Knitting survey thing

In an attempt to make up for my previous whiney, self-indulgant ramble...

1. What's your worst habit relating to your knitting?
I hate swatching before I start a project. Call it laziness, or just simply impatience to get started. Yeah, I know it would save me a whole lot of headache in the long-run, but it's just no fun. And the couple of times that I've actually taken the time to do a swatch, and it's been spot-on, I still seem to end up with a difference once I actually get started.

2. In what specific ways does your knitting make you a better person?
Well, since you can consider knitting a form of active meditiation, I think it does a lot in the way of making me a better person. To be able to sit down and do something that is relaxing and just for me certainly has to make me a better person. We all need some down-time, right?

3. How might you or your life be different if you were suddenly unable to knit?
Now that I'm addicted to it, I'd probably go through some sort of major withdrawal. I know that when I've gone a few days without knitting anything, I get antsy and grumpy.

4. If money were no object, what one yarn, and what one tool or gadget would you run out and buy first?
Yarn: I'm not really sure, to be honest. There are so many really wonderful yarns out there, but since I'm such a novice I tend to shy away from them because I'm afraid that I won't do them any justice.
Tool: Well, I could go for a really nice set of interchangeables. I really dislike the set I currently have.

5. What knitting technique or project type are you most afraid of (if any)? What, specifically, do you fear will happen when you try it?
Again, I'm still relatively new to knitting, and so I haven't tried a lot of techniques yet. I will say that I've shied away from larger projects, like sweaters, and objects that require a lot of shaping. I'm just afraid that something that big would be such a huge investment of time and yarn, only to end up tucked in a closet, half finished.

6. Who is/are your knitting hero(es), and why?
My SIL, Amanda. She's the one that got me interested in knitting when I sat and watched her working on a sock at my parent's kitchen table about a year and a half ago. She just looked so happy and content. And the way she was able to work with all those toothpick looking needles seemed like magic.

7. Do you consider knitting, for you personally, a mostly social activity, or a mostly solitary activity?
Mostly solitary. There's not a big knitting community around here. I haven't found a single group of knitters in this area. I've worked on a sock in my friend's livingroom while we sat and chatted, but besides that, I'm all alone in my knitting endeavours.

8. Is there a particular regional tradition in knitting that you feel strongly drawn toward (e.g., Fair Isle, Scandinavian, Celtic, Orenburg lace)? Any theories as to why it calls to you?
I really love Aran. All those yummy cables. No particular theories, it's just beautiful, and not nearly as difficult as it looks.

9. If you were a yarn, which yarn would you be?
Probably some weird funky novelty yarn. Not because I like novelty yarns, just that with all their strange lumps, bumps, and textures, that's probably what I'd be.

10. Some statistics:
(a) How many years have passed since you FIRST learned to knit?
Less than one.
(b) How many total years have you been actively, regularly knitting (i.e., they don't have to have been in a row)?
maybe six months
(c) how many people have you taught to knit?
One, sort of. Granny is making slow and steady progress on her first scarf.
(d) Roughly what percentage of your FOs do you give away (to anyone besides yourself, i.e., including your immediate family)
The only thing I've kept so far is a pair of socks.

11. How often do you KIP (knit in public)? i.e., once a week, once a month, etc. Where do you do it?
Not very often. Maybe once a month. Unless you consider public your parents house. I just don't get out all that much, and when I do, I've got the munchkin in tow, and therefore, I'm pretty busy.

12. If a genie granted you one hour to stitch-n-bitch with any one knitter, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
Amanda, of course. Any excuse to hang out with family that's so far away. Besides, with all her knitting knowledge, I'm sure I could learn a million and one things from her. (Like magic loop)
13. What aspect or task in knitting makes you most impatient?
Swatching. See above.

14. What is it about knitting that never lets you get bored with it?
Maybe it's just because I'm still learning, but there's always something new to try. And when I'm bored with what I'm working on, I can always go looking for the next project, which usually gives me the motivation to finish what I'm working on.

15. Describe how and where you most often do your knitting - where do you sit, what is going on around you, what tools do you use and how are they (dis)organized?
Most of my knitting time is during J's nap. Usually I curl up on the loveseat with a cup of coffee and flip the tv over to one of the music channels. I also do a fair amount of knitting in the car when I can convince Wil to drive. Usually I'll invent an excuse to go somewhere relatively far from home so I can maximize my knitting time. :)

16. Which one person is the recipient of more of your knitting than any other?
I don't have a whole lot of FO's, and they've all been sent to different people.

17. What's the oddest thing about your knitting, or yourself as a knitter?
I will not allow myself to start a new project until I'm finished with the current one. I know so many people who are able to keep multiple projects going, but for me it just creates chaos.

18. What do you see yourself knitting - if anything - twenty years from now?
I really love small projects and working on smaller needles. For some reason the larger needles feel bulky and awkward in my hands. Hopefully I won't be plagued with some sort of debilitating degenerative disease that requires me to knit on size 17s. If so, I guess I'll switch to elephant socks or something.

19. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could have only ONE SKEIN of yarn, which yarn would it be and what would you do with it?
Something cotton. I'd knit things and then unknit them .. probably using sticks I honed into needles, since it wasn't said if needles actually came with the yarn.

20. If you were allowed to own only one knitting-related book, which would it be? (you'd be free to browse others, but you couldn't keep them)
I've got a great book that I picked up that has hundreds of different stitches in it, as well as some decent patterns. I'd have to say that it's been invaluable.

21. Is knitting the new yoga? Why or why not?
Naah, not yoga. Meditation perhaps, but last I checked, Yoga was about strengthening and stretching your body as well as it's meditative benefits. I can't see how knitting could come close to that. But if you mean has it become the latest craze that everyone is taking up then yeah, probably. Just not around here. :)

22. What important thing are you trying to put off doing whenever you knit?
Usually I'm not putting anything off, I'm killing idle time. Sure, I guess I could be doing housework or something more useful, but the house isn't a total disaster, so why not knit?