Blogiversary Contest!
December 4th, 2006 at 10:53 am (Random babbling, Swaps)
The first anniversary of Mikknit is on Wednesday, December 6. To celebrate, I’m running a contest! The contest will open as soon as this is posted and it’ll end at 5pm on Thursday December 7 - I’ll choose the winners then and post them Friday morning.
I debated what sort of contest I wanted to do, and here’s what I came up with:
I want to hear about your favorite fiber experience - a favorite project, your favorite yarn, favorite yarn shop, how you learned to knit/spin/crochet/weave/etc., a favorite person you’ve met through fibery pursuits, you get the idea. I’m going to choose two of my favorite stories and the winners will receive some yarn (yarn to be determined) this yarn:
Araucania Atacama, 100% alpaca. Color 402
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck in Brights
Leave me a comment on this entry with your story! I’ll post my story tomorrow - I have met so many awesome people through knitting and spinning, it’s going to be difficult to narrow it down to one or two stories to share.
Chris said,
December 4, 2006 at 11:03 am
My favorite thing that’s come out of knitting has been discovering the world of knit blogging and the amazing people I’ve “met.” On a daily basis, I’m in touch with people in Australia, Canada, France, the UK - my world is much, much larger than it would be without knitting.
Becca said,
December 4, 2006 at 1:14 pm
My favorite knitting experience has been teaching 10 young girls to knit at a home school co-op class this year. I had no idea when I offered to teach the class that I’d have so many sign up. I bought the needles and yarn for them so I could cast on and knit a few rows before they ever began. I figured we’d jump right into knitting, rather than struggling thru casting on. These girls managed to make mistakes I’d never even imagined. The first week, the post popular remark was “Umm….I think I did something. I need help.” I didn’t know you could make yarn do what they did. After 6 weeks, everyone could knit, at least half of the girls were in love with knitting and 2 of them had already cranked out a scarf in addition to their Warm Up America piece. I felt a little bit like a cult leader, beckoning them to give in to the lure of the fiber.
Kristi aka Fiber Fool said,
December 4, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I think my favorite story happened rather recently. While DH was occupied with NaNoWriMo I offered to teach my water aerobics instructor how to knit socks. She was in need of sock yarn so I sent her to a particular shop in town with a recommended brand etc. I hadn’t been to this store but once, but my experience had been good as had the experiences of some of my SnB buddies. So, my water aerobics instructor heads there right after class on a Wednesday so she’s still got her whistle around her neck and such. One of the gals working there asks her about it, so she tells her that she teaches water aerobics at the Senior Center in town etc. etc. She most knits and sews for a living and works at this shop on Wednesdays only. She wrecked her knees walking for fitness two years ago and has been rather sedentary since. Well, now she and two other women are coming to water aerobics class regularly. I love how knitting brings together people who perhaps would not otherwise be friends, but in this case I love how it has helped people to get up and out and move too!
Stumbling Over Chaos :: Look! Over there! said,
December 5, 2006 at 7:58 am
[...] Jessica of Mikknit is having a blogiversary contest. Leave her a comment about your favorite fiber experience by 5 pm CST Thursday, December 7, and you could win some mysterious yarn. [...]
Megan said,
December 5, 2006 at 9:28 am
One of my favorite fibery stories is about forming my SnB group. I’m a stay-at-home Mom who was feeling alone in the world and then I started knitting. And being caught up in the SnB craze, I started a meet-up group that only had 1-2 people for a couple of months. But eventually we started to have 3-4 and now we have 15+ active members and some more that show up once in a while. Through this group I’ve formed amazing friendships that I never would have had if I’d stayed at home knitting by myself. I love my SnB girls!
kristi and otis said,
December 5, 2006 at 10:35 am
I moved to Lansing Michigan a couple of years ago and knew no one. By taking one class and starting a blog, I have met knitters locally and from far away that I can call friends…friends I would not have ever met had I not known how to knit. I have just given birth to two boys and one who passed in utero, knitters knit all the boys beautiful things via a virtual shower for me and sent comforting words and thoughts during the loss of our little one. I feel so grateful to have had my life changed just cause I knew how to use two sticks and some yarn.
