25 July 2019

Christmas in July 2019 - Week 4


I don't know about you, but I find it surprising that we are at Week 4, which is the Grand Finale so to speak, of 

Christmas in July!!!

It makes me a little sad, because I enjoy doing it, and seeing who participates.  It's always fun to hear from people that are new, and are commenting for the first time.  And it's also fun to learn new things about those you already "know."  :-)

In any case, today I have the following for you:


Since my photography skills are so poor, let me tell you what this is.  It's a skein of Caterpillar Green Self-Striping Shawl Yarn.  Caterpillar Green is now Gauge Dye Works, and it turns out that I have two of these exact same skeins!  So one *had* to be a giveaway.  Anyway, yarn details are here, and this is colorway Concrete and Tulips, which you can see here.  This skein is enough to make the Playground Shawl or the Hydrogen Shawl, both of which are free patterns on Ravelry, and were written specifically for this self-striping yarn.  (Of course, you can knit whatever you like with it, no one is going to knock down your door and arrest you ...)

The prize package will also contain some other goodies, which will remain a surprise until I know the recipient has gotten the package.  Not that they are so exciting that it's a big secret, but I think that some element of surprise should remain, don't you??

SO - if you would like to be eligible to win this prize, let me know in the comments to this post only what your answers are to these questions, which I decided on based on the two patterns for this yarn:

1.  When you were a kid, were you more likely to want to go to the playground, or have your own fun at home in your yard or a friend's yard?

2.  In school, did you get better grades in Arts classes (humanities, art, music) or Science classes (sciences, mathematics, statistics)?

Let me know your answers no later than Sunday, July 28th, 2019 by midnight EDT.  I'll announce the winner in Monday's post.

IN A RELATED NOTE:  I have still not heard a peep from Anne in Virginia, the winner of the Week 1 prize.  I realize at this time of year, a lot of people are on vacation, etc., and may forget to check blogs or may not even be able to do so easily.  But if I have not heard from her by Sunday at the time listed above, I'll choose another winner for that package.  This is primarily because my plan is to take all of the packages to the post office a week from tomorrow, and I want to be sure that I have everyone's names and addresses in advance to have them ready to go.  I still hope she will contact me, but if not it seems only fair for someone else who entered that week to have a shot at the prize.

*****

Remember my plan for last weekend to get my Christmas knitting plans sorted?  Well, I ended up not feeling that well (headache, severe nausea) because of the heat, and hardly did anything - I didn't even knit a stitch!  So I have moved that plan for this weekend, and hopefully I can at least get it started. 

I know you were waiting with baited breath to hear about that, huh?

I have also not knit during this whole week, because my formerly broken wrist and the elbow on that side have been bothering me a lot.  I have a feeling that last week at work I overdid it, since we had to move a lot of stuff due to an upcoming renovation.  I didn't do a whole lot of lifting and moving, but apparently I did enough.  So it's been a non-knitting week, and I've been doing more reading instead.  Things have improved though, so I should be back to my regular variety of knitting, stitching, and reading by this weekend.

That's it for today - I can't wait to see what you have to say in your answers.  Have a good one!

20 comments:

Nance said...

1. Not much of a playground kid. I was terrified of monkeybars, and the slides were always dirty or blazing hot. I preferred playing at home under a shade tree or jumping rope or roller skating in the street with friends.

2. I was a mix: I got good grades in science classes, which I loved, but hated and did horribly in math. I did really well in English and French, but never really liked art or music classes because I wanted to do my own thing, not what they wanted me to do.

Bonny said...

I was definitely a have fun in my own yard kind of kid, mainly because I grew up in a rural area, the nearest playground was about 12 miles away, and my mother wasn't driving us. My sister, cousins, and I spent our childhood in the woods and it was wonderful.

As for grades, mine were definitely better in science. I often felt like I was just making it up in humanities, but science had factual answers. Thanks for doing Christmas in July again this year. It's been fun!

Michelle B. said...

Oh, I would love to knit the hydrogen shawl. So pretty.

I've haven't knit a lot lately either. I finally got my reading mojo back, found a few books to download on my kindle and then, all of a sudden I get notices that 3(!) of the books I had on hold are now available. That's intense pressure for me. Oh boy! Knitting's got to wait!

Hopefully the cooler weather and some rest will have you feeling better.

For whatever reason, the neighborhood playground (which was really the playground for the local Catholic school/church) was only for school days. (not officially, we could go there to play but I don't remember doing that.) We always hung out at friends houses and yards for playtime.

I am artistically challenged so math and science were more my thing.



AsKatKnits said...

That yarn! LOVELY!!

And, for my answers:

1. Never** the playground, always the woods behind my house! **unless I was at my nana's house - then it was the swings at Kollen Park!

2. Art (and English)... no surprise there!

Dee said...

Ooooooooooooooo...pretty yarn. Count ME in on that one.

The Answers:

I lived close enough to the school playground to go there. My Dad would pick me up on his way home from work at dinner time.

2. I did pretty well in all classes except math and economics. I just could not grasp the difference between micro and macro economics. I LOVED my American history classes. (I had GREAT teachers for those two.)

Vera said...

Oh! gorgeous yarn - you can count me in (as in, pick ME!! - LOL).

I loved the playground at recess, but once home I would be more apt to play in my own yard, making mud pies and the like.

Though I enjoyed the "artsy" classes, my high grades were in math and science. Just about everyone (except moi) in my family is a scientist of one kind or another.

