Secret Pal 8 - QA

Hello All, I'm doing the Secret Pal thingy this year. Should be fun. Here is a questionnaire I'm supposed to fill out. Wheeeeeeeeee.

Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire    

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

I do not like the nasty old fashioned acrylic. It creeps me out. A lot. I'm really loving all the yummy soft Merino wools right now. I also LOVE Alpaca and Llama. Heck I love any super soft natural yarn. Not so much the loopy mohair though. *L* I love bright colors and dark colors and yarn that is to be dyed. Variegated is awesome, so is tweedy and even solids. *L* I'm not a fan of pastels though. The softer the yarn the better! ;)

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

I have a black mesh zippered document case that I'm keeping them in at the moment. I keep that inside a black mesh tote along with the needles that are too long to fit inside the document case.

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

I'm a beginner. I started knitting March 25 at 6:00 am. *L* It was the day I decided I HAD to learn to knit. Keep in mind I had been up since 2:00 am not able to sleep. Anything seemed like a good idea at that point. :P

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

Nope.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Hmmm, I love Vanilla, lavender if it's a yummy lavender and not overly harsh, Geranium, Tangerine, Lemon Verbena, Lemongrass, Mint, Coconut, and fresh springy scents. I don't care for patchouli or strong floral scents. Think more earthy tones than fakey chemical. My favorite perfume is Manifesto and it kinda smells like Basil and Black Pepper. *L*

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

I guess I have a sweet tooth. I like candy. ;) Milk chocolate and dark chocolate are super yummy. My favorite candy makers would have to be Ethel M and Fanny May (Mmmm Trinidad's...). Ethel M is located in Fabulou$ La$ Vega$ Nevada. They have a totally wicked cactus garden. ;) Chocolate covered caramels and chocolate with coconut are yummy... so is peanut butter with chocolate. *L* I also like salty treats. So chocolate covered pretzels are a fun treat too.

Thankfully I don't have a Ranch Tooth. :P

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

I would love to learn to spin. I'm going to look into getting a drop spindle to start with. I have seen some really awesome yarns made that way. Then I could dye roving and see what nifty creations I could come up with that way. :D

I'm DYING to get started with DYEING yarn. *L* I have most everything now. The yarn, Kool-aid, vinegar, gloves, plastic drop cloth, cling wrap, bottles for the dye and the pot. I'm not sure if I need mason jars or not. I need to read over the instructions at Knitty again. I want to make self striping yarn. *dances*

I'm a gardener in waiting. I'm still trying to get the general landscaping set up around my house. The front is looking good. I need to finish up some of the smaller plants. After that then the big project is the backyard, which at present looks like a big square of dry dirt. I'll need to get some good topsoil and then get the grass going. After that I plan on making a raised garden bed along one of the side yards. Still considering how I want to do that. Once I get that set up I can start planting Tomatoes (LOVE TOMATOES!!!) and other cool stuff. As well as getting the plants set up in the backyard area. But I've got to wait to get the super fun stuff going until after the general layout of the yard is set up with rock, pavers, grass etc.

I also dabble in Crochet. I have a ton of hooks and several books. I started playing at that in late January. Life got busy and then my desire to learn to knit become all consuming that I set it aside. Once I started knitting I found I liked it better, loved it in fact as well as I found it easier to learn and understand. I'm sure once I get back to crochet (could be awhile as I'm so hooked on knitting) it will be easier to understand because I get knitting.

Other none crafty type things I enjoy include drawing, both with paper and pencil as well as on the computer with a wacom pad or a mouse. I also enjoy writing. I've found I get a big kick out of writing scary or strange stories. Even if it's for my own amusement. *L* Since becoming entangled with my knitting/yarn obsession I haven't written much though. Not so much because of the knitting, heck if anything that's a great time to brew up wicked stories in my head... but no it has more to do with life being busy or turbulent and eating my head. No worries life and creativity are like a roller coaster, sometimes you're down, but you'll always come back up. ;)

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

I like a lot of different types of music. Check out my Last.FM page to see what I listen to. :D

My Top Artists overall since July 29, 2005. (date that I got hooked into Last.FM)

My Top Songs overall since July 29, 2005.

I use iTunes so anything that is compatible with that is cool. ;)

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

Colors are a funny thing for me. I feel hard pressed to choose one color over another because their values have different meanings for different situations. I wear colors that I feel look best on me. (Corals/salmons, Pinks, some purples, Blues/Navy/lighter shades, black) I really should go look at my wardrobe, surely I wear more than those colors. *L* I can't wear yellows and oranges as they make me look dead. I have pale skin and blonde/strawberry blonde hair. I don't tan so much as turn red and then get sun kisses.*L*

Socks and accessories are the exception to my colors to wear thing though. Socks can go crazy and wild, and often do. *L* Accessories it just depends if the color looks good on the item and goes with whatever I have.

