Lacevember Questionaire

I thought I'd join up with Lacevember (since, you know, lace is what I seem to be knitting recently), so I made a button and sent in my request to join. (hint: the pic in the button? It's a portion of the Anya scarf!)

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting?

I've been knitting for about a year and a half now. I've been blogginb about knitting for almost as long.

How did you learn to knit?

My then-roommate's then-fiancee (now wife) was a knitter, and she asked if I wanted to go to the yarn shop and sit in on a sock-knitting class with her. I tatted and crocheted at the time, and had tried unsuccessfully to learn to knit before, but watching her learn how to do heels, I became determined to learn for good. Soon after, she sat me down and taught me one cast-on and the knit and purl stitches. I forgot how to purl when I picked it up at home, so moved my hands so I could watch the knit stitch from the back of the work, and figured it out from there. Turns out, that's all that kept me from learning to twist my purl stitches, which she had a habit of doing :) Thanks again, K-the-knitter!

Favorite thing about knitting?

Not only to you get to play with string, you get something usefull at the end of it! Honestly, just having an excuse to buy all that yarn would be enough for me. The FOs are an added bonus.

How long have you been knitting lace?

Goodness... about half a year. The first serious (i.e. not a swatch) piece of lace I finished was K-the-knitter's wedding shawl, then I cast on for Frost Flowers, then Anya, then Emma, and now Icar-ish and a few other doodles.

Favorite thing about knitting lace?

I like the manipulation of positive and negative space possible with lace - it the holes can be the foreground or the background, the stitches can frame the design or pop with texture. That's amazing to me.

The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn?

I love KnitPicks with the passion of a thousand burning suns, but my favorites right now are a 2200yd skein of alpaca gossamerweight I got off Etsy ($20!) and some hand-dyed wool/silk laceweight in EnchantedForest by chewyspaghetty (also from etsy). And I have a special, special lust for the one skein of Fleece Artist mohair I was able to get in Houston (they had more, and one day, oh yes, I shall return for it).

variegated or solids for shawls?

Probably the semi-solid colors, where there's just enough variation to draw your eyes into it.

Favorite lace color?

Wine red. Hands down.

Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights?

I prefer circs, if only because they're easier on my wrists and I can sharpen the hell out of them (usually).

Favorite lace knitting trick?

Splicing, and the stretchy (russian?) bind-off. As soon as I figure out turning corners in-pattern, I'm sure it'll be that.

Lifelines? If so with what?

Every vertical repeat, on non-scarf items. Usually with cheap-ass crochet cotton.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet?

Pfft! Save that money for yarn! Stick some pins in the carpet!

Pattern, or can you follow directions

Shawls or lacey items?

Shawls so far, if only because I haven't found lacy items I fancy.

Triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls?

Yes.

Charts or printed instructions?

CHARTS. CHARTS CHARTS CHARTS. If you give me written instructions, I will chart them.

Favorite lace you've knit?

I'm pretty damn fond of Emma, but I think it'll be the Wings of the Moth shawl when it's all said and done.

Favorite lace you want to knit?

I want to design, spin and knit (or just design and knit) an honest-to-goodness wedding ring shawl. Until then, I just want to shrink Wings of the Moth down a scootch, so I can finish with 800 yards.

Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor?

Marshmellow and buttered popcorn. Together.

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red.....

Great fun at parties, tried to invite the cool kids from America.

Coke, classic or with lime?

I actually like both, but I prefer Dr. Pepper.

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves?

I hate carols. I hate that they start playing them before halloween, that they play the same kitchy ones over and over again, and that you can't get away from them if you decide to leave your house and buy food.

What is the definition of irony?

When the cat won't eat the soup you made, then goes and drinks out of the toilet.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

All of them.

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door?

Military coup in his stomach - they have to put the old dictators somewhere.

What is your superhero power?

I've actually thought about this one before. I want the power to make things teleport to where I am. "Damn, forgot my keys." "Oh, no! We're out of milk!" ZOT.

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be?

Blue and green. Make an undersea adventure of the place!

What's for dinner tonight?

Grilled cheese and tomato soup with milk.

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain?

Nothing. The water's just claustrophobic.