HOpe you are back to knitting and stitching by the weekend (could your wrist have been aggravated by all the DAMPNESS we had in the air?).

Wanderingcatstudio said...

• When you were a kid, were you more likely to want to go to the playground, or have your own fun at home in your yard or a friend's yard?
I think it was a 50/50 split for me. I grew up in the country – the nearest playground was about a 10 minute bike ride away. It was great with a huge jungle gym, big slide and fantastic swings, but our yard (which was big) was surrounded by meadows, with a forest and a lake behind us. The whole world was our playground.

• In school, did you get better grades in Arts classes (humanities, art, music) or Science classes (sciences, mathematics, statistics)?
Again, probably even. I preferred the arts, but I excelled at science and math too – A student pretty much my whole life.

I hope you can get back to your needles soon!

Lorette said...

1. Definitely played more at home as a kid. We lived out on a tiny farm, and didn’t get into town just to play. We did get together with neighbor farm kids a lot at one house or another, but mostly when our mothers were having coffee together.

2. Definitely science and math for the good grades. Although I loved history as well, and still do.

Araignee said...

1. I don't think we ever lived anywhere near a playground when I was growing up. We ran wild in the woods by the house most of the time. I don't think I would have liked a playground anyway. I was and still am pretty shy. Playing with strangers wouldn't have seemed much fun.

2. Art for sure. I still struggle at math. Thank goodness I only ever taught first grade. That I can do.

No real knitting for me this week either. I also had a weather induced headache and then when the weather broke it was all about catching up on all the chores. I just can't win this summer.

Roslyn said...

I don't think I've commented here before! This is a really fun thing to do!
My answers:
1. When you were a kid, were you more likely to want to go to the playground, or have your own fun at home in your yard or a friend's yard? - I grew up in a really tiny town and there were no playgrounds! But we did have tons of outdoors to run around in however. My favourite thing to do was to get a book and a blanket and go sit among the trees and read!

2. In school, did you get better grades in Arts classes (humanities, art, music) or Science classes (sciences, mathematics, statistics)? I did better in science, although university level stats almost did me in! (ultimately received a BSc in Biochemistry!)

KSD said...

Still declaring myself ineligible for another prize, but. . .
Yards. Mostly my next-door neighbors', as it was bigger than ours, had a picnic table and a cooler swing set,
I'm divided on the grades (and I'm guessing you mean high school.) I loved Biology. I did well in Math up until Trig, which I never cracked. The "soft" sciences were my strength: Sociology, Psychology, etc.

sprite said...

1. At home, we were in the yard, but we did have a jungle gym of our own. I did love the playground that was across the (major state) road across the street from my grandparents' house.

I got better grades in the humanities because I liked them better, but I tested better in the sciences on standardized tests.

Amy B said...

1. Definitely played in either my yard or my friend's yard. In my neighborhood there were at least 6 of us girls almost all the same age - we all played together within a 2 block radius.
2. I always got better grades in art and music. My work is all mathematics now though.

julia in KW said...

1. When you were a kid, were you more likely to want to go to the playground, or have your own fun at home in your yard or a friend's yard?
I was lucky to live close to the playground at my elementary school (climbed the fence) and there were a lot of organized things in the works over the summer, but we also had a great neighbourhood with lots of kids my age range and we also played in the yards of the whole neighbourhood - so 50/50 split

2. In school, did you get better grades in Arts classes (humanities, art, music) or Science classes (sciences, mathematics, statistics)?
Definitely arts (ended up studying languages in university, becoming an editor ( and then a banker - where did I go wrong?!? :). ). Believe me, I father laughed when he found out I had to do a Securities course (lots of math) for my job, given my hate of math.

Lilly's Mom said...

Such lovely yarn! 1)I have great memories of playing in my yard making mud pies with my cousins. 2) my grades were good but I always received an A in art class!

Karen said...

Beautiful yarn! No playgrounds within walking distance of our house in Northeast Philly, spent a lot of time playing in the driveway or building forts in Pennypack Park. My grandparents did live within walking distance of the playground at Tacony Creek Park, which I loved. Can still remember my grandfather teaching me how to swing really high!

Always English, history, art in school. Tried to do a science major in college but it didn’t go well, ended up with English.

Thanks for the fun questions, often they get me to remember things I haven’t thought of in years!

Anonymous said...

Ooh! I love both those shawls, specially Playground. As for the questions, we played everywhere, but mostly in yards. Even as young as 7 or 8, I had about a square mile I was allowed to roam freely as long as I was home within 10 minutes of the street lights coming on at night. There were lots of neighborhood kids to play with and we all pretty much lived in each other's houses, yards, alleyways...
As for school, I went to a tiny school (there were only 13 in my graduating class!) and we didn't have a lot of 'extra' classes. We did have Humanities/Art Appreciation which I absolutely hated. (With a different teacher, I'd love it now though.) I loved science classes but definitely not the math.

Carol said...

1. I played more in my yard and my best friend Diane's yard. We both had swing sets so that was fun.

2. I got better grades in music than I did in science!

Kym said...

So happy to (finally) be able to participate in Christmas in July!!!!
1 -- I loved to play anywhere when I was a kid, and found good times wherever I went. But . . . I LOVED going to the playground, and always jumped at the chance.
2 -- I got good grades pretty much all around . . . but I loved "reading" classes best (English, literature, whatever you want to call it).

Michelle said...

We mostly played at home or at a friend's house.
I got pretty good grades in all subjects but liked the sciences better.
It's so nice that you do this. Hope you feel better soon.