Secret Pal 5

I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it.

My Secret Pal has emailed me so I thought I'd better put my questionnaire up so she can see all my secrets (to get hold of the really good secrets money will have to exchange hands in darkened car parks)! I'm still waiting for my match to come through but hopefully it'll be in the next few days.

Secret Pal 5 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?
I don’t like anything scratchy but it doesn’t have to be a natural fibre. I’m more swayed by the colour and feel of the yarn rather than what it say’s it is on the label. Soft against the skin is good.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
Learning to crochet, very badly at the moment, so that I can add pretty finishes to various knitted items. Never spun in my life and not ready to learn yet.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Nope.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since I was 4 or 5, so about 32 or 33 years. Way scarey!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Of course. There are work-related books on it as well as fun things. Better go and update it...

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Something smelling of the sea or rainwater. For flowers it has to be honesuckle – I have 5 different types in my garden.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Most definitely. I’m trying to curb it but chocolate has a terrible hold on me. The only sweets I don’t like are liquorice, aniseed, turkish delight and nougat.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I love photography and I’m getting into gardening as ours starts to take shape. I also adore cooking and baking (bit of a gadget princess in the kitchen). Our house is the biggest DIY project ongoing at the moment - when we moved into it our friends described it as having lots of "potential"!

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
My music tastes are rather eclectic to say the least. Bjork, Beth Orton (female folky singers), musicals (Cabaret is a particular fave as is Les Miserables), classic ‘60’s rock, bluegrass and some country (Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss), White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, dance music (Hard House). My DH has an MP3 player but I don’t and I haven’t a clue what to do with them.

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 and more pink (apart from florouscent pink). Also love purples, reds, chocolatey browns, and greens (more on the sea green side than the luminous side). Muted tones are preferable to neon. Not a huge fan of yellow or blue (except for turquoise) and black’s too boring – it reminds me too much of my waitressing days when I had to wear black and white.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Live with my partner, Robert, for the last 7 ½ years – the last 2 ½ of them in an old farmhouse near the sea. The only other members of the family are Wally and George, our two extremely dim, but loveable pussycats. They may not be the brightest but they are highly entertaining and efficient mousehunters. Other wildlife frequenting our garden include deer and pheasants but they’re not our pets – just visitors!

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Just to be happy, creative, to love and to be loved back. It's taken a long time to realise that's what I really want from life - career, money, travel?! They're just things you bump into along the way. If it makes you happy and doesn't upset the folk you care about then that is what is important to you.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I love Colinette, variegated yarns, Rowan All Seasons Cotton, Soy Silk - Oasis. I prefer cotton and silky fibres for touch, thick wool types for warmth.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I really don’t like those fun fur/eyelash yarns. They feel okay in the skein but I really dislike them when they’re knitted up. Not a Noro fan either.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Lace things: cardis, shrugs, tops, etc. Variegated yarns.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Things for me! I tend towards cardis and jumpers; chunky for winter, more delicate for summer. Not that there’s tends to be much difference between the seasons in Scotland – it’s either wet or not so wet!

17. What are you knitting right now?
Lucky Clover is just finished, a Shetland shawl for a friend’s baby that’s due very shortly and a summer cami that I’m kind of making up as I go along.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
Bleuch – done to death. They don’t really work in our climate.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I’m a definite “pit knitter”. My faves are a pair from the charity(thrift) shop that I got for 60p (about 40c) – they’re purple with silver tips.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Not bothered. The pair that comes to hand first usually wins. I do like my Denise needles I got for my birthday.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Not really. I prefer to use the sock yarn to make fingerless gloves.

22. How did you learn to knit?
From my Granny when I was about 4 or 5.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
There was a bikini type top that I ripped back to reuse the yarn for a Clapotis a few months back. It was about 12 years old.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I love the Powerpuff Girls, Cow & Chicken and my favourite animal has to be the cat family, especially tigers.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Lisbon was pretty cool and Vancouver I love. I really, really want to go to Iceland.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
1960’s/1970’s coffee pots – the tackier the better.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Knitting Magazine (UK - I like the articles but the patterns really need some help!), Vogue Knitting International and Rowan Knitting magazine. I also love Knitty.com online.


28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
See the Amazon wish list!