Previously I couldn’t get this yarn to knit up without pooling in horrible puddles… Garter stitch however, has solved it and I now have a project to use the remaining ball after the 1 sock incident*….

Have been tagged by Sareth to do the 7 facts about you meme… Never been tagged before, so here goes!

The rules are:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

• I’m an Actionette
• I love knitting but worry that it takes away drawing time
• I’m an only child – there you go Sareth!
• I have dreams that go back to, sometimes years later, and can travel from one to another whilst dreaming.
• I’m a terrible procrastinator for no particular reason.
• I *need* 9 hours sleep a night and prefer mornings to evenings. M can go on about 5 hours only and is a night owl… go figure
• I’ve recently tried out Morris Dancing (!!). It’s great fun

The 7 people I’m tagging are: Acechick, Flibbertygibbet, tutti fruiti, Annarella, Xtreme-Knitting, Picperfics and Orata

Part One: Crafting
Do you knit, crochet, or both?
Knit, try to crochet.

What do you like to make? Do you have a favourite project?
I’m drawn to patterns with textured stitches and use small needle sizes!. This makes me a bit slow.. Just finished this, and then picked up this and the difference in speed is amazing!. The project I’m most pleased with so far is Cyd as I wear it a lot, The Box Stitch Jacket as, although it took an age, is perfect for my mum so made me happy, taking part in the last blanket as I love the fact it’s a joint project with a little bt of everyone in it.

Do you have a favourite type of fibre or brand of yarn?
Just knitted something in Jo Sharp’s Silkroad Tweed – lovely, but sadly not easy to get hold of in the UK. Don’t really have a fave brand. Love tweeds though.

Do you have a least favourite type of yarn?
Sneezy yarn (eyelash or dingly-dangly stuff) or anything that splits too easily.

Do you do any other crafts?
I’m a designer by trade so I love making things; drawing, sewing, cooking, gardening on the balcony (wishing for an allotment again), dancing and not strictly a craft, but love reading

What knitting do you bring ‘on the go’?
If the project I’m working on is at a small enough stage, I’ll just take that. Otherwise I have a couple of baby things I need to do, and we’re doing another blanket swap at easter so maybe a square of that.

What do you carry your ‘on the go’ knitting in? Do you want something new?
A handy bag I use was given to my by someone at Foyles knitting group – it’s from Japan and may be a wash bag, but it’s small, roundish and has a drawstring – great for small projects. Bags are always good; small & simple

Are there any knitting gifts (book, toy, yarn, item, tool) that you have been lusting over?
Will have a think…

Part Two: Your Favourites
What is your favourite colour? What is your least favourite colour?
I like groups of colours; pinks / oranges together, greens / blues together with a plain colour such as grey or brown. Don’t like Royal Blue at all – makes my eyes go funny

What scents/smells do you like? What don’t you like?
See below. Spicy and woody are good, but I don’t like vanilla as a scent.

How do you like to pamper yourself? (bubble bath, hand creams, massage, manicure)
Baths are always good… The Thymes Fig Leaf & Cassis, Lush’s Flying Fox & Smitten are faves…

What goodies to you like to treat your tummy with? (chocolate, biscuits, truffles, etc.)
Dark chocolate (Mayan Gold, Mint, Orange or those ones with Rose / violet creams) and cheese, heh… I’m a sucker for trying regional stuff to; if we go away anywhere I’ll more than likely pick up some Brighton Rock, local Cheddar and honey or suchlike..

Do you prefer tea or coffee while you knit? Any particular kind? Favourite mug/cup?
Both – tea in this teapot, coffee in the Cath Kidston cup & saucer I got as a gift.

Do you listen to/watch anything while you knit? (TVshow-Along, movies, music, podcasts)
Haven’t yet mastered knitting-without-looking (more than a stitch or two) so listen to the radio mostly (R4) and just discovered CraftLit…

Part Three: Living & Pastimes
Where do you live in the UK? (General idea not address)
London

Have you always lived here, or did you grow up somewhere else?
Always

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Japan during the cherry blossom festival, Seville when the almond blossoms are out, Argentina and Patagonia!

If you couldn’t go to a knitting group, what other kind of gathering would you go to? (book club, tea party, yoga class, jewelery class, etc.)
Often go to book group, tea parties, used to go to Spanish class and try and go to yoga… oh & the pub of course!

What’s your style? (elegant, traditional, glamourous, girly, natural, sporty, outgoing, etc.)
Tricky question. Not girly, but do dress up for my life in the Actionettes. Not sporty but like walking and yoga. Try to be natural – organic, local stuff – but also liking the high-tech – blogging and Ravelery!

Final Part:
Any allergies/preferences (fibre-wise or treat-wise)?
Vegetarian, but unless you were to send sausages I can’t see this as a problem!

Anything we missed that you’d like your partner to know?
Don’t think so, but get in touch with your own questions should you have any

A question posed to us by the SP8 hostesses:

Someone has stolen your stash and all your books: now what are you going to do? What would be the first thing you’d replace?  What would you live without?

Hmm… I was just going through it yesterday and somehow it has jumped from being under control to ‘arghhh.. I can’t shut the lid of the box I could never imagine filling…’
So while it would be a pain, it would get rid of all the odds and ends that I don’t think I’ll ever get around to using, but can’t bear to just sling out; the ‘learning’ yarns – colours / thicknesses I would never pick out now… The single skeins of beautiful yarn bought thinking I could make something out of just 50m of it – not paying attention to shade / lot number before ripping off the labels…
I would miss the Colinette sale yarns (Prism / Mohair) as they were a good bargain! and also my Rowan Yorkshire / Felted Tweed.

