SNY-vaihto on lähtenyt niin mukavasti käyntiin että päätin osallistua Secret Pal 10:iinkin. Jatkossa siis kaikki päivitykset muuttuvat kaksikielisiksi. Tämä kyselykaavake tulee nyt ainoastaan vieraalla kielellä. Lukekaa jos huvittaa vaikka se onkin etupäässä tarkoitettu vaihtoparilleni.

    This is my third Secret Pal I'm joining - very exiting! Not counting the Spin me a Treasure-swap that just ended. Hey, I'm becoming a pro...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
    I love many aspects in a yarn. Softness, color, texture, feel, thickness. Merino, either pure or  blended with angora, silk, cotton, alpaca, cashmere, even with some nice modern microfiber are my choices. I haven't knitted with pure cotton, simply because the ones I've seen are hard and unelastic. My gauge is rather loose, so knitting cotton yarn gives a very open and holey fabric. Eyelash, fringe and other froufrous don't really interest me either, nor acrylics.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
    I have a beauty case, the old-fashioned kind with a handle on its lid. Needless to say it's a merry mess inside!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
    I used to be advanced - that was about twelve-fifteen years ago. Then I got trouble with my shoulder, arm and back, and was not able to use my hands for years. I started knitting again about 2-3 yrs ago. It's going slow, but as they say about bicycling, you never loose the skill. I am slowly working myself up to par! I learned to knit when I was 8, but I didn't really enjoy it until I was 17. All in all, before and after the hiatus I've been knitting 20 plus years.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
    Glad you should ask! One is with Amazon, the other with YesAsia. Email me and I'll give you the details.

5. What's your favorite scent?
    Clean and/or woodsy. White Linen or it's knock-off  Fresh Laundry. Adore closet sachets in the ballpark of "Sea breeze". Also Verveine (it's a very French scent, I don't know what it's called in English). I love sachets, but not scented candles, soaps and the like.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
   
Fruity and chewy, like Skittles and Jelly Beans.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
   
I spin a lot! I have dabbled into dyeing yarn, and would like to explore it more. (Drool over Landscape Acid Dyes.) I make collage cards, and collect odd things for them, pieces of pretty paper,  dried flowers and leaves, old (love) letters, pieces of lace, the like.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
   
Classic 60's-70's: Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary, and their modern counterparts like The Smiths. I could listen to CD's on my laptop, but usually I don't... I like it quiet at home, and take the music to work.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just *can't* stand?
   
No black, no bright basic colors, no turq, no bright white. I love charcoal grey, and most other greys, berry colors, burnt orange, soft muted blues and blue-greens. I adore pink, soft to medium, raspberry pink, mauve, and soft whites. My darks are midnight blue and really dark bittersweet.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
   
Hubby, no pets

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
   
All of them. It's very cold where I live. Think ice and freezing temperatures. Summer can be nippy, too.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
   Cardigans, sweaters, tank tops. I am toying with the idea of crocheting an opulent free-form skirt - we'll see about that.  I don't like to knit anything really "useful", like socks, or mittens, even though I certainly need them most of the year.

13. What are you knitting right now?
    Pretty gloves in soft blue angora and alpaca. Top-down raglan in charcoal grey energized singles yarn from Habu. Mermaid Gloves in cream cashmere-silk from Silk City Fibers.
   
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
    Oh yes! And I'm a sucker for any vintage knitting/sewing-related items, old buttons, lace, floss, vintage knitting patterns, fabrics, ribbons, purse handles - anything to pimp up my knits!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
    Circular or dpn's. I have a lot of aluminum, and only a couple of sets dpn's in bamboo. But I think I have enough - maybe if I got thick yarn, I would need fat needles, but I'm good for now.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
    Yes, both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
    That would be 2-3 years. It was actually the first thing I knitted when I was able to pick up knitting again. It's a fitted cardigan. I made it on a vacation, and once I returned home my life took a turn to hectic and I never had the time to sew it together. Well, next time I took it out, it wouldn't have fitted anyway as I had put on some extra weight...

18. What is your favorite holiday?
    I live in the country and get to enjoy each season fully.  I don't like holidays as a rule, they disrupt my regular schedule, but I do like Thanksgiving. I like to give my thanks and count my blessings and spend four blissful days doing nothing in particular. (Go figure.)

19. Is there anything that you collect?
    Any cards in credit card format: metro cards, phone cards, hotel key cards, gift cards, used or unused. Plastic sleeves for those are hard to get these days, too! Also anything vintage knitting / sewing related stuff, see above.

20. 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 subscription to IK, and am considering IK Crochet. I'd really like to try Koigu and Socks that Rock, and all those fantastic handpainted rovings (Spunky Eclectics Almost Solid series) or yarns (Alchemy, Lorna's Laces)  that are next to impossible to get over here.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
    Not really. I'd like to perfect the ones I already know.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
   
No, I don't knit socks, but I do drool over the gorgeous ones that I keep seeing in blogs and magazines. I wear a size 8 shoe (38,5 Continental or 5.5 British).

23. When is your birthday?
   
July 31st.