Tagged

Tari tagged me for this knitting meme. I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it and I think I'm now ready to take the plunge.

What is your all time favourite yarn to knit with?
This was an easy one to start with. The answer has got to be Jaggerspun Zephyr. 50% wool, 50% silk and available in loads of colours. This would definitely be my desert island yarn. If I were to be stuck on that desert island, I would want a cone of this yarn in each of the colours.

Your favourite needles?
I have a pair of metal circular needles, size 3mm, 26inches long, very pointy. I do not know who made them, I don't know where they came from, I have no idea how long I have had them. They are the perfect needles for knitting lace. I also have some Addi Turbos, which are truly the Rolls Royce of knitting needles and really do make you knit faster. I was using them and 'im indoors said "You've got new knitting needles!" Closer questioning revealed that they sound different. ("like people whispering in the next room, in a foreign language.")

The worst thing you've ever knitted?
I really can't remember. I've been knitting such a long time and I know there must have been some real shockers in my past but I think I have repressed them. I know I've knitted some weird stuff (a Hasselblad camera, an armadillo wrap, Christmas decorations, angels, dolls, a duck) but the worst thing - I'm not sure.

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it but it was the most fun to knit.)
I am torn between the Pink Puzzle wrap by Sharon Miller, knitted a few years ago for Mother.



Mine's not pink, though!
A very ingenious construction - no cast on, no cast off - a true puzzle.

Or the Great Cosmos shawl, one of Sandy Terp's designs, knitted in the famous Zephyr in Iris. Great fun to knit, just as one section started to get boring, another section began.



Great fun to do.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Probably the dreaded grafting. I hate doing it but it certainly adds to the look of the thing. Provisional cast on is also very useful and these two are often used in conjunction. Oh, and learning to read lace knitting charts has really made a big difference.

Best knit book or magazine?
The one I look at all the time is Montse Stanley's "The Handknitter's Handbook." It's not much to look at, she's not chatty like Elizabeth Zimmerman, it's pretty dry, really. However, if you need to know how to do it, it's sure to be there. The book that inspires me the most is Debbie New's "Unexpected Knitting" - it's not about the patterns, it's about the ideas. Sharon Miller's book Heirloom Knitting is the definitive Shetland lace book, I can't wait until her new book comes out. Magazines I don't usually bother with. I like online mags and I'd say that Knitty is the best by a long chalk.

Favourite knit-a-long?
I have only done two KALs. One was Wendy's "Fearless Fairisle", which I did years ago, when I was just easing myself back into knitting after quite a long lay off. The other was the mystery shawl and I now realise that I am not much of a joiner and I don't really like KALs. I really enjoy knitting with my knitbud in Pennsylvania and I'm very much looking forward to starting the "Garden Shawl" with her.

Favourite knitwear designer?
This is a very hard one. I think it would have to be Dorothy Siemens at Fiddlesticks. Here shawls are beautiful, the charts are clear and easy to follow, I have never yet found a mistake in one of her patterns. I also like Sharon Miller's work. My first love is lace, of course, but if I make a garment I like it to fit, so the patterns that Joan McGowan-Michael has on her site White Lies Designs are very nice. The Angelina jacket has been singing out to me for quite a while now. It's only a matter of time before I give in.

The knit item you wear the most (what about a picture of it?)
This very much depends on the time of year. I think the thing I wear the most is the cotton Fisherman's Gansey. It is just so comfortable.



I'm wearing it right now.

Time for tagging. I tag Uknitty, Lixie and Annie over at Up Knit Creek (which has got to be the coolest blog name, ever.