Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I applied to go on "The Amazing Race"

I am SOOOOOOO excited. I have been talking about applying since I first saw the repeats of season 1 and for one reason or the other hadn't been able to. Well, I went with my office mate to an open casting call in Cleveland today and I have now officially applied. YEAH!!!! I am so PSYCHED! It was very cool. We filled out our applications, took the requisite photos and then we went today. We had to stand in the cold drizzle for just under 2 hours and then got to wait in line inside of the House of Blues. We were contestants #90 and then had to wait another hour and a half before we got to go on stage and be videotaped. 2 mins to sell ourselves to the producers. YIKES! And guess what I wore???????? My Sexy Knitters Club Baby Doll T-shirt! Yep, that's what I wore. I wanted to show off my quirkiness and be different so I decided to wear that shirt. Kinda cool, don't ya think????? Anywho, we got a good bit of applause and we certainly were just as good as most and better than a few other teams with their on stage presence (some people were really boring and then others were just 'not quite there'). So, everyone keep their fingers crossed. Maybe late summer - early fall I'll be on TV, carrying my knitting with me traveling around the world! Funny, most teams try to rest on those 8 hour train rides, but me, I'll be a knittin' fool!

I was at sit 'n knit last night talking about this and everyone was really excited for me. I said that with my luck, we will have a task where we go to Japan with all those alleys of hand-dyed silk yarn and have to deliver a barrel full of lovely yarn and then NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP ANY OF IT! Can you imagine??? I think that would be harder than bungee jumping!

Can you tell that I am just a LITTLE excited about this?????

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Secret pal 7 questionnaire

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I must admit that I am mostly a yarn snob. I think that quality work (and time) deserves quality materials. With that said, I do own and use some Lion Brand but no Red Heart. Lion Brand seems to be pretty good quality. I do not like the feel of Red Heart products. Does that make me awful?????

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I haven’t done crochet since I was a child. I have acquired a small drop spindle and some roving and I am trying NOT to ruin the poor roving. . . .

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a circular wine box that holds my longer straight needles, I have a few needlerolls, a wall sconce like metal holder for my shorter straight needles and I usually keep my circs in their plastic baggies in my knitting bag.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? Almost 3 years now but I dove in head first, have not looked back and have not put the needles down yet! I would say that I am an intermidate leaning to advanced (just slightly - tee hee)

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? I do indeed and here's where you can find it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=cs_top_nav_wl/102-4162982-9683324


6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) “Clean” smells. Sage/Citrus, Grass, Meadows, etc. . . . and sometimes “spicy” scents. . . . sandlewood, etc. . .. I do not like flowery scents very well.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite Candy? Bring on the Dark Chocolate and raspberries, baby! (either alone or in combo – yummy!) Dark chocolate kisses, dark chocolate godiva bars with raspberry, Godiva truffle (dark chocolate key lime - yum) Do you see a trend here?

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? - I do cross-stitch on linen, pulled-thread and hardanger needlework.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) Swing dance music, big band dance tunes, alternative rock (evanescence, etc. . .), crooners (Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, the rat pack), pop, mainstream country (Shania, Garth, Faith, etc. . .). I also listen to a lot of new age/relaxation/nature sounds/meditative type music. VERY eclectic taste in music. I listen to CD’s and MP3s all the time and NOW I have an iPod so iTunes is my newest craze!

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Growing up it was PINK! Now I enjoy the pinks, lavendars, soft greens and RED! Familywise, I would say either jewel tones or muted earth tones. (Olives + purples, Tans + Reds) etc. . .. .

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married (16 years in August), 1 son (9 years old) and a 2 1/2 year old Pomeranian.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yep! I wear them all!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? I love to make self-striping socks but they do take me awhile. I love merino wool and other “soft” yarns. Love to make quickies with the newer yarns (ladders, ribbons, eyelash, fur, etc. . .) but I like to work with wool also (especially all those beautiful colorways like “manos del uruguay” overdyes). Karabella Aurora 8 is a great example.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Itchy wool. “Harder” fibers – I like my yarn to flow and have drape, even when I am going to felt I use the “softer” wools. I also really do not like the feel of acrylic yarns.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? SOCKs, collecting patterns, knitting with beads and knitting purses (felted and not felted)!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Anything that will make the recipient happy! OK, OK, socks and purses again!

17. What are you knitting right now? Uuuh, socks?! I am also working on a glace neck scarf (STILL working on that), a Zara Sweater from the Rowan Biggie Wool book and a beaded scarf.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Those are the best kind of course!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? CIRCULAR ADDIs are my FAV!

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? If they aren't addis then I like wooden.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I own them both.

22. How did you learn to knit? Semi-self taught with a little help (about ½ hour from a friend) then I took an intermediate class (increases/decreases) and then I took a sock class – all within 2 months of each other!~

23. How old is your oldest UFO? 8 - 10 months

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Disney’s Thumper! I love and use to collect bunnies (stuffed bunnies that is) and I love puppies and I am a cartoon junky (right now my favs are Avatar, KND and The Fairly odd Parents).

25. What is your favorite holiday? I love to give things for Xmas but I also like Mother’s Day, Easter and Mardi Gras.

26. Is there anything that you collect? You mean besides yarn, right? I love precious moments figurines and nursing memorobilia (old nursing stamps, pictures, equipment, etc.) I like coke and coke products (I have the best 1952 add of a nurse holding a coke – YEAH). I also enjoy any knid of unique or different needlework accessories. I am a cardiac nurse and I love to collect anything with hearts or shaped like hearts. Ooh, I also collect sayings. . . . .inspirational little words or just great quotes of all times or silly sayings to make you laugh!

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? – sigh, I only get Interweave Knits by interweave press.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? “Confessions of a knitting heretic!” “Knitting on the edge”. Or anything on my amazon wish list.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I want to learn to lace knit and to spin.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Oh yeah! I wear a size 8 women's shoe.

31. When is your birthday (mm/dd) December 26th! ( I just turned 40!!!!!)

Monday, January 09, 2006

New blogs and a GORGEOUS patterns to boot!

So, I was over at Ms. Harlot's and I read about this new blog see eunny knit. Very entertaining! Yeah for you and WELCOME to the knitting blog world! I will definitely be back to read up some more.

Best thing about her blog? Besides the witty reparte, there is this amazing free pattern for a GORGEOUS lace stole. Ok, so I know that LAST summer was the "summer of lace", why is it that I always get on the bandwagon WAAAYYY after everyone else? I MUST KNIT THIS ONE!!! (Oops, the list is just getting longer and longer for 2006).

Then, while I was at work (yes I was being a bad girl, very bad girl, naughty bad girl. Saucy even. Yes a bad, naughty, saucy girl - Grey's again. Oops! that is my fave episode though) I came across this little beauty of a pattern.

God I LOVE finding cool new patterns and blogs, don't you?