Knit-Geek Questionnaire

I found the following questionnaire over at affiknitty.

The Knit-Geek Questionnaire

1. What's your worst habit relating to your knitting?
I’m not sure how ‘accurate’ I am in my technique.

2. In what specific ways does your knitting make you a better person?
Knitting is very therapeutic for me. Knitting is calming, most of the time. I enjoy a challenge to stretch my skill but donÂ’t want to drive myself nuts. I don't think that makes me 'better' then anyone else, just a happier me.

3. How might you or your life be different if you were suddenly unable to knit?
LetÂ’s see I would have to find a new home for my yarn and needles. I would miss knitting. I watched Grandma Janette have to give up knitting because of pain in her hands. Not fun. She fills her time with many other things.

4. If money were no object, what one yarn, and what one tool or gadget would you run out and buy first?
Tough one. Manos, Colinette, Koiju, recycled silk? The two tools I would really like are a swift and ball winder.

5. What knitting technique or project type are you most afraid of (if any)? What, specifically, do you fear will happen when you try it?
Steeking it just seems so scary.

6. Who is/are your knitting hero(es), and why?
I am in awe of The Yarn Harlot. The Knitting Olympics was a stroke of genius.

7. Do you consider knitting, for you personally, a mostly social activity, or a mostly solitary activity?
I would love to find a local snb so I could knit socially but it just has not happened. So for me it is solitary for the most part.

8. Is there a particular regional tradition in knitting that you feel strongly drawn toward (e.g., Fair Isle, Scandinavian, Celtic, Orenburg lace)? Any theories as to why it calls to you?
No.

9. If you were a yarn, which yarn would you be?
Manos del Uraguay. Thick, thin and hand dyed.

10. Some statistics: (a) How many years have passed since you FIRST learned to knit?
IÂ’m thinking around 22 years. I was ten or eleven. However old you are in the 4th grade.

(b) How many total years have you been actively, regularly knitting (i.e., they don't have to have been in a row)?
Hard to remember exactly. I knitted for a few years when I first learned. Then I stopped for quite awhile. Then I started back up in 1995 and have been knitting since. My guess is around 15 years.

(c) how many people have you taught to knit?
Really no one. I've had a few people ask me to teach them but they quickly lost interest. Not sure why. Could have been my teaching method. Could be that they direalizeealise that imoderatelyecomplicatedliated, not super simple.

I have helped a newer knitter remember how to bind off. She knew what she was doing just neededguidanceidence. That was fun.

(d) Roughly what percentage of your FOs do you give away (to anyone besides yourself, i.e., including your immediate family)
Oh I have no idea. I donÂ’t really keep track. I knit Christmas gifts each year but most other items are for me or E.

11. How often do you KIP (knit in public)? i.e., once a week, once a month, etc. Where do you do it?
I KIP pretty regularly. I have few qualms about KIPing. Sometimes it starts conversations.

12. If a genie granted you one hour to stitch-n-bitch with any one knitter, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
I know this is supposed to be a 'celebrity' kniter but I always have the same answer for this kind of question. There is very little I would not give to spend an hour with my Mother. I would love to sit and chat with Mom. I miss her so much.

13. What aspect or task in knitting makes you most impatient?
Tucking in those darn ends.

14. What is it about knitting that never lets you get bored with it?
Seeing a pattern develop. That and felting. I LOVE felting. Seeing what other people are knitting. That is the beauty of knit blogs. You get to see so many great projects.

15. Describe how and where you most often do your knitting - where do you sit, what is going on around you, what tools do you use and how are they (dis)organized?
I do a lot of knitting in the car, when Dave is driving. Obviously. I knit at night after E is in bed. ItÂ’s fun to knit and watch a movie. I sometimes knit while surfing.

16. Which one person is the recipient of more of your knitting than any other?
ItÂ’s a toss up between E and my sister Allison.

17. What's the oddest thing about your knitting, or yourself as a knitter?
I did not know how to read a pattern for ages. But that does not seem that odd really.

18. What do you see yourself knitting - if anything - twenty years from now?
I would love to be knitting anything in 20 years.

19. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could have only ONE SKEIN of yarn, which yarn would it be and what would you do with it?
Some Manos probably. So many yummy yarns out there.

20. If you were allowed to own only one knitting-related book, which would it be? (you'd be free to browse others, but you couldn't keep them)
Oh I donÂ’t know. Really not that into the knitting books. I have a copy of The Encyclopedia of Knitting that I refer to every now and then.

21. Is knitting the new yoga? Why or why not?
No. Knitting and Yoga have been around for ages. Both go in and out of vogue. Both can be therapeutic.

22. What important thing are you trying to put off doing whenever you knit?
Need to think about this one.

I generally knit to knit. I enjoy the process and the end result of knitting.