A parcel arrives

My upstream Secret Pal disappeared but yesterday I received a wonderful Angel Package full of woolly sockiness and chocolate.
Yes, you are right, that is Socks That Rock...isn't it fabulous. Also my first Kroy experience. How soft is that? I think I shall be trying this out for my next sock knitting. Then we have some lovely Regia in great shades of blue and a skein of Lavender sheep from an Indie dyer on Etsy. Apparently one other skein made a break for freedom but is hopefully travelling on solo. Note also the chocolate, one bar of dark and a big bag of coins some of which have already disappeared.
Many thanks Angel for making it better.

SP 15 Questionaire

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like? I like natural fibres not thicker than double knit

What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? A really old knitting bag bought by my daughter and late mother for me as a birthday or Christmas gift circa 1983. The ones I use most often are stuck in the corner of a big old basket where I keep a selection of yarn by where I knit

How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I have been knitting for very many years and I am intermediate.
Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Amazon

What’s your favorite scent?
Rose

Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh yes. dark chocolate, ginger,

What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I don't spin but I sew and occasionally wet felt


What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I'm afraid I am not very musical

What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I like greens and blues, plums and dusty rose
I don't like beige

What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live with my husband and neurotic dog. Our daughters are grown up and we have a 6 year old grandchild

Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
scarves and mittens yes. I have one knitted hat I can wear -Quincy by Jared Flood

What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Shawls, socks, cardis

What are you knitting right now?
One of each of the above

Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes I do

Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
bamboo or plastic, as short as I can get away with

Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I have a vintage inefficient swift

How old is your oldest UFO?
Possibly about 5 years. Not so much a UFO as some yarn which I can't quite find the right project for so keep unravelling

What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
Christmas

Is there anything that you collect?
Pottery baskets

Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I'd love a copy of Made in Brooklyn.
I subscribe to Knitting, IK and Piecework. I keep meaning to subscribe to Vogue Knitting but haven't got round to it yet.

Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
rather than new techniques I'd like to improve my fairisle

Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes I knit socks but mostly for other people.
I have a dainty size 4 Uk 37 continental

When is your birthday?
May 2nd

Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID?
Mazzam

Call me crazy

I had a bad experience in the last round of Secret Pal, not for the first time. It seems though, from the Ravelry group that no.14 was unlucky for lots of people. So obviously I took a firm decision not to sign up for the next one, to satisfy my need to swap with short term one-offs. Mmmmmm. I now have a very nice hostess from 14 who is sorting out a parcel for me. I have really enjoyed making contact with all my downstream partners. I have read the promise of better monitoring and believed it. I am very impressed with the professional look of the website . What can I say? I have signed up for 15 but at the lowest level of financial commitment and can only cross my fingers, although not whilst typing or knitting. So call me crazy and we'll see!

Subscriptions

I am always really happy when the first copy of a new magazine subscription arrives. Rosemary continued my sub to Coast as part of my Christmas present and she got a fantastic 2 for 2 offer so I am getting Country Living as well which is a big favourite with both of us. It's a good thing she had told me as the first C.L. turned up before Christmas. It's actually a doubly good giving experience as I pass on the copies to Rosemary! I have also recently received Good Housekeeping which I got with Tesco vouchers. The best was when my first copy of Piecework turned up today. It is the annual historical knitting issue. Joy!

Happy New Year

So how are you saying it? Two thousand and ten or twenty ten? There seems to be an even split among the people I have asked.

I am at home at the moment, three days into a horrible cold. At least it is giving me lots of knitting time as I have no energy for much else. I am well into the shawl I am knitting for the Ravelry Worldwide Shaw Exchange and have only about 12 more rows but each row is about a million stitches long so I am taking a break and have started on the wool I bought in the John Lewis sale. I've gone first for the last purchase. Rowan felted tweed in pink. Now I have used and loved felted tweed before but pink???? It's quite a subtle pink though so I think it will be wearable. I am knitting Textured cardigan form Rowan Studio 8. I am having a bit of a crisis with which size to knit.
I also bought two lots of Regia sock wool, some olive green Kidsilk Haze and some cinnamon coloured Pure Wool 4ply.