Secret Pal 11 questionnaire

Woohoo! On to the info to spoil me :)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I am in love with all things alpaca! I also love wool, cotton, silk, bamboo, acrylic. I'm much more interested in texture and softness factor than what the yarn is made of. I want to try some yarns made out of corn and soy and stuff like that just for fun :)

Yarn I can't stand? Anything vaguely fun-furish, ribbony or scratchy, hard acrylic. I'm also allergic to mohair, so nothing with mohair please!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I store my needles in an over the door shoe rack :D It's inside my coat closet, which is right next to my fiber arts center :) I have one pocket for each size needle, with the extra pockets for cable needles, Knit Picks Options cables, etc. I only use circular needles, so they fit right in each pocket just perfectly :)

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 for about two and a half years. I started knitting on looms, then added in needle knitting once I felt like it was something I wanted to take on. My grandmother had taught me to knit when I was young, so about 18 months ago, I just picked up some needles and said, "Now, how did this go again?" and never put them down :)

I would say I am an advanced beginner or intermediate knitter. So far, nothing makes me afraid; lace, cables, short rows, increasing/decreasing, different stitches all come fairly easily to me. I haven't tried any colorwork yet, nor entrelac, but those are on my list of to-dos :) I knit exclusively on circular needles, so circular knitting doesn't scare me in the least - I'm a big fan of the magic loop method.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No Amazon, but I have a Wist, located at http://www.wists.com/fragglefemme/ You can also click the link to the right for my Wist page :)

5. What's your favorite scent?
I love citrus-y cents a lot, as well as jasmine, lavender, vanilla, apple. I do not care for spicy scents and I have an aversion to the smell of coffee and tea. I know, I'm bizarre :P

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Of course I do :P I don't eat much chocolate, though, so I prefer things like swedish fish, sweet tarts, anything citrusy or something savory and cheesy like cheetos or cheese twist crackers. I LOVE rosemary crackers. or oooh! Beef or turkey jerky! I love Pemmican original or terriyaki beef jerky and Snackmasters originial turkey jerky! Yummmm....I never seem to buy myself Jerky, even though it's a favorite. Favorite cookies are palmiers or pizelles. I don't drink any coffee or tea. Yes, I know...no chocolate, coffee or tea...I'm obviously a mutant :)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Besides knitting, I do spin and I love it. I also sew, make beaded jewelry, dabble in weaving sticks and basket making and just do general crafty stuff whenever possible :) I want to re-learn tatting and crochet at some point, but I don't have time to do the stuff I do already!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Yes, to the MP3 question...all my music is on my computer, lol. I like the genre of music I refer to as "Chicks with guitars." Basically, Indigo Girls, Garbage, Ani DiFranco, Gina Young, etc. I also like most 80's alternative rock...Erasure, They Might Be Giants, B52s, INXS, stuff like that. I'm also a huge broadway musical soundtrack freak. My secret love is Barry Manilow and Cat Stevens music, lol. Recent artists I like are K.T. Tunstall, Scissor Sisters, Evanescence, Bowling for Soup, Gnarles Barkley. Basically, I like most anything except for Country, Heavy Metal and Rap :D

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love orange. I love green. I love orange and green together. I love browns, rusty reds, deep purples, earth tones. I do not like yellow in any fashion, most blues (except some cobalt blue) and any pastels.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have one 5 year old son, which I co-parent with my ex-wife. If the tater tot isn't at my house, my partner of 2 years probably is, although we do not live together on a full-time basis just yet :) No pets, as I can't have cats :(

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Noooo ponchos. A poncho on a 5' 11" 230 lb woman who is heavily endowed in the chest area is just such a bad idea, it should be outlawed :) I have very broad shoulders, as well...so...no. Just say no. LOL. Scarves are nice, as are fingerless mittens or gloves. I am a computer geek, so I need my fingers to type all day. I like hats a lot, but I'm a bit picky about them.... I have curly fluffy red hair, so when I wear a hat, it squishes it all down and then I look silly. Therefore, the hat has to have some poof to it somehow...a brim, something to compensate for the bulk around my head that goes missing under the hat. Yes, I know I'm weird :P

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like knitting all sorts of things :) Bags, dishcloths, blankets, scarves, shawls, shrugs, toys. Booties are so fun and cute and instant gratification.

