The First Annual
Welcome to my first blogiversary contest. The fun starts now!
Here are rules
Everyone is invited to play, including my mom, sisters and even Ken. Though be warned if you are my family and you win a prize you should consider it your Christmas present.
All entries must be submitted by 12am December 8th, EST. The winners will be posted on Sunday.
If you do not have a blogger account you can still play. Leave an anonymous comment and sign your name so I know who you are.
I'll start with the prizes to tempt you. There are two, one for knitters and one for non-knitters. So please specify your preference with your comment. You can only be entered in 1 category.
For your knitting pleasure, I give you Artio yarn.
Four 50 gram balls with 110 metres each. Two donated by me and two by the lovely Danielle at Spun Fibre Arts. It is named for the goddess Artio and is made in Italy. Made of 50% merino, 30% cashmere and 20% silk, comes in red, natural, blue and lavender and is EXCLUSIVE to Spun. It is yarn softness like I've never felt. Very special thanks to Danielle!!
For the non-knitters, the prize is a gift card to a book store of your choice. I didn't buy it yet because I didn't know which side of the border the winner will be on.
For both winners I will make a donation to Knitters Without Borders in their name.
How do you play? Well, I'll tell you.
I am a huge fan of practical gifts. Gifts that are lovely and necessary and will be used for years. Most of us are trying to find the 'perfect' gift this time of the year so I thought we could share our most memorable gifts. Something that you use everyday or that changed you.
I'll start.
My most memorable gift was a box set of 9 The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was from my Dad, though my mom might have helped. I have no idea how old I was but I was young enough to think that 9 books was a whole lot of books. The confidence I gained because my parents felt I was able to read all those books was really the greater gift. I credit my love of books to that gift.
One more... My knitting bag.
An ex-boyfriend's mother gave this to my when I was just learning to knit. It is simple but functional and whenever I think about getting a new fancy knitting bag, they don't measure up.
To play please leave your memorable gifts in the comments. If you are keen to do a blog post with pictures and such then go to it, just leave me a comment to let me know.
Good luck and play safe!
20 comments:
This contest rocks! I am going to put my thinking cap on and get back to you!!!
The first year I was living on my own, someone donated an artifical christmas tree to me and gave me an early gift of christmas ornaments to put on my new tree. I didn't have a lot of money, so this was wonderful, and I still have some of those original ornaments.
My most memorable gift ... that's a tough one. This was just last year, but I'm sure it will be my most memorable for years to come. Three years ago our house was robbed and all of my jewelry was stolen, except my wedding ring and one other ring I was wearing at the time. Last Christmas my hubby and I agreed to not buy each other anything due to a fairly snug budget. On Christmas morning after the kids had opened their gifts, hubby said "there's one more thing here ... and oh look, its for Mommy!" and he reached under the tree skirt, pulled out a little box and presented me with a diamond ring. It was meant to replace my engagement ring that was stolen. It isn't the same as my original diamond ring, but he put a lot of thought and care into it when he picked it out. Best.gift.ever.
If I had to pick another gift, it would be the year my sister and her (ex) boyfriend bought me two goldfish. I named them Axl and Slash. LOL
Knitting prize preferred. :)
My most memorable gift was a birthday gift but my birthday is close to christmas so I hope that counts.
When I turned 18 my mom and dad bought me a sewing machine. At the time it was a lot of money for them to spend and I remember thinking it was a really special gift for them to spend so much on me. I still have that machine and use it often, definatly a useful gift. I also credit it with keeping me interested in handmade crafting through my teens and twenties. I might have let that part of me go by the wayside in the pursuit of life. Sorry getting long.
Knittted prize preferred:)
My comment became too long and has now been posted on my blog :o)
Knitter friendly prize please :o) (although books are fun too...)
My most memorable gift came from one of my private clarinet students. We knew each other well enough (and I had the brain of a high school senior) that we always seemed to click in gift giving. The year after she graduated she gave me 2 tickets(for her and I) to see the Pittsburgh Symphony play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. It changed me because at the time I would never have been brave enough to take the trek into the city to do such a thing as the responsible adult in charge. It forced me to know that an adventure like that was within my grasp.
When I turned 17, I was living with a family in Germany as a foreign exchange student. For my birthday, my host mom took me to the local yarn shop and let me pick out a sweater's worth of yarn and taught me to knit. That opened this whole world of fiber joy that has become such a huge part of my life, and was the best gift I ever got.
Need I mention that I prefer the knitting prize?
My gift was my sewing machine two years ago. I thought it was a printer for the computer, so I had prepared myself for that. But when I opened it, what a shock. Then I gave him crap for spending so much money. I won't tell you about the year he gave my floor mats for the car. We aren't allowed to bring that one up anymore.
I guess you know what my choice is :)
Oh, my best gift yet... that's a hard one. One gift I love is a phone cover I got from my son last year for Christmas. It is covered in smiley faces and he wrote a poem about how when he's away at college when he thinks of me it puts a smile on his face, and he hoped the phone cover would make me smile etc.. Well, it has done just that. Everytime I use my cell phone (which is a lot) I smile. (Plus, just the thought he put into the gift makes me smile!)
Knitters gift preferred if I win :-) (The yarn looks amazing!)
yep, like rhonda, my most memorable and useful gift would be my sewing machine. my mother got it for me 10 years ago. she gave it to me early so that i could make Christmas jammies for my then two children. the Christmas jammies are a tradition here....every year a matching pair. it has actually now become matchy/coordinationg jammie pants...buying a t-shirt to match.
any you know me, knitty please! :)
happy one year!!
