SP9 questionnaire

I have signed up for SP9, my hostess with the mostess has sent the matches, I will be sending to Dana, and now this questionnaire must be filled out

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

I love knitting with soft, plied, wool and wool-blend yarns, fingering to heavy worsted weight. The best ones are yarns that knit up on US size 5-8 needles. I am a very loose knitter, even though I am improving in how I hold the yarn to tighten up my socks, but I like the way that I knit naturally better, without any finger looping. It may be loose, but its easy to pick up and put down.

I find much less pleasure in knitting with majority cotton or majority acrylic yarns. I don't have any interest in them, as I live in a cold place and sheep make wool without petrochemicals. Also, I find that cotton yarns seem to make my hands hurt over time.

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

My Denise needles have a case (an original, red case, as I inherited an incomplete set from my paternal grandmother). The DPNs go in a Piddleloop pencil pouch (that Jennifer made just for me!). Straight needles are theoretically contained in my grandmother's ancient needle case (when I learned how to knit, my aunt gave me the knitting things from my maternal grandmother that had been in storage for more than 10 years), but they tend to just pop out of the woodwork, probably because I never use them and they seem to want attention. I have fabric for making needle cases, but I have yet to actually deal with the sewing machine to do it.

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

I learned to knit at a free Saturday morning class at Coldwater Collaborative in Excelsior, MN, December 2002 when I was home from school on Xmas vacation. My grandmother (paternal) tried to teach me when I was a child, but she got frustrated that I was messing up her knitting project, and I didn't want to learn that way. Or something. It didn't end well and there was a knitting truce.

I consider myself an intermediate knitter. I have yet to make a sweater, but there isn't anything that I've tried that has totally daunted me. The only thing that scares me about knitting projects is that I have the attention span of a fruit fly.

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

I might, but its terribly out of date. If you really want me to put something together, I could.

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

I like mint and other "wake up" smells, but for the most part, candles and bath products are wasted on me. I use Dove bar soap. I have unscented antibacterial hand soap. Candles are just asking for me to start the 21st century Chicago Fire. Also, if I were to light candles, they would be unscented tapers on the dinner table, either white or color coordinated with the centerpiece/dishes/linens/room, in basic glass or heirloom silver candle holders. I do like chapstick though. =) That isn't very exciting.

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

I have a serious sweet tooth. I like dark chocolate and milk chocolate. I think that Hershey's is too waxy. Dove Promises (those little foil wrapped ones) are a staple item in my coworker's desk (where I put them so that there is some shame if I eat 374329 of them in one day). I also love good gummies. Take 5 bars are really, strangely, good. If you are in Australia (or maybe Cost Plus World Market), they have Starburst Gummy Babies, TimTams and Picnic candy bars. All of which are really quite tasty.

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

I spin, mainly on my Lendrum wheel, and I teach a class in basic drop spindle technique at Arcadia Knitting. I like handspun yarn and I find it to be magical when wool turns into yarn.

I also dabble in embroidery on dish towels. This is mainly because my mother loves dishtowels and seems to be fairly ambivalent towards handknits. I aim to please and have my creations appreciated.

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 non-traditional, lyrics driven, upbeat, rock-and-roll bands and singer-songwriters, I think. Here are some artists that I like, maybe you know how they fit together: Down the Line, Barenaked Ladies, Indigo Girls, Cowboy Mouth. My computer can play MP3s

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I love blue. Blue goes best with: red, purple, black, gray, green, cream, white

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

I live with a non-knitting roommate. I have a mom, dad and a younger sister. They are super. Mom's a nurse, Dad's in sales and my sister is studying biology with a second major in globe trotting and a minor in chemistry. She is going to be a doctor, and then probably do relief work in an effort to see every corner of the globe. I love my sister and wish that I had been more adventurous and less focused in school. My parents have a golden retriever named Baxter, and my sister's cat named Magic lives there too. She tries to hiss at the dog and adores my mom, when my sister isn't home.

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

I wear scarves and mittens. Someday I will make a hat that I like, but until then, I have some handy dandy ear warmers that do the job. Ponchos are difficult to wear and look ridiculous.

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

I like to knit small things with forgiving relationships with gauge; baby booties, wrist warmers, scarves, hats for my sister (her head is so large, it is virtually impossible to be too big), pot holders, bags, mittens (but only after the matching hat/gauge swatch has been made)

13. What are you knitting right now?

Right now, I am typing. Currently in the queue and on the needles are a mitered square blankie, a mitered square pillow for the knitting guild brown bag exchange, the Brioche Bodice from IK Summer 2006, a gauge disaster Baby Surprise Sweater, some small-child socks, a shawl from Helen's Lace... there is probably more if I dug in the tower-of-yarn.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes.

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

I like bamboo and plastic, dpns and circulars.

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

I've got both, thanks.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Going off of that list above, from the summer. I started a baby/cat blanket in January 2005 out of LB Homespun. It is more than half-way done and it is very likely that it will never be completed. I might call it done, bind off, and give it to the cat though.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

When I was in school, it was Casimir Pulaski day. Now, it is the Thanksgiving to New Year's season that I love, with Christmas as the high point.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Besides yarn and wool? I collect state quarters, pressed pennies, Christmas ornaments and embroidered patches from places I visit

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 foresee some experimental entrelac in my future. I have bought the patterns for Lanai and the Fiber Fish Mittens. They both have good entrelac instructions in them. I consistently buy Interweave Knits at the store, because they always get mangled in my mailbox. My old roommate gives me Vogue Knitting sometimes, but I wouldn't purchase that one.

I covet those neat metal tubes that you can slide your in-progress sock knitting into. Most of my dpns are in the 7" range.

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

I'd like to find some more in-depth mitered knitting information, mostly for the purposes of the blanket and pillow projects.

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

I have tried to knit socks. I buy sock yarn. I would not call myself a sock knitter. My foot measurements are: 9" around the ball of my foot, 9" around my ankle, 9.5" toe to heel.

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

April 4

So there it is, just in the nick of time to meet the deadline.