Christmas in July, Week 4 - The Last One!

 

Hello! Well, it's the last week of Christmas in July for 2023, which is kind of sad, because I do enjoy this. But like Christmas Day itself, it doesn't last forever, right?

Anyway, this week is something a little bit different - leaving a comment will enter you into the giveaway for this prize:

OK this was a stock photo, you will not actually receive a box that looks like this, in the interest of full disclosure. 😂 

BUT, it gets the point across - this week's prize is a mystery. I always like to end the month with a mystery, you know, kind of like a grand finale. I can guarantee you that it is knitting-related, and that there will be more than one thing in the package. But otherwise, my lips are sealed. 

And what do you need to do in order to be entered into the giveaway? Well, I thought about all kinds of different questions to ask, but decided to go with something that relates to the box above:

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

Please comment on this post ONLY, by midnight EDT on Tuesday, August 1 (YIKES, July will be over!); I'll announce the winner the next day. 

My answer harks back to one day when I was in the fifth grade. I came home from work, and my mom was already home, which was odd since she was usually at work until 4:30. But anyway, she was home and when I asked why, she said, "Well, I took a half day of vacation today, because I had to pick something up for you. It's in the kitchen." And I went into the kitchen, and there was a PUPPY!!!! It took me a while to even be surprised, since I didn't actually believe what I was seeing. He was about 8 weeks old, and we named him Toby. A friend of my mother's had a dog who'd had puppies, and she had decided to get one for me, because unlike my sisters, she knew I was responsible and would actually walk him and feed him. He wasn't a tiny puppy but oh he was wiggly and sweet. He was a poodle-Airedale mix, and just such a great doggie! My sisters and the cat were disgusted, because he was "drooly" (my sisters), and a dog (the cat). Oh how he loved the cat - we decided as time went on that he thought she was his mother. My dad's only comment was, "Look at those feet - he's gonna be big." But within a few weeks he was just one of the family. We had him for six years before he was stolen right out of our backyard (he was really friendly, and would happily go with anyone). I even saw him once and yelled his name, and he was so excited to see me, but his new owner came over, grabbed him, put him in the car and drove away. (I have no idea if it was the person who took him, or if someone took him and gave him to someone else.). So, yeah, the ending of Toby's story with us is not happy, but he will always be one of the best surprises ever for me. And I hope he lived a happy life wherever he ended up. ❤

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This morning I got all of my chores done really early, since I knew it was going to be a miserably hot day. I'm glad for once what I thought I would do and what I actually did were one and the same! So now I'm hoping to finish the actual knitting part of my Stripey Summer Sweater, saving the weaving in of ends and blocking for another time. But getting the knitting finished while it's still July would please me.

Other than that, I am on the foot of one of the socks I'm knitting, and it's time to add a third project - I think I'll start one of the holiday gifts I want to knit. Since tomorrow is going to be another stay-inside-or-you-might-die day, I think I'll probably get a good amount of knitting done this weekend. 

Now it's time to go and take a look to see what I can fix later for dinner that will not require a lot of kitchen time or turning on the oven. Then the rest of the day is MINE!

Have a good weekend and take care to stay safe. See you next week!

Christmas in July Week 3 Winner!

 

Wait, what? Why is there a fall photo in the post announcing the winner for Week 3 of Christmas in July???

Because, the winner is:

🎈🎉Dee!!!

You may or may not recall the question, which was:

Pretend there are no holidays at all (THE HORROR!), and you get to create one. Here's what I want to know:

1. What would it be called?

2. When would be?

3. What would be the 'official' way it would be celebrated?

4. What food(s) and/or traditions would be associated with it?

Dee's holiday was all about Fall:

My holiday would be Peak Day (or Peek Day if you prefer).

1. The date would vary depending where fall leaves are at peak for your area.

2. You would have a lovely chili supper with plenty of sour cream and cheese. There would be a salad made with fresh greens, roasted beets and sweet potato with a topping of goat cheese and white balsamic dressing. You would have leaf shaped, frosted butter cookies.

3. It would be required that you go outside at golden hour (which would also vary depending on where you lived) and observe the beauty of fall.

That's my holiday and even if it isn't real (yet), I intend to observe it this year, hopefully by a river.

I don't know about you, but I think this sounds like a pretty darn perfect way to spend a perfect fall day, I would be completely on board with this. Dee, as with some others, I know I had your address before my computer issues, but I don't have it now, so please send it along when you have the chance (I know you know my e-mail address, since we are always back-and-forthing). Congratulations!

