The Skeptic Continued and SP9 Questions

I found it interesting how many of you have your own skeptics! Could it be a knitter thing?

Chris asked what his original nickname was going to be. I had though Mr. DIY would be funny. Partly because he is a total do-it-yourself kind of guy, to the extreme. How extreme? When we bought our house, we had a small leak. Did we call a roofer? Nope, The Skeptic went right up there, ripped off about 6 feet of shingles, then came back in and said he might need to get a little help. He dives headfirst into all projects and home repairs with gusto, figures it out as he goes, and while it sometimes takes forever, he does do an awesome job. The funny part was I used "DIY" the other week and he had no clue what it meant, the other reason I thought it would be a funny name. But, he didn't like Mr. DIY and when I he said "The Skeptic" I thought it was better than mine, so The Skeptic he will be.

Speaking of home repairs, The Skeptic has one of his least favorites this weekend: window repair. Why is our window broken you ask? One guess......yup, Little Man. How did he break it? Now don't worry, because he is just fine, but, he broke it with his head. He was bouncing on the couch and went just a bit crooked. Amazingly, he had one tiny cut that barely bled, and was more scared than hurt. The funny part was that in order to get all the flakes of glass off I had to vaccuum his head off. Not many kids can say they broke a window with their head!

Now, on to my SP9 Questions:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I'm definetely more of a natural fibers person. Love wool, alpaca, and silk. Not a fan of acrylics. I'm okay with some novelty yarns, like ribbon, just not the really furry/gaudy stuff.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a straight needle case that my grandma made for me, and a crochet needle case for my double points, but since it's really for crochet needles it's too short so they always fall out. My poor circs? Jumbled up in a bag!

3. How long have you been knitting? How did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I started knitting a few months after Little Man was born, so that would be close to three and a half years. Geez, it seems so much longer than that! My grandma got me started, and then I've learned everything else from the Stitch and Bitch Books and all of you lovely bloggers! I'm intermediate, I'd guess.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yup! right here

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
lavender and citrus, but only the all natural stuff like you'd find at a coop/natural foods place. I'm allergic to most synthetic stuff.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate! And nuts too.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I'm learning to spin and bought my spinning wheel last summer, although with the boys it's been very neglected lately. I bought a new sewing machine this summer which I love!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like classical, jazz, folk and folk/rock the most, but I'm pretty much open to anything that's not mainstream pop. Yup to MP3's.

9. What's your favorite color? Any colors you just can't stand? Wow, that's hard! I'm really into the pink/brown or blue/brown combos lately. My least favorite would be the "baby" pastels, as well as yellow and purple (although I guess I like those colors for the boys, just not me). Oh, and although I love each color separately, I hate pink/purple varigated; reminds me of Barbie dolls :-)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I've got two boys, 3.5 years (Little Man) and just about 7 months (Knittybaby), and a husband of almost 9 years (The Skeptic). I've got two cats, Arthur and Basil, and a greyhound named Gracie. Little Man loved SP8 and thought all the chocolates were his :-)

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to all! I couldn't make it through a Minnesota winter w/out them, especially my scarves. I made one poncho, but now I think I'm kind of getting tired of the poncho thing and I pretty much wear it only around the house (its Rowan Big Wool, very warm)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I love to make socks! I also like to make stuff for my boys and sweaters for me, although I haven't actually finished one yet. They are both UFO's. Felted bags are fun too.

13. What are you knitting right now? A sweater for my youngest, socks for me, my raglan sweater. I'm getting ready to start Christmas sweaters for the boys.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes I do! :-)

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Usually circular, addis or bamboo, but the more slippery bamboo like Crystal Palace. I also have a set of Denise needles that I love. Oh, the Knitpicks Options are cool too.

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

17. How old is your oldest UFO? 2 years. It's the Barbara Walker Learn-to-Knit afaghan. There are 63 squares. I'm only on 9!

19. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Other than yarn, patterns and CD's, I'm an anti-collector. I've been trying to de-clutter the past year, not that it seems to be helping much. All my new spaces keep getting filled with toys and little boy clothes :-)

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'd love to get my hands on some of the great handpainted sock yarn coming out of all the Etsy shops lately, or "Socks that Rock" as I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I subscribe to "Vogue Knitting," "Interweave Knits" and "Spin Off." I could use size 2 and 3 24 inch circular. Books, see my wish list.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Lace! And although I've practiced on cable swatches, I've yet to make an actual garment.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I love to knit socks. Size 8 shoe, length 9 and 3/4 inches, circ below the calf about 10 inches.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 3/29

Thanks, SP!