30 things for hipknits (includes FO)

Thank you so much for all the comments and emails (and, in one case, song) about my Dad. It was lovely to come back from the funeral to such a warm set of messages.

Anyway, to happier things. In the same spirit I wrote my last post in (i.e. mixing knitting with the rest of life), 30 things about me, from the hipknits competition to celebrate Kerrie's birthday.

1) I've just made the scarf pictured above and at the bottom. It's crochet, using a stitch pattern I found in this book. The yarn was leftover from the kiri I made recently.
2) I always say I don't like fireworks, but if I come across a display by accident I'm transfixed.
3) I listen to a lot of radio four but not a huge amount of music.
4) I have been flashed a few times. It happens. I was once flashed on the bus while I was knitting. The guy talked to me about the knitting for a bit first and I wondered if it was something about knitting that got him going.
5) This is the first thing I knitted. I was so proud. Unfortunately I dropped it down a toilet at the University of London Student Union and no matter how many times I washed it I couldn't shift the smell.


6) I prefer to work with lighter yarns. DK at the thickest. I've never actually worked with laceweight, but plan to.
7) Actually, its more big needles I hate rather than fat yarn, but I don't mind using the larger crochet hooks.
8) I nearly went to art college, but decided to do Philosophy of Science instead. I still got to do a painting class at the Slade as part of my undergrad degree. Here's a photo from it, but photos aren't the best way of sharing paintings.


9) As this picture and the choice of philosophy of science BSc might suggest, I can be pretty abstract at times.
10) I used to get paid to set fire to bubbles.
11) That was at the Science Museum. When I left my job there I realised I'd been there a quarter of my life. I think I stayed there a bit too long.
12) I co-edited a book when I was 21. You can read the online version here.
13) I helped set a world record the summer before that. Can you guess what in?
14) I once covered a bar at the Royal Albert Hall in custard and lemonade. It was a science experiment.
15) The last three points all came from the same job (not the Science Museum one). That was a good job.
16) I really need to work out what to do with this giant ball of pink yarn in my stash (book for scale). It's boucle and really snaggy to work with. A friend bought it back from the states and wants me to make something for her with it.


17) The first time I saw my boyfriend I dropped a teacup. It still took us 6 months to get together.
18) I've been doing a PhD in kids science books since september 2004. I did the first year part time, so I'm roughly a third of the way through.
19) I love fantastical science fiction TV. Dr Who and the Weadon-verse. I am a geek, I don't care. I think Angel is my favourite, but Buffy has an amazing amount of knitting and crochet to spot and deconstruct. And Dr Who is obviously great for the knitting (that scarf...)
20) I constantly deconstruct knitting/ crochet garments I see (on tv, in shops, on people). I think I must scare people because they think I have an unhealthy interest in their necks, but I'm just working out the lace pattern.
21) This is a picture of my boyfriend, Marcus, on the walls round York. He is looking really thoughtful but was probably singing a goons song in his head at the time.


22) I love going on really long walks. Through the city, a rainforest, by the beach, round parks, I don't care. I need to walk a city to get a feel for it.
23) My maternal grandmother was a great crafter. I aspire to her crochet and knitting skills. I'm planning a post of photos of some of her stuff in the next week or so.
24) I'm a terrible yarn-sniffer. This always makes me think of one of the characters in the later Lemony Snicket books, who keeps calling people "cake sniffers" as an insult.
25) I like to sniff cakes too. I really enjoy baking. My brownies are famous. Add a chopped up Mars bar, that's a good trick.
26) I have a slight problem with lactose intolerance. Which keeps the cake sniffing in check.
27) As well as yarn sniffing, I often have to stop myself from licking cables.
28) I'm dyslexic and sometimes have problems reading knitting patterns.
29) I was born in London and haven't lived anywhere else (though I have lived all over the city).
30) I have a secret desire to crochet an afghan. I'm not sure why I feel ashamed of this.