Knitty Otter is having a contest and I thought I would join in!

Getting to Know you Contest Questionnaire:

1.) How long have you been knitting?

Since 2004. I was pregnant with my third child and was visiting my parents. Mom was knitting away and I decided that I needed her to reshow me how it was done!

2.) How long have you been knitting socks?

Socks were my second project. I took a practice pair to the hospital when I gave birth to my son and once I got home, I knit a pair for my FIL.

3.) What do you do with a problem like Maria?

Do what the Catholic Church always does...... Move her to a new place and cover up her past :-)

4.) What is your all time favorite sock yarn?

I have a HUGE stash of sock yarn. It's so big that I don't NEED to buy sock yarn for years. My favorite that I have worked with is Twisted. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my socks that I knit with her DK weight.

5.) Toe Up or Cuff Down?

Top Down. I have no idea how to knit toe up.

9. What's your favorite color (this week or for all time)? Do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

My all time favorite color is yellow. But I am picky. It has be the perfect yellow. Most time I gravitate to earth tone yarns.... and I can't STAND bright red.

10.) Do you have a pet(s)?

Yup. One cat and we are taking care of a old, decrepit, hamster for the summer. Thank goodness he belongs to the school and I can give him back.

11.) Babies: Oven Roasted or Barbecued?

What? What the hell does this mean?

12.) Besides socks what is your favorite type of thing to knit?

Hats and mittens. I have never knit a sweater. I am really chicken. I should bite the bullet and make one....

13.) What's your favorite scent?

I like food smells for candles. Right now I have a hazelnut coffee candle and I LOVE the way it smells. I don't really wear perfume... but if I do, I spray on Love Spell from Victoria's Secret.

14.) What music are you really loving right now? Like a song or a band?

I really listen to everything. Country, Rap, Rock, Pop....anything. I am loving One Republic, not the remix stuff, just their original songs.

15.) How many pairs of socks have you hand knit?

Not too many.... 4 maybe? Maybe 5...

16.) What's your favorite treat? Salty or Sweet?

Both. I have a bad sweet tooth. But I like rich treats. The richer the better!

17.) What was the most interesting thing you smelled yesterday. Not good or bad necessarily, just the thing that stuck out most so that you actually took notice of it.

I spent most of my day at the pool. Not too many smells there. Just the chlorine. I did spray the Love Story on in the morning :-) Oh wait, I made Kettle Corn last night and ate the whole bag. I had never had Kettle Corn until a few weeks ago and now I am in love!

18.) Needles - DPN's: Wooden, metal or plastic?

Depends. I used to love wooden but then I tried the Knit Picks metal sock needles. I really really like them. I want to get the whole set!

19.) What is your favorite sock pattern that you've knit? What do you recommend?

I really like the Embossed Leaves that I made. The pattern was fun and the finished product was beautiful. I just wish that I had used better yarn.

20.) The last Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island who would you want with you, what knitting would you want with you and would you ever want to leave?

Hummmm, I think I would want my hubby and Catherine. Cath's husband can come too. I would want patten and yarn for a sampler afghan. You know, the ones with the cables and motifs.... Also my sock stash. You need socks on a deserted island. Leave? probably not :-)

Everything is bigger in Texas

I had a great time in Texas with Cath. I should say, I had a great time while I was in an air conditioned environment! OH MY GOD IT WAS HOT! Now I grew up in Virginia. It was hot. It was humid. But I have lived in California for 10 or so years now (wow, has it been that long?), and I am obliviously not used to the humidity anymore. I really thought I was going to die.

Other than the heat, I had a great time. Cath had her party to celebrate two years of Mama Llama business at an awesome Tex-Mex restaurant. There were a lot of people there, and it was really fun to see all of her "fans".

Me and Cath's Family

I also got to see her super secret dying process. She was even so kind as to let me make my own colorway. She dyed it since I was too afraid that I would screw it up! I really like this color....so proud of my first creation! I can't remember if Cath named it, or if I did. So I present you.....

LillyPad

If you must have some, and I know you do, MamaLlama can help you out!


Also in Texas, I introduced Chris and Cath to geocaching. Both thought I was a big dork when I explained it to them, but once we got out and actually found a cache (pronounced cash. CHRIS), both of them thought it was fun! Even Brandon got into it. He was the "leader" when he carried around the GPS.

Follow me guys!

While we at one cache site, I saw a beautiful bug crawling on the ground. It was HUGE and bright RED! It really was pretty. No one knew what it was so when I got to the computer I searched for a big red fuzzy ant. Turns out it was a Velvet ant. The name is deceiving because it's not an ant at all.... It was a wingless WASP! Now if you know me at all, you know I am terrified of bees and wasps. TERRIFIED. To the point that Greg wants me to go get hypnotized to get over my fear. It's that bad.

It's also called a cow killer.... Yikes!

Guess everything really IS bigger in Texas!