13. What are you knitting right now?
At the moment, I just finished a large shawl for my mother. I'm making a bunch of dishcloths for my sister's birthday present and a mesh grocery bag for my partner. I'm also stuck at the same place on a sock I've been for oh...3-4 months now :) I'm about to cast on for a shrug :)

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
But of course, I'm no fool :P

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I knit only on circular needles. Bamboo is my needle of choice, but I also really like the Knit Picks Options needles. I have size 4 and 5 in them thus far, as well as some size 2 Knit Picks classic circulars that I'm using for the great sock knitting experiment. I'm working on getting more Crystal Palace bamboo circulars...I just love the needles...and the cable join pivots, so the cables will always lay where I want them to go! I only have size 8 and 9 right now in a few different cable lengths....they're just so spendy! But they are my favorites... *drool*

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Have a winder and have been drooling over the swift that I want... http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6165919

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
A little over a year. A purse for my sister's wedding present. Her one year anniversary was in June :

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween. Mostly for the season and time of year. I'm not a person who dresses up or decorates my house to excess for any holiday.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
I collect yarn and knitting patterns :D Oh, besides that...well, I have several hundred books...mostly Sci Fi, children's books and cookbooks...my kitchen is decorate in pears. I used to collect Wizard of Oz stuff, but not so much anymore, although I have a Oz tattoo on my right thigh...I think I have it all, lol. I collect lizard, frog and turtle stuff...I have a lizard tattoo on my right ankle and several lizard knicknacks around my house.

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 want some more Patons Rumor yarn something fierce! The green stuff, I think it's called Fern Heather....besides that, I am always in love with alpaca yarn :) I want some cotonade yarn in colors Spruce, Lipstick, Nutmeg, moss, chocolate or plum. I would LOVE to try some sea silk in color Forest or Mineral. I have been drooling over Inca Cotton in color Oz for quite some time and I need another skein to make a top I want... I also adore Colinette Tao 100% silk in shade Madras 153, Colinette Jitterbug 100% merino in shade Sahara 135, Prism Lotus (wool, bamboo, silk blend) in color Highlands, Muench Touch Me in any earthy color, Malabrigo and Manos de Uruguay in anything earthy and Trendsetter Blossom # 106.

Can you tell I have a thing for yarn?!

I would like some Crystal Palace circular bamboo needles in any size other than 8 or 9 (5, 6, 7, 10, 10 1/2, 11, 12) and I'm always in the market for some more Knit Picks needle tips in sizes other than 4 or 5, as well as more cables (I'd like a 40").

I don't have any knitting magazine subscriptions, but I would certainly like to get Interweave Knits one of these days. Until I do, I just read them at the library and copy any patterns I want at work on the copy machine :) I also like Knit 1, Spin-Off, and Knitscene.

Specific patterns I've been wanting are on my Wist :D

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I want to start playing with double knitting and colorwork. I also want to learn how to Navajo ply on my spinning wheel.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Well, does casting on about 8 times, knitting a few rounds then ripping it out in increasing frustration...make me a sock knitter? I thought not. I'm trying! Really, I am! I am now up to my instep, but the toe is so large, I could fit both my feet in it, lol. I've re-cast on with different yarn and different needles and am trying a cuff-down sock at this point, but I've stopped right before the heel, because the ankle seems too big. Might need to frog again :(

My foot measurements are: 10 1/2 inches long, 9 3/4 inches around at ball of foot. I wear a size 10 wide or 11 regular shoe, depending on the manufacturer.

I also have a very big head, lol... 23 1/2 inches or 60 cm around. What can I say, I'm of swedish decent and I'm just all around big :D

23. When is your birthday?
February 16, 1973.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes indeedy :) I'm fragglefemme on Ravelry!