7 random things

Alrighty, I've been tagged by Crafty Gurlz Mum so here goes --

7 random things you may not know about jacey boggs, aka insubordiknit:

1. I have a great short term memory for the written word. I think it's why I always did so well in school -- if I had read the material within a month or so of a test, I could picture the words in my head. Too bad it doesn't extend to, like, remembering to change the diapers from the washer to the dryer.

2. Somebody famous, like A-list famous, like sexy-sexy, blockbusters and hit cable show famous, has knit with my yarn (a monster hat, a tri-style, and a mohair masterpiece). If you can guess who, I'll send you a free monster hat! PS. it's a woman, sorry Jon Stewart fans.

3. I love Blake Schwarzenbach. Love him. I wish he was knitting with my yarn, or uh, with me. When I was 19 and moved to SF, my secret dream was to make him fall in love with me, him or tom waits. heh. I've written him letters and once I yelled at him in the street and then stood there frozen and shy, he turned and walked away. I cried a little tear when he got married.

4. I have an essay in the book Mamaphonic:balancing motherhood and other creative acts. It was a few years back, when I was a woodworker.

5. The book I mentioned above, I linked to the softskull site instead of the it's page on Amazon because I just realized that the reader reviews on Amazon totally pan the book. But they weren't speaking to my essay, right?

6. I used to run, with bill, a huge alternative parenting message board called mamatron.org. It was big and beautiful and then it was huge and terrible. It very nearly broke me for good, however, I did meet a few people that became very important to me in real life.

7. I'm afraid of peeing in the dark.

Funky scarf swap insight

I'm doing the Funky Scarf Swap! I should've posted about it earlier while registration was still open but I've been busy vomiting. So here is my questionaire, I'm sure it'll provide great insight into my personal style and flair. My anonymous swap partner is sure to know just what to make me. Uh huh. And for those of you too busy or cool to read my answers, at least take a look at the link in question 6, I snatched it from another blog and it's internet gold, gold I tell ya!

Let’s get the allergy part out of the way. Are you allergic to any fibers?
Nope, well except that strange and mysterious eyelash fiber, I'm not sure what it is about it but when it gets too close to me my eyes start to water and uncontrollable vomiting soon follows.

Do you prefer any fibers over others?
Hmmm...I love all natural fibers equally. Except silk, while it's lovely and all, I'm just not down with the casualties, unless it's peace-silk, now that shit is the bomb, all the softness without any of the carnage.

Thinking back to Scout’s post about what funky means to you, post an image of something that you think is funky!
what it means to me…

smart and sassy, living by your wits, never trusting anyone but still keeping a certain innocence and belief in the future and yes, in goodness and the kindness of humans even though the let you down again and again, thrashing your soul and breaking your heart…that’s what funky means to me…oh wait, no, that’s what ’streetsmart’ means to me. damn.

Would you prefer funky yarn or a funky pattern?
Well...really, either/or/both, I want to be surprised. Although I'm not a huge fan of mill-novelty yarn, I do like handspun art yarn - heh. Be as wild as you wanna be!

What are your favorite colors?
I'm more skittle than smartie, in other words, no pastels. I love bright colors, reds and oranges, oh and also rich earthy colors, chocolate, cinnamon, mustard, olive.

What is your favorite piece of art?
Right now, at this very moment -- this and each and everyone of you must click on it.

What colors would you never have up close to your pretty face?
If babies wore it in the 50s, it's dead to me.

Would you prefer an actual scarf or a cowl?
I think a scarf, though if you've got your swappy heart set on aknittin' a cowl, I won't complain, except about the name...cowl? yech.

When you wear a scarf do you prefer a wider/shorter scarf or a thin/long scarf?
Like all things, I prefer long and thin to short and wide, even more, I prefer long and medium width.

What is the climate like where you live?
Miserable all but a few months a year. Why do I live here again? And what the hell's up with global warming, the summers are hotter than a witches tit in july (I'm not sure what this means exactly, Bill's grampy used to say it. I think it means it's damn hot, if it doesn't mean that, let's pretend it does because that's what I mean, too hot to move...) but the winters are still freeze-your-nose-off cold! It' baltimore, baby, and it's not the land of peaches and cream like all those stinkin' guide books said it was.

Would you prefer a functional scarf (to keep you warm) or one just to funk-up your wardrobe?
I'd like one that can keep me warm, funkify my maternity wear this winter, unload the dishwasher, and lick the puddin', please.

What else would you like your partner to know about you?
As crotchity and difficult as I may sound, I'm really a kitten. Whatever you make will be recieved with open arms, a happy smile, and as graceful a neck such as not been seen since Audrey Hepburn. Really.

SP6, I'm finally a joiner!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I suppose I am. I didn't mean to be, promise. When I first started knitting I bought like 50 dollars worth of red heart, no dye lot, unfortunately I still have most of it. Spinning has spoiled me.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I spin like the dickens, or I dick like the spinnins! either way, I make some freakin' yarn!

