Panda Chronicles

Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny Questionnaire

Peg — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:32:27 +0000

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?
I’ve been spinning since April, so I still consider myself a beginner.

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?
Generally 2-ply or Navajo 3 ply

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?
Drop spindle only

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don’t like?
I’ve spun so far with BFL, Corriedale, and Targhee. I have some shetland, tussah silk, merino, colonial, llama, and bamboo coming up. So far, my favorite has been BFL.

5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?
Susan’s Spinning Bunny, Crown Mountain Farms, Loop, Copperpot Woolies, Butterfly Girl Designs, Spunky Eclectic, to name a few…

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?
I’m game for anything

7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?
There’s still a lot that I need to learn. I’ve pretty much gotten the hang of using a top whorl spindle, but for some reason, bottom whorls aren’t really clicking with me.

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?
I would eventually like to learn to dye my own fiber.

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?
Ready to spin.

10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?
I haven’t completed any projects with my handspun yet. They haven’t told me what they want to be.

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?
A butcher’s crown, so my spindle hook can be protected while in transport or a WPI Gauge that has the inch notch cut out.

12. What colors “fall into your shopping basket”? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I like all colors. I do find myself drawn to the blacks, grey heathers, deeper jewel tones, blues, aquas, turquoise, greens, violets.

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?
Right now, I have a couple of spindles going on. I am spinning some targhee, which was purchased from Susan’s Spinning Bunny and some corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms in the As Above So Below colorway.

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?
I like knitting, crocheting, amigurumi, soapmaking, good food & wine, wine tasting, graphic & web design, photography, gadgets (kitchen & geeky)

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?
The preservation of giant pandas.

16. Do you have an online wishlist?
Amazon Wish List

17. Is there anything that you collect?
drop spindles, yarn, fiber, patterns (knitting and crochet), pandas (dolls, figurines, and pictures), Japanese amigurumi craft books

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?
I have a subscription to Spin Off magazine. I would eventually like to add Interweave Knits and Interweave Crochet to my subscriptions as well. I love patterns from The Stitch Diva.

19. When is your birthday?
December 9

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?
I’m kind of like Pam Beesly from “The Office.”

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?
Hot, hot, hot here in Las Vegas. Our temperature has been over 110 degrees for the past couple of weeks.

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!
I write left handed, but knit and crochet with my right. I used to be obsessed with working out & exercising 3 hours a day.

FAVORITES

favorite painting/picture(link):
Cafe Terrace at Night, by Van Gogh

Candy:
Dove Dark Chocolate, Ethel M Chocolates, dark chocolate truffles (do we see a pattern here?), chocolate covered pretzels

Food:
Mexican, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian

Drink:
I drink lots of water throughout the day. I also like different types of teas. For alcohol: Cosmopolitans, Caipirinhas, Mojitos

Movie(s):
Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sleepless in Seattle, The Princess Bride, Singles, Waiting to Exhale

TV Show(s):
The Office, Sex and the City, Family Guy, Eli Stone, The Amazing Race

Book(s):
Favorites: Kitchen Confidential, A Cook’s Tour, The Joy Luck Club

Guilty Pleasure(s):
Vegging out and eating chips, video games, not doing a damn thing

What have I been doing?

Peg — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:17:44 +0000

I know…story of my life. I’ve been badly neglecting this blog…and I am ashamed. Anyway…I’m still making soap and bodycare items. I still needed another outlet. I recently picked up knitting again. From there, spawned another monster. I started to handspin yarn. I’ve been at it for about the last 6 weeks. I’m using a drop spindle and my spindle collection is growing. I’m up to 7 spindles so far.

Behold…The Land of Fibery Goodness

This is just barely scratching the surface. I will post more photos of spindles and fiber once I get around to taking the pictures.

I will also update more as my projects come more into fruition. This blog has been dead long enough…it’s time to resurrect it.

Phoenix bound!

Peg — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 16:53:06 +0000

I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight. Why do I want to go to Phoenix in June in this sweltering heat? I’ll be attending a Soap and Candlemaker’s Conference. I’m bringing 22 small vinyl bags with handmade soap and cooling body spray.

