A special day

And not because it's Independence Day (although I'm sure that is very special to our US friends - Happy 4th of July, and Happy Canada Day too for my Commonwealth buddies) but, for me, special because it's my blogiversary! One year ago today I set up my blog. A word of warning though - don't bother reading my first (or second or third) posts because they are not inspiring at all. No, really, don't!

I joined the blogging world because I wanted to be a part of this great community. I had been reading some blogs, and I figured, "hey, I can do that too (I hope)". I wanted to "meet" like minded people, share my knitting, learn from the knitting of others and just be a part of it - comment on people's blogs, have comments on mine, participate in swaps and so on. And for me, an introvert and reknowned non-joiner, that was a big step. A big safe step, I know - because the internet doesn't require one-on-one or one-in-a-group interaction, it is easier to get out there, and you can hide what you want and reveal what you want.

Over the past year I have learnt a lot about people, about myself, about knitting and other crafting but most importantly, and the thing I am most grateful for, is that I have found a bunch of friends. Some I've met in real life (a thing I would never have contemplated before blogging) and some I've met through letters, and I've even started a new blog with one. I feel blessed to be a part of such a large, diverse, overwhelmingly generous, funny and caring community.

So I'm sharing the love and sending out a big Thankyou. As some of you might recall, I went to New York earlier this year - and you thought I bought all that yarn for me - well no! Some of it is for you!

Some lovely yarn which is hard to get in Australia, is set aside for you Aussie bloggers out there - some Mmmmmmmalabrigo for one lucky blogger, some Koigu (which is more vibrant burgundies and brown/blacks and not quite as dark as in the pic) for another blogger and an interesting one, Classic Elite Miracle - a 50/50 alpaca/tencel blend - very soft - would make a lovely scarf or squooshy hat (it's a little greener than it appears, a lovely soft olivey-green) for a 3rd blogger.

Clearly as I can't leave out everyone else (my hordes of international readers - heh!), there's a little something something for one of you too - a lovely Australian yarn, Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre (which just might be left over from this - because you can always put those extra "just in case" balls of yarn to good use by sharing the love).So leave a comment if you'd like to go into the draw - let me know where you are from (country is enough) - I'll draw it next Wednesday and reveal the lucky winners! Lurkers and first time visitors welcome!