STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

halleybird · Hermes

STer of the week...lucklily!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

yay for luckylily!!! a couple of questions...

you work for a non-profit, right? in land conservation type stuff, right? can you explain a little bit more?

did you have a hard time deciding if you wanted to work for a non-profit? meaning, mainly money stuff.

did you go to school for what you do? if so, where?

red twizzlers or black?

peppermint or wintergreen lifesavers?

nuts in chocolate or not?

Maddie · Coach

Yay Seattle! I have selfish Seattle questions that are totally boring for everyone else...

Favorite boutique?

Favorite concert venue?

Favorite restaurant?

Favorite Seattle activity?

Concert you plan to go to next?

Last 5 CDs you bought/downloaded?

luckylily · Gucci

Yeah...thanks for picking me. I feel so special today!

Tell me more about Mitch. How did you get him and how long have you had him? Does he have any funny habits? Have you always had dogs (or pets)?

I could talk about Mitch all day long. We adopted him from a local animal shelter about 3 and 1/2 years ago. He's a really special dog, IMO. We think he is probably a border collie/pit mix. We don't know much about his history, but we know that we are his 3rd owner and when we got him he was afraid of EVERYONE. He bonded with my husband and I right away, but he still really doesn't like to be touched by people he doesn't know. He is super smart, he learns things really fast. He loves our cats and is very gentle with them. One of the cutest things he does is that he'll put his whole mouth around the cat's head and kind of gently gnaw on it. His favorite things are going on walks, doing agility, playing with his Homer Simpson doll, and watching hockey.

He is my first dog as an adult. I had dogs growing up and always looked forward to having my own, but I was kind of wild in my early 20s, and fortunately I knew enough to know that I wasn't home enough to take care of a dog.

What do you do for a living, and do you like it?

I work for a non-profit environmental group. We mostly work on protection of rare habitat. Yes, I like it.

What's your favorite book? Favorite CD?

My all time favorite books are One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Catcher in the Rye.

It is really hard for me to list my favorite CD. There is so much music that I love. Right now my desert island top 5 are: Pearl Jam - No Code, The Posies - Dear 23, The Who - Who's Next?, David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust, and Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People.

What's the last concert you went to?

The last show I went to was The Strokes at a small venue in Seattle. I'd never seen them before, it was just "eh."

What are your hobbies besides ST?

Let's see, I knit A LOT. I like running and hiking w/ Mitch. I also go out to a lot of shows. I used to read a ton, but since I've started knitting I've mostly been reading knitting books. I feel kind of guilty about that.

luckylily · Gucci

you work for a non-profit, right? in land conservation type stuff, right? can you explain a little bit more?

The organization as a whole also does a lot of scientific research on habitat destruction, and works with Universities and the government on research and solutions to environmental issues. I specifically work on either buying land for conservation purposes or putting other restrictions on land to legally protect the habitat. We only work with people that want to protect their land.

did you have a hard time deciding if you wanted to work for a non-profit? meaning, mainly money stuff.

I actually still struggle with this all the time. It is hard to work in a system where you know that your counterparts in for profit world are making almost 2x the salary. I've often thought about jumping ship for that reason, but I dunno. I like that what I do is making a positive difference in the world. Plus, day to day, my job is actually fun. I don't know many people who look forward to work as much as I do.

did you go to school for what you do? if so, where?

I got a degree in Ecology at Western Washington University, it is a small university nearby. When I went to school, it was the only University in the country that had an program focused on science and the environment. It is pretty common now tho.

red twizzlers or black?

Neither, I like red vines.

peppermint or wintergreen lifesavers?

I don't really understand the difference between peppermint and wintergreen. I don't really love minty flavored stuff.

nuts in chocolate or not?

No nuts, dark chocolate!

ejc423 · Coach

A while ago someone took a poll of which posters we felt shared our style the most. Since then, I have paid more attention to who posts things that I love most often; and well, you win! So I am especially intrigued to learn more about you.

How did you find ST? Were you a member of FH?