Our latest addition to the family…

Peg — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:53:28 +0000

When my mom got sick last year, she was unable to care for her pug. Peanut eventually went to Houston with my friend. Now, Peanut is here and this will be his official retirement home. He has been here for a week and is adjusting nicely.

Catching up…

Peg — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:53:18 +0000

I know I haven’t updated this blog in ages. A lot has happened since I last posted. I’ve been making many trips back and forth to NY. I’m in the midst of preparing for another craft faire. I’ll post more photos as I find the time.

Depeche Mode

Peg — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:55:23 +0000

Depeche Mode was playing at The Hard Rock Hotel tonight. Since we got reserved seats in the East Bleachers, Row A, first 2 seats closest to the stage (can’t get any better than that), we weren’t too worried about having to show up too early. Although, I did wanted to get my share of more merchandise.

I have to say that these are amongst the best seats I’ve ever gotten at a DM concert. I’ve had 5th Row center before, but this was totally different. This is the view from my seat. It’s nice to be actually ABOVE head level of the tallest people in the mosh pit:

It can’t get any better than that! Totally unobstructed view from where we were. DM, as usual, was just freakin’ AWESOME! I personally think that they’re getting better and better each time we see them. I’m jealous of the people that travel and catch a few of their shows back to back. I am happy that we got to see them last November and this time around. Dave was in top form…and Martin…what else can we say about the ever brilliant Mr. Gore? He surprised us all with his acoustic version of “Blue Dress.” The crowd just went crazy when he did that.

This was their setlist for the night:

Intro
Pain That I’m Used To
Question of Time
Suffer Well
Precious
Walking In My Shoes
Stripped
Home
Blue Dress
In Your Room
Nothing Is Impossible
John The Revelator
I Feel You
Behind The Wheel
World In My Eyes
Personal Jesus
Enjoy The Silence

Encore:
Photographic
Never Let Me Down Again

Yes, they only did one encore, instead of their typical two. I was a little bummed about that…but it’s always easy to want more DM. The crowd was great and you can totally feel the energy everywhere. More photos of the concert can be found here. Thanks to Walt for taking these awesome pictures.

Back in NYC again

Peg — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:50:27 +0000

I’ve been back here in Bay Ridge for almost a week. I’ve been spending lots of time with family and also being shuffled around to meeting various relatives for lunch/dinner. I haven’t really done that much shopping which is fine by me. Perhaps I’ve grown used to the openness of San Diego that I find it hard get into any type of shopping mood when it’s so crowded. I’ve been having mostly Chinese food since I got here. While I do enjoy Chinese food, it does get old when you have it day in and day out. Yesterday, I decided to sneak out to SoHo to meet up with Shelby. We stopped by Sabon and Fresh for some R&D, and then it was off to dinner.

We went to Cafe Havana for some excellent Cuban food, and then for some rice pudding over at Rice to Riches. Pretty cool concept. It’s nothing but rice pudding, but in all different variations. Pictures will be coming up soon.

Gao Gao

Peg — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 07:11:00 +0000

Gao Gao

Originally uploaded by azure68.

Today’s visit to the zoo.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Peg — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 23:27:02 +0000

I’m the occasional game junkie. I have a habit of starting games, but it takes me forever to actually play it all the way through, as I get distracted by other games. I’ve played Kingdom Hearts, but haven’t finished it. In fact, I think I’m going to have to start it over again. Why? Kingdom Hearts 2 is coming out at the end of the month. Check out this trailer preview.

Depeche Mode

Peg — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 08:14:14 +0000

My favorite group is back in town. We tried to get tickets the last time, but it was unsuccessful, due to scalpers buying up all the tickets ahead of time.

This time, we were prepared. Walt went down to the Hard Rock and stood in line early. I stayed home and manned 3 computers, hoping to be able to get something decent. I had the hardest time trying to get through, but Walt had great luck. He scored EXCELLENT seats. April 30 can’t come soon enough!