KnitWerk

Whoops—haven’t posted this yet. Here goes:

1. Are you a yarn snob?
“Snob” is a strong word, but yes, I do prefer high-end yarn (Mom owned a yarn shop—blame her). I do appreciate what a good synthetic like rayon can add to the drape of a natural fiber, but I otherwise prefer all-natural.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I haven’t tried spinning since I was a girl and made a miserable, curly mess. I’m interested in trying again as an adult, but I hardly need another hobby. I know how to crochet, but do so rarely.

3. Do you have any allergies?
I’m allergic to dogs and cats. I’m not a smoker, so I find the smell pretty awful.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since I was very young—5 or 6, or something like that. I didn’t do much of it until mom bought the yarn shop, where I worked after school through junior high and high school. I did a lot of knitting in those years. Mom and I knit to about the same gauge.

5 Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yikes—I just checked, and my Amazon wish list is 3 pages long. There are a lot of business books in my queue, but they’ve lately started to get edged out by knitting books.

6. What’s your favorite scent?
I’ve never thought much about this. I like lavendar, pear… a lot of stuff.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Dear me, yes—but I’m doing the low carb thing right now. I can be immediately swayed from diet virtue by caramel, chocolate, English toffee or coffee-flavored treats.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like to sew and make jewelry. Does painting count? I love to paint with oils. I also play oboe.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
Latest faves include The Shins and Iron and Wine. The Pixies were in concert on tv last weekend, and it transported me back to Surfer Rosa days (note to self: replace archaic 80’s cassettes with iTunes). I love my iPod.

10. What’s your favorite color? Or—do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
Purple and red are my favorites (and anything in between, like fuschia, burgundy). I’m a “winter,” and my favorites are cool jewel tones that are a bit muted (I like eggplant vs. royal purple, for instance).

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live with my husband and our little cat, Wilson. Yes, I’m allergic (see #3), but he’s definitely sneezeworthy. I take lots of allergy medicine, and have trouble with sinuses, but we fell in love with my oldest stepdaughter’s kitten when she lived with us last summer, and we wouldn’t give him back. She generously (reluctantly) allowed this to happen, and is currently looking into cloning options. My younger stepdaughter is up north, going to college among the redwoods.

12. What are your life dreams?
Holy cow, I don’t know. Lately they’ve been wrapped up with my business. It would be great to get the business to a point where we could go on a long vacation to Europe.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I like classic DK weight yarn in natural fibers. I adore the look of handpainted yarn, but I tend to enjoy them more in the skein, rather than knitted. Clapotis is a nice way to use the variegated yarns…

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not like?
Cheap acrylic

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I’m making my first pair of socks as practice for my Sockapalooza pal’s, and I’ve got several more pairs planned. I started Clapotis with 16-20-year-old stash, but it’s sport weight, and I’m not happy with the drape. I’ll rip it and carry something else along with it. I love scarves and shawls, and am planning a second one of those, too. I’m also designing a couple of sweaters right now.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Sweaters for me, though I haven’t done much of that lately.

17. What are you knitting right now?
See #15 above.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I like them, though after knitting three for Christmas presents, I’m a little tired of them. There’s stash set aside for mine, though.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circulars for everything, including socks and armwarmers on the Magic Loop.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
My faves are Addi Turbos. I’ve decided to collect at least one pair in each size.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Newly-born, yes.

22. How did you learn to knit?
I think my mom showed me (it could have been one of my grandmothers).

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
It’s a burgundy and black wool worsted mosaic turtleneck from the 80’s, and it’s a good and true thing that it was never finished. I’m going to enjoy the yarn once it’s frogged.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like cats.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Old wooden type blocks, musical instruments.