Teej's Questionnaire (Sorry for the delay!)

Yikes! How'd it get to be May 9th already?! My pal has already contacted me, so hopefully I've not kept her waiting too long for this information!

* What do you use your fiber for? Felting, needle felting, knitting
or crocheting, weaving?

I'm mostly a knitter, but I also do some tablet weaving (haven't tried this with any handspun) and some bobbin lace (again, haven't tried this with handspun).

* What kind of spinning do you do or what do you spin for?

I'm pretty much still trying to figure that out. I've been spinning for about a year and a half, all on a drop spindle, and so far haven't actually made anything with my handspun. I have a couple skeins of 2-ply superwash merino that I keep thinking will end up as nice thick socks, though. Generally, I think until I get a wheel or much more proficient with a drop spindle, I'll likely stick to smaller amounts of worsted to lace weight and make things as they inspire me.

* If you knit, weave, spin, crochet, needle felt, or do other fibery
pursuits, how long have you been doing those things? What level of
expertise are you at?

I've been a knitter for about ten years (maybe less?) and am probably an advanced intermediate. I've done several lace projects, a couple smaller fair isle projects, lots of cables, etc. I'm still a beginner in both tablet weaving and bobbin lace.

* What fibers have you worked with?

I've spun some unknown samples, some border leicester (I think.. might have been blue faced leicester), merino, clun forest lamb, some silk and baby camel blended, and.. hrm.. more merino.. yeah. I was in the Breed Swap project, though, so I have samples of lots of things.

* Which fibers, fiber blends, and types of fibers do you prefer?

Something not merino, I guess! I seem to have spun mostly that and the leicester, and while I've liked both, I'd like to try out something different. Maybe something with a longer staple? The camel/silk blend has a bit longer staple and spins up very fine, so maybe something I can practice that with? Or something dyed - I've never spun a pre-dyed roving that is multi-colored and I'm kind of curious to try that.

* Are you interested in working with raw fleece? If so, what type?

Not really. I got some raw fleeces last fall and ended up having them sent out for processing because it was just too much time to process them myself. I prefer to spend my time spinning and knitting instead of cleaning fleeces. I also don't have any kind of cards or combs, so even washed fleece, unless it could be spun from the lock, would be difficult for me to work with.

* What fibery tools do you currently have (e.g., spinning wheels,
drop spindles, combs, cards, etc.)?

Heh. I have two drop spindles - one heavier one that I do most of my spinning on, and one *very* light one that I'm spinning the camel/silk on. The heavier one is top whorl and I like it that way, and the lighter one is bottom whorl and I also like it that way. *shrug* Oh, and I have a PVC niddy noddy that I *love* because it comes apart and is very portable.

* Do you crave any tools, books, or videos?

Um.. not really. Someone else mentioned a WPI tool, which might be neat. I'd like to learn to Navajo ply, but I'm usually a tactile learning, so I'm not sure a book or video would help with that.

* What fibers are you absolutely dying to get your hands on?

Hrm.. I'd like to try to spin flax, but I think that might be more advanced than I am at the moment.

* Which fibers do you absolutely not want to work with?

I'm leery of cotton because I can't visualize how to draft it, but if it were processed somehow, that might be okay. I'm really not afraid of short staples (the lamb's fleece is only about a 2 inch staple) or long staples. I don't think I'd like working with fiber that had a lot of lanolin still in it, though.

* Do you prefer natural color fibers or pre-dyed fibers?

Either, both. I have some of both in my stash. I don't have any that are dyed multiple colors, though, and I'm intrigued by how those can spin up.

* What are your dye and color preferences?

I like saturated colors, so no pastels (though I do have a bunch of cochineal dyed merino that a friend dyed that is a rosy pink that is lovely, so take that with a grain of salt).

* Do you have any relevant allergies?

None that I know of. ;)

Thanks again for your patience! I hope I haven't driven you to distraction!