Ask, and you shall receive

Here are my secret pal answers- warning, this goes on forever.  I was feeling a little guilty that I like to talk about myself so much, but really, don't all bloggers?

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

I am not a yarn snob, and I have disdain for people who are, which I suppose makes me a bit of a snob anyway.  I will knit with almost anything- I am most attracted by color and how a yarn feels.  A price tag doesn't innately make a yarn great or horrible.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?

Nope to both.  I have a few crochet books, but I'm not great at it and hope to take a class one day to improve.  I have absolutely no interest in spinning.
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3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

Penicillin, so please don't send me any of that.

4. How long have you been knitting?

I've known how to knit since 1997, but during the knitting drought that was my Drunken Slut phase, I didn't pick up needles for 6 of those 8 years, so I would say that I'm maybe an intermediate knitter.

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

Yes, an Amazon wish list.  And yes, I am greedy.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like clean scents, like cucumber, melon, grapefruit, or stuff that's usually called Sky or Rain or something equally vague.  I also really like spicy stuff, like chai, cinnamon and I love Nag Champa as well.  One of my favorite treats is the cranberry stuff from The Body Shop at Christmas time, pumpkin stuff....so pretty much everything except for floral stuff.  I really lurrrrve candles.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
I do, but it is very fickle.  I'm not crazy about chocolate, but I do like dark if any at all.  Mostly I like cinnamon stuff (Hot Tamales, cinnamon bears), citrus stuff (sour watermelon slices), Blow Pops, green apple stuff....I could go on forever.  And Peeps.  I have crazy Peeps love.  More than anything, though, I loooooove coffee.  Dark roast, non-flavored coffee.  I've spent the equivalent of a college education fund at Starbucks.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I feel like a shorter list would be what don't I like to do- I love beads, and I'm intrigued with wire work.  Copying current trends by making it myself.  Rudimentary sewing (I have a machine).  Cross stitch.  Embroidery.  I'm terrible with fine art, but I wish I was better.  Candle making.  I'd like to try soap making.

9. 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 kinds of music, but am sadly out of the loop these days.  I would say my favorite overall genre is Britpop, but I also love most Emo.  Check my post here to get a better idea of what I like.  And as far as MP3s go, I'm sure my computer can play them, but I don't know how to do it.  I have been sadly left behind by the digital music revolution.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
There's the obvious- pink, but most of my wardrobe is blue.  I like most colors, but I don't like yellow in any incarnation, really, and I'm not too crazy about orange either.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live in the 'burbs of Denver with my husband, two children (boy 3 and girl 18 months) and wondercat.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
I have always dreamt of owning my own bookstore, with a coffeeshop, just like on Ellen.  I hope that my children grow up healthy and happy. I hope to attain my bachelor's degree sometime before I die.  And Paris- I need to make it to Paris.  The real one.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
My overall fave is Tahki Cotton Classic, because I love mercerized cotton, they have a crazy range of colors and it's fairly affordable.  I also crazy adore Lorna's Laces- the colorways are just fantastic, and even though I've never even attempted a sock in my life, I have quite a few skeins in my stash.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I think my hatred for Noro is well documented.  I'm not insane about raw silk.  I'm not crazy about too many novelty yarns, although I do really like Trendsetter Aura and some of the popcorn-y stuff is fine in moderation.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I really love knitting with beads, or some sort of embellishment.  Cotton is pretty much always my obsession, as well as knitting with mostly smaller  (US6 and lower) needles.  And of course any funky project.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Probably summer tanks, because they work up fast and are a nice way to try a new technique, but more generally, gifts that are going to an appreciative recipient.

17. What are you knitting right now?
A design submission for Knitty, a gift which I can't even mention what it is, a ChicKami and another design tank which I hope to post here.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I am not crazy about them, but only because they are soooo trendy right now, and I hate thinking about making one and then seeing someone wearing almost the exact same thing.  I do own a winter one that I bought at Savers a long time ago (before children) and know that I'll probably make one eventually, once the poncho fervor dies down.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circular, mostly due to the lack of seaming involved.  I own bunches of straights, though, and use them occasionally.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Aluminum first, then plastic, then bamboo.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
I have never done socks, for a variety of reasons, but I think I might tackle my first pair in the next couple of months.

22. How did you learn to knit?
My best friend Julie taught me in the winter of 1997, when we were hanging around the dorms, procrastinating for finals. 

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Hmmm, I just ripped out a bunch of stuff, so it would have to be the Chickami that I'm working on, which I started last summer.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like all of the girly 80s cartoon characters- Hello Kitty (anything Sanrio, really), Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Jem, She-Ra, Poochie.  I also had a crazy Snoopy love through high school, and I still like him but have gotten rid of most of my Peanuts stuff.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
In theory, New Years, although I usually build it up and it ends up being not as exciting as I had hoped. All in all, though, I guess I would say Christmas.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
I wouldn't say there is any purpose to my amassing of goods, although I do have quite a few MAC eyeshadows (enough to start my own store, seriously), I love crazy socks (if you ever wondered who buys those silly Santa socks, it's me, and I'm proud of it), maybe books?  I do have a small Starbucks city mug collection, as well as a Buddha/Shiva collection.  I used to have a Mexican/Catholic votive collection, I really love those, as well as (what I consider to be) the silly Catholic iconography (glow in the dark Mary, temporary Virgin of Guadalupe tattoos, Jesus nightlight).  I would love to have a garden gnome and sock monkey collection.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I just sent a card in for Interweave, but haven't gotten an issue yet.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

Nothing that has been released.  I'm excited for a lot of upcoming books though.  See the wish list.  The two fiction books I'm dying for this summer are Harry Potter 6 and Nick Hornby's new book.

Comments

[melanie]

ooooh, I have a present for you. ;)

[Bookish Wendy]

Jem is truly outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous.