....hi!

it's been nearly two months (since thanksgiving, methinks) since i last came up for air on the blog, and almost every day i promise to add an update, post a cute new pictures of me + niknak, wax philosophical on life's unexpected bits, expound on holiday doings, etc. it occurred to me last night that i was born with an unusually large moment of inertia: once i get going on something, i can't stop moving forward; conversely, once i lag for a moment, i'm stuck with every passing day. i just need a good *push* now and then. *pushpushpushpushpush*****...

i'm doing secret pal again (7th series), though my past experiences with pal exchanges would not lead you to think so. when i did krsp3, my secret pal felicity was nothing short of awesome, but the person i was gifting dropped off the face of the planet. in the recent sp6, my secret pal (who gave me the cute rubber stitch markers and the green nature cotton yarn) has been awol since november. i hope this pal swap goes smoothly in both directions! maybe three times is the charm.

here's the requisite questionnaire for prepping my pal. completing the form is liberating, since i can fester unabashedly in my own yarn snobbery. ;) for my non-knitter friends (hi toshi!), don't get too intimidated. you can glean as you go.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?

i am definitely a yarn snob for things that take a substantial amount of time to make, which includes pretty much all personal projects. natural fibers are a must, and if i'm spending so much time to create something, i don't want the yarn to fail the designer's vision or my own knitting skills. (read below for some of my favorite yarns and fibres.) i rarely, rarely use any acrylics, just because they seem so... cheap.

however, i am often seen with lion brand wool-ease thick + quick. they reside on my field hockey sticks, i.e. size 15 needles, and it's a great bulky wool blend yarn that doesn't render me completely broke. very lamby soft, and comes in pretty colors, too! because it knits up superquickly, i want my money to go a long way...

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

the former: no, because i don't have any of the materials and i probably would have no time to even use the wool i would spin!
the latter: no, because honestly (kind of scandalous) i think crochet is mad ugly. there, i said it.

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

i have a fabric case that i got off ebay, handsewn. it has a mod, green + chartreuse leaf pattern all over it, with a black ribbon to tie up. it does its job decently well.

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

i learned when i was wee (my first projects were small pink rectangles to wrap around my woefully underdressed barbie), though i picked it back up in college with the purchase of 'stitch 'n bitch'. since then, it's been about two and half years. i don't know where the scale lies, but i think i'm on the more advanced side of things. i'm quite comfortable with most techniques; i even did kitchener for about 100 stitches to graft the top and bottom of a sweater together! doing cables makes me so incredibly happy.

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

probably, though it may be pretty useless. my material cravings are capricious. :)

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

anything paradoxical and inventive. absinthe and fig. persimmon and lime. chocolate and violets. it's all about the anti-yankee-candle-company aesthetic, if that makes sense. surprise me.

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

european dark chocolate. there is no more to say.

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

sewing and clothing construction, and decorating handwritten letters. i also get a kick out of wrapping gifts. does playing around in photoshop and flash qualify as DIY?

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

visit my radio show and find out! sans serif on wmbr 88.1fm

in a nutshell, everything from experimental to electronic to ethereal to effervescent.

and i am definitely good with music in any format.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

for colors that i wear, i tend to gravitate towards saturated colors, *not* to be confused with brights or jewels. i wear a ton of black, and my skin works well with burgundy, dark purple, those sorts of berry shades. i love green, and i also like beige. i'm pretty much good with any color (wardrobe includes a mustard yellow sweater, a pale yellow top, a cherry red skirt, an army grey-green skirt...), but i tend not to wear blue things except jeans. weird but true.

for colors of objects in general, i love chartreuse (mod green), blues, purples. as long as it's stylish, i'm good.

i tend not to like 'dusty' or unsaturated tones. i also despise jewel tones. ech.

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

i live with three young roomies, no pets. we're the average grad-student-age-kids living in cambridge. the usual.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

i do! i wear scarves constantly, and hats only when it gets super cold.

i haven't owned mittens in years but i wear these cashmere gloves my mom got in scotland.

and pon-chos are no-nos.


oh boy. i will finish the rest of this survey later. must. sleep. now.