ladymadrian

~Taking a Short Break from Swapping~

I've been knitting about 3 and a half years now, and can't get enough. I started swapping with Sockapalooza 4 (which also was the occasion for my first sock knitting), and have been in a variety on knitting swaps since then.

Aside from knitting, I also sew and design my own cross stitch patterns. I'm currently in college for my second BS, in biology, with the eventual goal of being a high school biology teacher. My first degree was in Physical Anthropolgy. However, I do technical support for a web hosting company to pay the bills - nothing to do with either degree.

Aside from work, school, and knitting, I spend my time making stitch markers, cross stitching, sewing, watching house-shows on HGTV, watching food-shows on FoodNetwork, playing on Second Life, listening to NPR, reading every knitting magazine I can get my hands on, and trying to figure out how to properly organize my yarn and fabric stash.

Knitting, Cross Stitch, Sewing, Digital art, Beading

I'd say I'm an adventurous and advanced beginner. I have made up my own patterns for simple objects; I have designed and knitted my own cabling stitch patterns; I have done some slip stitch and knit/purl textured stitch patterns; I have knit - and enjoy knitting - bags, hats, scarves, socks, and stuffed animals, though I love a challenge and want to expand my repertoire.

I have not yet ventured into the worlds of lace, intarsia, or stranded color-work - I would need a pattern that was simple enough for a first project, but challenging enough to keep my interest.

Industrial, gothic, new wave, elektronica, 1990s modern rock, klezmer, jazz, blues, old school rap... pretty much a little of anything other than country or current rap

Italian Job, Ocean's 11, Neverendsing Story, Labyrinth, Princess Bride, Boondock Saints...

The Harry Potter series, anything by Laurel K Hamilton, Knitting books, anything by Anne McCaffery, anything by William Gibson, the ShadowRun series... pretty much most of the fantasy and cyber-punk genres

CSI, Bones, House, Good Eats, Card Captor Sakura, Iron Chef, Color Splash, What's With That House, Project Runway, Top Chef...

Black and Jewel tones, almost every shade of green (excepting neon/bright green), most shades of red and burgundy, soft greys, purples, violets, and blues

I don't usually care for yellows, oranges, or pinks for the most part, but I am open to surprises.

Art:
Roy Lichtenstein's comic art panels, Pin Up Girl art (like Andrew Bawidamann and Gil Elvgren's work), anything Betty Page, cynical or dark art, ukiyo-e, ancient Egyptian work, Northwest Coast/Inuit art, Reclaimed Item works, Mexican folk art (especially Dia De Los Muertos art), Southern folk/outsider art, Vodou art...

Design:
Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Isamu Noguchi, Louis Sullivan, Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Charles and Ray Eames...

Food and Drink:
Strawberries, Milk and Dark chocolate, limes, raspberries, green tea, Austin Zoo crackers, Caramello bars, peanut butter, cheesecake, apples, amaretto, Jones Sodas, white tea, chai, smoked lime tea, guacamole...

Hogwart's House:
Ravenclaw (Movie Blue and Silver)

Etsy Crafters:
FearlessFibers, KindredSpiritsYarn, copperpot, mamablue, catherinekerth, kaleido, jesdane, EwenMe, yarnpirate, SandrikasFiberArt, PhoenixFiberworks, LoneStarArts, grasshopper, patternmania, louiseblack, shelbyB, RazzyTazzyKnits Also, did you know you can view people's Etsy favorites by looking up their profile? My Etsy favorites are HERE

Fibers: I'm in the middle of a MAJOR love affair with alpaca. I also enjoy merino wool, silk, and soft mercerized cottons. I've only knit with angora in a 80/20 cotton/angora mix, so I'd love to try something more angora-y. I've thus far shied away from Mohair though, as it looks itchy! Linen, and other more exotic fibers also sound interesting. I'm also not opposed to high quality synthetic blends (I'm thinking of something like Rowan's Calmer).

Yarns: I don't do bulky and chunky yarns. I'm a big girl, and big yarns just make big girls draped in them look bigger. Worsted weight is the heaviest weight yarn I am willing to use, and even that doesn't make its way into my house very often. I mostly buy fingering weight yarn (SOCKS), but use sport and dk weight yarns frequently as well - those three weights are my go-to weights.

Strong scents, bulky yarns, eyelash and other novelty yarns, dogs, religious items, country music, horror movies, romance novels, white chocolate