I really loved all of your holiday ideas, and think perhaps our group should be in charge of decreeing any additional holidays ever under consideration; in lieu of that, what the heck, let's start observing them ourselves, anyway! Who's with me??

Stay tuned for this Friday, which will be the grand finale for this year, so to speak. I want to make sure that the prize is an especially good one, and that I come up with a good question. 😊

*****

And now, allow me to regale you with a tale of the knitter who worried she would run out of yarn. Sigh.

You may recall that I was zooming right along on my Stripey Summer Top. Well, when I started out, I already one of the yarns because it had been in my stash for umpteen years, and I finally decided this was what I would use it to make. Said yarn was already wound into cakes, so it was ready to go.

It took me a ridiculously long time to decide what other yarn and/or color I would use, and I finally decided. I bought two skeins since I knew that is what it would take. But I only wound one skein into a cake and put the other away. Because at the time, that seemed the reasonable thing to do. (??)

So in my project bag, I had two skeins of the one yarn, and one skein of the other. And I was knitting, knitting, knitting, and time went by, which means my brain moved on to other things happening, and all of a sudden, I was nearing the end of the cakes of yarn I was using. Of course, one cake was already there in the bag, wound up and ready to continue.

But, I kept wondering how I had already gone through both skeins of the other yarn I had purchased, and still needed some for the top? I thought to myself in the most annoyed way possible, "$%#%^ - the pattern acted like I'd only need two of the other color, and now I'll need three!" So I special ordered another skein at work, but knew it would be a while before it arrived. So I did as much as I could and then had to stop because I was out of the one yarn, at least temporarily.

I'm sure you are way ahead of me here. The other day, I was getting something out of one of the cubbies of yarn I have, and VOILA! - there was the second skein I had purchased but never wound. I had in fact purchased enough yarn, I had only would one of the skeins ... but since I had two of the others, my brain apparently decided I must had wound both of the purchased yarn and used them up. Dumb**s. 

Now, if six months had elapsed since I had started, I would think, Oh well, it's taken so long, no wonder I forgot. But *maybe* six weeks had elapsed

Now, as yarn/knitting tragedies go, this is not one. It's more stupid and annoying than tragic. I wound the second skein, and when the special ordered one comes in, I can either bring it home to use for portions of socks, or return it for a store credit. So no harm done, really.

But I may have actually finished knitting the top by now, if I'd only remembered that I'd only wound the one skein out of two. 

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas, right?

That's it for now, I've got some knitting to do ... 

In Which I Am Clearly Confused; And, A Friday Funny

As you may have noticed, the post for Week 3 of Christmas in July went up yesterday instead of today, when it was supposed to happen. Whoops! Not that it's a problem, since it just gives anyone interested an extra day to enter the giveaway, but it is just another case of me confusing the days of the week.

When I originally started my part-time job, the days I worked were Sunday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday was added, and that was easy enough to keep track of, since it was just an add-on after my regular days.

Then last month, my schedule was changed again - now I work on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Which is nice because then I get four days off in a row. BUT, I'm still not there in my brain. So every Wednesday, I think it's Thursday, and every Thursday, I think it's Friday. Inevitably, at some point on each of those days, I'll remember that I'm just getting things confused, but clearly it's gonna take a bit longer until it "sticks" in my brain and I am clear on what day of the week is actually happening. 😉

What can I say, I'm a creature of habit!

Anyway, it gives me a chance to share this cartoon that I saw the other day. I really like it, but I have to admit that it took me a minute to "get" it. Enjoy, and remember if you want to enter the giveaway, it's on yesterday's post.

Christmas in July, Week 3

Here we are in Week 3 already of Christmas in July!

This week I have a challenge for you as the question:

Pretend there are no holidays at all (THE HORROR!), and you get to create one. Here's what I want to know:

1. What would it be called?

2. When would be?

3. What would be the 'official' way it would be celebrated?

4. What food(s) and/or traditions would be associated with it?

This week, the prize is this one:

This really lovely project bag (or I guess you could use it as a purse, but whatever), and a pair of needle gauge earrings from Katrinkles.

The bag is very nice - it has a bottom that can make it stand up, and there is a lining you can bring out with a drawstring closure if you have it really packed with goodies.

Please comment on this post ONLY, by midnight EDT on Tuesday, July 25; I'll announce the winner the next day. 

