Ok, here are my answers to the secret pal questions.
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?
I’m a bit of one, but because of living in the UK, I don’t get to see any US yarns, so wouldn’t be opposed to any at all. I do prefer something with natural fibres in it.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I don’t spin, but I do crochet a bit. I’m in the middle of a crochet scarf from Rowan 36, but it is sitting and waiting till Autumn…
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Not really, although I am asthmatic, so smoke is a bad thing, as are some cheaper perfumes. It leads to expensive tastes, but my bathroom shelf looks nice with the Chanel on it 😀 I also have a wheat intolerance (which I’ve only just discovered, so I’m trying to work out what I can and can’t eat).
4. How long have you been knitting?
I learnt when I was about 8 or 9 and knitted blanked for My Little Ponys 🙂 Then I stopped for ages, and only rediscovered it last Autumn.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do – just look me up under bryonyramsden at hotmail dot com.
6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love vanilla, raspberry and melon. I’ve also been known to like a nice coffee candle 🙂
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
A little. I’m trying to avoid for the most part to lose weight, but I am really partial to Green and Blacks and Dairy Milk. Only if it is around the house tho!
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like sewing clothes from patterns and gardening. The gardening is a bit lazy thanks to my studies, but I love raising chili plants if only for the colours and the variety. The sewing is a bit sporadic, but I love the idea of making something no one else haves 😀
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
The pc can play mp3s, and I also have an mp3 player (one for cds and one for mp3s themselves). I have quite a broad taste: some jazz (blue note stuff and some Louis Armstrong), some classical (Satie and Rachmaninov, but I also like Philip Glass and Michael Nyman), some indie (the Vines, Stereolab, the killers, Franz Ferdinand), some dance (Chemical Brothers, Fatboyslim), and some good old girly singer action (Kylie, Fiona Apple, Kathryn Williams).
10. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I love soft natural neutral tones. I have a really strong tendancy to wear black a lot, so when I knit I seem to be drawn towards colours more, which I feel weird doing but there you go. I suppose the best way to describe this is to say what I have in my stash – taupe, black, jade green, light yellow leaf green, dark mauvey purple, light lavender lilac, dark tweedy grey green, olive green. The lounge is done in a lovely almond white, with navy sofa and armchair, while the bedroom is done in soft light blues (with a nice creamy laminate on the floor). Never realised how many greens I had in my collection 😀
I despise neon colours. Be warned…
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have one long term boyfriend, no pets, no kids (too young and fond of my money for that!). We do feed the birds in the garden though, and try and encourage some of the rarer species to feed as the UK is losing a lot of bird breeds 🙁
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Bloody hell! Just to get through it and have no regrets. A long reliable loving relationship, lots of frienships, and not have hurt anyone. No use for this quiz essentially…
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I usually buy Rowan stuff, as, again I’m limited as to what I can get or afford. I have tried Noro – lovely effects but not that great to knit with, sometimes worth it for the projects. I also use Sirdar when the purse strings are tight. Oh and I have two hanks of Colinette Point 5 that I love using so far.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Eyelash yarn, even though I’ve bought it in the past, but that was just to experiment. It depends on the eyelash yarn tho – I like the fur ones, but not the neon ones with bits of string in them and stuff. I also hate knitting with pure acrylics, although again this depends – I knitted that cushion cover in Wow, and that’s an acrylic chunky velvety type thing, but I had that jumper I frogged in black acrylic chunky because the garment felt like plastic 🙁
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Having too many projects! Erm, I’m into tank tops at the mo (see bloom from Rowan 36 for the type I mean). Otherwise I don’t have any grand passions. Just lots of wants from Rowan patterns.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m not sure again (sorry!). I definitely prefer garments, but I’d like to make a throw for the bed or the lounge when it gets chilly (there is a gorgeous one in Knits for the Home made in Point 5, that is simple but effective). I get bored by too much stocking stitch, but if I like the finished item enough then I’ll put the effort in. On the other hand, I don’t want anything knit up with stripes or lots of colours, unless its a bag (this is easier, saying what I don’t like!) or a scarf. Anything really fussy is bad, because I have a big bust, and lots of pattern on that is not good (says she who is knitting Lucky from SNBN!).
17. What are you knitting right now?
Ok, I have a list on the blog, but for now:
Bloom (rowan 36)
Lucky (snbn)
Lace cami (weekend knitting)
Point 5 herringbone scarf
shrug (scarf style)
A sock from Opal
A rug from oddments (see Erika Knight’s New Knits)
18. What do you think about ponchos?
Rubbish 🙂 I hate them – they look ok on some people, but in a year or two, those same people will be veeery embarrassed 😀 And they certainly don’t look good at all on me!
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I don’t mind. Either is good if it does the job and doens’t snag.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Same again, although bamboo is more comfortable for me. Usually depends on the yarn I’m using.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
The one I’m knitting now is the second of my first pair. I’m not sure yet how many I’ll make, but I like looking at the finished one 🙂
22. How did you learn to knit?
My mum taught me 🙂 Many moons ago, and I decided that making big holes in the said pony blanket was rather clever of me 😀 She knitted all the time, hand and machine, so I really wanted to learn.
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Oooooh, that’s a tough one… I think it would be my socks, which have been on the needles since before Christmas. At the moment its a bit unfair to judge me by that seeing as I’ve been studying rather than knitting! The others are recent enough to have been set back by the coursework, but the socks are just plain laziness/procrastinating in order to give the other projects priority!
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like Family Guy and the Simpsons and Futurama (I bought DB the wind up Bender :D), the Mr Men (Mr Messy is the best!), Ranma and Totoro, and Rex the Runt. I think at the mo, Totoro is my fave.
25. What is your favorite holiday?
I’ve not been on holiday much, so I think the one and only hol I had with db would be that – the trip to Prague. Such a stunning place, and so welcoming – it felt like home as soon as I got there. Good beer too 😀
26. Is there anything that you collect?
I’m trying not to collect anything, as I want to get rid of clutter in the house a bit more. I think I’m just a yarn collector at the moment…
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I’m a member of Rowan, so I get their magazines automatically, but I also buy the uk magazines Simply Knitting and Knitting magazine. I’ve a copy of winter Vogue Knitting, and the first 2 issues of Knit1.
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
See my wish list on amazon for that. Its much easier! Although I haven’t added on there yet that I’d like any of the harmony knitting stitch guides. I’d like to learn more about how lace stitches and the like work so that, once I get used to using the Ann Budd pattern books, I can start designing my own stuff 🙂