LoopyKnits

Just took a nifty little five-question knitting quiz from The Knitter’s Book of Yarn to find out “What Kind of Fiber Am I?” Angora, apparently. And here I thought I was plain ol’ worsted-weight wool. :o) Here’s the me-me-me info the quiz puffed out:

Angora - soft and warm

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind.

You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Found via knitting author Donna Druchunas’s blog.

Technorati Tags: knitting quiz

Deborah Knits has a nifty knitting meme modeled on one that’s going around about books. See how your list looks; mine is below. Mark with bold the things you have done; mark with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. (Thanks, DK!)

• Afghan
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting
• Participating in a KAL
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn
• Two end knitting [Feeling dumb here ... I have NO idea what this is!]
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun yarn
• Slippers
• Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
• Continental knitting
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit
• American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
• Knitting to make money
• Button holes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting
• Dying with plant colours
• Knitting items for a wedding
• Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies …)
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with DPNs
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dying yarn
• Steeks
• Knitting art
• Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac tried
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Baby items
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting [Okay, another thing I don't know!]
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public

Technorati Tags: knitting meme, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

Well, very little knitting has taken place lately as I have been:

• busily setting up shop as a Girl Scout Troop Leader (Brownies, you rock!), and
• untangling this.

 What can I say? I like to untangle things. Necklaces. Yarn. Doesn’t matter. Hand me a mess and I’m happy as a clam. (It’s a sickness, really.) It’s the silkiest, softest royal blue boucle with a glamorous sheen to it, and it came free in a mountainously generous quantity from a blogging friend who just wanted to get the tangled nightmare out of her house. (I suspect it was taunting her, as it is starting to taunt me.)

It was actually *way* less tangled when she tendered it to me, but I’ve been poking around in it for several days now, draping it around my neck and patiently tugging and loosening on the knots. I’ve gradually picked out a few tiny balls of yarn. (I snipped it whenever it looked frayed, so I’m now up to about four blue balls of varying sizes. Heh-heh. Blue balls.)

In retaliation, it sits around and tangles itself up further at night.

It is now starting to piss me off, however; I will not be defeated by a fiber! I am starting to think dreamily about cutting the Gordian knot. But no. This skein is going on the edge of the sofa where I don it like a soft blue mule halter and pick out another inch or two of yarn whenever I watch TV. Mindless, yes. And I think I just may do a dance of victory when I’ve finished with this one!

[Update: Sad news. I was defeated after all. I gave up after hours and hours and hours of trying to untangle this. I was afraid my brain would start to resemble the tangles if I continued.]

In the no-other-news-to-report column, I took a silly little quiz about “What Kind of Yarn Are You?” And this is the thanks I get …

You are Dishcloth Cotton. You are a very hard worker, most at home when you’re at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
What kind of yarn are you? … brought to you by Quizilla

Hey … A COTTON DISHCLOTH? C’mon … give a gal some hope!

Technorati Tags: untangled, tangled yarn, knitting quiz, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm

My first meme tagging is here, from Nowhere Nick and his Small Town Rambles blog. Here are my responses on what I was doing in the past and things I know and love:

5 years ago: My children were 3 and 10, I was working in a job with a great title and a sharply critical boss, I made less than half the money I do today, my husband was still working toward his graduate degree, I was depressed about my difficult mother still living with my family, and I was not optimistic about improving my life.

1 Year ago: My youngest girl had just started first grade, my oldest girl had just started high school, and I was feeling optimistic about my diet (ha). We also had just celebrated our first anniversary in our new home. (Difficult mom still in tow.)

5 songs I know all the words to (not proud of all these, mind you):

• Evergreen (I can’t STAND Barbra Streisand, but I loved this song a long time ago and memorized it … *still* can’t forget the words.)
• Puff the Magic Dragon (Don’t know why this one stuck. It’s a sad song. But I love it. Have sung it to my children many times.)
• Rock of Ages (those Southern Baptist roots will show, I guess. But I love this song. It’s comforting.)
• Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (My usual “painting the room, cleaning house, and doing chores” humming song)
• Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog (many nights spent singing this to my children … just a happy ol’ hippy song.)

Bonus song: Here’s one that I **love** but can never remember all the lyrics too. My all-time favorite song: The City of New Orleans

5 Things I’d do w/ $100 million dollars:

1. Pay off all the debts owed by me, my family, and my husband’s family
2. Set up trust funds my children’s education, their start in life as independent adults, and our retirement
3. Set up a trust fund for family members’ children’s education and first home down payments (if enough funding, it would be a gift. If not, then zero-interest loans.)
4. Give substantial donations to the small churches of my childhood and my husband’s childhood.
5. Fund a well-monitored and well-run business incubator organization for entrepreneurs — preference given to minorities and the poor. Would include business mentoring and ongoing support for at least first few years.

In short, I’d try to pay what’s owed, give to those who nourished me and mine, prepare for the future, and try to help people in their efforts to help themselves.

5 places I would run away to:

1. Canada (like the medical care and the society and the nice people and the cold weather … and the knitting)
2. Vermont (some progressive legislation and lovely part of the country)
3. Arizona (to satisfy my Inner New-Ager)
4. Seattle (interests me for many reasons. Seems progressive, cultural, fun.)
5. (The most likely) A cabin in the Smoky Mountains for many reasons, including the beauty of the view, the solitude, the nearby fun things to do, and the fact that it’s still in my beloved South — assuming I could still get Internet access! (Gotta get online.)

5 things I would never wear (or never wear again):

1. Gaucho pants (got enough of them the FIRST time around when I was in high school. See catalog image I grabbed, at right. Yuck!)
2. Spaghetti strap tank tops (too skimpy for my physique, too flimsy for the support this 44-year-old needs)
3. Muu-muus (I haven’t given up yet)
4. Nylon undies (gotta breathe). Don’t even buy them any more.
5. Turtlenecks (too “chokey”). I’ve regretted every one I’ve ever bought!

5 favorite tv shows:

1. The Closer (Brenda is a bitchin’ tough woman! Love her! The actress who plays her is married to Kevin Bacon, which still surprises me. Long marriage, too!)
2. CSI (the original)
3. Medium (can’t wait for it to reappear!)
4. Law & Order (any of them)
5. Comedy Central’s One-Night Stand (one-off shows of various comedians).

5 greatest joys (in no particular order):

• Reading insightful and/or witty books, cartoons, and blogs
• Writing something that expresses my views so clearly I can almost hear the “CLICK” as words fall in place
• Observing my children’s innocence and imagination
• Mastering a new skill
• My husband’s ability to surprise and amuse me and be endearing to me, after nearly 11 years. (Who can stay fresh that long? He can.)

5 favorite toys:

• If you’re talking childhood, I would have said: Tinker Toys, Silly Putty, my Mrs. Beasley doll (see pic at right … another webshot, since mine long ago disappeared), Barbies, and puzzles of all kinds. (Books are a category by themselves — my real love!)
• If you’re talking adulthood, I’d use “toys” broadly for anything that amuses me, including huge jigsaw puzzles, any metal/wood interlocking “brainteaser” puzzles, my laptop (not a toy … but my amusement lifeline!), magnetic word kits (to create poems), and art/craft supplies (paints, markers, nice fat pads of good paper, yarn and needles, etc.).

5 people I’m tagging: Do they have to have a blog? I’d say Gail M., Debbie R., Vicki M., Lisa B. and Sherman H. I’ll e-mail this to them.

Cheers! - Carolyn

Technorati Tags: memes, knitblog, LoopyKnits.com, Carolyn Bahm