1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without? I can pick three but one seems hard. I think most likely my stitch markers as a whole would be missed the most if the disappeared. That might be why I have about 2-300 of them in different little containers and I still look for more.

2. If you’re heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? Yes of course. If so, how much and what type of project? I take all my in progress projects which normally are about 4 and then a small project (ie socks or gloves) and a big project to start. I never want to run out. This was proven to me in March when we went to spend a week caring for my MIL and it turned into a month. I had more than enough projects for that time period.

3. Where have you traveled to that you’d consider your favorite spot? Wales and New Zealand. Since I have been to over 35 countries and most of the states, it is hard to choose. I pick Wales because my fav vacation to England was cruising the canal. I pick New Zealand because there is something about volcanic activity, big trees and woolly sheep.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? No Sheep for You. Do you own it? Yes

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Yes Which is your favorite(s)? Cast-on, Sticks & String, Socks in the city, Stash & Burn, Knit Picks, Ready Set Knit (which can be dangerous to listen to right on release date because they talk about yarn deals), Creative Mom. I have had others but these are the ones that are still active.

WIP Wednesday did not happen because I had a horrible migraine brought on by unknown sources and made worse by a neighbor pressure washing his truck and listening to old eps of Knitty D and the city. I had finished up the baby vest and did not get to have much knitting time. I thought knitting was soothing but it was not as good as pain killers and a nap.

Now I must present the cutest baby item that I have made so far. Remember this goes to the missionaries headed out next month before their baby is born. The yarn I used was yarn that I bought when I was on a trip to Turkey. At that time, I thought I would be heading overseas to help villages establish small textile industries and then export them back to the US and Europe. So since I am not destine to go overseas, my yarn creations can have fun without me.

Pattern: Argyle Vest in Vogue Knitting Baby Knits Two on the go!
Yarn: Nako (100% yun – aka wool in Turkish) 100gr – green & blue. I got this wool back in 2000 when I knew nothing about weight or gauge. I just saw 100% wool CHEAP! It is great wool. I have made several things with it including a color work beret.
Needles: Brittany US 5 circulars and Inox US 3 circulars
Mods: None but I learned to seam with this pattern. Yeah I know how to do it right. I learned by looking up the information in my 2002 Interweave Knits mags. They had a 2 part article on seaming. I wish that I had done a 3 needle bind off at the shoulders but I was not thinking when I finished the back.

Sometime in the summer, I remembered this pastor I liked to hear speak had his sermons on the web. Well the only way to retrieve them was through a RSS feed, I downloaded juice and started downloading the above shows. I suddenly wanted more since this time I was uploading them to my huge (40G) mp3 player. I started looking for many things – board game reviews, gardening, cooking, and knitting.

It seems I would rather listen to the knitting podcasts than anything else. My fav podcast so far is Christine at Pointy Sticks from the city of my birth. Yes I am a Houstonian. There are not many of us born there. Most of my family is there except me and my parents. Its a great city, but I personally have seen the world and lived in the city and the country. I have decided I like the small towns best as long as a city is close.

It is cool listening to Christine talk about knitting and my hometown. I have not lived there for over 17 years but it was the place I lived the longest so far.

Christine shares about things going on in the blogging and podcasting world of knitting. My favorite segment is what is on her needles. This is facinating to me since I seem to be living in this knitting void were I knit and old ladies knit booties or scarfs. I go to the yarn stores but I don’t see many knitters – I am busy on the one night a month they have a knitting group. For me, Christine is in my knitting circle. Her laugh is encouraging. She has great tastes in music. My husband tends to bust out singing Poke you in the eye at random moments, but I mostly listen by myself. At Christmas, she even helped me drive while everyone else slept.

Because of Pointy Sticks, I think I have become sock curious. I had made socks in the past but socks just seemed to hurt my feet. So finally I found someone to ask what I was doing wrong. Basically I was knitting according to the ball band and I needed to be a bit tighter. Now I am on the look out for sock yarn and patterns. I even went to Madrona just to look at the sales booths to buy sock yarn and only sock yarn. I had a few brands in my head and I was good enough to only buy enough for 3 pairs of socks – 2 STR and 1 koigu.

Thanks Christine for such great listening. I hope your second year was as great as your first was stretching.