The Summer of Yarn Love swap on Ravelry was so much fun, we're doing it again this fall. You can find my
questionnaire for that swap on this blog as well.
1. Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?
I crochet. I used to knit about 40 years ago but haven’t been very competent at picking it up again. My crocheting has been random in my half-century of living. I started at age 5 and kept it up through college, then dropped it for 25-30 years. Started up again this year when I quit smoking. Something about keeping my fingers busy and spending my pocket change on yarn instead of cigarettes is working.
2. Do you spin? What type of spinning do you do?
No, I don't spin. But I am becoming intrigued at the idea. Maybe in a few years when I retire….
3. Are there any other crafts that you participate in?
I have created wedding bouquets. I have decorated cakes. I have done needlepoint in the distant past. I have also upholstered small furniture, done batik, embroidered and can sew. I don’t have room for much more than crochet in my apartment nowadays, but I am pondering taking up macramé. You name it, I’ll try it!
4. Are there any types/brands of yarn that you are dying to work with but haven’t gotten a chance?
Well, if I haven’t worked with them, then I don’t know, do I? I keep hearing about Noro and Malabrigo and Sea Silk but I have no idea why they are desirable. Since swapping, I have ventured into soy and bamboo blends and those are working out nicely. There are some shiny satiny yarns that look interesting for hats. (Maybe that's Sea Silk?)
5. What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?
Baby clothes, hats, bags, new things untried as yet.
6. What are your favorite yarns/fibers?
Soft ones. Pretty ones. I love heathery, rich colors. I have a lot of odd skeins of Debbie Bliss in a variety of greens and fibers. I would like to somehow pull all those together into cohesive projects, maybe by adding additional skeins in coordinating colors for each fiber combination, enough so I could get a hat or scarf out of it. See my stash.
7. What are your LEAST favorite yarns/fibers?
Wool-linen blends. Scratchy wool and scratchy acrylic. Don’t care much for black and white. Also don’t care much for Red Heart-type variegated yarns.
8. What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to start this autumn?
What I am working on right now is a secret. (See next question.)
This autumn I will be making a Tunisian crochet throw in lavender llama and a pillbox hat made from embroidery floss (see my projects on Ravelry).
I also have a huge long list of presents to finish by the end of the year holidays, things like
- a snitch and crocheted flipflops for DD
- a crocheted Yoda for DSIL
- some zombie dolls for an 18-year-old friend
- some fish-shaped sacks for little boys’ marbles
- some stuffed animals for some toddler friends (a monkey and a teddy bear)
- a set of penguin bowling pins
not to mention the Odd Ducks group swaps on Ravelry where there are some pretty interesting projects aborning.
9. What is your favorite FO? (Please, post a picture if you would like.)
It is my handmade item for the Swap on a Budget swap on Ravelry that is due on August 24, 2008 to arrive in my spoilee’s hands. Once she has it in her hands, I will post a picture on my Ravelry project board, so look for it at the end of August. It is my proudest accomplishment to date.
10. What is your oldest UFO?
Just recently I happened upon an old project bag containing a vest that I had started with some hand-dyed chenille yarn. I think I was on Round 2 when I put it away and forgot about it. That would have been about four or five years ago, I think. I can’t remember for sure.
11. Are there any knitting/crochet techniques that you would like to learn?
Oh, yes! I’d like to learn to knit again but I’m afraid I’ll have to do it the way you teach children, with huge knitting needles and chunky yarn. I have the chunky yarn. I’d need the huge needles. If there’s a pattern that uses both and creates a child’s or baby’s cap that I could give to charity, so much the better, because the chunky yarn I have is earmarked for charity.
I’d like to learn every crochet technique there is, including:
- Painted Crochet
- Filet and Beaded Filet
- Irish lace (I mean really, not the imitation kind I did for my Swap on a Budget project.)
- Hairpin lace and broomstick lace – I did this long ago using a real broomstick. I don’t own a hairpin lace contraption that’s needed to do the hairpin lace.
- I’d like to learn to tat. I have tatting shuttles but don’t know how to use them.
- Bruges lace
12. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Not yet. Don’t knit yet. I have been known to crochet a sock or footie now and then and I love self-striping sock yarn for toy projects like the dodecahedron. I wear between a 7.5 and 8.5 shoe (39 European).
13. Do you have a yarn winder and/or a swift?
Nope. Don’t have room for a swift, but a small yarn winder might be nice.
14. Where/how to you keep you needles/hooks?
I have a rollup case for my regular sized hooks but I need another one for the tiny steel hooks. They’re in an old wooden box that has a faulty catch and they keep getting spilled all over the place.
My knitting needles – what few I have – are at the bottom of a drawer and at the bottom of a plastic bin in my closet.
15. Do you collect anything?
Dust and practical penguins, jellyfish and lady bugs– no stuffed animals or knickknacks, please. Per my self-imposed household rules, it must serve a purpose or I can’t keep it. (Jewelry serves a purpose. So do stitch markers.)
16. What is your favorite type of music? Are you MP3 ready?
I love almost all music, with a few exceptions. I am a classical pianist, so love that genre and instrument. Also love harps and Celtic music, in fact, any ethnic folk music. I'm not a huge hard rock fan, but I love the classic music from my generation's youth (fifties, sixties, seventies). I like a lot of indie bands I've heard, believe it or not, techno and otherwise. And jazz. I have even been known to move my body to a little rap now and then -- as long as the lyrics aren't completely offensive to women and parents.
I am MP3 ready times two. I have an ipod and I have a Juke cell phone that triples as an MP3 player but I’ve never used it more than a phone and a camera.
17. Do you like sweets? What are your favorites?
I can’t have sugar because I am borderline diabetic. I love the following sugar-free treats, though: Russell Stover chocolates, especially the “turtles”; Whitman’s chocolate-covered almonds; Baskin-Robbins hard candies. Also love macadamia nuts, cashews and any low-carb snack such as jerky.
18. What is your living situation like? Any pets? Children?
Very small, cramped apartment for DH and me. Grown, married daughter far away. Two late middle aged fur daughters (cats) living at home.
19. Are you allergic to anything?
Cats – yes, I know. I refuse to kowtow to that allergy! Penicillin. Supposedly wool, but I’m thinking that was just a prejudice my mother had because it’s scratchy. I do find it scratchy, though. And perfumes. This one I do kowtow to. Unscented candles and truly natural oils/fragrances, please.
20. Do you have an online wish list (Amazon, Etsy, Loopy Ewe, etc.)? Please include links for your swap pal.
Etsy
Amazon
DaWanda
21. Are you having a birthday during this swap?
Nope. May 16 if you're taking notes.
22. What is your Ravelry ID?
MyOwnIgloo (aka MOI)
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