Gulf Islands here we come

So I'm getting ready to go to our cabin on Galiano for the long weekend and won't be back till late Monday night. Since our boat is not in the water due some moron stealing the rudder and some maintenance needing to be done, we have to hike to the Point that our cabin is on. It's a strenuous hike on a logging road with nasty switchbacks and it takes me around 45 minutes to an hour depending on the weather and stuff. So I can't really pack the all the knitting I want to *sigh*. I did pack some light knitting in the form of two balls of Cascade Fixation for plain old stockinette socks without a pattern. I want to pack my cables and os cardi to knit on the ferry, but then I'd have to pack it in and back out again.

Here's what I have on the needles. I started to make Fetching, I have one almost done (just need to weave in the ends) and I'll probably work on the second one on the ferry or at the cabin. I used a ball of Rowan Calmer in Denim and it looks like I'll have enough left over to make another pair! I have my Cables and Os cardi that I haven't worked on all week since I've been working on other projects. I knit up then frogged a pair of Monkey socks for my monkey sock swap pal in Panda Cotton. There was a few holes where I picked up the gussets stitches and I didn't notice till I was near the toe *arrgg* Still slowly working on the Montego Bay scarf and my Ravenclaw house scarf is in hibernation for now.

I did finished my Hogwarts Sock Swap Pals socks and they will remain a secret till she has received them! A friend tried to take them home with him and hinted he'd love to have a pair like it in those fantastic (Gryffindor) colours. Lol he even liked the lace pattern, I wonder what his girlfriend would think of that and I should really teach her to knit so she can make him some socks!

My camera is coming back from it's vacation to Germany, I hope that it comes with treats :-D So the days I'm not at school (I'm going 3 days a week), I'll be taken photos and adding the rest of my stash on Ravelry (I'm nosheep4chelle). Happy Knitting and enjoy the long weekend!

Getting ready

I start school again this year. I'm going back to college to learn how to use technology available to people with visual disabilities in a work setting. When I started working as a legal secretary/admin. assistant I was very new to using programs like JAWS (text to speech program) and ZoomText or Magic (screen magnifiers) as well as simple things like a handheld cctv or a desktop cctv, which magnifies text on papers etc... I'm a very quick learner, but stress and dealing with co-workers who would come to my desk to stare at me working on a reverse background screen that is magnified to say "I can't believe you can deal with your screen like that, it's so weird" etc.. So after a few offices like this or so, I decided to take some time off working and dealing with making life easier by using aids and learning to cope with the many stupid and/or ignorant people in this world and their insensitive comments. I tend to bottle up my emotions when dealing with the general public stupidity and after a while I end up being angry, jaded and frustrated that I can't deal with the same questions or remarks over and over again. Here's a few that have been eating at me that I have been trying to learn to just smile and not react to.

• "you don't look blind"
• while working my guide dog "oh you are training the dog"
• I let them know that she's my guide dog and we've recently graduated from training and the common comment is "Oh I'm so sorry, but you are so young. It's so hard you are so strong" or something to that effect
• people giving my dog orders like sit or talking to her when she is working
• "I could never give up a cute dog like that you are so brave to be training the dog and giving it away"
• when I'm giving my dog a correction "she not really a good guide dog is it" seems like people don't realize that these dogs aren't completely perfect especially if they are distracting her" or "don't do that she didn't do anything wrong" etc..
  

The list goes on, but I'm sure you are sick of me whining about the lovely remarks of the general public. I realize that many, many people don't really understand the relationship of a working dog and visually impaired/blind handler and I try to educate people because I hope they will come away with some understanding and talk about it with others, thus educating the masses. There are also many that ask questions, but don't listen to the answer and just reply that's nice then turn to someone else and tell that person exactly the same piece of misinformation that I just explained is incorrect. okay end/rant

I don't mean for this post to be a rant, but I needed to get it out of my system. So going back to school is going to take some knitting time away from me so I've been working on my Hogwarts Sock Swap pals second sock exclusively then I have two more swap deadline projects to knit then I'm going to hold off on any other swaps for a bit. I've also decided not to do any holiday knitting this year to avoid being stressed and rushed.

