A Knitting Meme

Seasons Greetings, all. Here's a knitting meme from the resident knitting goddess, taken straight from Ravelry...

What is your all time favourite yarn to knit with?
Ooh... I'm excited to work with Vickie Howell's Love yarn, which is bamboo, because it feels luscious. But since I haven't worked with that yet, I'll go with Baby Ull, which is superwash and baby weight and knits nicely.

Your favourite needles?
I'm devoted to my bamboo needles from Clover Takumi.

The worst thing you've ever knit?
Ugh, where do I begin? I tried to make the Skully Sweater from Stitch & Bitch using the completely wrong yarn and when I forced the gauge, the sucker could stand up on its own... I ripped it out and have since made several lovely projects with it!

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it...but it was the most fun to knit)
I LOVE the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch & Bitch. It knits up so quickly and is so darn cute.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Circular knitting. Viva!

Best knit book or magazine?
For book, I'll continue to be a Debbie Stoller evangelist and extoll the virtues of Stitch & Bitch, which really helped me finesse a lot of techniques and had some fun patterns. Magazine, I've got to say I miss Family Circle's Easy Knit & Crochet, but I do enjoy the patterns in Interweave Knits - I just have to get up to that level.

Your favourite knit-a-long?
I've only taken part in one, and that was the Mary Reade KAL . She was a student from Virginia Tech who had knitted a scarf for her grandmother last Christmas; someone took that idea and ran with it, and created a knit-a-long where we knitted and gave scarves in Mary's name. I got about three done, but I look forward to another KAL once I finish my current knitting obligations!

Your favourite knitblogs?
Holy cow, I have a bunch. I hit Vickie Howell's blog at least once a day; check in on Cast On, mostly to see if podcasts have been uploaded; Freaky Knitters Unite is another one; Go Knit in Your Hat; and I hit the blogs for podcasts that I listen to, like Lime & Violet, Stash & Burn, Yarn Thing, and Craft Borg. Um... I'm probably leaving more out.

Your favourite knitwear designer?
I'm all over the place, but I like Melanie Falick and Debbie Bliss, and Vickie Howell has some fun stuff on her blog. I'm still learning about designers versus what I like.

The knit item you wear the most?
Um... I wear store-bought sweaters...

What Shall We Do in the New Year?

We need to either let this poor blog die a noble death or rock it out. What shall it be? Shall I move talk of knitting and crafting from RoeSpot to this blog? Anyone? Bueller?

Did anyone accomplish any sort of holiday cooking or baking this year? I was SO low on Christmas spirit that I'm ashamed to say I did very, very little. I pulled the butternut squash sauce over tortellini together for Linda & Ian's lovely Holiday Gathering, and I threw together the spinach dip from Kraft Food & Family for my aunt & uncle's house on Christmas Day. But this year, there were no cookies to be had.

And my knitting was fraught with aggravation. I'm seriously considering putting a calendar together for 2008 that will help me plan out knitting/handcrafting seasons, various special events that I want to knit or shop for (i.e., baby showers, birthday parties, holiday parties). Maybe that will help me find the spirit that just wasn't there this year.

What shall we make of this poor little neglected blog, folks?

Great Kitchen Invention

This is probably old news, but I'd seen recently in a magazine, then on Rachel Ray props about a stainless steel bar you rub your hands on to get rid of the smell of fresh garlic, fish, onion and by God, I bought a bar in Crate N Barrel for $7 bucks or so, skeptical, but it really instantaneously takes the smell off your hands. I'm sure it's some simple chemical explanation, but these things are great, if you cook, especially with garlic, get one of these babies!