When did you start knitting? I recently started, and I love it! Is there one item you love to knit more than others? or one type of yarn you love working with? What type of needles do you like the most?

laken1 · Hermes

I have knitting questions too - if they overlap with ejc questions, you can skip them.....
Who taught you
When you ventured out on ridiculous projects (like gorgeous sweaters) were you guided or did you just go for it along with a pattern?
I want to know yarn recs too. You know I'm a yarn ho.
Can you read charts?
Are you a lace knitter? (my recent facination)

How long have you been married?
When did you decide to run long distances -seems you do 10K - have you done a marathon? Do you want to?
have you always lived in Seattle? If so, why? If not, where did you grow up?

If i think of more I may come back....

-- Edited by laken1 at 22:28, 2006-02-13

luckylily · Gucci

Oh goodie, such good questions!

Yay Seattle! I have selfish Seattle questions that are totally boring for everyone else...
Favorite boutique?

My favorite boutique by a long shot is Les Amis. There stuff is always really current, but not overly trendy. They also have really good sales in January and July. I tend to save up for their sales and spend most of my clothing budget there. I like supporting local designers, so I really like Velouria. It's pretty new, on Market Street in Ballard. They have really unique and interesting clothes and accessories. I love looking around at Impulse and Adelita, but I find that I never buy anything at those places.

For vintage, my favorite is Le Frock and Vu. Both on Pine on Cap Hill.

Favorite concert venue?
Definitely the Crocodile Cafe. I've seen so many awesome shows there. It is the perfect size, plus I like that you can hide back in the bar if the opening band blows. The food is really yummy too.

My other favorite was the OK Cafe. The building had to be demolished after the last earthquake, I still miss it.

Favorite restaurant?
Well, my favorite restaurant in WA is Casa Que Pasa in Bellingham. As a burrito afficianado, you should definitely go there sometime, Maddie. The have the best potatoe burrito w/ spicy pinto beans. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Mmmmm....

In Seattle, I really like the Maple Leaf Grill and Icon. For cheap yummy food, the Deluxe on Cap Hill has a great happy hour menu and the Taquera above The Alley building on Broadway has yummy cheap mexican. My favorite Sunday brunch places (sunday brunch is my favorite meal ever) are Dish and El Greco.

Favorite Seattle activity?
Hmmm...My favorite is probably just spending a weekend afternoon walking around Ballard or Fremont. Checking out the cool shops, drinking coffee, and having a relaxing late lunch somewhere.

Concert you plan to go to next?
The next thing on the schedule is Supergrass! Woot Woot! They've skipped Seattle on their last two tours, so I'm excited that they are finally coming back.

Last 5 CDs you bought/downloaded?
I'm not really sure, my favorites over the last few months have been The Constantines - Tournament of Hearts, the new Broken Social Scene, and Wolf Parade. I'm pretty much obsessed with everything coming out of Toronto and Montreal right now. I also downloaded Arctic Monkeys and the new Strokes record recently, but I think they are both over-hyped pieces of crap.

luckylily · Gucci

A while ago someone took a poll of which posters we felt shared our style the most. Since then, I have paid more attention to who posts things that I love most often; and well, you win!

Thanks! I totally take that as a compliment.

How did you find ST? Were you a member of FH?

Yes, I was a member of FH and just moved over here when Stylethread went up. I never posted on the Lucky Forum (lots of mean people there!), but I think that is were I learned about FH.

When did you start knitting? I recently started, and I love it! Is there one item you love to knit more than others? or one type of yarn you love working with? What type of needles do you like the most?

I think I've been knitting about 3 years now. I don't really have one thing I like to knit more than others, but I am mostly a sweater knitter. I really like to knit anything cute and wearable. I also love knitting and felting handbags.

I prefer knitting w/ wool or mohair. Cotton is just ok. I like yarn that is comfortable to hold and easy on my hands. My very favorite yarn is Mission Falls Merino wool.

My favorite needles vary from project to project. For knitting fingering and larger weight wools, I like Addi Turbos. They are reall fast and the yarn slips on them nicely. For lace weight yarn, I prefer bamboo because the stitches don't slip off the needles as easily.

