More than you needed to know about my knitting

Polly tagged me. I think as encouragement to blog a little more often. I know I should! But time is flying by and what with seeing friends, giving the husband some attention, doing Welsh classes and trying to get some knitting done, it's hard to find enough time to blog. And hey, if I don't do any knitting there won't be anything much to blog about anyway :)

What is your all time favourite yarn to knit with?
Please can I have 2 answers? One for thicker yarn and one for finer yarn?

If so, it'll be Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran has to be my thick yarn choice and Rowan Cotton Glace has to be my fine yarn choiced. Although Debbie Bliss Cathay would come a close second.

Gosh it's hard to chose.

Your favourite needles?

Addi turbos. Period. There are no better needles. And they mean that I don't poke the person sat next to me on the bus to death. Which I am pretty sure they are happy about.

Pet peeve: they don't do a 2.75mm version which is most inconsiderate.

The worst thing you've ever knitted?
Ah, Maman je suis vraiment desolee de devoir le dire, mais... It'll have to be my pink Anny Blatt fur ball.

Years ago (I was 14 or so) my french neighbour offered to help me learn to knit again as I hadn't picked up needles for a while. So I somehow managed to get my mother to buy this candyfloss pink yarn, some kind of mohair mix if I remember correctly. So imagine candyfloss, fluffy pink yarn in a basket weave jumper. A cropped one at that.

I believe that I just had to throw it out years later. But the guilt still hangs over me.

I think that this is the same yarn but in mine was pink. How fluffy can you get?

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it but it was the most fun to knit.)
I can't believe that I am going to say this but it's got to be the Debbie Bliss alphabet blanket. It was never dull. I love the yarn. You get the reverse side rows which are reasonably repetitive but the right side rows are constantly different and you gradually see this work of art emerging. I really enjoyed knitting this and would, almost, consider knitting another one.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Mmm, not sure. I don't think that I use many techniques as such. Probably the moment of realisation that if you had to decrease 2 sts at either end over 2 rows on st st, you could get matching sts by doing skpo .... k2tog and then p2tog ... p2tog tbl

Best knit book or magazine?
That's really tough because there are so may designers that I love for different reasons. But for sheer quantity of patterns and things that I want to knit in each one it has to be Rowan.

Favourite knit-a-long?

Stitch Ya Neck Out. I love the idea that you chose the yarn and therefore get something that you want back. I know that probably sounds ungrateful but if I have to knit for someone and I have to chose the yarn/pattern, I get really worried that they might not like it / it might not fit etc. The stick ya neck out knitalong was perfect and I got to know 2 great girls in the process:

Diana of Streets and YOs who I knit for and Jacqueline of Serendipity who knit for me.

Favourite knitwear designer?
Debbie Bliss and Kim Hargreaves. Debbie because she has the simplest patterns but does them so so well. And Kim Hargreaves because although she always seems to put out loads of patterns, she never seems to have sacrificied quality for quantity. And they're mostly fitted little numbers which are very me.

The knit item you wear the most (what about a picture of it?)
There are two contenders here:

My Polly raindrop socks. I love them and wear them all of the time.

I shamelessly stole this picture from Polly's blog as her pictures are better than mine.

Then there's my vintage scarf that from Jacqueline. I think I've worn it every day for the last 4 weeks at least.

Which lucky knitter gets this next? ;)
No one I am afraid. I would dearly love to pass this one but most people seem to have filled it in - I must truly be the last person in blog land not to have completed this - and it would take it me a long time to go through blogs one by one to see if there are any blogs out there that I like where they haven't filled this in.

Posted by Amelia at November 21, 2005 10:15 PM