This is my answer, in case you were wondering, or even if you weren't, because hey, my blog, my rules!

The holiday I would create would be for my birthday which is in March. The actual day of my birthday, March 14, would be in the middle - so the holiday would encompass March 13, 14, and 15, and businesses, schools, etc. would be required to be closed so people could enjoy it. With a three-day holiday, people can enjoy the day before, the day of, and the day after! I would call it  Marchtime.

It would be celebrated by allowing everyone to have at least one shelter pet come and live with them,*; and on the main day of the holiday (March 14), anyone and everyone who didn't have enough food would go to a church, recreation center, etc., and receive a voucher for one year's worth of food from anyplace they like - if they want to spend it all on junk food at McDonald's or someplace, fine; if they would rather spend it on buying groceries, also fine. It's their voucher, no one else can decide what they should do with it. But it is only good for that year, so they can't be hoarded. 

The main food associated with the holiday would be chocolate in any form - candy, cookies, cake, beverages, etc.  Not to say others couldn't have things their own way - I know everyone doesn't like chocolate (I know it but I don't get it), but that would be the original tradition. Also, on the main day - the 14th - the holiday dinner would always include mashed potatoes.

So there you are. I'm sure I could/would make many adjustments to this given more time and more thought, but I know I at least would enjoy this! 😃

I'll be curious to hear your responses!

*People who don't like animals would not be included in this practice; people who are allergic, etc. would be exempt from having a shelter pet live with them, but people who don't like animals would probably not want to observe this holiday anyway. They could be the ones who had to go to work instead ...

*****

The weekend is upon us - we have no specific plans, as far as I know, but the weather is actually supposed to be somewhat agreeable, so I know for sure that I'll take a walk at some point to actually enjoy being outside. Most of my family is gathering in NYC this weekend, and I'm sad to miss it, but I couldn't find someone to take my shift on Sunday at work. Maybe just as well - staying home will definitely be cheaper, LOL!

I hope you have a good weekend and hopefully a break if you are also somewhere with extreme weather. 

Week 2 Winner!

OK, if I had really given thought to the question I posted last week for the giveaway, I would have realized that unless all of you answered "liver and onions," the foods you chose would make me feel hungry! 

The question was:

What is your favorite holiday food?

Not necessarily for Christmas, but for any holiday throughout the year.

So many wonderful answers, and stories that came along with them, and I was sometimes surprised (Dee, I've never heard of Strawberry Pretzel Salad), and/or further intrigued (Valerie, do you know I've never ever had Mince Meat Pie?). Fortunately, choosing a winner wasn't up to me, because I only had one prize and I liked all of the responses. 😊

Once again, though I was able to tell the random number generator to choose, and so I am here to tell you that the winner for Week 2 of Christmas in July is:

🎉🎈Meredith MC!!!

Which seemed particularly appropriate to me, since one of the things in the giveaway is something she has apparently wanted to have:

My favorite holiday food is Christmas cookies. Not the eating of them, but making them. They remind me of my mom, and the best parts of being a kid.
I’ve always coveted one of those wrist rulers. It seems like such a knitting meets punk rock type of accessory.
I hope you’re staying cool!

Congratulations, Meredith! Please send an e-mail to baclancyATverizonDOTnet with you full name and mailing address, and I'll get the package ready to send.

Thanks everyone for participating, I'm glad at least some of you think this is as much fun as I do. 

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How has your week been? Mine has not been awful, but it could also have been a lot better too. So, I'm gonna say it's been fine, but uninspiring. Plus, my throat has felt scratchy all week, which is just annoying. Oh dear, my life is such a trial, isn't it???😝

Since I finished my market bag and am so close to finishing my stripey summer top, I've been trying to decide - well, at least narrow down - what to start next. I considered starting another summer top, but then again, given my slow progress on garments, I thought it might be good to start on something that could be worn in the fall, since I don't have a ton of transitional things. Also, I want to get started on a couple of things I know I want to make for gifts for the holiday season. I think I'll work on Tim's socks and my stripey top, and then once the top is really and truly finished, see what I want to do. Who knows, there may be something shiny and new that will distract me from everything else ... OK, I kinda hope there isn't. I already have too many things in my brain that want to be next!

Anyway, that's it for today. I hope all of you are doing well. Meredith MC, I'm looking forward to hearing from you, and for everyone, our next giveaway will show up this coming Friday, so stay tuned!