Heather said,
December 5, 2006 at 10:53 am
I love doing a knit/crochet blog. It’s opened up a whole new world for me because I don’t know may knitters and crocheters in person, so it’s been really fun to feel like I’m not alone with this hobby.
Sarah said,
December 5, 2006 at 11:07 am
My best fiber experinces would have to be at my local knit nite. We have recently moved to the city and I didn’t know anyone and was having a really hard time meeting anyone as I’m a SAHM and battling post partum depression. Now knit nite is my refuge when all I need is some time out of the house and some adult contact. We knit, drink and have a great time and I”ve made some great friends while really learning a lot from the more experinced knitters and spinners I get to meet each week.
kitkatknit said,
December 5, 2006 at 11:28 am
My favorite “recent” fiber related experience was at The Mannings in the early ’90’s. I was in a 3 day workshop (weaving if I remember right) with Tom Knisely. The Mannings is the most wonderful place for immersing yourself in fiber. Spinning, knitting, weaving, fleece, they have it all. We used to take a long lunch hour, drive up from our offices in Germantown MD, just to shop there for 15 minutes and drive back to the office. Anyway, the workshop package included lunch. My favorite memory, the one that sticks with me, was sitting in the farmhouse kitchen eating the biggest, best ham sandwich I’d ever eaten.
Erin said,
December 5, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Oh this one is easy. This is going to be my favorite shopping experience. A warehouse was moving from our state and was selling off discontinued ROWAN. Imagine swooping up bags of luscious big wool or biggie print for $25-$30 instead of $150! I still pinch myself over that.
trek said,
December 5, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Learning to knit socks and having my preschooler ask me to make some “yarn socks” for her!
Ariel said,
December 5, 2006 at 4:07 pm
I think my favorite knitting experience has been going to Rhinebeck. I’ve gone the last two years with knitting friends, and it’s been great. First there’s all the fabulous yarn and fiber there, which is great for a spinner like me with a limited selection at local stores. But the best part is meeting other people who I’ve “seen” online, and meeting real life people who I don’t know that read my blog.
limedragon :-: Harriet said,
December 5, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Happy Blogiversary!
Hmmm… a favorite fiber experience that springs to mind would be when I knit my first STR socks. They were knit with the first club colorway (Rainforest Jasper, bright blue with brown/tan stripes), and I was not sure I liked the color when I first got the skein. I wound it, and fell in love with the sheen and smoothness of STR, but still wasn’t sure about the color. I knit the socks. By the time I finished, I loved everything about it, even the colors, which I would never have chosen on my own. : )
stephania said,
December 5, 2006 at 9:21 pm
My favorite fiber experience in recent years has been my new found interest in checking out knitting on the internet. I’m seeing a whole host of creative things done that are tasteful. Previously to me, creativity in knitting meant novelty yarn, something I’m generally averse to. Now I’m seeing stuffed animals, knit tagging (knitting as graffiti), blogs, podcasts, knit breasts, and so on.
It’s great!
Gwen said,
December 5, 2006 at 10:03 pm
My favorite experience was the first time I went to Stitches Midwest. Two friends and I drove 5 hours to Chicago, just go to shopping in the marketplace. On the way home, we packed our yarn in the trunk and when we stopped for lunch, we all in unison asked to have our yarn back so we could marvel at it the rest of the way home.
Happy Blogiversary!
mrspao said,
December 6, 2006 at 8:28 am
My favourite experience has to be the first time I knit again last year after a long break. It just felt so nice and relaxing and I really wanted to knit more especially after meeting lots of knitbloggers
sunneshine said,
December 6, 2006 at 10:24 am
There have been so many positive things that have come out of knitting. But there is one that stands way out. There is a yarn shop down the street from my store. I hang there sometimes. The woman who owns it set up a class at the local women’s shelter to teach knitting. I volunteered to go as her assistant. As it worked out, she was never able to go and I have been teaching these wonderful women, who for so many reasons are down on their luck. What I get out of teaching them and seeing their sense of accomplishment is something I never could have imagined. That is not the best part. Three months into the class, there were too many women for me to continue teaching on my own. Through the store, I met Eileen - the opposite of me. She had been teaching knitting for many more years then I had, is 15 years older, much more conservative, more then once a woman that we teach has asked if she is my mother, she had just moved to Denver. Now I am proud to call her one of my good friends. She is someone who I know that I could aways count on, she challenges me in my knitting, has been a godsend with teaching and is so smart and interesting and our friendship has moved beyond just knitting into life. I am thankful to know her and be able to call her a friend.