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
I might as well be allergic to smoke, it's that bad for me. I miss CA for that very reason, no smoky bars! I also dislike perfumy smells. ick.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since the beginning of this year. hehe. Short, I know, but it's not the size of the wave, it's the motion in the ocean, baby!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Nope. am I supposed to? I didn't know people did that, I get on it someday when I've got an extra minute, or 10.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
hmmm...food-y smells, woody smells, deep smells, nothing floral, or too pretty.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
No, I have a whole mouth full of sweet teeth! I love sweets! But I am vegan so there's that. But I do love them! Dark chocolate, dried sugar-less mango, cookies, anything sweet and vegan and I'm all over it like I was all over my stolen picture of nate minnis in highschool!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I'm a crafty gal but I'm not devoted to any other craft like I am to the fibers, oh jeez how I love the fibers, I shower with them, you know. Ok, not really, I make them wait outside the shower so they don't felt, but they do get to watch.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I'm an ipod fiend and I love lotsa different music, some I haven't even heard yet. Some of my current favorites are: Jets to Brazil (I've got quite a thing for blake schwarzenbach), Tom Waits, Nellie McKay, Mary Prankster.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I'm an equal opportunity colorist, though i'm a bit happy about pink/red/orange lately.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I've got a bit of a boy, three and a half, and a hairy dog named bettina.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Oh geez, to have my pre-pregnancy boobs back, to make a yarny living, and for the world to shift so that my boy to never has to see the ugliness. Not in that order.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
homespun! anything with interesting colors and nice, natural fibers. I especially like plant fibers, though not so much cotton.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
splitty cotton and acrylic. I also won't use silk, unless it's that stuff that's harvested from what live silk worms left behind, that's okay.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I think knitting is my current knitting obsession. I'm a broad, broad.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
sweaters, tanks, and socks! things you can't buy at old navy.

17. What are you knitting right now?
Wouldn't you like to know! ha. I'm trying desperately to get a secret knitting project done for submission. I've also got some other design-y ideas, I'm on a design kick, i suppose.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
You know, I don't hate them like many would suppose. I can see the functionability of them. I don't have any, never knit one and have only seen a few that I like. I will probably have one with they loose a bit of popularity, just like nate minnis!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circ, all the way! (umm...ciculars, not circumcisism, that's just not cool).

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I like aluminun, though the new bryspun circs are pretty nice too. Though I've got tons of small sizes, and lots of big ones too. I'm a big short on the middle sizes, 5-9s.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
yep! socks soar of 2 circs!

22. How did you learn to knit?
self-taught.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
I don't really have any. I tend to have 3-6 projects going at once and I always finish, it's like books, can't leave them half read, I'm a bit funny that way.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I have no reply to this.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Winter holiday.

26. Is there anything that you collect
fiber. ha. And although I'm not really a collector, I LOVE, like, fucking love, Buffy! I've got all the seasons on dvd but season 6.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
vogue knitting, interweave knits and spinoff, cast on (by default) I wish I had ROWAN, but sadly, no.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
yep, the pluckyfluff book, and alden amos's bible of spinning (my pal natasha swears by it and she's sooo cool!).

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
can't think of one.

I got tagged (feel free to ignore)

10 years ago: Wow, 10 years ago, to the month, I was leaving behind my tattoo artist boyfriend (Ugly Bill) and hoppin’ in my packed-to-the-headliner Jeep Cherokee, leaving Kansas City, and driving off to California. Poppy C, who would later go on to steal all my earthly belongings and disappear without a trace, was in the passenger seat and Jawbreaker was on the stereo. Oh how I loved, uh, love, Jawbreaker. I’ve tried numerous times to contact Blake Schwarzenbach, yelled at him in the street, written letters, but he resists our clearly natural connection. I could make him so happy. Blake, call me.

5 years ago: I was just moving back to Kansas City after a very successful 5 years in SF. B-ill and I were buying our first house, a giant restored mansion, and returning to school. As a person though, I had no real direction.

1 year ago: I was in Baltimore, living in house number 3. My Little Bit of a boy was 2 1/2 and the perfect mixture of beauty and brains. I was working hard and pretty steady at carveGirl, my woodworking biz. I’d just finished designing, building, carving, and painting the tables for a new cafe. I thought I found what I loved but that was still a few months off (for those of you not keeping up, that would be fiber baby, fiber!) I just got an essay published in mamaphonic a book about being an artist and a mother. I was also just getting involved in the charm city kitty club, a queer caberet around these parts. I’d been on stage as a pussycat player and was just startin’ to get down and dirty with Jody. She’s the one on her knees, very uncharacteristic.

YESTERDAY: I sweat off the rest of my pregnancy weight while doing my weekly dying of fiber. Fuck, it’s hot in this city. What’s up with that? I miss SF. I did make some pretty rovings though, except for one, it’s kinda ugly. Also, my throat was scratchy.

