Falling For Ewe Swap Q&A

I've joined the "Falling For Ewe Swap" via Ravelry awhile ago. It's just starting off and now I'm ready to go!

Here's my Swap Q&A:

1. Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?
I primarily knit, learning to crochet, but I do Tunisian Crochet, very fun! I first learned to knit in December 2007, never picked up a needle before then. Since then I've made it my mission to become an advanced knitter, and am going to join the TKGA Masters program within the next week, as I feel I'm now at an advanced level.

2. Do you spin? What type of spinning do you do?
I just started spinning, drop spinning, and it's a blast! I'm totally addicted to it.

3. Are there any other crafts that you participate in?
I'm trying to get better at dyeing my own yarn, and trying to learn to write a pattern. I'm also an avid reader. My authors are Stephen King, Dan Brown, Anne Rice, I like period pieces, documentaries, mystery, ghost stories, horror, primarily. I'm a huge Martha Stewart fan, and apart from knitting I do a ton of different crafts, from making my own wreaths, foliage, decorations, paintings, cards, etc. I also love to cook and bake. My favorite chefs are Giada DeLaurentis, Alton Brown, Ina Garten, Rachel Ray, & Martha Stewart.

4. What are your favorite yarns/fibers?
I love Alpaca, Wollmeise, Malabrigo, Cashmere, Cotton, and Linen. I'm a Yarn Snob, so I only buy quality yarn, no yarn from Michael's or Joann's is what I mean.

5. What are your LEAST favorite yarns/fibers?
Scratchy wool, or anything rough. Not too too big on novelty yarns, though I do have some in my stash. Cheap yarn.

6. Are there any types/brands of yarn that you are dying to work with but haven’t gotten a chance?
Malabrigo Sock Yarn mainly, I'm pretty good at getting the yarn I want.

7. What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet?
Knitting, Spinning, Dyeing, Tunisian Crochet..... Amigurumi Crochet might make the list soon.

8. What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to start this autumn?
I'm working on too many things. I'm in Sock Wars III (still alive), 4 Yarnsmackdown events, Ravelympics, Secret of the Stole III, Mystery Stole 4, Tech Square Afghan -Along, Knitting Niners Scarf Knit Along, Firestarter KAL, Day of the Dead Swap, Knitters Treasure Swap, too many but all fun. I plan to start the Central Park Hoodie, and a bunch of patterns from Twist Collective (I LOVE TWIST).

9. What is your favorite FO? (Please, post a picture if you would like.)
My fave is the "Basketweave" Scarf because it's my very first Scarf and my very first knitting project. After learning the basic Knit & Purl stitches back on 12/15/07, I started this scarf. I finished by end of December 2007, and I was just so proud of it. It's hard to see the basketweave design from the picture, but it is really pretty. and it's super warm & soft. There's actually two different patterns to it, one side looks just like a basketweave the other looks somewhat similar but with figure 8 going down the middle. It's hard to explain how the pattern looks, but I just love it.


10. What is your oldest UFO?
My Tunisian Crochet Stashbuster Blanket 8-) I love this UFO, but just have got severly sidetracked with many other projects. When I pick this back up, I'll probably finish in about a week, I'm that close to the end!


11. Are their any knitting/crochet techniques that you would like to learn?
I want to become good at crocheting, and am teaching myself slowly right now. Mainly I want to learn crochet so that I can embellish my knitting.

12. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Am I a sock knitter.....uhhh.. I've knitted so many pairs of socks in these past few months, Yes I'm a Sock Knitter 8-). I knit on 2 socks at a time on 2 circulars, it's really the best method, better than magic loop, although with 2 circs you are doing some magic loop, but having the 2 circs keeps things easier. I have small feet, US 5.

13. Do you have a yarn winder and/or a swift?
I have both, and will soon try to add a Yarn Meter to my Fiber Studio.

14. Where/how to you keep you needles/hooks?
I keep most my needles in my Jordana bag, this is the bag that came with the actual Bella bag I bought. Although I have a sewing machine and will work on putting together a custom bag to store all my needles.

15. Do you collect anything?
I like Archeology, the Egyptian period, Lions, Antiques, Antique Knitting Magazines, Antique Knitting. Historical items.

16. What is your favorite type of music? Are you MP3 ready?
John Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac, 80's music, Bon Jovi, Tom Petty, my music taste is very broad. I have a Sirius S50 that I can put MP3's on, but don't I'm not someone who walks around with an MP3 player. I usually listen to music in my car or at home, that's about it.

17. Do you like sweets? What are your favorites?
I like Rocky Road, Peanut Butter Cookies, Holiday Cookies.

18. What is your living situation like? Any pets? Children?
I'm married, my hubby and I are the same age, separated by about 5 months, and we have 2 children, Lbug 15yrs. old, and Pops 12.5 yrs. old. We have a 3 year old Golden Retriever, Rosie, and a ???yr. old Grey/White Tabby Cat, Gracy. We live in San Jose, CA.

19. Are you allergic to anything?
Nope.

20. Do you have an online wish list (Amazon, Etsy, Loopy Ewe, etc.)? Please include links for your swap pal.
My Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=gno_listpop_wi
My Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5761518 (there's not much in it right now)

21. Are you having a birthday during this swap?
No, I just had a birthday on 8/11/08.

22. What is your Ravelry ID?
It is RockyMoreno.

Getting Ready for the Ravelympics 2008!

As you probably know, on Ravelry, there is a group for “Ravelympics2008�, where knitters, crocheters, like myself will compete in different events. Events range from WIPwrestling, which is completing as many WIPs as you can, or AmigurimiToss, making animals, Hand-Dyed Hurdles, dyeing yarn, and so on.

