Yo La Tejo

Catching up with the memes! Installment one of three.

Laura tagged me with this meme. Although I've been knitting for more than two years now, I feel kinda intimidated by this knitting meme. We'll see how I do....

1. What is your all-time favorite yarn to knit with?

Well, like most grad students, I suspect, I have champagne taste on a beer budget. I haven't really had the opportunity to knit with many different kinds of luxurious yarns, but I really enjoyed knitting with Karabella Breeze. That's the yarn I made my Flower Basket Shawl from...it's silk and cashmere, and I could feel both, if that makes any sense. A hint of raw silk slipping through my fingers, softened by the fluff of the cashmere.

2. Favorite needles?

I like the warmth of my Clover Bamboos. But I have to say that I'm eternally grateful I decided to invest in my Boye interchangeables. I know people have issues with the join, but apart from that, it's such a wonderful thing to have sizes 1 to 15 ready to go at a moment's notice!

3. What's the worst thing you ever knit?

Worst in what way? The X-back tank gave me the most headaches in getting gauge, for sure. I knit a top from Vogue once that is mostly unwearable because the eyelet lace makes it slightly pornographic (which is not an entirely bad thing given the appropriate situation). The Mud Flap Girl tank was just a disaster in the fit and the finish.

4. Favorite knit pattern? The most fun to knit?

I've discovered a love of lace, and anything lacy is fun for me. So the Flower Basket Shawl is a hands-down winner. But I also irrationally loved knitting the One Skein Wonder...I'd never knit anything top-down before, and had fun watching it take shape.

5. Most valuable knitting technique?

Again, not even sure that I've earned the knitting chops to answer this one! I guess I would have to say Kitchener...it's like magic!

6. Best knit book or magazine?

I love everything in Interweave Knits. Not an original sentiment, I'm sure, but it's so true for me that I finally caved in and got a subscription. Now my OCD makes me want to catalogue every pattern as each new issue appears, a la Meg Ryan with her index card video catalogue in When Harry Met Sally. Does anyone else do this, or am I a total freak?

7. Favorite knitalong?

Mmmm....no KALs yet, since my blog is rather new and because I have this fear of commitment and an even bigger fear that I will never finish my piece while everyone else not only finishes but turns out superstar knitting masterpieces. While mine languishes in the bottom of a plastic bag somewhere....

8. Favorite knitblogs?

Who doesn't love Crazy Aunt Purl? Even though her actual FOs are few and far between, that girl really knows the therapeutic value of knitting. (And red wine.)

9. Favorite knitwear designer?

Even though I've never knitted any of her designs, I love the fearlessness of Teva Durham's pieces.

10. The knit item that you wear the most?

Well, the thing that I have worn the most often is probably the hooded sweater from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits (although I probably haven't worn it since February). It's made out of nummy Manos yarn in cherry red.

So who'ma gonna tag next? Only if you ladies want to, and only if you haven't already gotten this meme....Ashley and Elizabeth, my academic knitting comadres.

posted by Olga @ 8:39 PM