SP10 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Favorite: anything soft like alpaca, LLama, merino, silk, silk blends, soft wool. I do not like mohair all that much. I've gotton hives from working with the raw fleece of mohair so I think I'd better stay away from it. It's not all that soft anyways.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a beautiful butterfly patterned sewing box that was a Big Lots find for a whoopin $5! I love it and it smells like cedar!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?I've been knitting since Summer of 2006. I learned how to knit at the LYS down the street (Off the Beaten Path, www.knitmeone.com) who offered to teach me for free. My first project was a pair of socks that ended up being too small for my feet. I try to take my business there first before hitting the chain BOX stores because I want to support the smaller, independently owned stores. I consider myself to be intermediate as I am almost done tackling my first lace shawl (Wing-of-the-Moth). It's made out of my own yarn of suri alpaca and silk plied together and died a beautiful golden yellow. I am almost done-FINALLY! Some parts of it have been a challenge, but my gauage as loosened up and now I tell others "If your knitting is tighter than it really should be, knit some lace and that'll loosen it right up because you HAVE to knit loose for lace." Live, learn, tell others about it.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? My wish list is mostly here on my blog. I do have a gadgets wishlist on Froggle but I usually can't find everything I'd like to put on it off Froggle. I have a wishlist up on half.com but I don't think it is a public one. I will build one on Amazon.com under username tribbles2000ad.

5. What's your favorite scent? OOOO I love Lilac...but it has to smell like lilacs and not perfume. I am sensitive to alcohol based perfumes. I also enjoy rose, sandlewood, sage, sweetgrass, and wood scents (smells like burning wood).

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Oh boy...who doesn't? I love Reeses Peanut Butter cups, white chocolate covered pretzels, yogurt bars, anything with multi-grains (like Oats and Honey). I love multi-grain foods. Organic milk chocolate is always a nice treat! Dark chocolate makes me sneeze!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I do all kinds. I have crocheted, woven, wood worked, lamp-work (glass beads), worked with clays, paints, making paper...basically anything I can make that I need, I will attempt to do so. I have even made my own knitting needles! Those are on here somewhere...just click the tags crafts or needles. Yes I do spin! I have a Kiwi as it was all I could afford when I wanted a spinning wheel. After I get my drum carder, I plan on getting a Louet spinning wheel. So far my favorite fibers to work with are alpaca, llama, Shetland wool (or Shetland Crosses), and silk. I love silk! It's sooo shiney and sparkly! Me loves shiney and sparkly things! I try to take my buisness to Susans Fiber Shop (www.susansfibershop.com) first before purchasing online. She is another one of those local independent shop owners.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I am all over the board there too. I mostly listen to techno/house/party (no vocals), hard rock (Favorite is Rob Zombie), some tribal ( as long as there is plenty of drumming) and some oldies-but not many. My favorite podcast for music is Podrunner on iTunes. Yes my computer can play Mp3's. I've been trying to get myself a new MP3 player as mine is so outdated that the software that came with it never runs correctly on XP, and Creative will not give me any assistance because my device is so old. Stinkers! I have a Creative MuVo 528 MB...I want the 1 gigger Creative MuVo. I do play the Native American Flute and have built my first CD of 12 songs of flute music. I like to mix the flute music with a techno background loop. You can hear them here: http://www.geocities.com/rexenne/wiccan/NAflute.html
I also play the Djembe and I am currently trying to weave a back strap for that (which is not going very well). I want it to have crows, diamonds in black and turquoise, with the words "Feel the Beat-Create a Rythum-Rejoice" on it in the middle. I am trying to card weave it but I don't think I know enough about cardweaving to do this complicated of a belt. I am gonna have to do some samples to get reaquainted with card weaving (did some when I was a kid but that was sooooo long ago). I also play a Digeridoo and Violin.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I can't stand neon colors...they hurt my eyes. Earth tones are OK, although not something I purchase very often. My favorite colors are the colors of fire and ocean. Course the encompasses most of the color wheel but I like those colors together. So fire colors together would be red, orange, yellow, possibly with a spit of blue and white. Ocean colors together would be most of the blues and greens together. As long as the colors are bright it'll all be good. :)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live with the BF of six or so years. We met on the net in 1997 and I moved to live with him in 1999. Been together ever since. We are not married yet as he has some debt issues to work out first as I don't want nor need to be stuck with them. I have many pets: Luna (Dove-female-2), Merlin (cockatiel-female-4), Zarnan (Russian Tortoise-male-exact age unknown...around 3-4, have had him for about 8 months), Nibbler (African water frog-male-6), Skye (Blue and turquoise Betta-male), various smaller animals like worms (to recycle the garbage), Brine shrimp for treats for Skye and Nibbler, Water Fleas for the same thing, and of course I garden and have some houseplants as well. I have several Optunia cacti for Zar as a treat, and one of those big flowering bulbs that I have had for around 4 years. It's making baby bulbs! I'd like to have a small house dog someday along with a Parrotlet. Oh yes and the RoboReptile...that's a fun toy! In the summer I take care of silkworms (for the silk they spin).

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? No so much scarves...although I could use one this week....brrrrrrrrrrrr. I do use hats, mittens, and ponchos. Lets not forget socks! I wear size 9 1/2 wide shoe!

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks, shawls, and lace shawls. There is always a sock on the needles as they are small and convienent to take with me.

13. What are you knitting right now? Wing of the Moth shawl AND scarf (several actually to gift to several friends from my own spun yarn), a pair of mittens made out of my own spun yarn lined with icelandic yarn (also yarn I spun), Cross over ribbon shawl for my Mum, socks, afghan for Mum, crocheting a charm pouch for a friend out of silk for letting me prune her mulberry trees for my silkworms last summer.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes, of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer circulars, and preferr aluminum. I'm wierd, I know. I've been wanting the knit-picks options set for the longest time. (Big-grin)

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I have a yarn winder, and I really need/want a swift. I made one that is functional, but could use one of those fancy stretch-out-to-the-size-you-need-ones. I could use a yarn meter too.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? About six months.

18. What is your favorite holiday? OOO I love Halloween/Hallows! It's a time to try something different, be someone different, and have no fear of being made fun of. This is also the time of year when I honor my Ancestors.

19. Is there anything that you collect? Unicorns, goddess figures, griffin figures, semi-precious stones (IE fire agate, amnythist, rose quartz, clear quartz, onix, hemitite...etc)

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 don't subscribe to any knitting magazines...I just don't have the money to spare on them. I am DYEING for the knit-picks options. LOL I'd love the Twisted Sister Sock Workbook and I could use something on needle felting fantasy creatures, and knitting teady bear sweaters (or teady bears too). I'd love to get my hands on some Cherry Tree Hill Maple colorway yarn...OOOOooo fire-fire-fire!! Some more sock yarn would do me well. I love knit-picks Shimmer yarn in the Turquoise Splendor colorway. I think that would make a fantastic shawl! I am dyeing for the Crayon box jacket pattern. I can't seem to find it anywhere!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I dunno...I don't have enough knowledge on this subject to really know. I knit what speaks to me, screams KNIT ME!!!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yep-yep! My feet are 9 inches long and 9 in circumference, 9 1/2 at the ankle. I prefer 5 inch cuffs if you plan on knitting socks for me. :) I knit my socks 7 inches (heel to toe decreases) long, and 60 to 70 stitches wide-depending on the yarn I am using. Sock wieght-60 stitches. Worsted-70 stitches.

23. When is your birthday? March 22nd and I'll be 29 this year! WEeeeeeeeee! Where do the years go?? You can learn a lot about me through my blog as I blog on a fairly regular basis.