Here's some good news, I am getting my new laptop so I hope to be able to post here a bit more than I have been lately. Oh and I'm finally getting some Socks That Rock for my very own! I ordered a hank of the new 100% silk as well as a random stripe tube sock kit because I got impatient awaiting for Sock Candy to be put for sale on the site. A while back I e-mailed BMFA inquiring how to get ahold of the prized Sock Candy that has been showing up on blogs here and there and I was told that they are working on getting it up on the website sometime in late summer, early fall. I have a feeling that it's going to be delayed some more for other new BMFA yarns that are not animal fiber allergy friendly. *sigh* Till then I have some lovely silk to make a stole in Lagoon. Cotton Socktina is coming to the Loopy Ewe and I'm excited. I can't wait till the next sneak-up and I'm a Loopy Groupie so I get an e-mail warning about the sneak-up. yay!

BTW hello to all my swap secret pals, you know who you are.

Sockapalooza Socks received

I got my Sockapalooza socks yesterday in the mail! My camera is currently loaned out to one of His Tallest's co-workers and on vacation in Germany, so I'll have to take pictures later. They are a lovely aqua blue ankle socks made of out Cascade Fixation. Pictures to come when my camera comes home from its vacation :-D I miss my camera especially because I can't add pictures of my growing stash on Ravelry nor take pics of my FOs and WIPs

I wanted to say thanks so much to Barb for surviving knitting for someone who has animal fiber allergies and not involving acrylic (makes my feet very unhappy burn and peel -- acrylic that is!) She experienced that listening to a yarn store worker that there is no wool in cotton sock yarn doesn't mean there is no wool in that "cotton" sock yarn and that they haven't read or learned from Yarn Harlot's lesson of the very itchy cotton socks. I always have to read label for anything I eat or any fiber I use; however I had years of training because my dad was a diabetic and you have to look over ingredients labels very carefully. Also thank you for tackling knitting socks with Cascade Fixation for the first time, it can be tricky and takes a little bit to get used to. I like Cascade though it make a nice warm thicker cotton sock when knitted with the right tension for the winter.

Speaking of allergies, I begin my first round of allergy shots today, wish me luck!

Trying to get the Monkey off my back yet again - Monky Sock Swap THREE Questionnaire Answers

Yep I did it signed up for another swap. I thank my sockapalooza upstream pal (yay the socks are in the mail - got your e-mail will reply later!) for being a Monkey Sock Swap enabler. When I was little, my father used to take me to Stanley Park to see the monkeys. Yes Stanley Park back in the old days had Monkeys and I loved them. I'm a little sad still that they are gone. He used to point to them and say look there are your cousins. A family joke because one of my nicknames was monkey, I would do chin lifts on tables at the age of approx. 7 months when I was cruising (when babies start to try to walk by holding onto objects). I was curious (and still can be) and liked to hang around :-)

Monkey Sock Swap THREE Questionnaire

The basics:
Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? between beginner and intermediate

The measurements:
Shoe Size: depending on the shoes it can be a US 6 ½ to 7 1/2
Foot circumference: 8 1/2
Foot length: 9 inches

Yarn Preferences:
What colors do you love? Greens, Blues, Purples, Reds, Browns, Blacks, Greys

Do you prefer solids or variegated? either

Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Cotton/nylon blend if possible! I’m allergic to wool and allergic socks do bad things to the skin on my feet.

What colors would you never wear? Orange, yellow, most pinks, pastels (have been on occasion but not much), neons

What are your favorite brands of yarn? Panda Cotton and Greenwood Fiber’s Cotton/Lycra Sock Yarn

Are there any new brands you would like to try? BMFA’s Sock Candy (always trying to find more!) and Crystal Palace’s Maizy Sock Yarn

Cookie A. Patterns:
Which of her patterns have you already knit? Monkeys

Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? Twisted Flower Sock, Gothic Spire I have the other free ones printed out already and ready to go once I get the monkey urge of my back, next is the pair for this swap and a pair of mini monkeys. If you want to print out BFF or Twinkle Toes in an easier format then feel free, right now BFF is only accessable via google cache

Other pertinent information:

Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? Since I’m international I don’t mind sending to either

Do you have any allergies? Loads – all animal fibers (including cats and dogs yep I’m allergic to my dog, but dog hair really doesn’t bug me like cat hair!), most perfume scents, lemongrass, lactose (milk products including milk solids, milk chocolate etc..), Petroleum jelly, almost all lip balms don't have issues with burt's bees only one that I haven't gotten chapped and annoyed lips from (funny it's got lanolin but seems fine), products with high glycerol/glycine content cause issues as well, feathers, dust, mold, pollens, beef ( have to be careful because beef lard is in some cookies!) and I think that’s all you really need to know. Yes I have more allergies and include skin sensitivities that my friends joke that I should live in a bubble.

Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? Animals yes, a cute working (she’s my guide dog) black lab

Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name? yes I have access to crack Ravelry, my name is nosheep4chelle

What's on my needles this week

So I've been a busy little knitter. I finished one sock, the plain ol' stockinette sock in Cascade Fixation. Here's some pics of it. Yes I normally dislike this much pink but I love the purples, blues and whites in this sock enough to forgive the pink.
I've also been working on my cables and os cardi from No Sheep For You in Knitpicks Cotlin in the fantastically wonderful colourway Morrocan red. I like this yarn, but find knitting with it for long periods of time it's a little hard on the hands. I wonder if it's the cotton or the linen? I have gotten pretty far on it even though it's on 3.5mm (US 4 ) This is my first cabling project as well as my first sweater/cardi so I'm very happy with the progress of it. I have put it down to work on other projects with deadlines though. Oh and I did get my geek on and knitted a gauge swatch, see picture is evidence! The stitchmarkers are from Zero on Etsy, they are pretty freshwater pearls and I love them.





I have some other projects going like my Hogwarts Sock Swap pal's Gryffindor socks and the Montego Bay scarf but I'll save those for another post when my internet isn't so sluggish! Happy Knitting!

Chaussettes de singe pour moi!

I finished my monkey socks!! I finished them this weekend, but I didn't get a chance to post here. I wish Raverly was out of beta so I could just be lazy and link the to the post there, but since I can't here's the info and pics here a little later than I wanted them to be.

Monkey Socks

Pattern: Monkey Socks by Cookie A

Started: July 31st

Finished: August 6th

Needle Size: 2.5 mm (US 1 1/2) and 2.25 mm (US 1) I changed needles sizes after decreasing all the gusset stitches

Yarn: Panda Cotton - 55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon. 2 skeins 340 yrds.

Colourway: 0435 Blueberries - Grapes



Notes: Next time I'll change needles when starting the heel flap because the ankle is a little loose. If I make another pair of Monkeys for myself (which I probably will because they are addictive!) I'll make then non-slouchy by knitting it all on 2.25mm's.

I'll wash and block them and see if there is any difference after that. I was going to wash and block then after I made them but I've been wearing them since they are so soft and very comfy!

I also want to say I love my Fluevogs, I call them my Alice shoes because they remind me of Alice in Wonderland. They are the only pretty shoes that I can wear when I'm working Maylee, so that says a lot.

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favourite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? My favourite yarn to knit with is soysilk, silk and bamboo. I don't like fun fur and other novelty yarns as well as most acrylic yarns.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a fabric roll-up for my dpns (not enough room for them all, need some more darn) and one for my straights. I also own a KnitPicks interchangeable needles kit and Denise kit. I'm currently keeping my crochet hooks and other circs in a plastic storage container

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I started knitting in Nov 2006 and I'm an intermediate knitter. I've been crocheting on and off since I was really little around 4 yrs. old

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? yep but it's not up-to-date

