Sunday, March 27, 2005

Les réponses!

Here are the answers to the questions I was asked in this post.

First, Leah's questions:

1. If you were to listen to music while you knit, what kind of music would it be?

I usually listen to my mp3 player when I knit in the bus (at home I usually do it in front of a movie or a TV show or while listening to a radio show). These days my player is filled with Tori Amos mp3s.

2. How do you exercise such restraint walking into a gourmet yarn store?
Well the fact that I'm saving my money for my other passion -- travelling -- really helps. :p That and I have a small appartment. I don't know where I could fit something like 20 huge boxes of yarn. And I feel guilty to have yarn and not use it. I usually always buy yarn with a project in mind, but the problem is that by the time I finish a project, I have thought (and bought yarn for) 5-6 new ones :p

3. can't think of a third one, but you rock nonetheless.
Awww thank you!! You rock too! And don't worry about asking only two questions, Jo and Lee Ann made up for it by asking four ;)

Now, Jo's questions:

1- What did you eat today? No cheating on this one. lol! ;)

Hehe. I don't like to talk about food much (I have lots of food issues). If I remember correctly, today I had a lot of cereals (Special K with Almonds, it's delicious), four rice cakes with peanut butter, two rice cakes with sugar free jelly, a small bag of mixed nuts and dried fruits and a bowl of cottage cheese.

2- What are the books on your knitting table?

Hmmm knitting books! I love them. I have the two Stitch N' Bitch books, Knit Wit, Knitting on the Edge (given to me as a RAOK!), Zen and the art of knitting (given to me by my Secret Pal), Chaleur du tricot (an afghan booklet in French), about 8-10 knitting magazines (mostly IK but some Vogue and Family Circle EK too), "I taught myself how to knit" and "I taught myself how to crochet" (both came with a kit).

3- What's your next story for work?
Well if everything goes according to plan, I should be interviewing P. Diddy tomorrow! It's been confirmed and everything but they can always cancel at the last minute so I can't be sure I'll do it until I'm actually face to him. If not that, I have a press screening on Tuesday and an interview with one of the actors in the afternoon.

4- ok I'm too curious and can't listen to rules! :-P Why did you start knitting?
I'm not sure. I've always liked craft and I figured knitting would give me something to do when I'm bored. At first I thought I'd make scarves and that would be it. No one I knew could teach me how to knit so I gave up on the idea for a few years. Then last year (Christmas 2003), I bought a knitting kit at Wal-Mart and taught myself how to cast-on and knit (no purls). It took me forever to make a garter stitch scarf. Then I found the Stitch N' Bitch book, the knitting community on Livejournal and Knitty and I discovered that there were many things other than scarves that you could make. I've been hooked ever since.

Last set of questions, from Lee Ann:

1. Do you write for pleasure too, in addition to doing it for work? if so, what do you write?

Yes, I do write for pleasure! I mostly write bad poetry (in English). I've also participated in NaNoWriMo these past two years so I wrote two novels (both in French). The first one was sort of Chick Lit and the second one was a Fantasy novel. I'm currently noting a lot of ideas for a third one that I'd like to do outside of NaNo. I also used to be a part of a writing club at work. We'd have a theme every two months and we would write short stories and meet to read them. We all got too busy though so we stopped doing it.

2. What's your fantasy "I want to knit that for me" pattern (or just the type of garment if you don't have a specific pattern in mind)?

I fell in love with Rogue the first time I saw it. I've never done any cables yet but it's a skill I want to learn soon. I know I will make it someday, but I want to make a few sweaters before I try this one.

3. When am I taking you and Jo on a field trip to Bergere de France? :-)

Anytime! :p Seriously, I'd love to go yarn shopping with other knitters and I'ven ever been to Bergere so...

4. What's your favourite food-and-wine combination? (ask Jo...I can't help asking people this question PLUS I follow rules as well as she does ;-)))

I really don't know! I like to drink wine but I'm not a connoisseur. The best, for me, is simply a good meal and a good bottle with a few friends.

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Feel free to ask more questions, people! :)

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Andrea posted the following comment in my last entry:

You are a good knitter! Heck, even if all you do is garter stitch and cast on and cast off, that's talent. People don't believe me when I tell them that knitting is just a combination of two stitches. If you can purl and knit, you can do anything.

And I totally agree with her! Everytime people tell me they wish they knew how to knit I try to tell them how easy it is but they don't believe me. And when I post FO in my livejournal, people who know how to knit but who have only done scarves so far tell me they wish they could make things like that. And they can! If they can make scarves, they can make other things too.

I guess I didn't express myself correctly when I said I wished I was a good knitter. I mean that I can't wait until I'm a better knitter. And I wish I was better at some things. Like yarn substitution. Most of the time, I can't get the yarn that a pattern asks for, at least not locally. And I never know which yarn to use instead. For instance, right now I really want to make the Juliet Pullover from last summer's IK. But I don't know what yarn to use. It's the part of knitting that my brain just don't get.

I also wish I could see myself more accurately so I could choose a pattern size that would fit me ok.

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I will end this already super long post with a WIP picture: Clapotis! (I'm halfway through section 3):

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Thursday, March 24, 2005

An apology and some yarn porn

My Secret Pal mentionned that I hadn't updated my blog in a long time. I didn't realize it had been that long (almost a month!) I shall never let that happen again!

Don't worry though, I'm still knitting happily. Kyoto is going along ok, I only have the sleeves and the collar left. It's going to be way too big though. I'll give it away to my sister I think. I can't wait until I'm a good knitter. *sigh*

I'm also knitting a Clapotis. Oh my God it's so much fun! I'm not using the best yarn for it (Patons Decor), but it's still nice. I'm pretty sure I'll make another one sometime, with better yarn.

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The lovely Jo asked her readers to ask her three questions, any questions, that she answered in her next entries. I'm a copycat so I'll do the same thing.

ASK ME THREE QUESTIONS. ANYTHING!

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Now on to the yarn porn. I went to Mouliné today to get yarn for my Secret Pal. That place is so great, I could easily spend my whole paycheck in there! But I didn't! I really admire my discipline. I only got yarn for the gift. Unfortunately, I can't post it here in case my Pal stumbles on my blog. But it's yummy, I can tell you that.

So no new yarn for me. But I took a pic of my knitting corner:

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And just so you can see better, I emptied the baskets on my bed:

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It's not that big, but it's all MINE! And I don't discriminate, I got everything in there, from cheap acrylic to soft alpaca. I think I'll leave it on the bed and sleep in it tonight!