The Final Winner for Christmas in July 2023

Oh my. Your reponses about the best surprise ever were so very amazing, some funny, some made me tear up, and some just made me happy. Thank you for sharing them with me. It's just further proof to me that small things are just as important as huge events, and that regardless of the "size" of a good surprise, the recipient at least never ever forgets how it felt.

So I am happy to report that the final winner for Christmas in July for 2023 is:

🎈🎉VALERIE!!!

The question was: 

What is/was one of the best surprises in your life?

And her response was just one of the loveliest:

One of the best surprises of my life was a sterling silver necklace/bracelet set of cameos that belonged to my Great Grandmother.
I don't remember when I first saw them (GrGma died when I was 16 or 17), but I always coveted them. Great Grandfather was in the navy, and he was one of those who "had a girlfriend in every port" so whenever he came back, he brought a present from GrGma - probably out of guilt. The cameos came from England - where in England, I don't know.
And I don't remember how it came up, but after her death I was talking to my Grandma (GrGma's daughter, my Mom's mom), and she said she had given the cameos to my aunt. (One of Mom's two sisters).
But then a few months later, Grandma surprised me with them. I don't know if aunt had given them back, or Grandma had lied about giving them to her (with my grandma, it could be either... but that's another story).
I was so surprised and happy, I actually cried. There's only a couple times I've been so happy, I've cried, but that was definitely one of them.
I have a lot of jewelry (none of it is very expensive, though a lot of it is decent quality silver and semi-precious gems), but the cameos remain one of my most treasured sets.
I also have GrGma's double strand pearls (another gift from the philandering GrGpa) - I used to wear them quite frequently. The last time I wore them was my wedding to Dave. The clasp broke when I took it off that night and I haven't repaired it.

So, congratulations, Valerie, and thank you for such a lovely story. Please send an e-mail to baclancyATverizonDOTnet with your full name and mailing address, and I'll get the package ready to send.

And so all of you know, I'm sending out all of the prizes at the same time, no later than next week. I'll send each of you an e-mail once they are on the way, so you'll know to be on the lookout for your packages. 😊

And that, my friends, is a wrap for this year.

Thank you all so very much for playing along again, and sharing your stories with all of us. We even gained a couple of new people this year, which was so exciting - welcome, and please hang around for my blathering past this time, if you can stand it!

I look forward to this all year, and love collecting prizes and saving extra change, etc., for mailing the packages. It is a highlight for me, and usually at a time when I really need it, since as you know, I am not by nature a summertime person. 😒

See you again (I hope) in 2024!!

*****

So, I didn't actually finish my Stripey Summer Top in July after all. I got the bottom and each sleeve i-cord borders knit, and all of the ends woven in on Saturday, then ran out of steam before doing the i-cord border along the neckline. I had hoped to do it on Sunday evening after work, but was wiped out and didn't even try; Monday I had things to do before I left for work, and then was again too tired to concentrate once I came home. So the end of July moved along, and I didn't finish. But I did finish this morning, so later I can soak it and block it and it will officially be an FO! <cue impressive, symphonic music and loud applause> The best part is, that I have approximately six weeks of summer left to wear it as a Stripey *SUMMER* Top, so for once, I actually finished something in the season appropriate for wearing it. <cue pigs flying, and snow falling in hell>

Hopefully I'll have some photos and an FO post for you soon. 

In the meantime, remember my Light Purple Thea from a while back? Well, I finally got some photos of how it looks on my person because the planets aligned a couple of weeks ago. I was wearing it to work on a Sunday, which meant that I was cleaned up, and wearing appropriate clothing, AND The Tim was home to take a photo, besides the one I took myself (which shows the actual color of the thing). So here is what it looks like in the world, so to speak. It was a great piece for too-hot and humid weather, because the fabric was light and breathable, and it was nice to receive a few lovely compliments on it. 

I do recommend this pattern, if you are at all interested in making one. One of the people at the yarn store pointed out that you could wear it as a vest as well. Which of course, just never, ever occurred to me. So I may make another one sometime with a bit more ease, and in a wool or wool blend. 

It could happen.