Pippin

I DO NOT FLAKE.

I have recently been accused of flaking, before a swap was even finished I was accused of flaking on someone. My partner did not communicate with me before telling the coordinator, who has now banned me from all her swaps without waiting for a reply from me.

If you have an issue with me, message me. I take it very seriously and will get back to you.

Lets try to remember that the people on the other end of swap bot are PEOPLE and not just annonymous accounts, and treat them the way we'd like to be treated.

I'm a biologist, pet-owner, wife, knitter and tea-addict living in Ontario, Canada and working in the non-profit sector as well as a day job as a civil servant. My favorite things to do include sitting in a cafe and knitting while sipping excellent tea (usually a flavoured black loose leaf but I'm flexible) and listening to an eclectic mix of music, hiking in the woods with my dog, and sleeping in.

There are very few genres that I don't like in music. I love Jazz and Blues, classical, folk, classic rock, and almost everything else. Not a big fan of country or hip-hop, but that's about it. Favorite artists are currently Jill Barber, Meaghan Smith, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, BB King, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Decemberists, and composer Howard Shore.

Oh, so hard to choose favorite books. Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, the Brother Cadfael Series, anything by Bill Bryson or Michael Polan, Neil Gaiman or George RR Martin. The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Fight Club, How to Train Your Dragon, Pan's Labyrinth, foreign films. Documentaries like Food Inc., the Corporation, etc.

I don't watch much TV but we do download some series. HBO series are much watched here, with Game of Thrones being a current favorite. I also like bizarre humor, as in Community, and weird indy series like Frisky Dingo.

Knitting, crocheting, sewing.

I have a lot of allergies, mostly to things that touch skin or that have scents. So most perfumed things (except with essential oils, which are fine) are out, as is 'costume' jewelry. I'm allergic to nickle and cobalt so any metals containing those (most alloys and cheap metals) I can't wear.

For this reason I prefer any bath/personal care products to be organic or made from natural plant-based products.

I am a vegetarian, but my husband eats meat so non-veg recipes are still usable, but their not ideal.

I hate PINK, and I'm not nuts about yellow or orange either. No offence to people who've already sent me things of this colour, and I won't rate you badly for sending these colours, but if you've got a choice, not-pink is always better.

Not a big fan of Hello Kitty or other 'uber-cutesy' things. Again, no offense if you've sent something like this - you had no way to know.

Not a big fan of religious stuff that is kitschy or fundamentalist - I am religious but I try to be very open minded and appreciate things from all cultures, so really blatant religious stuff rubs me the wrong way.

Chamomile tea. It just doesn't do it for me.

I like celtic things, and tribal designs. I'm interested in anthropology and world cultures, so anything aboriginal interests me. I like nature.

I like big dogs and black cats.

I like frogs and toads.

Dinosaurs! Who doesn't like dinosaurs?

Dragons, not so much the Asian variety but some dragons are better than no dragons.

Mythic beats, especially monsters (kraken, sea serpents, hydras), and unicorns are okay too, as long as they're not all "My Little Pony" and cutesy-poo. Same with fairies.

Tea. Especially fruit/spice flavored but I'm pretty flexible. (Except straight chamomile or hibiscus).

I am not a wiccan/pagan, but I find those traditions interesting.

I like botanical prints (on fabric, paper, china, whatever).

Chocolate, especially dark, and fairly-traded.

Nerdy stuff. Especially science/math geek stuff. Not so much with computer/video games.

Medieval stuff.

Little leftover snippets of fancy fabrics and yarns. I specialize in using up bits.

I like things that are tone-on-tone coloured - yarn that is variegated different shades of blue, for example.

Purple, Green, Blue, Black, Red....especially dark jewel tones.

Interesting stamps. I've realized a package pleases me more if its got interesting stamps on it. I don't collect stamps, but my sister does, and I like cutting out and saving the interesting ones for her.

I'm into science and critical thinking, consider myself a bit of a skeptic.