Secret Pal 8 Questionnaire

✿I have signed up for the Secret pal 8, which I’m very excited about.

Over the time I have been reading blogs, there has been many mentionings of the secret pal and other such type set-ups. Basically, you put forward your name, blog, secret email address and you are given the name/blog/secret email address of someone else, and someone else gets your details. Then there is a period of 3 months, over which you should contact your Pal 3 times per month (via secret email, snail mail or gift packages). There is a limit on how much you should spend on your pal also.

It’s basically a nice way to get to know other bloggers out there, and to give and receive emails mail and gifts.

So we should be hearing about who our secret pal to spoil is in the next couple of weeks and in order to give the person who gets my details a bit more information, I have been sent a questionnaire to fill in. Everyone who is in the programme is doing this so when I check out my Pals blog, they will also have this filled out. We also have to update out blog regularly, so that our Pal has loads of information about us!

Also unless something is let slip on a blog, we don’t know who has us until the very end. Hence the name “Secret Pal”, in case you hadn’t guessed!! ☀

1. What is/are your favourite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

☻ Love love love Noro, Rowan, Debbie Bliss and Lorna’s Laces.

Like linen/cotton blends and by themselves. Unfortunately I’m a bit of a yarn snob and love the best of them and don’t like acrylics, fun yarn and yarn that feels scratchy ☺

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

☻ My boyfriends sister gave me some lovely body shop smellies for Christmas in a beautiful box, and its just the right size for all my dpn’s, circulars and miscellaneous like pins, measuring tape, needle sizer etc. This box is then housed inside another box, which is a white wooden box that I picked up in a charity shop many years ago in the UK when I was living there. It has black metal handles on the sides and black clasp to the front. My straight needles lie inside the box to the front of the Body Shop box. When the Body Shop box is in that box, I take the circular needles out and put them beside it, but if I am away for a few days and feeling like I may need more than one change of needles (dpn’s or circ’s) I use the smaller box.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

☺ I have been knitting for as long as I can remember, and since I was about 19 I have gone through many stages of knitting and not knitting. I have gotten back into it again since last October (2005) and this time I think it has stuck!

I think that I would be intermediate level really, although I tend to go for short projects, mainly because almost as soon as I cast on for something, I’m thinking about starting something else (and I admit it, I tend to just go ahead and cast on for that too! Hence I usually have a lot on the go at the one time)

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

☻ I have an Amazon wish list, my secret pal can contact me for it if they wish?

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

☺ I like fresh smells, nothing overpowering. My favourite oil to burn is Clary Sage. I also got my hands on a fresh linen candle recently, one of those ones that you put into the oil burner instead of water, and put a candle underneath and it melts as it heats and gives off a lovely fresh smell. I also like lemongrass oil; vanilla and other fresh type smells! It’s hard to describe a smell, isn’t it? Basically nothing overpowering, I’m not one of those people that rushes out to buy the latest smelly cleaning product to hide odours, I prefer to open the windows and doors.

Bath products, again nothing overpowering, natural smells like strawberry, mango, vanilla, and coconut….

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

☻ Why yes I do thanks very much! For anyone who knows me, I was off chocolate for lent and it almost KILLED me! My favourite chocolate is Green and Blacks, virtually any type, milk or dark. I like milk chocolate like aero bars, dairy milk, crunchies, fudge, I love white chocolate also. Milky Bar yumm.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

☺ I have a spinning wheel (recently acquired) but I haven’t learned how to use it yet, but am dying to try! I’m going to get a few lessons first, get started properly.

At the moment all my craft time is taken up with knitting but I also do some beading, I make beaded angels and made beaded hair clips for my sisters wedding, and have made lots since. I also do mosaics, and although lapsed recently (due to the evil knitting), have made mosaics for about 5 years

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
☻ I’m very open to all kinds of music, except for country music and techno music (although I do confess to buying the Walk the Line CD and enjoying most of it).

I like Franz Ferdinand, The Beatles, The Jam, The Killers, Norah Jones, Abba, David Bowie, Depeche Mode (early stuff) Kylie Minogue, Katie Melua, The Kinks, Gorillaz, 80’s music

I have a mini-disc player and my PC/stereo/DVD plays MP3’s

9. What's your favorite colour? Or--do you have a colour family/season/palette you prefer? Any colours you just can't stand?

☺ I like greens, pinks, red’s, blue’s, oranges. Not very fond of yellow for some strange reason!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

☻ Boyfriend of 2 years (this month!). Live apart (for perhaps one night a week), I own my own place outside of the city (my country pad) and he rents an apartment in the city (my city pad as I like to call it). I don’t have any pets at the moment but am hoping to become the Mammy of a kitty in the near future.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
☺ Yes to all except ponchos

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
☻ Hats, bags, items with a quick result! I like knitting in the round mainly.

Recently did my first socks and excited about so many sock patterns now

13. What are you knitting right now?
☺ Oh my oh my. Where will I start?

♥ Blossom bag from Simply Noro

♥ Pair of socks for my bf, interweave pattern

♥ Fulled Lopi Tote from Hello Yarn

♥ Yoga socks from Just Jussi

♥ Fulled Bowl from One Skein

♥ Future plans: Jaywalker socks

♥ Future plans: Pomatomus socks

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
☻ Yes please! Unhandmade are also nice.
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminium, plastic?
☻ bamboo circulars or addi turbo’s

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
☺ I own a yarn winder and it comes out to play often!

17. How did you learn to knit?
☻ I think a mixture of in school and my Mum and Gran

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
☻ Only about 3 months old

19. What is your favorite holiday?
☺ Christmas

20. Is there anything that you collect?
☺ what, you mean apart from yarn/knitting books/patterns?

Hmm, more yarn, boxes, boxes to put yarn into, bags, and things with flowers on them.

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 have a new subscription to Interweave, but haven’t received my first copy yet. New subscription also to Simply Knitting as I keep missing the release date to the shops.

☻I ‘d love to get my hands on some of the sock yarns that I keep reading about in blogs, like Socks that Rock, Koigu etc.

☻Lantern Moon needles, yum

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
☺ knitting socks with 2 circulars or the magic loop method

☻ I’d like to learn some crochet also, there are some really nice patterns out there that I drool over, then realise that they are crocheted.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes. Size (UK)4 shoes,

8.5in/21cm around ball of foot

9in/23cm long

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

☻09/29

posted by tangelled angel @ Thursday, May 04, 2006