Contest #3

Dare to try a new coffee.

Hrm. Well.. I did. My husband and I spent about 8 hours in the car today - 4 there and 4 back - and needed a little pick-me-up to make sure we stayed awake on the return trip. The only coffee place we could find in the unfamiliar mass of a city we were in was the Starbucks in a Barnes & Noble. I normally am not terribly fond of Starbucks, but spied a drink I'd not noticed on their menu before: an Orange Mocha.

It was.. well, it *smelled* amazing, but the taste was definitely missing something. I think orange cocoa would be better - there just isn't enough chocolate in a mocha to really balance the orange and the coffee gives it sort of a funky undertone. It was good, just not as amazing as it smelled. *shrug* And it was too sweet to be something that I would choose to drink often, but then I feel that way about most frou-frou coffee drinks, so that's nothing surprising.

Share your favorite knitting/crochet project.

That's a hard one. I guess I generally like lace shawls and the like, and cabled sweaters. Something with a little bit of thought involved, but that has a pattern and/or repeats that make sense as you knit them up. I loved Rogue and am really looking forward to the the Celtic themed hoodie in Inspired Cable Knits.

In terms of who I usually knit for, I guess I tend to split 50/50 between gift knitting and knitting for me. I've cut back a bit on gift knitting this year, but even so am doing a lace shawl, at least one pair of socks, a couple pairs of felt slippers, a scarf, and a sweater.

My favorite yarn varies depending on the project. The shawl I'm currently knitting is in Jaggerspun Zephyr, which is a silk/wool blend that I really like. For socks, I generally prefer something smooshy - so wool or a mostly-wool blend. I'm learning that I'm more picky about sweaters, too - I generally don't like "soft" yarns that end up pilling so much that they look sloppy all the time. I have a sweater made from KnitPicks Merino Style that I *love*, but tend to wear when I would otherwise wear a sweatshirt because it pills so badly that I feel self-conscious wearing it to work or more formal settings. :/