This is fun! I am blogless & this is the first time I write in a blog. For my niece I will try anything and I sooo want that wool!
My most memorable gift was from my mom who passed away this year.
When we were young we would go to our aunts & uncles for a Christmas dinner My uncle Jules obliged us to line up & recite "The Night Before Christmas" poem from memory in order to get our gifts. It has always been an important memory for me and I have a book which I pull out of the Christmas box every year and try to recite it. A few years ago my mom started giving me dishes with part of the poem on each and china napkin rings with the name of each reindeer on them.I just love these plates and oven dishes and always have a tear when I have to put them away.So even though it will be the first Christmas in 64yrs. that I will spend without my mom,she will be there & I can share my most memorable gift that just keeps giving! Thanks Nanny.
My most memorable Christmas gift is happening this year. I recently taught my 11 year old cousin to knit. She loves it. She even has her own little knitting bag, and has taken knitting books out of her school library. She takes her knitting with her wherever she goes, her favorite place to knit is at her 7year old brother's hockey games. She sits in the stands cheering her brother on and knitting at the same time. She's making her Mom a scarf for Christmas, so the best Christmas gift will be for me, when her Mom opens a "handmade by her daughter, taught by her Aunt" gift on Christmas morning. She is the only other person in my family that knits, so the legacy carries on.
WPGGAL
I think my most memorable gift was a little notebook with my grandma's holiday recipes in it. I don't use it every day, but I like knowing I have the recipes for family favourites like Christmas cake - her mom's recipe for that was lost before I was born - and I like it that she chose me to pass those recipes on to.
(I'm a knitter.)
At the risk of sounding completely narcissisitic, the most memorable gift I received was from myself.
Last April I bought myself a diamond ring, it is very small, nothing flashy, but it is for me.
Four years ago in April I was sexually assaulted. Three years ago in April I was in the hospital with organ failure. Two years ago in April I opened my own business. Last April was my anniversary of all of those things. I bought myself a diamond ring because I decided I needed to make some changes, get out of a bad relationship, take better care of myself, put myself first for a bit, as well as put my business first.
I am a big 'anniversary' person, I think they are always significant and meaningful.
In honor of myself, all things I have accomplished, survived, and thrived because of and inspite of, I bought myself a diamond ring. I wear in on my right hand ring finger always.
What a great contest!
My most memorable gift is from my husband. I never gave any suggestions and he got me the gift without me knowing a thing about it. His hint of a "practical gift" just led me to assume I would be adding a new cookbook to our collection.
First of all he started reading my VK magazines (well, they do find their way all over the house). He was quite impressed by the entrepreneurship of Jordanna Paige, and I agreed she was a great (young) success story.
He called Julie at my LYS and asked her to stick around on a Friday night so that he could come in and buy me a JP knitting bag. He'd never ventured into a yarn store before!
Now I no longer keep my numerous knitting projects in plastic and I'm always reminded of how he really knows me and "gets" just how much I love my hobby. I probably wouldn't have spent so much money on a bag, so I'm so glad that he decided my knitting deserved it!
I know I'm past due but here it is anyway
My most memorable gift was as much for what it wasn't as for what it was. It was my first birthday gift from my future husband and we had been dating for less than a year. We were both quite young and still living at home so when I opened a department store box the exact shape and size of a tiny piece of lingere I froze petrified. Lovely idea, but what would I tell my parents he bought me? I opened the box up to find a beautiful watch that I wore every day for 10 years. Unfortunately the fear on my face ruined the moment and the ordeal has kept him out of a lingere store ever since! Oops!
Heather
This IS fun! Last year was our 20th anniversary. So he says to me, he says: "You know how the first wedding anniversary is paper? And the second is wood? Well, (says he) the 20th anniversary is SILICON!" And he gave me my wonderful laptop computer (named "Daisy") AND a wireless router. Having this laptop has inspired me to continue writing my children's stories, inspired me to start my blog, makes working on my research project at the Historical Society a piece of CAKE...and enables me to sit, on a beautiful winter day, enjoying a sandwich and cup of coffee at Panera Bread and have access to the entire world if I want to. (NOTE: a runner-up was when I'd been away for a few days--I came home, walked from the bus station to where my car was parked - and found a rose and a pack of Mentos on the steering wheel with a note saying "Welcome Home! I love you".
Oh - I knit. :o)
here's my mom's entry (she had to phone it in due to computer malfunction. It's probably against the rules but she is my mother.)
I've always said that my best Christmas present was a healthy baby girl. (My sister Shelley was born Dec 24)
And mom knits.
I missed the deadline :( My blog states why...
BUT- I wanted to share my story anyway. My father delivers bulk water up north near Lake Simcoe. As a child it was a special treat to go with my dad when he did deliveries. One lady, Lucy McMurray got to know my sister and I quite well. Every Christmas my father delivered her a load of water to tie her over for the holidays. My sister and I always wanted to go on this trip as Lucy would always present us with a special hand-made gift. Over the years we received ornaments made of eggs, Christmas stockings, hand-painted piggy-banks...and the list goes on. At the time I thought the actual gifts were great- but as an adult, I can see that her thoughtfulness and time that she put into her gifts were the real present. I remember how happy a little hand-made surprise made me- and now I love to do the same for my nieces. I still have and cherish every gift that Lucy gave me as a child. They are a special part of my Christmas.
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