5. What's your favorite scent? mint, mango, and grapefruit because I can't choose just one oops forgot green tea yum!

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favourite candy? Yep. Coke bottles, fuzzy peaches, cinnamon hearts, gummy worms, dark chocolate and jelly bellies (almost all except popcorn flavour beans yuck!)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? Playing with beads, crochet, will be making stitch markers soon!, making cards occasionally, collages, I plan to start scrapbooking as well. I don't spin but I'd like to start.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) Almost everything but country (however I like some bluegrass, Johnny Cash and Dixie Chicks so there are always exceptions) See my blogger profile for some of my favourites. I have devices that play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Blue, green, red, brown, purple, grey and black -- I'm not a fan of most pinks (I don't mind a little pink every once in a while though), oranges, yellows, most pastels and neon colours.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live with my partner - His Tallest and my daughter mini-me who is a teenager very soon. I have a black lab Maylee who is my guide dog (I'm legally blind with central functional vision in my right eye)

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Everything but ponchos

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? I've caught the sock bug and I also love to make hats and scarves. Knitting lace is another one of my new addictions.

13. What are you knitting right now? Monkey socks, Montego Bay scarf, Ravenclaw 3rd-4th yr. scarf and plain old stockinette socks

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? circs - I like my knitpicks interchangeables and lace addis. I also like bamboo straights and dpns

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I own a yarn winder

17. How old is your oldest UFO? I don't have any old UFO's because they have been frogged or finished now

18. What is your favorite holiday? Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year

19. Is there anything that you collect? stitchmarkers, kawaii stationary, books :-)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I have a sub to Interweave Knits and Knit.1

Patterns: Rogue, Eris, any cookie A pattern except Thelonious and Flicker because I have both these patterns!

Yarns: Crystal Palace's Maizy sock yarn, Schoeller & Stahl Socktina Cotton, BMFA's sock candy

Needles: Rosewood dpns

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? intarsia, fair isle and magic loop

22. Are you a sock knitter? Yes! What are your foot measurements? Shoe size - 6 ½ to 7 ½ depending on the shoe Foot Length - 9 inches Foot Circumference - 8 ½ inches

23. When is your birthday? June 13th

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? yep, nosheep4chelle

Since it's not on the questionnaire I guess the hostesses forgot this round I'm going to add it because it's an important one for me

25. Do you have an allergies? Allergies where to start...lemongrass, milk and milk products, cats, dogs (yep I'm allergic to my dog, she can't lick me), sheep, bunnies, alpacas, goats, lol let's just say all animal fibers, certain flowery smells, Petroleum jelly, almost all lip balms don't have issues with burt's bees only one that I haven't gotten chapped and annoyed lips from (funny it's got lanolin but seems fine), products with high glycerol/glycine content cause issues as well, feathers, dust, mold, pollens, beef ( have to be careful because beef lard is in some cookies!, vegetable shortening is my friend!) and there is more to the list but that's all you need to know really. I hope I didn't hurt your head, sorry. The combination of sensitive skin and allergies really sucks at times. Also I'm not fond of smoke smell and I live in a non-smoking household I'm not sure if we answered the question before this.

VVS package received

I received my Virtual Vacation Swap package today. My virtual vacation was to Lexington, Kentucky! I *big grin* was right, see here's my guess after her first and only clue!

The treats in the package that Kentucky is known for was a little bottle of Maker's Mark sauce and tasty dark chocolate-covered bourbon cherries. They were yummy and I can't wait to try the sauce out. There was also a postcard of a mural that is on a water tower in Lexington, KY that has a field with horses on it, a cute stuffed Kentucky Derby horse (mini-me has been trying to claim it as hers and Maylee has been giving it kisses), tourist brochure for Lexington and two magnets -- one is a Wildcats (U of Kentucky) one and a state of Kentucky one with their tree, bird, flag and capital. There was a Market Bag pattern including in the package as well to help me use some of the balls of yarn I may want to use up.

Thanks so much Magic Knitter!! The package was fantastic especially the beautiful yarn you spun! Inside my package I found some yummy yarn, but my favourite by far is the Knitting Magic Girl Studios 100% soysilk, it's a lovely multi-coloured heavy worsted weight/bulky in pretty blues, greens, and purples it's so soft that mini-me and I have been petting it since it arrived.
And more yarn!! I found a hank of Banana fiber in a pretty kelly green (one of my favourite shades of green, how did you know?)A ball of SWTC's Pure soysilk in a pretty red and black colourway, I really like colourway as well. I don't have the package in front of me right now so I don't know the colourway name/number.
Two balls of Panda Cotton in Nightlights, it's one of the very few colourways of my favourite Panda Cotton that I don't have in my stash, thanks. I almost put it in my cart when I made my most recent purchase over at the Loopy Ewe (BTW Sheri has Handmaiden sea silk, yum I used my $25.00 off and got another hank). I wasn't quite sure if I'd like Nightlights, but now that I see it in person it is on my top 10 list!

