A woman of my word!

I told you I was going to frog the hat! I actually hated to do it but I didn't know anyone with a head big enough for it not to drown them - even on me it was way too big.
The Velcro arrived for making up the premature baby bodywarmer, now I can't find any thread the right shade, an excuse to shop again!

Secret Pal 11 quiz

This is going to be frogged, I hate it - it's James Brett merino, it split several times that I missed, it's come out too big and I messed up the decreases. I rarely frog something that I've finished, but in this case I'll make an exception!

Now I need to answer a quiz from our SP hostess.
1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?
Probably the combined ruler and needle gauge that I keep in my back pack, it comes in extremely handy when I'm knitting on the bus!
2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
I go nowhere without a knitting project or two, if I'm just out for a day I take small things liek baby clothes, scarves or socks. If I'm away for more than a day I'll have a small project and a larger one like a shawl with me, something that I can do while I talk and something more complicated for quiet times.
3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
I've not travelled much, by favourite place when we went on family holidays was Findochty in Scotland, there was a gorgeous beach with nobody there but us.
4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I'm enjoying studying Victorian Lace Today, once I've finished my current lace projects I plan on attempting several of the patterns, I only recently bought it and I keep going through it trying to decide which pattern tio attempt first.
5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
No, when I'm online I listen to audiobooks rather than podcasts.

Very small things

I've had to put everything I had planned on one side to speed on with knitting for my colleague's twins, they're expected to be delivered very soon so I've finished knitting one minute pair of mittens and a small bodywarmer, I just need velcro to fasten the bodywarmer and sew buttons on as decoration, it's so small that buttoning it for real would be a nightmare. I'm about to cast on the second bodywarmer i hope sof getting them posted off this week. I'm also looking after my neighbour again this week as her son and daughter have both decided to go away on holiday and leave her with 2 teenage grandchildren to keep an eye on her. I'm just hoping we don't wind up in the emergency room again this time around.

I am still here - just about!

There's been little progress this last week, I've been incredibly tired for no apparent reason and mostly going to bed extremely early - Hecate isn't sure if she approves or not as it reduces the amountof time she snuggles with me while I knit. For some reason she doesn't try and snuggle when I go to bed, she sleeps on her own duvet at the end of the bed or acts as sentry on the windowsill.
The hat has grown a bit, I'm on the decreases now and trying to be clever - doing them without using stitch markers to show where they should be!
Hecate does a very good sentry pose, this time on the banisters on the landing! As you can see from the picture, she's been doing a good job of removing the wall paper below her, She has a bad habit of jumping up at things then sliding down with her claws out that no matter how amy times I tell her off or spray her with water will break her of.
I thought that quick and plain was the way to go, but even in baby sizes plain is boring after the lace! This is the back and one and a half sleeves of the baby cardigan for my colleague, I've done more frogging and reknitting on this than I did with the lace!

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I don't like anything that tends to be too 'splitty', as long as the yarn is appropriate to the pattern/use of item I don't mind what the fibre is. I've never tried alpaca and I do like merino sock yarn!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Several mugs for my long straight needles, a carved wooden box for my DPN's and several sweet tubes for my circulars - far from ideal, I keep meaning to find a better system.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting off and on since I was about 7 and I'm 40 plus now, I've returned to serious knitting in the last 3 years. I'd say I'm intermediate to advanced by now but I've never dared try doing steeks!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have a wishlist at Amazon.

5. What's your favorite scent?
Fruit or spice scents, nothing flowery - flower scents make me sneeze.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Sadly I have a shockingly sweet tooth, I like most chocolate but I can't stand Hershey's, I'm rather partial to Jelly Belly Beans.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I crochet a little, make cards occasionally, I do counted cross stitch occasionally. I don't spin yet, I have an old spinning wheel that needs a drive belt and a few other bits befroe I start playing - I've bought Spin to Knit as a starting point.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Folk music mostly, but anything but disco/rap, I'm not into modern pop music much but I did like Franz Ferdinand, Pink Floyd, Queen, DIre Straits are in my collection too.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love purple, mostly I wear shades of purple/blue although I have been known to wear almost any colour except pale pink! I don't have much yellow or green.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I'm single and owned by a black cat called Hecate.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Anything but a poncho - I'd look like a marquee about to take off! Hats I like but I have a large head so have to be careful getting them to fit.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like making socks, top down on DPN's, I just started knitting lace and love it but find it slow going, I try to always have some small project that I can knit on the bus.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Loads of WIP's but I'm mostly working on baby clothes for a colleague or two, several lace shawls and a sweater with a cable on it as the first step in learning to do arran better.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I love it, I value other people's skill and expenditure of time highly.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I'm not keen on bamboo, I find them too bendy, I mostly use aluminium needles although I just discovered Surina DPN's and I'm feeling the love! I either knit on ultra short needles for small items or circular needles for long rows, I tend to try and knit sweaters in the round to the arm hole although that can make the project less portable.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I have a swift but no winder.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Ouch - 3 years I suspect as I always seem to have ancient items lurking. I did just frog something I started about 12 years ago though!

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Yule, I love giving presents (not that I don't like receiving them too), I'm not keen on hot weather so prefer winter holidays.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Arklow china (not their hunting pictures), occasionally thimbles - my Mum passed her collection to me and I add to it infrequently. I suspect that my library shoudl count as a collection, I've started catalogueing it on librarything.com at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/knitobsession but as I have some 3000 books to add it's taking ages.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Socks that rock - I love that yarn, I'm always keen to try new sock yarns, I subscribe to Knitting Today, Simply Knitting and Knitting, I try to get my hands on Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits whenever I can too but don't subscribe to them.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Entrelac!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes, size 7 UK, my feet are wide and my ankles/calves not slender so I tend to knit ankle socks!

23. When is your birthday?
9th July

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes, I'm there as knitobsession, I haven't had time to add much there yet and a lot of my knitting books don't seem to be in their catalogue yet.

My current distractions

I should be lace knitting, but I promised several people at work baby clothes, at this rate the babies will be born and in college before I'm done so I knitted the back of a second size cardigan.

This is the sleeve, I've had to undo a great chunk as I've suddenly discovered an inability to follow a totally simple raglan cardigan pattern! In theory this wil lbe bus knitting during the week as I'd like to be finished in a coupele of weeks.

The rest of my Barabara Walker treasury's arrived - I haven't dared do more than drool over them, with the number of WIP's I have around the place I need to be restrained!

I did have to do some test knitting, I treated myself to some James Brett pure merino and a set of Surina 4mm DPN's, I'm loving them both and attempting a simple beret pattern - although the way my simple knitting keeps going it may turn into a sweater for the cat yet!