Secret Pal parcel

I received my first SP11 parcel in the post a couple of days ago - very exciting! I am now the proud possessor of the following:

A plethora of crafty books. Thanks again SP.

So, with the following, which fell into my hands when I was wandering in Waterstones the other lunchtime (they have a loyalty card now d**n and blast them) I am now all booked up for the winter with plenty to keep me amused.

Secret pal parcel #1

All packed up and ready to go, this toddled off in the post on Tuesday. I hope my secret pal gets it - she is off in the wilds at the moment and emailed to say that something was waiting for her at home so fingers crossed (I'm showing remarkable faith and confidence in the Royal Mail to move a parcel from a post office in central london to an address less than 5 miles away aren't I?!)

Secret pal parcel #1 nearly on its way

Y'know, Ias excited about sending my first parcel to my secret pal as I will be receiving one. I hope it makes the grade.

I love putting present packages together - bits and bobs on a theme, that kind of thing. And of course, once I'd put it all in the box, there were gaps, so I made a couple of extra little somethings to fill in the space (no point mailing air after all!).

I've included quite a lot of secondhand/handmade/recycled pressies (although she does have some brand new yummy yarn and a couple of other things, of course) as I've been given a pal who lives near me and wanted to buy things that she couldn't get herself. Does this sound reasonable? It seemed like I was being a bit of a cheapskate at first, but $60 won't go very far in the UK knitting wise, and I didn't want to be stingy with the parcels. Am I worrying too much? Probably!

I didn't get a huge amount of information from my pal's blog, as there aren't many crafty posts, so I've assumed she is open to anything (heh heh heh!). Now all there is to do is to finish wrapping it up (often the most fun part) and rely on Royal Mail to do the rest (ha! she might get it in a month or so given their track record!)

Now, what can I put in the second box ... ???

musings of a secret pal

I wonder when my secret pal will contact me? I am incredibly impatient i know, but I do so get excited.

My imagination is brimming over with ideas and thoughts about what to put in my packages ...

I think I will make them up as mini-kits, as my treatee (is that a word - the only other way of describing it would be my 'downward secret pal' which sounds wrong) says she is fairly new to knitting, and she hasn't posted a lot of things on her blog so I'm assuming she is open to anything (heh heh heh!)

What do you think? Is this a reasonable secret pallish thing to do? So far I've been thinking sock kit, lace kit, felt kit?? with extra bits and bobs in there too of course ...

hmm. Thinking hat on and list making coming up methinks.

Secret Pal 11 questionnaire

I'm getting more and more excited about the Secret Pal exchange. Here are the answers to the questionnaire - I hope they make some degree of sense - I've added lots of links to elucidate my waffle.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
- love bamboo, alpaca, cotton, merino
- hate scratchy acrylic, fun fur, eyelash and other fancy yarns with tickly bits.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
- needles in a pen pot (not very portable!)
- hooks in a fabric wrap

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
- started knitting on 7th june 2007
- learnt at the Ktog knitting group - went with the intention of being the 'only crocheter in the village' and ended up being taught by the hostess, Rhona.
- Am therefore a beginner, but very ambitious

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
- yes If this doesn't work, search for "So many crafts" on amazon.co.uk wishlists

5. What's your favorite scent?
- cut grass, earl grey tea, hot chocolate, tomato plants in the greenhouse (don't really wear perfume)

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
- yes, very.
- chocolate, but nothing with nuts in it
- I like childish sweets too - flying saucers, jelly babies, cola bottles, that kind of thing. And I get inexplicable cravings for Smarties quite regularly.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
- you name it, I'll give it a go.
- my current passions are sewing (chiefly patchwork and related things), felting, and toy making (just starting out making softies)
- I can spin, but don't get round to it as often as I would like. I have 2 fleeces under my stairs waiting for me to be organised and wash them (sigh). I will do it before the end of the summer.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
- easier to say what I don't like. I don't like dance music, heavy metal or classical piano music of the rachmaninov variety. My ipod currently has a selection ranging from Queen to Keane, from the Cranberries to the Scissor Sisters, and from the best of James Bond to KT Tunstall. Oh, and a couple of audio books (read by David Tennant - he of Doctor Who fame in case you don't know of him). Don't know if I have MP3 capacity - I have Itunes so anything is possible probably.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
- I prefer warm, natural, earthy colours.
- I love the tones that you get in Shetland wool and those on the front of this book
- I like brights too, but nothing too lairy. Colours from nature are good.
- I don't like really babyish colours, pastels etc., and am not that keen on orange.
- I really hate dark and dingy colours - colour should be cheering or calming, not depressing.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
- I have a husband and two cats, and I'm not sure which is the more trouble.
- Neko (big cat) and Yuki (small cat) make a lot of mess, but stay away from my crafty things on pain of unspeakable things happening to them. They just gaze longingly at my knitting now!
- We also have some frogs and newts in our pond - do they count?

