Tres Chic Veronique

Marie just tagged me with my very first meme. Thanks Marie!

What is your all-time favourite yarn to knit with?
Anything sproingy. I hate tightly spun, dense yarn: it shows how uneven my knitting is and it hurts my hands. You want names? I'll name names: Koigu, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, Rowan Calmer and ASC.

Your favourite needles?
Well, I own mostly Addis, but I've learned that each project has a perfect needle: Bryspun for lace (nice and pointy), bamboo for dpns (the stitches stick nicely to the bamboo).

The worst thing you’ve ever knit?
I'm giving you 3: the 3 first sweaters that I knit. I never completed any of them.

• #1 was black, 100% acrylic, I used yarn of a different gauge and I changed the stitch pattern from moss to stockinette. And yet, I was surprised that the sweater came out too short and too wide...
• #2 was 100% acrylic, I used yarn of a different gauge and I changed the stitch pattern from 2:2 ribbing to stockinette. I knitted the back and realized I should just give it up.
• #3 was 100% acrylic (are you detecting a theme?), but I used yarn of the right gauge and I used the same stitch as the pattern. See? I learned a little from my mistakes. Just a little though: I decided to transform a sweater into a cardigan. I abandoned that project too.

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don’t like wearing it…but it was the most fun to knit)
Kate Gilbert's Elizabeth collar. I made 5 or 6 of them. It's a quick knit, it's intricate enough to be stunning but not too much that it's hard to make. Even the cast-off is fun (picot!). And my mug is on her website.

Most valuable knitting technique?
I have to agree with Marie: using a crochet hook to fix mistakes.

Best knit book or magazine?
Best reference: Vogue Knitting and Nancie Wiseman Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. (When I first got the Nancie Wiseman book, I was disappointed: it's short and I felt like I knew all these techniques already. But I use this book so much that it has earned a permanent place on my couch and never gets put back on my bookshelf).
Best patterns: Teva Durham's Loop-d-loop
Best magazine: Interweave Knits

Your favorite knit-a-long?
I think my fave KAL was one I did not participate in! It was the Audrey KAL, by the Keyboard Biologist. It was the first KAL where each participant could post on one blog specifically created for that purpose, as opposed to several knit bloggers reading each others' blogs. I learned so much about techniques but also how knitters would help each other out!

Your favorite knitblogs?
I read Knit and Tonic every day. Wendy cracks me up. And she knits like a fiend. I just downloaded her top-down raglan V neck sweater pattern today.
And the ubiquitous Yarn Harlot.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
Teva all the way! Kim Hargreaves too. Jean Moss. (And can I add Veronik Avery? Just because we have the same name? Although she spells hers differently).

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)
This one is easy! The DB Jacket with ribbed collar, from Simple Living, in Cotton Cashmere. (I had long hair back then!).

I'm now tagging: Jewel and 'Tina.