A New Animal and A Swap...

I saw this on Ravelry and HAD to make one... All she needs is eyes and a flower for her hair (ears???) :)

Can't wait to finish her!!!

Now, I've stayed away from swaps for awhile just because of my budget, but can't resist this one... The Spring Fling Coffee Swap!!! Very excited... You can't even technically enter until the 20th, but they put up the questionnaire early, so here goes!

Coffee

1. What is your preference? Whole beans or ground? Whole beans, please!

2. What kind of coffees do you enjoy? A rich, bold roast; a light, fresh one, or something in between? Usually like a bold, strong blend... Leaded or non? Definitely leaded, have never bought decaf and probably won't until I'm preggers.

3. If you were headed out right now to buy some coffee for the house, what would you be picking up? Probably a french roast.

4. Do you drink for caffeine, pleasure, or both? I like to tell myself it's for pleasure, but who am I kidding, without that first cup in the morning, you don't even want to talk to me :)

5. Do you enjoy flavored coffees? How about add-ins or flavored creamers? I mostly enjoy flavored add ins to regular coffees...

6. A large, lovely mug or a small, dainty cup? Something in the middle, with enough sustenance to keep the coffee warm, but not so big that I throw off my coffee to creamer to sweet-n-low balance.

7. Describe your perfect cup - not JUST the coffee, but how you'd enjoy it! Sitting on my soon to be concreted patio with my family and friends. Oh, and the coffee... Strong with the aforementioned sweet-n-low and hazelnut coffeemate.

8. You're sitting down to enjoy a nice cup in the local coffee shop, knitting bag in hand, iPod all tuned up - or maybe you're there with a few friends for knit night! What treat do you pick up to enjoy with your coffee? A sweet, rich brownie, or something more healthy? How about a salty treat? What goes best with that great cup and company? Healthy? At a coffee shop??? How could you pick something healthy with all those goodies staring at you? I like to pretend that because Starbuck's calls some of their baked goodies "reduced fat" that they are good for you :) I'd probably get a cinnamon swirl coffee cake or if it's the holiday season, a cranberry bliss bar... Those are TO DIE FOR! Oh yeah! Speaking of iPod... I'd be listening to John Mayer's Continuum... It's the best album I've heard in a long time, and I'm trying to talk one of my bros into learning Stop This Train... Such a pretty song!

Yarn

1. Do you knit or crochet? Well, I guess that you can say I "can" knit, but I prefer crochet. One day I'll make myself have the patience to learn to knit well.

2. What are your favorite types of yarns to work with? Because of the tight budget of buying a new home, I haven't really been able to purchase expensive yarns, so I'll have to stick with my lion brand wool-ease and caron simply soft.

3. What do you have on the needles (or hook!) right now? My cute little elephant, a blanket for granny, a laptop cover for big-little bro... Oui! More, too...

4. What are your favorite colors in yarns? What about those that you'd never find in your stash? I pretty much like every color except purple... Nothing against purple, just not my favorite. I guess if I had to pick colors I liked the most they would be pinks, reds, yellows... but then again I like blues, aquas and neutrals, too!

5. What sort of needles or hooks do you enjoy using? Any you just detest? I'm a boyle metal crochet hook kinda girl... As for knitting needles, I've enjoyed the clover bamboos.

6. Are there any particular notions you absolute do NOT need? Some of us swap a lot - are you sure that you have enough tape measures to last your lifetime? Enough stitch markers to mark every stitch of a 10 foot wide afghan? Don't have too much of anything... Maybe metal crochet hooks, but other than that, I'm open for any goodies!

7. You walk into the yarn shop and have exactly and only enough money to purchase 2 skeins of yarn in their 2 for 20 special they have going..The choices are a soft, thick cotton/viscose blend in your favorite colors, slightly variegated..a beautiful sock yarn that's just squishy and sproingy in your hands.. a soft, worsted weight wool like malabrigo.. and a lovely bamboo blend with colors to just die for. Which do you walk out the door with? Maybe the bamboo... I've been feeling that fiber lately, plus if a color catches my eye, forget it, it's over and in my cart.

Spring

1. We're starting sign-ups on the first day of Spring - is it already truly Spring-like where you are? I almost feel ashamed of how warm and sunny our weather has been. Good ol' CalifornIA!

2. What's your favorite spring flower? Do you have one? Spring flower, definitely daffodils. Regular flowers, hydrangeas and roses.

3. What do you most look forward to about springtime? All the beautiful colors of the new plants and flowers.

4. They've predicted a gorgeous day tomorrow - Sunny and about 65 with a nice breeze - how do your spend your day? In the perfect world, all my friends and family would be free to come over and have dinner on my already mentioned, soon to be patio.

5. The day after, it's going to be cooler and pouring down rain - does that impact your mood? How do you spend that day? what helps cheer you up? Heck yeah it impacts my mood! I like the winter, unlike a lot of people. Summer comes all too soon where I'm from, and once it starts to warm up I pray for a cool-down or spring storm...

Odds n Ends

1. Do you collect anything BESIDES yarn and needles? Ummm... fabric? Does that count or is it still in the crafty genre? How about babushka dolls...

2. Are you allergic to anything? Not that I know of, however, I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke.

3. Do you have pets? Nope.

4. Is this your first swap, or are you an old pro? What are the last 2 swaps you participated in? I've done one other, and really enjoyed it. The Dog Days of Summer Dishcloth Swap.

5. List 3 of your favorite blogs - craft related or not - and tell us why you love them.

This is an easy one...

My Momma's "She's Sew Pretty"
You have to go take a look at her new little baby quilt! Sooooooo cute!!!

Oiyi 's Crafts
Love her crafty things, and her adorable little girl, Melody.

I know it's kinda cheating, but The Granny Along is very addicting. It's very inspiring to see what everyone comes up with, plus it was one of the first things that got me into blogging.