Actually losing the books and patterns collected from various magazines would annoy me more. Seems like more hard work to start that over again… The book I refer to over and over (so I suppose would be the first replace) is the Harmony guide to knitting and also Vintage Knits (Sarah Dallas) and Vintage Style (Rowan).

Needles? I wouldn’t replace the short circs I have as I now can cope (just!) with dpns as long as I use bamboo, and I probably wouldn’t miss the larger size needles, as I tend to use 8mm and below more often…

And anyhow it would be a good excuse to go yarn shopping all over again! (yarn *is* covered by household insurance right?)

Despite looking very dead over the winter my Clematis Montana survived to have hundreds of pretty white flowers… yay! for spring…. We went over the visit Mika, the newest of my friends’ babies to be born (that spring thing again..) and made her some ‘left & right’ bootees..

Ok, here are some of the answers to the questionnaire for Secret Pal 8 (so excited about doing this – always saw other people participating and now I am too!!)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Favourite yarn? hmmmm…I think I like most yarns – I love tweedy ones (with fresh colours) and am always keen to try out some new ones (bamboo? how does that work?!…). I really don’t like plain acrylic – I don’t wear it and there’s that particular red that just makes me on edge!. However I’ve knitted happily with acrylic mixes (ones you don’t realise *are* acrylic!) or yarns that incorporate the 100% fake, ie a bit of ribbon, glitter etc… I tend to go for how a yarn feels… I’ve yet to find a pure cotton I like to knit with… it splits, it hurts your hands (but it looks so pretty when it’s done!)

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
A tin! On my to-do list is to make a needle roll (especially for circs as they get tangled) but, is has been on that to-do list for *a while*

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I learnt from my granma when I was little, but I pulled too tight, my hands were too hot, I gave up… then started again say about 4 years ago and have made a jumper, lace shawl, bootees etc so umm… a learning intermediate?

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yup

5. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Eglantine, Lilac, Vetiver, Rose, am addicted to the smell of Smitten (but haven’t found any other almondy type scented things that don’t smell too marzipan-y). Anything in this scent… Don’t like vanilla though.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Sour sweets, ones with cool packaging, dark chocolate, licorice, peppermints!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I love making things! sewing is become more interesting / less scary to me!.. Keen to make a start on crewel after reading this book..haven’t spun but would give it a go maybe…Oh and maybe amigurumi too…

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
argh – this question is so hard…. it depends if I’m dancing just out and about, dancing with the actionettes, or just listening… ok random stuff I have just listened to recently: Erland Oye, Phillip Glass, Cat Power, The Modern Lovers, Talking Heads, Radio 4 (BBC radio station, not the band!), Portico Quartet, The Be Good Tanyas, Sam Cooke, Antony & The Johnsons, The Streets, Fela Kuti, The Blow Up cd, King Sunny Ade… er.. is that enough?

9. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can’t stand?
No favourite colour but do tend to go for things in groups of colours: pinks / oranges or greens / yellows… and then they might have a weird accent colour added too… Not a huge fan of grey / beige / brown / pastels but they can look great when used with a bright pink  / green / sky blue… I am a pattern nut – plain stocking stitch looks great but bores me… I will go for something like this or this (if I had the patience!)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Living in a flat with M, we have no pets / babies / car but a balcony, bikes and views!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wish London got colder during the winter as there are probably only a few weeks when you really need the whole hat, scarf, glove combo… I do like them though… verdict is still out on ponchos – would be keen to make a kind of spring / summer version for chilly evenings though…

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Anything I think! The bootees were a revelation – they knit up all in one go! only one teeny back seam to sew!. Also I discovered log-cabin knitting, that’s pretty cool… Socks I have to re-visit… I took the swatch, what swatch? route and ended up with a wellington boot size sock – I gave up….

13. What are you knitting right now?
A cardi made from Colinette Prism, a diamond tank-top made from Rowan Felted Tweed…. Actually that’s pretty good – only two projects on the go! ah no – I just remembered… the Orangina top too…

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes! I think it is so lovely that someone has taken the time to make something especially for someone else…. yay!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
straight wood, addi turbo circs, bamboo dpns… have you seen these?! Aesthetically I love multicoloured plastic ones but they are a bit bleurgh to knit with…

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
nope

17. How did you learn to knit?
See above: 3 but a: granma b: books/ internet c: craft club!

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
A year? This one took a year, but I learned a lot 1: swatch, swatch and swatch again 2: buy an extra ball than you need in case it *does* take you so long that in fact they stop making the colour you’re after!

19. What is your favorite holiday?
Spring and summer holidays… oh like Christmas or something? Well all of them I guess! Halloween I can go without… Easter, yay! Bonfire night, yip! Seaside holidays are best of all (this is British seaside btw – big waves, windswept walks along cliffs, ice cream, rock pools to explore for hours, water so cold it makes you gasp!)

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Not really…

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I’d like to try out Lamb’s Pride so I can make the Fairly Easy Fair Isle, oh and I got one ball of Jo Sharp’s Silkroad DK Tweed from New York and I’d love to give that another go – for some reason nowhere in the UK stocks this..I subscribe to Rowan, but look at Knitty, Interweave Knits, Knitscene (new issue out in June, people!), Vogue Knitting, Rebecca, Knit 1 etc when I can get hold of them… Would like to take a look at some Phildar stuff too…

22. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
It’s always good to learn new stuff, but there’s nothing specific at the mo’…

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I had a disaster with the last (one!) I made but will give it a go again, if only I could get rid of the ladders that happen between each dpn… this happened even when I pulled the first stitch of the next needle nice and tight..
Anyhow foot measurements – It’s the length of your foot and circumference just behind your toes tight? ok, L: 27cm / 10 and a half inches, c: 23cm / 9 inches

24. When is your birthday?
May 30th