Secret Pal 10 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I'm definitely a complete and total yarn snob. I don't like manmade fibers - acrylic, rayon, etc. The only time I let it slide is a wool sock yarn with a bit of nylon content. Other than that, I'm all natural fibers, all the way. And I love them ALL! (Although knitting with hemp and linen has been tough for me - hurts my hands.) I like unusual stuff too - when they figure out a way to make new fibers into yarn, I love trying them! Bamboo, soysilk, ingeo...too cool!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Unfinished projects. :-) I have a Tilli Tomas needle case for most of my circs, and a needle binder I keep my DPNs in, and my straights (which I pretty much never use) are in a glass vase.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I taught myself from books about two years ago. Like a chicken, I knitted garter stitch scarves for months, then knit a sock....and then I was off! I'm an intermediate knitter, I think.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, I have two Amazon lists - a knitting one and a non-knitting one for books and cds and stuff. (The knitting one is linked in my sidebar.)

5. What's your favorite scent?
I like lavender, citrus, and stuff that smells like food. (Any food. I'm a big fan of food. Food and me, we're tight.) And if you can find something that smells like citrus AND another food...I'm in heaven! Right now, I'm crushing really hard on the Sugar Lychee scent by Fresh. (I lurve Fresh. Oh, and Philosophy - they are the pinnacle of foodie scents.)

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh man. I'm supposed to be watching my sugar levels (not diabetic or even close, but something about some other sugar levels...I dunno). I like dark chocolate, but I'm not a big fan of just plain ol' chocolate. My favorite thing in the world is unusual chocolates - ones with lavender or chili peppers or basil or other odd things you wouldn't expect to find in chocolate. And I love peanut butter. (Oh, and tea. And I have no known allergies.)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do spin - I have a Lendrum wheel and a bunch of fiber. So far, I really like regular ol' merino for spinning. I dye yarns sometimes, too (natural dyes and, um, kool-aid; I have some acid dyes but haven't tried them yet.) That's about all I do now, though.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I thought they both could, but apparently my car stereo doesn't like MP3s. (Which is bizarre, because I have the ultimate Nerd-Car.) I am completely behind the times in music - I don't know who half the popular bands out now are. I love middle-eastern music (I bellydance) and anything foreign (I have a weird thing about foreign pop music - especially Turkish, Japanese, and Thai) and my favorite bands/musicians are U2, Tori Amos, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, Jason Mraz, Jeff Buckley, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand...I've recently discovered Arcade Fire, Amy Winehouse, and Lily Allen, and those are all new favorites.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I use a lot of reds (deep dark, not as much lipstick), greens, and pinks. I love all colors, though, and my sock yarn stash looks like a box of crayons threw up in it. I would say soft pastels would fall on the side of "least favorite" but every color has a home in my stash.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have two spoiled rotten cats, and two spoiled rotten dogs, and that's about all they have in common. (A ragdoll kitty, black kitty, chocolate miniature pinscher, and stag red miniature pinscher.) You'll hear a lot about them. I also have a fiance, Travis. You'll hear a lot about him, too. We all live together in a beautiful home built in 1920 that tries its damndest to be the bane of our existence.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
There's not a lot of call for them in Florida, really. (Especially the mittens.) I do like hats, and fingerless gloves (for style, mainly.) Scarves are pretty but usually end up tied around my hips instead of my neck.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Socks. I knit a lot of socks. I ride the bus to and from work, so I have about two good hours of sock-knitting time a day. (Considering that, I don't get as much done as I could or should.)

13. What are you knitting right now?
The eyelet blouse from Winter Vogue '06. Socks (about three pair at any given time, so SSS doesn't set in so badly). A secret design project. A guest book. (Yes.) And before long, I need to start on my wedding socks, Travis' wedding socks, my garter...kind of on a deadline there.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Heck yes! I prefer handmade things - I love artisans.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars. It's annoying to knit back and forth on circs, and yet I always do. I like hardwoods best - ebony and rosewood. My favorite sock DPNs are Crystal Palace bamboo. And I always knit with 5" or 6" length DPNs for socks and gloves.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I own both. (Malabrigo did it to me. Ever try to hand-wind Malabrigo? It's like playing cat-in-the-cradle with Velcro.)

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I rip anything that sits for more than a few months - so my oldest right now is probably only a few months.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
I love Christmas and Halloween.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Sock yarn. :-)

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 have a subscription to Interweave Knits, and I always pick up Vogue, so I should just subscribe to that too. I'd love the Barbara Walkers, and I really want to try Sundara's yarn, but the ones I want always sell out before I get to them. The book highest on my wish list right now is Knitting Beyond the Edge by Nicky Epstein.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd like to be better at colorwork, but other stuff always gets in the way.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Oh yeah. And as for sock yarns, I tend to prefer indie dyers - I love Yarntini, Yarn Pirate, Mama E, Brooklyn Handspun, Sweet Georgia...but I also like Lorna's, Cherry Tree Hill, Claudia Handpainted, Apple Laine, Koigu... I wear a size 9 1/2 shoe, and I have high arches.

23. When is your birthday?
May 28th. And my wedding day is shortly after - we're getting married June 2 ... which is also my parent's anniversary and my great-aunt and -uncle's anniversary.