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
- Yes
- Yes, but I have a big head so I am learning to knit my own
- Yes, definitely rather than gloves (I have reynauds syndrome so mittens are better than gloves to stop my fingers falling off in the cold).
- Not really, although I'm going to knit myself of these, which is kind of poncho-ish.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Small things (I don't have a lot of patience), amigurumi, scarves, socks, baby booties, bags, hats etc.

13. What are you knitting right now?
- This scarf for my dad (trying out entrelac to hone my picking up stitches skills - which are a bit messy at the moment, but by the time I get to the other end I will be much better)
- A funky 1970s tank top (a Patons pattern with a Dallas-esque model - scary!)
- My first socks (soon to be unpicked in favour of these as I'm feeling quite brave)
- Innocent smoothie hats

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
- Haven't done much circular knitting, so straight needles are the way to go. Love knitting a cylinder with 4 dpns - such fun!
- Bamboo needles are the best, although I have some lovely secondhand anodised aluminium ones that come a close second.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
- no, but I wound my first centre pull ball the other day on my thumb using this technique and as my thumb was rather numb by the end of it, I think that a yarn winder might go on my wish list

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
- ancient - from the days when I was starting out with crochet (many moons ago). I think it was going to be a bag, using yarn unwound from a nasty cardigan, but I never got past the side gussets. Ah well.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Any of the times I have spent in Italy.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
- Stuff, specifically yarn and fabric related stuff.
- I love antique sewing bits and bobs, as you get some really nifty gadgets and unusual colours/fibres.
- Studio pottery (1950's-1970's art pottery, difficult to describe - will try to post some photos later)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

books - Any Japanese craft books - if only there was a Kinokuniya in the UK (I'd be a lot poorer!). I also love anything Scandinavian - with their simple design styles that'll never date. I'd love to get my paws on the Vogue Stitchionary books. I'm a librarian, so my list of wanted books is fairly endless. I restrict myself to one page at a time on my amazon wish list, but it's sooo hard ...

yarns - unusual, handspun/dyed yarn in natural fibres, any of the Habu or Noro yarns (expensive tastes, I know), handmaiden (love the idea of yarn made from seaweed), anything from Garnstudio (particularly love the colours of their cotton yarns), Shokay yak down (gorgeous colours)

patterns - anything by Elizabeth Zimmermann - I've got the opinionated knitter, am working on my second baby surprise jacket, and it has left me wanting more ...

needles - I covet the glass needles I've seen around but I'm not sure where to get them. Would love some more wooden needles to start replacing the charity shop set I have at the moment. Adore any of the Clover gadgetry, does a knitting nelly count?

I don't have any subscriptions, but I love the Interweave crochet and knit magazines

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
- My husband has requested a Gansey for his birthday / christmas / wedding anniversary (depending on when I get round to it). So I have to learn how to knit a sweater, and the complicated cabling and patternign that goes on in such a thing.
- Oh, and the I-cord cast off - I saw it on a lovely EZ baby bonnet (with a heart shape as the base - v cute indeed)

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Working on my first pair as we speak. I'm a UK size 4 shoe.

23. When is your birthday?
24th August (Hooray!)

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
not yet (sigh). Only 6404 people in front of me though!

Secret Pal 11

Hooray! I've just got my confirmation email from the Secret Pal people. I am very very excited about this, both receiving surprise packages, and going shopping for treats for my spoilee. In fact, I think that I'm more looking forward to the second aspect, particularly with Christmas coming up (yes, the fabrics are in the shops now!)

This should also force me to keep up to date with my blog, as it is one of the requirements of the exchange. Not that I don't want to, I just need a bit of a push now and then.