TODAY: The scratchy throat turned into a brick on my chest so I let the Little Bit go swimming with the wonder-twins and I chilled on the couch, started, and all but finished a pair of socks for b-ill. They’re the first socks I’ve made out of my own yarn, I used harley and they rock.

TOMORROW: I’ll spin in the morning before the Little Bit wakes up. I’ll play with him, maybe find a cool (temperature-wise) park and make up for being sick yesterday. When he hits the sack, I’ll knit a bit. The socks should be done so I’ll probably start of a design I’ve been knocking around in this old skull o mine.

5 snacks I enjoy: roasted seaweed, tings, grapes, avocado right outta the shell with a bit of salt, and trader joe’s unsweetened dried mango (it’s soooo good!)

5 bands/singers I like: Do I even have to say it? Blake Schwarzenbach, he’ll always be my #1, know him? Send him my way! Tom Waits. As for the others, they are ever changing, right now I’m listening to Nelly Mckay, Jonathon Rickman, and Devandra Banhart.

Things I would do with $100,000,000: I’d be happy,of course! Right?

5 locations I'd like to run away to: oh jeez, isn’t this thing over yet? Is anyone still reading? You can’t be, even I’m bored and I’m the one writing it. Blah, blah, blah. Many places, none are in the US, in fact, that’s one of the requirements – not in the US.

5 bad habits that I have: I’m a bit controlling, though I think I’ve exercised some control over it and am getting better. I eat faster than anyone you know. I've been known to exaggerate. I a terrible speller. I talk about peeing a lot.

5 things I like doing: I like peeing. I love to listen to my son laugh. I love to laugh. I loke knitting and spinning.

5 things I would never wear: Shoulder pads, oh my, kill me if that particular 80’s bit comes back, I can hang with the side pony-tails but shoulder pads? falsely broad broads, eeek.

5 TV shows I like: Hmmm… For years I’ve not had a television because I could not be trusted. I’d watch anything and it’d eat away all my time. Now that I knit so much, we have a TV again but it’s not connected to anything so I belong to netflix and only watch at night while I knit. That said, Buffy is the shit, the best thing ever on. Joss just got it all right, the cool, the geek, the gore, the politics, so fucking good! I’ve got all of the DVD sets except season 5 and whenever I need something to knit too, it’s buffy and spike keeping me company! Oh buffy, I miss ya! Other stuff I’ve liked recently (from netflix): the wire, deadwood, and queer as folk. If you’ve got any recommendations, send ‘em my way. I love teen dramas, so help me., I admit it.

5 movies I like: They live. Miller’s Crossing, Memento, A night on earth, Charlie and the Chocolate factory (original), I'd say Pi, but I feel that'd be pretensious.

5 famous people I'd like to meet: Blake Schwarzenbach, five times, and one of those times should include much inappropriate groping.

5 biggest joys of the moment: My Little Bit. Spinning up a really nice, balanced yarn. Knitting. A big secret I don’t wanna share with the world yet (no I’m not with child). A cool house in the face of unconquerable heat.

5 favorite toys: Hitachi magic wand. Ipod. Spinning wheels, Pablo and matilda. Silly putty.

Friday five

Since I couldn't show any of my current super secret knitting projects, I decided to do the friday five.

1. What's your favorite summertime foods?

I'm kinda a foodie (heh, take that as you will) so as long as I've got the AC on I'm good to go on anything as long as it's on the vegan tip. If I'm sweatin' it old school with no AC, gimme the frozen grapes, avocados, watermelon, and mangos.

2. What is the best part about summer, in your opinion? Is it your
favorite season? What are your plans for this summer?

hey, that's like 3 questions mr. friday 5. 2a --The best part of summer is making a whole dinner out of your vegetable garden. Ohh, or eye-spying the girls in their skimpy clothes 2b -- Hell no it's not my favorite season! I'm so not a thrive-in-hot-weather gal. I like spring and fall, even winter better. Extreme heat leaves a grumpy, damp, limp noodle where once a happy, damp, semi-firm girl used to stand. 2c -- I'm stumped. People make plans?

3. Do you tan easily, or do you tend to burn badly? What's the worst
sunburn that you've ever had? Do you go to a tanning booth in order to
prepare for the summer season?

Have you seen me? I burn like a angry crab that fell into a bucket of red paint. My childhood was awash in burn-y badness. It's as if my grandmother had never heard of sunscreen. It never failed, of the month I would spend with her in Florida, 3-5 days would be filled with yours truly, shirtless and wailing, too sick to do anything but watch square pegs, weep and collect my peeling skin in empty yogurt containers. Tanning booth? yeah, right.

4. If you could spend this summer absolutely any way that you wanted,
with money being no object, what would you do and why?

Wait, let's see if I can even wrap my head around money not being an object or doing anything I want...nope, can't do it.

5. What are your favorite summer clothes to wear?

Clothes? those are so 2004. But really, I a big fan of the tank and can't wait to get past my current project deadlines so that I can knit the hell out of one.