.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

Um . . . I went to art school so lots and lots of stuff. I do spin. My spinning fiber looks jealously at the knitting stash and gets its hopes squashed every time I reach in to get the yarn. I thought I would be tempted to pet it and spin it, if it was at the front of the closet but I think part of me is afraid to spin since it has been so long. I also sew and design clothing when my knitting is not flaunting its fuzzy pet able self in front of my fingers.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I love techno. My fav station is C89.5 a Seattle, WA High School station. My husband on the other hand listens to everything and likes to tease me by asking me who is playing at the moment, which could be one of 50,000 songs that are set on random repeat on his computer/stereo in the living room and piped through the house to my studio. He had serious fun for about a year and a half by asking me about certain songs and me not knowing they were the Beatles. He now gets even more chuckles because when he asks I just blindly answer. "It's the Beatles! right?" So I do like to listen to music, I just don't always know who they are.

This house has every modern musical convenience. Three portable mp3 player (one is a CD player that reads mp3s), 4 or 5 computers (one is hooked up to a central speaker system), one kick ass car stereo system (that reads burned CDs but not mp3s) and of course the lowly little DVD player that doesn't know which way to spin and so it gets depressed every once and a while and stops working until you can reteach it to spin clockwise.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

My favorite colors are fall colors but I tend to gravitate towards greens, blues, browns, burgundy, and orange. I hate pink with a passion. I don't own a stitch of pink in my wardrobe; my stash on the other hand has one ball that was used in a present and I can't wait to use and give away. Now my house contains purple only because my husband when to UW, and he wears purple but it really is not something I want lots of. I keep telling him I will buy him Lorna's Lace sock yarn from Linda's Knit n Stitch which she has exclusive rights to UW and Mariner sock colors.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I have been married for almost 2 years to a wonderful man fondly called Churchable here in blog land. Currently we have one dog, which is a sweet leaner dog who is ball obsessed. We will be filling a doxie size hole in our life March 10th or so with a cute little doxie girl named Lexie.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear scarfs (I just don't knit them - I will weave them once my loom is up and running). I also wear hats, mittens (especially fingerless here in the house), and gloves. Ponchos are out. Shrugs are very cool and my shoulder measurement is 16 inch across if that is helpful.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

My favorite items are sweaters. I have been really into filling in the holes in my sweater collection. I also enjoy hats and mittens. I am sock curious right now. Currently have enough sock yarn to knit 11+ pairs of socks. I think I need to knit and not receive unless it is a heavier weight sock yarn. I don't plan to use all the sock yarn for human use. The new little doxie girl will need sweaters. The hairless dogs shiver excessively in our house.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Check out my WIP Wednesdays and FO Fridays.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

I love handmade gifts. I love giving them also.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I like DPN and Circular (I think I own two maybe three straights, which I might know where they are lurking). I am a bamboo or Brittany hog. For the extra small sizes, I like Inox aluminum. I currently have every size in DPN from US 0 to 10. In circulars I have US 2-10 with a hole in at the US 9 spot. My mom is currently overseas looking for the really small Inox needles for me. She is such a sweetie.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I currently have a wooden swift which churchable thinks is a fun toy to spin obsessively when he is sitting next to it. I would really like a ball winder but right now I am using my Nostepinne, which our little dog used to gleefully run around the house with it in his mouth unwinding all my hard work until someone found him and stopped him - typically by following the trail of yarn.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

I just remembered today that I have a pair of two needle gloves that the second glove needs fingers. This was last knit in the spring of 2001 during my linguistics class. I am thinking about frogging it or turning it into a toy for the new puppy (which might be a bad idea).

18. What is your favorite holiday?

I am not sure I have a fav holiday, but churchable loves Thanksgiving considering some years it is also his birthday. I probably like all holidays cause it gives a reason to through a party.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Can you call yarn and fabric a collection? I used to have a collection of things but I got tired of having useless items. But I do have a classy collection of frogs and lizards that pop up in different places, such as the centerpiece of my wedding cake. I also collect books on knitting, weaving, and cooking.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I currently receive Interweave Knits, Handwoven and Spin off. I subscribe to Threads, Cooks Illustrated, Cooks Country and Everyday Food. The Mag I really really want is Rebbecca #29 (It seems to have been popular and not available in Portland or Seattle).

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I would like to get better at finishing. I just learned how to do entralec, which is so much easier than I assumed it would be. I also am intrigued by edgings.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I am attempting to like sock knitting. My foot has a circumference of 8.5 inches and a length of 9 inches and I wear a size 7.5 regular shoe.

23. When is your birthday?

Hey hey my birthday is during the SP10 time period. I will be reaching the grand age of 28 on April 26th.