The competition will run parallel to the Official Summer Olympics in Beijing, CHINA, which starts this Friday, 8-8-8. Once ceremonies open, knitters have the green light to start knitting, dyeing, spinning, you name it, all until the ceremonies end.

I’ve joined a number of teams...

TEAM ROLL:

Team Knitting Bloggers EVENTS Hand-dyed hurdles & Handspun Heptathalon
Team Blue Moon EVENTS AmigurumiToss & Sockput & Cowljump
Team Hopelessly Overcommitted EVENT ShawlRelay
Team Junkie EVENTS MittenMedley & Hatdash
Team Bob EVENT FeltedFreestyle
Team Hogwarts EVENT HolidayHandball
Team Stashdown EVENT AmigurumiToss & Hatdash
Team Sundara EVENT Freeforallstyle
Team Loopy EVENT Sockput


Isn’t he a cutey!


So, I’m crazy, no?? But it is fun 8-) There’s no penalty for not completing your projects, but at least you apart of a team with the same purpose to complete your projects before end of ceremonies. Wish me luck 8-)

In other news, guess you could call it a “Online Yarn Crawl�….

I’ve gotten some goodies in, I was reading a blog, or got an email from the Yarn Pirate, can’t remember which happened first? Anyways I was able to score 2 skeins of Yarn Pirates Booty (boy doesn’t that sound weird..hee hee).

Feast your eyes on “Blueberry� , just luscious! Now I wish I had bought 2 of these.


And “Sweet Magnolia�, I just love the soft colors



Now to Knitterly Things, I usually check the shop update, and see if I can score some more Vesper yarn, usually I miss out, but this time I was at least able to get my hands on one of the cute “Wee Skein Kit’s� #37, which has colors: Mamacita, Algae, Neopolitan, and Strange Little Mama.




Onto Eat.Sleep.Knit, where I purchased some soft yarn “Pima Petite� in the “Gems of Turquoise� colorway.




And “BREAKING NEWS… JUST A ‘BIT AGO�
I got an email from Eat.Sleep.Knit. that they are now offering the newly coveted “Malabrigo Book One� book. I quickly clicked over and bought this puppy…. Ooh can’t wait…

Is that cover not to die for?? I want that pattern and yarn color!


Last, but not least, I finally received my pre-ordered “BIG Stitch� book, that I ordered from the Bagsmith, way back a million years ago, from then to now, I’ve moved, and this books been on a mission to get to me, finally. I completely forgot that I bought this until I got a phone call from the Bagsmith trying to track my new address down. What’s even nicer, I had no idea it would be signed by the author? So sweet, and there are some pretty cool patterns in this baby. These are to be used with EXTREME knitting needles, I bought size 50 at Stitches West 2008, there monsters, but totally cool! Can you believe the gauge requirements are 1 stitch per inch!!! OMG!

Whew! What a weekend (Part Une)

This weekend was totally cool, and so much fun. I have to split this up into separate posts because there's just too much to tell.

First I'll start off with Football, one of my all time favorites, and need I say is starting back up now with pre-season just around the corner. My team of choice, the San Francisco 49ers, they are the golden time, although lately have had some growing pains and some pretty rough patches, nonetheless I'm a "Faithful 49er" and I'm with them through thick & thin. I registered for Opening Day Training Camp tickets a few weeks ago, and this past Saturday was the big day.

It was the three of us, my husband "C", my son "Pops",(less my daugher "Yahyah" who ran off with her grandma), and I, who headed down to the 49ers training facility in Santa Clara, CA bright & early Saturday morniing.

They had it setup real nice, food stands, games, official 49er store, cheerleaders, etc. Plus the main event was on the field, where all the players were stretching, getting ready to do practice drills & scrimmage games. We picked a nice spot on the bleachers, and watched away, plus we took all kinds of pictures.

Here's the 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith stretching:


Here's a view of some of the players:


Here's the entrance to the facility:


After going to the camp, it got me all ready to start knitting some nice 49ers themed garments. I want be in "Knit Style" this season, since I wasn't knitting before, this will be my first official knitting fall/winter season 8-) Sometimes I wonder how it was I never knitted before??? I took to it like a fish to water, from what my mother tells me, I'm a natural because my grandma was a knitting queen & its in my blood. Unfortunately my Mother isn't a knitter, so for now, it's just Lil'O'Me the in the family that knits. I do have an Aunt Virgie who Crochets, she lives in Seattle, WA & my Aunt Mary down the street is quite a sewer, she makes all sorts of cute things, my Mother however does make beautiful jewelry, I'm going to start working with her on making custom stitch markers soon, lookout for those!

Now, a few weeks ago, in the Metagroups on Ravelry I started a thread to see if there were any "49er" fan knitters who would like a group themed mainly around the 49ers but also including just general football or any sport themed knitting projects. I got a few replies, enough to start group, so now I am. The group is named "Knitting Niners", if your interested in joining, just look us up in the groups listing or send a PM to RockyMoreno so I can send you an invite. My intention for this group isn't to isolate other football fans or other sports fans, I really would like group where you can meet other knitting niners, as well as share ideas for knitting projects that can be worn or used in the spirit of sports. Sports are truly a great thing for us humans, they help keep us healthy, by allowing us to engage in social situations, which in turn relieves stress (well maybe not for those that take it a little too seriously), but overall it is a good way to relax and have fun. Plus if you are someone that gets involved in actually playing sports, there's a ton of health benefits there too, your cardio, your weight, your physical health, and if you have kids, its a nice bonding experience.

I'm going to start a knit along for the group for a nice beanie to wear to a game or just to wear in the fall/winter.

So that's it for my Part Une, lookout for Part Duex in a couple days... much more music, knitting, Scout's goodies, and more 8-)