Scavenger Hunt - Q&A (Stop Swap Group)

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?

Knit. I've been knitting for 4-5?? years. I'm going to try and teach myself crochet with the help of a friend.

Do you spin? What type of spinning do you do?

No. It scares me, although I have been given a couple of drop spindles.

Are there any other crafts that you participate in?

Beading, Ceramics, Wire working, Charcoals, Pastels, Painting ... But they've more or less taken a backseat in my life since I'm always working knitting or reading. There's just not enough time.

What are your favorite yarns/fibers?

Fibers: merino, silk, cashmere, MCN, alpaca

Yarns: Malabrigo, Madeline Tosh, Wollmeise, Dream in Color, Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs (creator of GothSocks), Cosmic Fibers, String Theory, Sanguine Gryphon

What are your LEAST favorite yarns/fibers?

Acrylics and acrylic blends, most cottons (Not all though. I recently was at an LYS and started to realize not all cotton is as miserable to work with.)

I've banned myself from lace weight. I have like 4 or 5 skeins and I've yet to use them. I tried once and it was too thin. If I try again and get into it I'll revisit lace weight.

I also don't like scratchy wools. I'm not a Noro fan (love the colors but it's so scratchy). Also do not like Araucania

Are there any types/brands of yarn that you are dying to work with but haven’t gotten a chance?
Ummm... I'm not sure. I'm sure there are things I've not tried but I don't know them yet. I'm willing to find out and try them though! :)

What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?
Socks, Shawlettes, and I've been on a scarf kick, but that'll be short lived and result in a lot of UFOs that get ripped out in a month or two

What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to start this autumn?
Currently: Finishing WIPs and about to start a Ravenclaw scarf for the new HP movie

Plans: some Christmas gifts (stuffed dogs for 2 girls, hats for my brothers, pillows for my mom), a Snapdragon tam and mitts set for myself in Malabrigo twist

Are their any knitting/crochet techniques that you would like to learn?

I'm really wanting to learn to crochet. Ronni started to teach me. Hettie has sent me links to youtube tutorials to get me (re)started. I have the SnB Happy Hooker book, but I need to have hands on experience before that will ever help me

Do you have a yarn winder and/or a swift?

Yes to both!

Where/how to you keep you needles/hooks?
I just re-organized my "Room of Requirement" ... So all my needles are together: in the basket I have my interchangeables in a case, my sock DPNs in a roll, and a namaste cozy with my few crochet hooks and 2 dpn sets. I also have the tumbler from the Loopy Ewe anniversay kit holding my straights and a namaste circs case for my circs.

Do you collect anything?

Shot Glasses, Starbucks cards (I have a future art-type project planned for them), Books (I guess)

What is your favorite type of music? Are you MP3 ready?

Ummm... I have a pretty diverse taste in music. I like punk. I guess. I really love the nerd-punk-rock genre (Descendants and Weezer). Ummm my favorite bands are the Offspring, Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, The Thermals... I also like a lot of more "indie" bands (Florence and the Machine was non-stop playing for a while.) I love that indie-punk-raw sound... Currently I'm obssesed with Metric. (Thank you Scott Pilgrim soundtrack). The ENTIRE Scott Pilgrim soundtrack pretty much rocks. I like that sound. ;)

My LastFM profile (it's probably a better way to explain my music)

I own (honestly) like 6 different iPods. I'm an apple junkie.

Do you like sweets? What are your favorites?

YES! Chocolates - especially dark chocolates or chocolates from Netherlands and/or Belgium (but only when it's not so hot they melt in my mail), Lemon (cookies, martinis, hard candies, etc), coffee! (that's a sweet right?), gummies

What is your living situation like? Any pets? Children?

House with Boyfriend and my Pug, the spoiled diva. (He won't drink tap water anymore, and wants ICE CUBES in his bowl). No kids, Rocky would be sooooo jealous.

Are you allergic to anything?

Grasses, some pollens, melons, bananas

Do you have an online wish list (Amazon, Etsy, Loopy Ewe, etc.)?

I do! Links are in the side bar over there ----->

(don't exactly follow that arrow it's up a ways too.)

Is there anything else that you would like your pal to know?

I'm a lot of fun! I swear!

Blech. (or not...)

