Secret Pal 5

Very excited and happy to receive a secret email from secret pal V! Please forgive the newness of the blog, secret pal-5. I will try to get my act together and learn some of the ins and outs of blogging (especially including the regular and frequent posts with pictures!).
Here are my answers to the Secret Pal Questionnaire:
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? A bit of a yarn snob, yes. But sometimes the occasional RH and LB skein has found its way into a useful existence!

2. Do you spin? Crochet? Used to spin but no inclination lately since my 18 month old girl keeps me busy and doubtless would find all the fiber endlessly fascinating to deconstruct and decorate the house with. Lately I have been on a major crochet binge. Just got the book 200 crochet blocks by Jan Eaton and highly recommend it!

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Definitely allergic to cats and sometimes to smoke and perfumes too.

4. How long have you been knitting? Of and on since I was 10 (and I am a lot older than that now!)
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? no
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) I like lavendar and citrus scents but I tend to avoid scented products.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? yes, unfortunately.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? A bit of beading (mostly necklaces and bracelets with semiprecious gemstones or crystals), rughooking, crocheting
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) eclectic tastes in music. Yes, computer can handle MP3s
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Pink, pink, pink, like, like, like. Khaki and camouflage (how do you spell that?) don't like
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? One precious daughter almost 18 months old, her father, two miniature poodles!
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) Gee, I don't feel that limber today. Let me think about that one for awhile :)
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I'm not THAT much of a fiber snob. I couldn't pick a single favorite yarn to knit with! I like to knit with all sorts of yarns but in general I am not that good at knitting with very chunky yarns.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Can't think of any that fit that description.
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Thats the problem. I am not currently obsessed with any projects. Most of the time I was expecting my daughter, I wasn't able to knit for her at all (superstition/fear/etc) and now I am in such a rut of not knitting for her I just can't seem to get out of it. That is why I started the blog in hopes that it would help me break this knitter's block. It seems so strange to me since I have knit countless sweaters, booties, hats etc for other people's newborns. Now I can still knit but I just can't seem to make anything for my daughter. Doesn't that seem strange?
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Love to knit sweaters, felted bags, hats, scarves, shawls.
17. What are you knitting right now? A robins egg blue and yellow striped toddler sweater out of an eyelashy yarn that was extremely novel when I bought it at Stitches East over 5 years ago (now of course, the ubiquitous eyelash is practically a bore)
18. What do you think about ponchos? One would think they would be on the way out but somehow they hang around (literally, around one's neck). I have to admit that I crocheted one of the Martha ponchos for a friend. It was actually a big hit and everyone at the birthday party begged to try it on.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circular! Can't go back to straights anymore.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use them all but I guess metal needles are my standard.
21. Are you a sock knitter? Yes, I have made my share of socks. But these days with less time to knit, I think I want to concentrate on something that won't get worn out so much....and that I could give to someone else if I got tired of it...like a sweater or bag, or scarf (who would want my worn smell socks?)
22. How did you learn to knit? Learn to knit from a boxed kit that I received for Christmas one year when I was about 10. I remember the needles were thick, thick wooden needles and the yarn was PINK!
23. How old is your oldest UFO? Now that is just a mean mean question. Its old, really old. Does that make you feel any better?
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Poodles
25. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving and Christmas (yes, that is 2 but when the end of the year rolls around sometimes the holidays just slide one into the other)
26. Is there anything that you collect? Currently, I have decided to decollect so that I can "collect" more space in my house.
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Vogue, Knitters
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? I am always dying to get my hands on any new knitting books. I just can't seem to resist them. They do go out of print so they become even more desirable.

Thanks SP5. Please hang in there as I get my blogging act together.

Now for some regular blogging content....
As mentioned above, I am on a crochet binge. I just used a 25% off coupon at Border Bookstore to get the book 200 crochet squares by Jan Eaton. This book is really fun. All the squares are the same size if worked with the same weight yarn. I have tried out a dozen or so blocks so far and managed to pick one that I really enjoy making. Will have to take a picture of my favorite block. Thinking of crocheting an afghan out of this enormous bag of slightly lighter than dk weight red wool/silk blend yarn that is soft as silk. Why did I have so much of this yarn to begin with? I can't even remember buying it or what it was to be used for and there is enough of it to make 2 sweaters at least so that should make a good sized afghan.

Take that back

Unravelled the whole Clapotis after 3 skeins worth. I just wasn't feeling it. Actually, I was feeling the roughness of the Silk Garden and it wasn't good at all. So the 3 skeins morphed themselves into the multidirectional diagonal scarf which was great fun to knit. Picture to follow....eventually.

Branching out

Decisions, decisions. I bought a beautiful skein of Feza Kid Mohair and a skein of Dalegarn Ara to make a Loopy and luscious scarf from Knitty (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTloopy.html) but then I noticed the "Branching out" (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html) scarf pattern. The branching out pattern calls for exactly 1 skein of Rowan Kid Silk Haze which has the same gauge and yardage as my kid mohair. Should I make the Branching out scarf and abandon the lonely skein of Ara? Surprisingly, the Branching out scarf yields a fairly large (7 inches wide, 78 inches long) scarf which is lovely leafy lace!

Why am I even thinking about this when I am only 1 skein into my Clapotis and haven't even begun the fun dropping stitches part of the pattern yet?

Lace edging for christening shawl. 

Breakfast time! 

It defi-Knitly feels like the right time to start to knit again and tackle the backlog of projects in progress and to blog about knitting and other things.

At the moment, I am working on a beautiful Clapotis using six skeins of stashed Noro Silk Garden. It isn't as silky as it could be since it has some fibrous material in the spin that is a bit rough, however, the colors couldn't be more fun. I even broke out the stitch markers for the occasion!