Are You A Drinker With A Knitting Problem?

That's what a co-worker asked when I mentioned that I was meeting some friends for drinks prior to Bobaknit night. A drinker with a knitting problem - sounds like a good blog name to me.

Contest!

Knitty Otter is celebrating her 200th entry with a contest! To enter, you need to answer the questions below - answer either in the comments of her blog, or link in the comments to your own blog where you answer the questions.

1.) How long have you been knitting?

I learned how to knit as a kid - I might have been 7 or 8 at the time. I never really completed anything except a plaid sweater for Eloise, my dachsund. I made a matching hat (with earholes) as well. I stopped for over 35 years and picked it up again just under 3 years ago. Now I can't stop (see "Drinker With A Knitting Problem", above).

2.) How long have you been knitting socks?

I knit my first socks early in the winter of 2006. Just plain old stockinette out of Barefoot from Mountain Colors.

3.) What do you do with a problem like Maria?

Send her on a wild goose chase in some Austrian alps. That'll keep her outa my hair. And my stash. Stay out of my stash, Maria.

4.) What is your all time favorite sock yarn?

I am SO behind on sock yarn; I have some Socks that Rock (Little Bunny FooFoo) that I bought at Stitches 2007 that I haven't tried yet. I've used Claudia's and Koigu, Regia and something else I can't remember. I need to get going! I'd say my favorite to knit so for is Koigu. Purty colors.

5.) Toe Up or Cuff Down?

Haven't tried Toe Up yet - the patterns I've chosen just haven't called for it. But they're next in line to check out - I like the concept a lot.

6.) What's your favorite color (this week or for all time)? Do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I gravitate toward colors that remind me of Fall in Vermont. Warm reds and browns, olive greens, gold-ish yellows. Though I look terrible in yellow so the only place I'd wear it is on my feet. I'm a big fan of green too. I really don't care for Easter-egg pastels. Blech.

7.) Do you have a pet(s)?

It's a good thing our property is small. Otherwise I'd adopt every damned animal that came my way. But since space and cash are limited, we keep it to 2 dogs (Trouble - Beagle, Riso - English Setter) and one old, crotchety 19-year old cat, Miguel. Oh. And lots of ants. Too many to name.

8.) Babies: Oven Roasted or Barbecued?

Barbecued - it's too hot to use the oven.

9.) Besides socks what is your favorite type of thing to knit?

I love making sweaters but lately I've been obsessing about lace. I've got a couple of projects in mind; mostly lacy scarves.

10.) What's your favorite scent?

Antonia's Flowers Tiempe Passate. It's spicy and kind of sexy but still light and not at all overpowering. Antonia gave me some a few years ago as a gift and I still have nearly 2 bottles left. Yum.

11.) What music are you really loving right now? Like a song or a band?

Hmmm. For workouts, I like Aerosmith and Big and Rich. For just listening, Angelique Kidjo (if you ever get the chance to see her live - go. She's fab).

12.) How many pairs of socks have you hand knit?

I don't know really - maybe 9 or 10 pairs?

13.) What's your favorite treat? Salty or Sweet?

If I had to choose between salty or sweet, I'd go for salty. But I lurrrvve ice cream!

14.) What was the most interesting thing you smelled yesterday. Not good or bad necessarily, just the thing that stuck out most so that you actually took notice of it.

The smell of tomato stems as I picked some cherry tomatoes yesterday and brushed against them. Not necessarily pretty - it's kind of strong and bitter - but it just screams 'summer'. So I love it.

15.) Needles - DPN's: Wooden, metal or plastic?

So far I like wooden, but I do have a set of Addi DPNs in size 0 that I like a lot. Not as slippery as you might think! I just picked up 2 pairs of KnitPicks Harmony DPNs - haven't tried them yet.

16.) What is your favorite sock pattern that you've knit? What do you recommend?

Cookie A.'s Hedera. A nice easily-memorized repeat - a nice introduction to something beyond ribbing. Monkey is on my list.

17.) The last Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island who would you want with you, what knitting would you want with you and would you ever want to leave?

Oh, I'd definitely bring my husband. Since I still like him and everything. I'd probably want laceweight to keep me occupied if it's a tropical island, or Malabrigo if the island is somewhere cold. And I'd totally want to leave - I like the outdoors but I really like indoor plumbing.

Still Knitting

I've been pretty monogamous with the knitting. Actually I've been working on 2 projects - does that make me a bigamist? I've done a few more repeats on my Haruha Scarf.

It's a nice pattern; a 12-row repeat but pretty easy to figure out. It's going slowly only because I'm really focusing on Arianne. Here it is:

I've completed the body and arms, and I have just joined them and I'm working on the shoulders and yoke. In case you're wondering, while I am short, I don't really have stubby little arms like that - they're 3/4 sleeves. I should be done with this one pretty soon!

Garden Shots

The zucchini continue to take over:

These are not small. A 4th one joined them before I cut 'em all up for dinner last night. We only have 7628 more on the vines.


Save meeeeee!

Some hot peppers and grape tomatoes:

The Pak Choi is doing nicely, thank you.

And if we survive the zucchini, the cucumbers stand ready to attack.

Cucumber trellis - not a bad 2nd life for a beat up old step ladder! Use what you've got right? And keep it out of a landfill.