Last but not least a ball of SWTC's A-MAIZ-ing multi yarn. It's 100% corn fiber! I really wanted to try this yarn as well. The colourway is in Aidan and it reminds me of the lovely ball of bamboo yarn that papermonkey sent me for SPLJ 3. EDIT: Papermonkey has knitting blog, silly me Both are so beautiful multi-coloured blues and whites that remind me of the ocean.
Thanks you again Magic Knitter, I think I hurt my family's ears with the squees. You rock! Also thanks for including Rabelle's card, she told me that they carry a lot of vegan yarns and to call them to see if they can ship some of these yummy yarns that I have trouble getting here.

I don't know why Vancouver and it's surrounding areas have a lack of vegan yarn selection considering we have a huge amount of vegans here. I'm forever meeting yarn store owners and workers who look at me as if I asked for Red Heart not Panda Cotton or they try to persuade me that I can't be allergic to animal fibers! I have found Two Bags Full to be pretty good and they are always bringing in more yarns, so I'm hoping the more I go and talk to the owner, Francesca(I think that's her name, if not I'm sooo sorry) the more vegan yarn I'll find.

Wow I'm all tired from this virtual travelling, so once again thank you Magic Knitter for making my yarn I want to get my hands on to try list much, much shorter. I can't wait to find patterns to compliment these yarns.

All packed up and ready to go

So I just put the finishing touches on my Sockapalooza 4 pals package and it all ready to go tomorrow! Here's a peak at what she is getting I really hope she likes her socks and extras. I put in some pretty merino and tencel sock yarn the colourway is Bird of Paradise handpainted by Spinning Bunny because she loves merino, but I can' t knit with it so she has some more sock yarn to make some socks for the upcoming fall/winter months and the monkey socks I made should be good for spring/summer

I am on the second or third lace pattern repeat on my first monkey sock for myself. I was too lazy to take pictures so I'll take them some later and post them. I haven't touched the ravenclaw scarf; however I did cast on a new project. I casted on some sea silk for the Montego Bay Scarf (Interweave summer 2007, designer Amy Singer) I think the colourway is either teal or ocean I can't seem to find the tag because I had wound it up to knit a lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today but decided I wanted to something simpler and put the yarn aside. I finally got the nerve to cut 200 12' pieces for the fringe and casted on. This is a good pattern to knit when you need something simple, it can get tedious and boring so bring it along with you to your knitting night out or put on a good audiobook, right now I'm listening to Janet Evanovich's Mean Thirteen.

Don't forget folks that tomorrow you can ship your sockapalooza packages, yay! Note to my upstream pal, don't worry about being a little late, just send everything in one go. There's no need to have to go to the post office twice! Just keep me in the loop and I'll be a happy sockpaloozer. Another thing not to forget, Knit One, Tea Too swap sign ups start on Friday August 3rd -- don't forget to check the site for more details.

Early Bird get's more tea! - Knit 1 Tea 2 Colour Swap

I'm so excited about this swap and I noticed that the questionnaire is up for all of us too excited to wait, so I took my time and finally finished it.

Here's my Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Colour (I'm Canadian eh!) Swap Questionnaire Answers.

1. Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try? I lurrrvve loose tea, but I'm not a total loose leaf snob because I'll use bags. It's just my preferred method of steeping tastiness.

2. What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavour, variety, etc)? Well I love Steeps loose leaf teas for example: their flavoured green teas (especially pear green tea), Mu dan rose, (hand-rolled balls with jasmine blossom). Also I like Twinings Earl Grey (original not this new fangled change that they tried to pull), Tazo Refresh, any tasty chais, peppermint, most herbal teas (minus anything with lemongrass due to allergies), chinese black teas, and white teas.