beth said,
December 6, 2006 at 4:47 pm
My most positive yarn experience has been peacefulness. Two years ago, my then-fiance and I split up. It was the most heartbreak I’ve ever gone through. It turned out that I was so afraid of getting married that I thought breaking up would be easier. Luckily, I realized that a year later. We have since gotten married, but the earth-shattering doubt and fear I experienced before our wedding was nearly incapacitating. To make matters worse, we had moved to a new city (Minneapolis) where I have very few friends. I started knitting again (I had learned a few years prior) and the amount of peace knitting brings me is just ridiculous. No one would understand that besides knitters. When I feel off, or sad, or scared, or wrong, I pull out the needles. I never feel bad about buying yarn—I’m buying a more complete sense of self (or at least the tools to help myself construct it). I am so happy I overcame my fear. My life would be half a life without my husband, and I firmly believe that calming down a bit while playing with yarn really helped. Letting my thoughts get outside of my body, focusing on counting and moving, so slightly, my fingers–I know everyone who knits is aware of this phenomenon. But I can’t think of anything better (well, okay, SOME things…).
Happy blogiversary, Jessica!
Amanda said,
December 6, 2006 at 10:25 pm
I have a favorite yarn shop, I love the feeling I get when I walk it. Just walking in fills my head with visions of potential projects. Shelf after shelf of yarns, good workhorse yarns of 100% wool for those sturdy sweaters, soft luxurious cashmere and alpaca for those days when I just need to feel better. Stacks upon stacks of woolly goodness, like a old library, it has a scent that reminds me of curling up in my grandmother’s lap and smelling her perfume. I love strolling through the aisles and thinking of all the things I could knit. There is also a small sandwich shop inside and I like to get a hot cuppa tea and sit with a new project and people watch. I have seen a pregnant mother crochet a blanket for her child, Watched a husband attempt to spin on a drop spindle and I have seen women enjoying the shop’s classes outside in the warm summer sun. I may be miles from my family who I used to share these things with but when I visit this shop, I get to reconnect with my mother, my sister, my grandmother and my great-grandmother and that is why it is my favorite places to go and enjoy my favorite hobby.
Happy Blogiversary!
knittymama said,
December 7, 2006 at 12:17 am
Wow, this is actually a pretty hard one to pin down, but I’ll try…
Three years ago soon after Little Man was born, we had a new music teacher, Jen, in our department. After a rough day she would always talk about how she had spinning class that night and was so glad she’d get to go there to relax. You know what I though she was talking about for about two months? Those “spinning” exercise classes! When I realized how much she was talking about knitting as well as this spinning I asked her one day what the deal was and what club she excercised at. She laughed and said, “No, I’m spinning yarn!” This blew my mind because it never even dawned on that people did that. Right then I decided I needed to learn to knit. She took me to Depth of Field, helped me pick out a pattern and yarn and got me started.
I forgot as soon as I got home and we left the next day for my Grandmas’s house, who then pretty much forced me to practice the knit stitch until I had it perfect. (Jen was a bit more organic about my first lesson:-) Anyway, if I had never worked with her, I may never had decided to knit and then learn to spin, sew, crochet…..As a girl I loved all things creative but had forgotten about everything but music in my college life. Jen is now a very dear friend of mine and I’m so thankful she reintroduced me to all of this.
Gemini said,
December 7, 2006 at 11:47 am
My story is when I learned how to knit! Jess came over for our kids to play and she taught me how to knit my first washcloth! Good ol’ knit stitch! Next playdate and lesson was purl, lol. Now I’m a knittin’ fool, mostly felting projects. I still will call or instant message her when I have a question.