Maddie · Coach

Oh man, we like all the same Seattle stuff. I go to the Icon Grill for Christmas Eve and my birthday every year, I love the Crocodile (I actually used to go there for breakfast with my parents when I was little, how hip), and I love wandering around Fremont, particularly for the Sunday market. I have also actually heard a lot about Casa Que Pasa, about half the staff of the camp I work at in the summer go to Western so it's legendary. My friend would always attempt the potato burrito, but he said he never got it right. I'll have to check out your other recommendations though, particularly the vintage stores.

luckylily · Gucci

Yeah, more knitting talk...

I have knitting questions too - if they overlap with ejc questions, you can skip them.....
Who taught you

My Mom says I have knitting in my blood. She doesn't knit, but her 5 sisters make gorgeous things. My grandmother was a knitter by profession, and I remember her knitting when we would visit them in New Brunswick. She tried to teach me, but she didn't speak english and I didn't speak french very well, so the communication was a bit difficult. I learned a little bit by watching her tho.

Every thing else I taught myself from books. Since then I've knit with a lot of other knitters, read a lot of blogs, and taken some specific technique classes. For me the best learning has gone on when I'm around other knitters. There are so many little tips and tricks that books don't describe.

When you ventured out on ridiculous projects (like gorgeous sweaters) were you guided or did you just go for it along with a pattern?
I usually just go for it. I've actually thought about this a lot. I'm not typically a huge risk taker because I hate failing. However, with knitting I've found that I'll try anything. If there is a stitch or something I don't understand, I just google it and usually find a bunch of answers. I know this sounds totally dramatic, but it has really helped my confidence as a knitter and encouraged me to take risks in other areas, like work for example. Overall, since I haven't been knitting that long, and I've mostly done big projects, there are a lot of techniques that I haven't tried yet. With every knew project I have to learn something new. I think that is what I like about knitting tho, no matter how advanced you are, there is always more stuff to learn.

Can you read charts?
Yes, I know how. You just have to remember that it is backwards from reading. Charts are read bottom up, right to left on the right side. I haven't used charts much tho. I do like them better than reading a written pattern.

Are you a lace knitter? (my recent facination)

Yes, I love lace knitting. It is totally engaging. The only issue I have with lace knitting is that I have to be pretty focused on it. I have a hard time knitting lace while watching tv and such. I've also been known to sush my husband while lace knitting.

How long have you been married?

It will be 5 years in October. My husband rocks. He loves me so much.

When did you decide to run long distances -seems you do 10K - have you done a marathon? Do you want to?

I've been running a lot for about the past 2 years. I find it really relaxing. I have run a 1/2 marathon, but I doubt I'll run a full. I actually hate running outside. I don't like being cold, and every step on pavement or concrete feels like it rattles my entire body. I love the rythym and bounce of the treadmill. I know a lot of people who don't understand how I can run long distances on the treadmill, but I like it. I just set up my mp3 player and get in the zone. Lately I've been mixing long runs with HIIT runs to save time.

have you always lived in Seattle? If so, why? If not, where did you grow up?

I haven't always lived in Seattle, but I've always been close by. I grew up on a farm about 30 minutes north of Seattle. Then I went to University in Bellingham, WA, which is even further north right near the Canadian border. When I graduated, I didn't really think that I would move to Seattle, although I knew I would go to a city. I basically job searched around the whole country, but randomly ended up getting an interesting offer in Seattle. Seattle is a really great city. I do think it is pretty small tho, and I'd like to live in a bigger city at some point. Seattle is still going through a lot of growing pains, we want to run with the big dogs, but haven't really grown into it yet.

This is fun, bring on more q's!

halleybird · Hermes

OK, more Mitch questions...

does he get along with other dogs? Would you ever get another one?

what's his favorite toy?

dog clothing -- yay or nay?

Non-Mitch questions...

how did you meet your husband?

favorite TV show?

small fry · Chanel

yeah for lucklily here are a few from me

Do you and your husband plan on having children someday?

Have you thought about selling some of your knitting?

fav. foods?

did you and your husband have a small or large wedding?

what was the craziest thing you have done ?

luckylily · Gucci

does he get along with other dogs? Would you ever get another one?

