Spring Felted Bag Exchange

QUESTIONAIRE:
1. How long have you been knitting or crochetting? How did you learn?
I taught myself to crochet when I was ten-years-old. I checked out a book from the local library, stopped by Newberry's and bought a plastic crochet hook and one skein of red worsted weight yarn. I took it home and learned. Alas, I couldn't teach myself to knit. My sister Irma taught me to knit shortly after I learned to crochet. I must have been eleven- or twelve-years-old then. The first pattern I ever had was a photocopy Irm made for me for some slippers with little rosettes on top. I made those slippers in navy blue.

2. What are your favorite yarns to knit\crochet felted bags with?
That's a toughie. I guess I really like using Paton's Classic Merino. It felts beautifully. I like the way the colors meld with the Noro Kureyon, but it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r for that to felt. Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn felts nicely, too. Overall, I choose Paton's as my favorite.

3. What are your favorite needles to knit\crochet with?
For knitting, it's a toss-up between my new Denise interchangeables and the Addis I just bought. For crochet, I like my good ol' aluminum hooks. I'd like to try some rosewood hooks I saw at the Hobby Lobby. I can say with certainty, however, that I do not like plastic crochet hooks.

4. What are the last 3 bags you knitted\crochetted (include URL for Yahoo! or flickr album or your blog if you have them!)? You can also link to patterns if you don't have pictures of your finished objects!
The last three bags I stitched were the Karaoke purse I just knit, Irm's felted drawstring bag, and my button purse. All three are my own patterns.

5. Do you carry the bags that you make, give them as gifts, or both?
I promised the women in my family I would make them felted purses for their birthdays this year. I also like to use them personally.

6. What is your favorite felted bag that you have made for yourself?
My favorite felted bag is hmmm........ Let me think....... I'm not really sure I have a favorite exactly. The first bag I felted is a sentimental favorite because it was my first felted project so I suppose that one is my favorite.

7. What are your favorite colors? Do you like bags in these colors or choose other colors?
I like just about any color, but lately I've been partial to reds.

8. Chocolate: White, Milk, Dark, or not so much?
I don't eat chocolate very often since I'm diabetic. When I do, I eat Hershey's Special Dark sugarless version.

9. Coffee, Tea, or Milk?
I'm not big fan of coffee, but I do occasionally drink it. My favorite of the three is iced tea.

10. Do you prefer sweet or salty treats? What kinds?
Salty all the way. As I mentioned before, I'm diabetic so I don't really do sweets. Never have been much for sweets my whole life. My absolute favorite snack is popcorn.

11. If you went into Bath and Body Works and could only come out with one item, what would it be and what would it smell like?
ONLY ONE ITEM!! I'm not sure I could do that. I suppose it would be body spray in either Moonlight Path or their newest Honeysuckle.

12. Do you enjoy any other crafts or hobbies? Do you collect anything?
I'm participating in a stitch marker swap so I'll soon start doing some beadwork. Who knows? Maybe that will be my next obsession. Aside from knitting and crocheting, I don't do too much in the way of crafts.

13. Are there any bag patterns you have not yet knit, but hope to someday?
Where do I begin? There are lots of patterns I have yet to try. One that I'd like to try because I bought the pattern and yarn it, is this entrelac tote.

14. What is currently OTN (on the needles) for you?
Yikes! Let's see... a dresser scarf (crochet) for my sister, a blue vest (knit) for me, a washcloth (knit) for me, the cable footies from the One Skein book for my sister, umm... I think that's all for now.

15. What is your most recent finished object before that?
The hospice shawl found on my blog is my most recent FO. Technically speaking, that's the most recent completed object. The one cable footie (as opposed to a whole pair) doesn't count.

16. What's cutest: Puppies, Piggies or Pixies?
Not into any of these, but if I had to choose one, I'd choose pixies.

17. Do you enjoy reading? Books, Magazines, or both?
Yes, I enjoy reading both books and magazines. Sometimes I'll read the newspaper online.

18. Do you have any children? (kid-kind or pet-kind apply!)
I have no children except the 23 that I teach. If you're going to include the pet kind, then I have a son who is a corn snake named Cookie and a daughter who is an Australian bearded dragon named Pebbles.

19. What are some of your favorite yarns for other projects?
Lately, I've enjoyed the natural fibers more so than the acrylic ones; however, I don't have a problem with any yarn. Oh, and I'd really like to try Amaizing, a Southwest Trading Company yarn made from corn.

20. And for the final question, one I see debated all over: Novelty Yarn: Love it! Hate it! or It depends!
It depends on what I'm making and how much of a novelty it is. I loved the yarn I used for the hospice shawl. I don't, however, enjoy the fancy fur varieties. They have their place on some needles somewhere out there, but not on MY needes.