AKA Yarn A-Go-Go

Started knitting: When she was five and barely able to hold the needles! She nagged her mother until she finally gave in and showed Rachael how to cast on, knit and purl. And then Rachael was off. She read Elizabeth Zimmerman no less and figured the rest out by herself. At eight she made a sweater, but alas she couldn’t get her head through it, because she had forgotten to bind the neck off loosely. ( Editor’s note: Or maybe Rachael just had a big head! )

Likes to knit: At work when it’s slow – she’s a 911 dispatcher – and no she doesn’t say to people “Wait until I finish the row”…and on her couch with a dog on either side. (Editor’s note: I hope she doesn’t poke them with her needles!)

Project she is working on at the moment: A purple merino gansey of her own design and the perennial sock-on-the-needles, currently in Trekking yarn.

The first thing she does when she walks into a yarn store: Touches something. Then touches something else, then another …well you get the idea.

Her other occupation: A writer.

When not working or knitting: She’s a writer, having got her MFA from Mills College. She has three almost-finished books under her belt. When not working on her books, or doing her work as a 911 operator, she writes for knitting magazines and police/fire industry journals.

Other things she likes to do: Hang out with her banjo-playing wife, Lala, and their three stackable dogs (Miss Idaho the Chihuahua, Harriet the Dachschund, and Clara the Border Collie). She also likes to spin yarn and run. (Editor’s note: I am little worried that poor Miss Idaho might get squashed!)

Reading right now: A mystery, set in Venice: Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon, and The Exact Same Moon, by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Food always in the refrigerator: Cheese. Four different kinds of olives because she always forgets she has some and buys more. Pine nuts because she can’t remember if they like to be cold or in the cup-board. (Editor’s note: Store them in the freezer!)

On her iPod: The Whoreshoes (country/honky-tonk) and Devil Makes Three (rockabilly pirate drinking tunes).

Favorite city: “Venice, Italy is the city of my heart.” Sigh. Sigh.

Find out more about Rachael at www.yarnagogo.com