Mitch loves other dogs. We would love to have another one. We also have 3 cats tho, so our house is pretty full. Even though I know Mitch would love to have a sister, I don't think it would be right to get another dog at this point. Plus, since we are renters, it gets harder to find places to live when you have more animals. Mitch does have a lot of friends in the neigborhood tho, so he gets to play with plenty of other dogs.

what's his favorite toy?

My husband is his favorite toy. He spoils him with love and let's him get away with everything. I spoil him rotten too, but since I do more obedience work with him (Mitch loves learning tricks and even basic tasks), he tends to mind me a bit more. His favorite dog toy is his squeeky Homer Simpson doll.

dog clothing -- yay or nay?

I'll say yay, as long as it suits the dog and they don't look miserable. I prefer functional clothes tho, like raincoats and sweaters for dogs with thin fur.

how did you meet your husband?

We met on a forum a lot like this one, except it was for rock music. We didn't personally communicate, but we knew of each other for several years before we met face to face. In fact, he thought I was probably a boy since I went by my name, Chris, on the board. We met in person at a concert in San Francisco that we had both travelled to. It was just a quick Hi and name introduction, no big deal. However, I noted that he was really hot, and he says he did the same.

About a year later, he was coming to the west coast to visit his bro in Vancouver and he emailed me and asked if I wanted to hang out for a day and show him around we Seattle. I agreed, so he came to Seattle and we hung out for two days. It was funny because I hardly knew him, and I really didn't have any expectations, but when he left I was so sad. We had so much fun, and I was sure that he was the funniest, coolest, most passionate and honest person I'd ever met. A couple days later he called me and basically said, "I'm so confused, I miss you and I don't know what to do." We started talking on the phone a lot, and a month later I flew out to Toronto to go to another concert and hang out again for a few days. Things went really fast after that...We filed his paperwork to move to the U.S. four months later, and were married within a year. So, that's the scoop.

favorite TV show?

I've recently gotten into Lost, but I'm trying not to watch the new ones because I'm still going through the Season 1 DVDs. I love, love, love Trailer Park Boys. I think it is the funniest show ever. I also love hockey and I'll get sucked into any hockey game on tv, even if it is two teams I don't care about at all. Gilmore Girls, OC, and Project Runway are the other shows I watch regularly. Although, I've really lost interest in GG and OC lately.

I have to run an errand, I'll be back to answer kaykay's questions in a mo'.

luckylily · Gucci

Do you and your husband plan on having children someday?

No, neither of us have ever had much desire to have kids. I would love a house full of dogs tho! I'm thinking 4 of them.

Have you thought about selling some of your knitting?

I've thought about it, but I totally want knitting to be a fun hobby. Knitting for profit just doesn't sound like fun for me. And, honestly, I really like knitting things for myself. I don't even like knitting gifts because that takes away from the time I could be working on things for me to wear. Besides, selling hand knit stuff is really hard to do. Nice yarn is expensive. In most cases, it is much cheaper to buy a sweater than it is to knit one, so there aren't a lot of people in the market for hand knit items.

fav. foods?

Mexican, mexican, mexican. I could eat burritos and fajitas every day. I also like Thai food. I love peanut butter, and I think everything tastes better with a little ranch dressing. We heading to Ontario in just a few hours, by this time tomorrow I'll be eating Poutine and I can't wait!

did you and your husband have a small or large wedding?

Small, just the two of us. We got married in Hawaii. I'm so happy that we did it that way. My friends did throw me a little shower, and we had a party at our house after we got home.

what was the craziest thing you have done ?

Ummm...probably getting married. When we got married, we had never lived in the same country or time zone. We had never spent more than 7 days in the same city. All my friends thought I had lost it, but I had never been so confident about anything in my life. I was 100% going on instinct. I'm a bit of a romantic, I think great love is worth the risk. The first few months were a bit of an adjustment, but I'm so happy we decided to marry.

I have no idea why my text is now purple!

Maddie · Coach

I love your story with your husband! How romantic!