09.03.04 | 4:59 pm
Secret Pal is starting!

A new camera is on its way! I have been waffling back and forth on whether to buy it, but when I realized how much I will use it for documenting research and specimen collections, I decided to spend some wedding money. Besides photographing magnified spores, fungi, insects, and the prairie research area, I can photograph things I am knitting.

Of course that depends on IF I am knitting, since in the past week, I have done exactly 1 1/2 rows on a sleeve, and that was at work this morning.

So not much progress to report, altough it is becoming increasingly difficult to not start on the alpaca before finishing something else.

Casablanca is being projected on the side of the library tonight, so maybe I will knit something then. Warren is also serving beer at a party tonight, so I will have more quiet knitting time. Yep, I'd rather sit at home alone knitting than go to a big party.

I got my secret pal yesterday, and have read her entire blog. Turns out we have quite a bit in common. I am going to have a lot of fun with this.

So, for whoever is my secret pal, here is the question list, in answer form:

1. I am a yarn snob. I can't stand acrylic, although will use a bit for things that need strength, like reinforcing socks. I like plain wools, and soft things that aren't too furry. I am not a brand snob, but use Dale or Nature Spun or Harrisville for just about everything because it is simple and plain and feels good.

2. I know how to spin and crochet, although do not do either much. I prefer knitting to crochet, but will do small things and borders. I like spinning, but not preparing the wool, which is a pain in the ass. I might have been a bit biased when I said I would never spin again. Now that I have tried spinning some commercially prepared merino, I like it a bit more. Knitting is still much more satisfying. I like knitting yarns that my mother in law has spun.

3. No allergies to smells, but smoke is very unpleasant when absorbed into yarn, and so is whatever it is my grandma's yarn smells like, putrid dog?

4. I learned to knit when I was little, at Grandma's, with the stinky dog. I knit a very amoebic thing, and then didn't knit again until I came to college, which was 3 years ago, and have become quite proficient. I liked playing with the ball winder when I was little more than knitting, and wound lots of balls of yarn.

5. I don't have any wish lists anywhere.

6. My favorite scents are things with bergamot, citrus, almond, coriander and mellow smells that aren't overpowering. I also like the way coffee smells when it is being ground.

7. I do have a sweet tooth, mostly chocolate things, but anything rich and meant for enjoyment works. Not a fan of kiddie candy that is just really sweet with that unidentifiable "fruit" flavor.

8. Other crafts? Right now I am mounting insects and glueing them together when they break, if that counts.

9. I like a lot of music, especially sort of mellow emo/rock things you hear on public radio late at night. Some of my favorite groups are Belle and Sebastian, Magnetic Fields, Elliot Smith, Saint Ettiene, and Wilco. I am MP3 compatible.

10. My favorite color is green, trees after rain is the best, but anything except lime, army, puke, and flourescent I count as "good" green. I like fall and winter colors - browns, rusts, greys, and rich colors.

11. I am very recently married, and we have a pet hedgehog. Really a very nice pet, if not as cuddle-able as a cat.

12. Don't ask about life dreams - I have been spending too much time trying to find a Ph. D. program to think of anything else. I want to study the impacts of environmental and agricultural policies in the midwest, and if they could be called successful and what would make them more successful. But I don't want to do only research, although that is all I will be doing for a long time. As far out as I have gone is thinking I would like to have kids within the next 5-10 years.

13. Favorite yarns, again, are the plain simple wools from answer 1. Alpaca and alpaca blends are wonderful, anything natural that feels nice will make me want to cuddle it. I have been seen kissing my baby alpaca.

14. I absolutely hate baby acrylic, and any of the Wal-Mart acrylics. I don't like the really long eyelash yarns much. I also don't like linen - my only experience ended up far too stiff and unpleasant.

15. My recent obsessions have been reworking the design of the DNA cable scarf, whipping off a dacapo, and designing mitered things. I get on a sock kick, fiber kick, or mitten kick every now and then. I really obsess more than anything about all the things I want to do and aren't doing. The multiple direction scarf is one of those things, as is pooling colors, and the three sweaters I have in mind, alpaca hats and mittens, and the list goes on.

16. I like to knit things that are styled very well. Unique things that are interesting for their construction and shape. I always have some small, portable things going, but can easily determine that the large sweater piece is just as portable. If I am going to put as much time into a project as I do, I want it to be worth it and not produce a generic garter stitch scarf.

17. Right now I have on needles a Dacapo sweater, top down raglan, skinny Noro Lily scarf, olive green sock, sheepdog shawl, Katherine's shawl, and a mitten.

18. I am not much of a poncho person. I have a shawl that can button like a poncho from before ponchos were cool. Don't think I could knit something that big and square if it wasn't really cool. I don't think I would wear it unless it managed to not look like a blanket.

19. I will use just about any needle. The really long straights get annoying, but short ones are nice. Circulars are great, and I use them for everything except little stuff, but if the cord is really stubborn and insists on remaining in a small loop, I will use anything else, including warped plastic. DPNs are great for little things, and I like them better than circs when things get small.

20. I learned to knit the first time from my grandma, and don't remember how I re-taught myself. Technique things came from Vicki Square's Knitter's Companion and Elizabeth Zimmerman's books.

21. The oldest Work In Progress is my rusty russian raglan. It was started in April with some wool from the market, and has a sleeve and a half to go. The sheepdog is the second oldest, with some grey and white boucle from Russia. That one is probably going to get ripped and re-designed.

I hope that helps you some, I am off to gather up things for my giftee.

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