Yet I LOVE to play with colors of yarn and colors with digital graphics that have nothing to do with those colors. At the present moment colors that are reaching out to me are bright and springy/summery. I can't really say I have a favorite. I like interesting beautiful colors that span the rainbow and beyond. ;)

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

I'm not, nor never have been in the "family way" if that's what this means. *L* I've never even considered having children. It's just not something I'd ever want for myself. Oh sure it's fine for other people and I'd make an awesome aunt. I could spoil a kid for a few hours and then release it back to it's parents once in a while, but one of my own to do all the responsible adult things for. No Thanks. I really like my freedom. Same for marriage, it's fine for some, but I was never one of those little girls dreaming about prince charming or a big white party to celebrate my relationship. Nope. I'm very happy being in a loving committed relationship with my man. I don't need a church or the government to tell me what I have is real, but like I said it's fine for other people. I cry at weddings and feel happy and proud of my friends who choose to take that path. Thankfully there are lots of paths and we all get to choose the one that is right for us. :D

My honey and I have been together 8 years. I can't imagine ever loving someone else the way I love him. Hell I'm constantly surprised at my capacity to love someone. We're still dorky and lovey and I wouldn't want it any other way. It's great to be loved and to love someone with whom you respect and adore and the ability to keep rediscovering that with each other makes life with him an amazing gift. I don't just love my honey, I'm still IN love with him like a silly school girl. I see him walk across the room and my heart skips a beat with passion and joy. Life is good. I'm very lucky to have found my one true love. Considering how many stupid people are out there in the world it just blows my mind that I didn't get one. *L* We may get on each others nerves every now and then and go through bouts of PMS, but in the end it always comes back love and respect. Life is very good. *smile*

I also have a cat. Online she goes by the name TKK which stands for Tummy Katty Kat. Named this for her ability to lie in wait, much like a Venus fly trap with her wittle furry tummy exposed. When you walk by that you just have to rub her tummy. How can you not, soft warm fuzzy kitty tummy. But when you do she flips over and either she wants to play rough or she decides her chin or ears would rather get the attention. *L*

TKK loves cat nip and shrimpie treats. You'll find lots of pictures of her here. *L*

Oh and she likes to sleep on my head at night. Well just above it on my pillow. The sleeping is preceded by walking around on the pillow for awhile first.

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

I wear scarves, hats and mittens.... and socks. ;)

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

Hmm considering I'm new and haven't completed much it could be hard to say. So far I am REALLY enjoying the Irish Hiking Scarf.  I just love knitting in general. I can't wait to learn to do socks and more complicated stuff though. :D

13. What are you knitting right now?

On my needles at the moment: Irish Hiking Scarf & RockStar Scarf. I really do need to get some updated photos though. *L*

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Of course. I would imagine all knitters like handmade stuff to get as well as to give. ;)

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

I prefer wood needles to plastic or aluminum. BamBoo is awesome, but so are other types of wood needles. I adore Rosewood needles by Lantern Moon, although since the price is crazy expensive I think I can stick with my faithful Clover Bamboo's. *L*

If I'm using Circular needles I really do prefer Addi. Their cording is just awesome.

I should take a picture of all my needles and list what I have. I have a bunch. *L*

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

I have a yarn ball winder. I need to pick which swift I want and just order it. Winding a ball of yarn without a swift is nearly as fun as giving a rabid weasel a pedicure. o.0

17. How did you learn to knit?

Well on the morning of March 25 at 6:00 am after being awake and perusing Fark, Knitting Blogs, Other Blogs and whatever else I came across in my lack of sleep addled mind I finally just decided that it was time. I went and got some aluminum needles and Paton's wool in That's Pink from my stash. I had the needles from a teach yourself kit. Sadly the booklet that came with it was so bland and unhelpful that I thought I wasn't getting it and thought I needed to attend a real class or something. But never fear the Internets has everything! I went to KnittingHelp.com and found some really easy to use and understand video tutorials on how to cast on. It was a struggle but I waited until 7:00 am to wake up my honey and show him what I did. *L* He was pleased for me as he knew I was burning to get started with knitting. After that I got a real book on knitting and have been teaching myself from the books along the way. With the help of my best friend Cookie too. She always comes to my rescue when I don't quite understand what something means. Thank you, Sweetie!

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

I started the Rock Star Scarf on April 18th. It's not very intriguing though.  I want to do something more challenging than a garter stitch scarf... so I've ditched the pattern and am doing different things with it. *L*

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween!!! :D I love Halloween so very much. I even have half a zombie corpse and a Pirate Skeleton and other ghoulish delights to decorate my house with during that time of year. *L*

20. Is there anything that you collect?

Other than yarn? *L* I don't know if collect is the right word... I don't have collections of StarWars toys or little angel ceramic dolls or anything if that's what this question means. :P

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

I really should make a list of all the books I have. At the present I'm not subscribing to anything, but I really like Interweave Knits and will be placing my subscription for that soon. I need to check out all the other knitting magazines before I decide though. I like Vogue knitting, but would like to check out some of the others as well. I'll make a list of what I have later.

As for anything I'm dying to get my hands on, not that I can think of. Being new I'm not even sure what all is out there. ;)

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

I would like to learn them all. All at once, as soon as possible. *L* Right now I'm just trying to be sane about how I go about this.

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

I've not attempted to knit a sock yet, but would love to learn sooner than later. ;) I guess I need to learn how to measure my feet for socks. *L* If this is something you would like let me know and I'll email ya. ;)

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

April 29

Well whoever you are, my Secret Pal, I hope that gives you some insight into the weirdness that is me. ;)

As for the rest of you people, well it's just a bonus so you can see how I would respond if asked these things. *L*

Comments

[findingher]

Ooh. I'm with you. Children, cute for other people, OMG NO for me. As bad as it sounds, I'm too selfish, I like having time to myself.

Also, I did the Irish Hiking Scarf for my dad for Christmas. I liked it, but for some reason the yarn I used and the cable needle did NOT like each other.