3. Favourite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up). I'd say green but I will won't mind any of them so choose away if you want to.

4. Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind? I love tea pots and need more! I have three right now -- one cobalt blue, one for loose leaf clear glass and a chinese tea pot. I'm sure if I had a hot water heater I'd still use a tea pot, lol.

5. What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself? loose leaf tea bags. Right now I'm using my coffee filters! Fancy tea spoon or tongs. A good tea infuser.


6. How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc).
A nice long soak in a bubble or bath bomb filled bath with a good book with some yummy treats on the side!

7. If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why? Bamboo. It can be rough at first, but it softens up after washing and use to become your favourite garment. I'm also different from the rest of the "flock"

8. If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why? Fair Isle Sweater I love them, but never get to wear them because of my allergies. Oh course it would be the no-sheep one from Amy Singer's book! I also like a challenge, my third knitting fo was a lace scarf!

9. What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?) A book club meeting might do it. I might skip for a yoga class but we can also go for tea after that! A book signing from one of my favourite authors would be another reason to skip out.

10. What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?) cucumber sandwiches on whole wheat cut in little triangles (crust included because I love the crust!), whole wheat scones (vegan) filled with tasty jam like strawberry, raspberry, blackberry or blueberry, and tasty pastries of course vegan friendly because vegan friendly means no dairy for me! If having green tea and/or chinese tea then there will be egg tarts, cha sui baau (BBQ pork buns), Chrysanthemum Pastries, egg rolls, jin tui, almond cookies, pineapple filled bun, and nuomizi. Also both would include ginger snaps can't leave out the tasty ginger!!

11. When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute? Usually I have to sub due to allergies, if it's a no-sheep friendly yarn I normally will use the yarn called for if it's in my stash or I really like it.

12. What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go? I have a go-knit pouch and some other pretty cloth pouches.

13. Favourite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting? There are so many. Labyrinth, Princess Bride, any Hayao Miyazaki with english-dubbed (if not crafting prefer subs), BSG, Heroes Season 1 (looking forward to season 2), doctor who (new and old -- all-time favourite doctor's are Tom Baker and David Tennant), The Thomas Crown Affair (new one) and more

14. Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match? I like both. I use a mug more than traditional tea cup out of laziness and the fact I don't want to hurt the beautiful tea cups my grandma handed down to me. As for drinking chinese and green tea I tend to use traditional chinese or japanese cups.

15. Favorite childhood birthday party? The party I had for all my friends when I was 8 or 9 outside we had a cake with cooked in it! I also had a roller skating party that year and only could choose two friends that was fun also.

16. Favourite type of scone and jam? whole wheat with berries. favourite jam: it's a between strawberry, blackberry and raspberry.

17. If you use candles, what is your favorite scent? lavender, green tea, mint, jasmine, grapefruit

18. If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead). Neil Gaiman, Hayao Miyazaki and Tori Amos because it sounds like too much fun. My favourite writers -- movie, books, comics and songwriting -- all in the same room, imagine the conversation!

19. You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)? Formal: Of course my lace knitted socks with a fancy skirt and my Mary Jane 'Vogs, a cute top and knitted cardi and of course my knitting! I might include a pretty hat and fan depending on my mood and the weather if it is raining I must wear a hat. It's damn near impossible to work a guide dog with an umbrella in hat. Also depending on my mood the formal feel with be dark and gothy or light and girly.

20. Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to? Allergies where to start...lemongrass, milk and milk products, cats, dogs (yep I'm allergic to my dog, she can't lick me), sheep, bunnies, alpacas, goats, lol let's just say all animal fibers, certain flowery smells, Petrolatum, almost all lip balms don't have issues with burt's bees only one that I haven't gotten chapped and irradiated lips from(funny it's got lanolin but seems fine), products with high glycerol/glycine content cause issue as well, feathers, dust, mold, pollens, beef ( have to be careful because beef lard is in some cookies!, vegetable shortening is my friend!) and there is more to the list but that's all you need to know really. I hope I didn't hurt your head, sorry. The combination of sensitive skin and allergies really sucks at times.

21. Anything we missed that you want your pal to know? Not that I can think of right now, might edit at later date