So I hate Monday... I know that's a cliche, but I do. I also have been dealing with my brother and my boyfriend's angry-depressedish-bad moods, and when I add that to my general state of mind and the fact that I REALLY enjoyed my vacation and time with my friends, I can honestly say that now I'm in an angry-depressedish-bad mood and I pretty much hate the whole world.

BUT THEN I FEEL BETTER! Because I had good mail today. Swap package mail. :)

This came to me from Rubyringz in Texas for the Stop Swap group's "Summer Reading Swap." I am so happy and I love every bit of it. Especially that she sent me salsa. I LOVE LOVE LOVE salsas. LOVE them!

I also got:

• 1 skein of handyed sport weight yarn in blues from Lizzie at the Upstairs Studio
• A handmade soap... This is the best smelling bar of soap I've ever gotten. I may never use it. I may just sniff it.
• Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood (Being the obsessive person I am, I read Oryx and Crake earlier this summer and found myself wanting MORE. Good news is, there is more! YAY!)

In other swappy news I'm planned to sign up for the next Malabrigo Swap, the next term of HSKS is starting soon AAAAANNNNDD... New missions are kicking of for BSG FPB (not a swap -- but I'm determined to get a lot accomplished during this.)

I think I should have a WIP-update post in my near future. Although that would involve some extra time and space for photos. Hmmm.....

That's all for now. I'm going to go and debate whether reading or knitting is a better use of my time.

Souvenirs

I'm not really a big souvenir person, but I do love to go yarn shopping when I travel. Look at my new pretties:

AND LANTERN MOON NEEDLES! The woman at the shop called them "The Cadillac of Knitting Needles" I do love them. So much. I'm working on creating a collection of 10" Straights that are wood. Then I'll get rid of all the 14" long aluminum ones. I never use them anyway.

We spent a lot of time with people that I already miss. My HSKS family is very very dear to me. We ate a lot of good foods, and we did plenty of yarn shopping and there was plenty of all around Harry Potter love and geekiness. Especially at Whimsic Alley. Really it was great fun!

Our guest of honor (the Birthday girl and my bfffl) had a blast too!
(Can't you just tell! She got a Medianoche Sandwich because it's what Dexter eats. )

We also had the waiter take a group shot after dinner. BUT he cut out our newest friend Amanda. :(

Also this is me:

Typical. My best pictures are always the ones where I look funny.

I'm Leaving Town!!!

But before I go!

I finished my Clapotis and it's so pretty!

Conteur de Fortune

Pattern: Clapotis (link goes to knitty.com)

Yarn: Fresh from the Cauldron Silk Sock

Colorway: Alice Cullen

Needles: US 6/4.0mm

Mods: Done to accomodate fingering weight yarn rather than worsted. I followed the "rule" of 1/5s, 1/5 for increases, 1/5 for decreases, and 3/5s for the straight section. I ended up doing 8 repeats for increases and decreases and 19 (!) repeats for the center.

Okay now I'm running off to pack. I'll be back next week with news and pictures of the trip. AND NEW YArNS! Whoooo!

Metric - Black Sheep

So... I'm a very passionate person. I will be totally obsessed for a thing for a while and then I move on. That's why I occasionally gather so many WIPs. Really... It's just part of who I am. I'm either all in or not at all. This is especially present with songs.

See, a "long" time ago, before the knitting and before getting older made me lame (J/K I'll NEVER be lame... or old) I was quite the music lover an music buff. I had friends that had a punk music website. I used to review cds before they were released, I used to interview members of bands I loved it was AWESOME.

PROOF me and Dave King of Flogging Molly

(I'm 16, sunburnt and tired as all get out.. BUT still one of the best days of my life):

Music is still a big BIG part of me as a person, although I've broadened my tastes to include more than the my original genre (punk). So I find myself becoming completely and TOTALLY obsessed with a single song. I talk about it to likt 3 or 4 people non-stop, and well I've decided to start blogging my song obsessions in addition to my knitting escapades.

SO MY CURRENT SONG OBSESSION IS:

Black Sheep by Metric

It's in the new Scott Pilgrim Movie. (In cas you didn't know I'm SCOTT PILGRIM CRAZED!!!) The movie is supposed to be more or less centered around this song. I kid you not I've listened to it about 17 time TODAY! I love this song!! I really LOVE this song.

In Knitting News:

I finished my Scylla Socks.

I'm also VERY VERY close to finishing my clapotis!!!!