Mary talked me into it...

I was actually lusting after a 12" Ashford Knitter's Loom, but outside of making potholders, and a brief stint with a badly warped inkle loom, the only weaving I've ever done was in a class at NCFF. So the $55 made a lot more sense. It looks to be a good little learner loom*, which will arrive in 1-2 weeks, and if it all works out, I can upgrade later.

If it doesn't, I'll blame Mary.

*the link is to an identical loom, except the name is different... and the price. I don't care if my loom is labeled for kids... that should mean that I can figure it out...

Mary's Tag

My friend Mary is playing a game of blog tag, where she asks 11 questions, which the *tagee* answers, and then asks 11 new questions for the next person. Mary is not tagging other bloggers, preferring to let them decide whether or not to play. I decided to play. I'll answer her questions, and then add 11 of my own. If you want to play along, you can answer my 11 questions here in the comments, or on your own blog. If you want to answer Mary's questions, here's the post.

Mary Wants To Know

1. a/ Did you know you can knit in the round on straight needles? and b/ Would you ever try doing that, or just look at the person who suggested it like this is crazy, and wave a circular needle in front of his/her face?

I know about I-cords, which is knitting in the round with only a few stitches on straight needles. If the technique works with more stitches, that would be wonderful- so much better than trying to divide 24 sts on dpns. No crazy looks from me.

2. How many real-life, physically-near knitters do you know?  Seriously, I have like 3 local knitting friends and one of those is a friend of a friend I've never met in person.  The others I met online and would be lucky to see once a year.

For a long time, I didn't know any other knitters in person except for my sisters, but I have a wonderful knitting group now. We meet about once a month for a lovely afternoon of knitting and talking and drinking very good coffee. I also know many knitters/spinners/weavers/fiber folks through my Guild and from the local Fiber Fair. Also, I have taught several young ladies to knit.

3. Process or product knitter?

It depends entirely on why I'm knitting. If I'm playing, it's Process. If I'm working on a book or article, it's usually Product. But really, it's a combo of both. And the fact that I really really like knitting.

4. Chocolate or maple fudge?

Maple frosting, chocolate fudge. However, I would choose white vanilla Heath Bar Fudge over chocolate any day.

5. Form or function?

Form, though not to the exclusion of function

6. If you like a pattern in a magazine and buy it so you can make it, do you take the time to photocopy the pattern or just cart the magazine around in your knitting bag till it's all bendy and dog-eared?  

Always scan and copy. In fact, sometimes I redraw the charts to use my familiar symbols, or to enlarge it.

7. What about if the pattern is in a book?  (side note: one time I was knitting something from a book that I hadn't taken the time to photocopy and then suddenly had to go and spend an open-ended amount of time by an hospital bed in an emergency and Lannie wrote out the pattern for me by hand.  Even though she doesn't knit and had no clue what all that coding meant, just so I wouldn't have to cart that heavy book around on top of everything else.

Especially if it's in a book. I don't like carting heavy things around with me.

8.  Do you have a non-knitting friend who 'gets' your knitting enough to write out a pattern for you?  Lucky!

My daughters in law would do it for me in a flash! Yes, I am very lucky!

9. You're going on vacation: what's the first thing you look into?  a/ airline safety b/ clean socks and underwear c/ a book to take along, or d/ what knitting to bring?

Amazingly enough, I rarely knit when I travel these days. Usually I'm going somewhere distant to teach knitting classes, so by the end of the day, I'm too pooed out to pick up needles for fun. Since I'm a prop and throw knitter, there's just not enough elbow room on a plane for me to knit comfortably. I make sure my Kindle is charged and full for travel.

10.  What's your favourite way to cram exercise into a busy day?  I was reading about this town in Europe where business people go to lunchtime dance parties in a parking garage to get in some cardio and I would totally do that if I didn't routinely work (which sometimes means 'knit') through lunch.

I just do it- 45min-1 hour, 6 mornings a week. I can't run right now (Achilles tendon problem), so I walk on the treadmill. I used to listen to books while treadmilling (I heard probably 20 books over the winter), and now with my Kindle Fire, I watch streaming video- I've seen Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, The Tudors, and I'm in season 5 of Primeval. Makes that time go very quickly. I've never understood how people exercise over lunch- I sweat too much, and it takes me easily an hour to cool off after exercising. Luckily, I get to set my own schedule.

11. Preferred movies to knit to: a/ romantic comedy b/drama c/ western d/ action e/ sci-fi?

I will knit to anything that doesn't take my full attention, as long as the pattern isn't too difficult. If I'm knitting lace or cables, I prefer music.

_____

Okay, now for my 11 questions. If you want, you can answer one or all of them in the comments, or you can take the whole bunch to your blog and answer them there and keep the game going. If you do move the discussion to your blog, please leave a link in the comments so I can see your answers:

1. Have you ever been abducted by aliens?

2. Do you come here (to this blog) for the knitting, or for the paper dolls, or for American Idol Recaps, or for some other reason? 

3. What's your favorite spring flower?

4. The Monkees were a much better band than they ever got credit for. Discuss.

5. What's your favorite candy?

6. What other needlework do you do? 

7. Is Facebook a Tool of the Devil, or The Greatest Thing That Ever Happened?

8. If you are a knitter or crocheter, what is your favorite yarn?

9. Why should I not buy a loom? Seriously, why not?

10. Do we know each other in person?

11. Which place to you like to visit the most?