My Goodness! 100 Posts! And A Giveaway—Yarn, Squee!
This is just a brief little announcement—there will be the regular posting starting on Tuesday!
This is actually the 101 post that I’ve made on this blog! The statistics break down like this!
- 101 posts
- 547 comments
- Busiest day: 1,912 — Wednesday, April 9, 2008
I can’t tell you how much it means to me that everyone keeps reading and commenting. Every comment is important to me, even if my schedule sometimes keeps me from responding to every single one! It keeps me writing and encouraged.
Because of this, I wanted to give back to my readers. Specifically, a skein of Socks that Rock Lightweight yarn. It’s brandnew, in the colorway Thraven.
I really love this colorway, but because of someone else who was very nice to me (that will come later this week!) I think that the love should be spread around.
To enter to win this lovely yarn, all you have to do this comment on this post. I would love to hear about random acts of kindness that other people have done for you or that you did for others! It will run from today through the 25th of this month, midnight EST. The winner will be chosen and announced on Saturday!
The Lumpy Sweater 
Joan replied:
A RAOK that my mom did for me was sign me up for the STR Club–that was a gift that kept on giving!
July 20, 2008 at 8:53 pm. Permalink.
Barbara Baker replied:
Looks like a beautiful color yarn to start my next afghan…I would love to win, please count me in!!!
July 20, 2008 at 9:22 pm. Permalink.
pdxknitterati replied:
That yarn does look like a raven!
RAOK: As I was slogging through the grocery, Kid1 (home from college this summer) said, “Mom, you cook dinner every night. How about if I cook dinner tonight?” And he did. I’m so resigned to making dinner, it was a pleasant surprise to have someone else offer to do it.
Congrats on your 101 posts!
July 20, 2008 at 9:53 pm. Permalink.
jinniver replied:
101 posts–congrats! That’s a pretty impressive busiest day–now I have to go back through your archives and see what all the excitement was about.
You’ll have to take my word for it that I’ve committed a RAOK, but I did it anonymously, so I can’t share in case the recipient reads your blog. 🙂 But not long ago, a fellow NASCAR fan sent me a Dale Jr. poster because she knew I was a fan…and then included a Vogue Knitting magazine that I didn’t have.
July 20, 2008 at 10:18 pm. Permalink.
Knittah replied:
I haven’t received a RAOK in recent memory, although I am feeling the need. I’ve had a rough few months. BUT I am planning a not so ROAK in sending a very large care package to a friend who is enduring an extended hospital stay.
July 20, 2008 at 11:21 pm. Permalink.
phibian replied:
congratulations on your 101 posts! that yarn looks lovely. i don’t generally receive any RAOK knitting-related because i don’t know many people who knit, and vice versa. outside of knitting and yarn, my friend suprised me last week with a clay doll she’d made me while working at an art school that was wearing the sweater i’d been working on! it was incredibly sweet and unexpected of her.
July 21, 2008 at 2:02 am. Permalink.
Sarah replied:
Congratulations! I have two recent RAKs. The first was the gift of digital camera via the group on Ravelry–the woman said that she wanted to pass on her retired one to someone she thought could use it. It was sweet and a huge surprise.
The second was a bright pink envelope that came in the mail the other day. One of my best friends from home had sent me a mix CD with an illustrated booklet and a lovely chatty letter. It was so thoughtful.
July 21, 2008 at 2:13 am. Permalink.
SweetP replied:
Congrats on 100! or is that 101?
RAOK – A week or so ago A blog/online friend surprised me by sending me a ball of gorgeous organic yarn and the coolest brooch/badge. Very unexpected but much appreciated (made for a good blog post too)
July 21, 2008 at 3:07 am. Permalink.
kv replied:
congratulations on your 100th post. As for raok’s, well, once in a while someone gives me a seat on the subway. It’s kindness mixed with a little something else, since it means they think I need it more than they do!
July 21, 2008 at 7:17 am. Permalink.
Dava replied:
I’m such a sucker for crows…
July 21, 2008 at 7:23 am. Permalink.
rkray3 replied:
Congratulations – and thanks for celebrating with a contest!
My favorite RAOK (and I’ll try to edit, because it’s a long story)…several years ago hubby and I were driving home to KY from Florida and our car broke down. On a Saturday night. In the middle of nowhere Alabama. We had to get a 50 mile tow to get to the nearest place that would be open to fix our car on Sunday, and the tow truck driver was nice enough to drop us off at a hotel. Tired, hot, carless and starving, we checked into the hotel and asked at the front desk if there was a restaurant within walking distance. The very nice lady at check in told us there was not, and must have seen that I was about to burst into tears and asked why we wanted to walk. We filled her in on the story, and this wonderful woman told us we could BORROW HER CAR and drive to the nearest restaurant. We took her up on it, and of course we thanked her profusely and filled her tank, but I’ve never forgotten the kindness of that woman to a couple of complete strangers.
July 21, 2008 at 8:51 am. Permalink.
Mary Ellen replied:
I’ve been eyeing that colorway for a while… no recent RAOKs around here, but I did give my seat on the bus to a very very pregnant woman last week. (And gave dirty looks to the strapping young guys who pretended they didn’t see her standing…)
July 21, 2008 at 9:11 am. Permalink.
Aunt Kathy replied:
101 posts, congratulations.
RAOK- Well I LOVE to bless people whenever possible and in return I have also found myself blessed too. Most recent I purchased a small project bag from an ETSY store to give as a prize in my contest and the store owner also donated one to me. I am just so surprised and happy and thankful. RAOK iss what makes the world turn.
I have added a link to your contest over on my blog. I hope you get a few more visitors because of it.
July 21, 2008 at 9:28 am. Permalink.
knittenkitten80 replied:
I may be biased, but on a particularly hard day my husband bought me roses and powdered doughnuts (my achilles heel) and never complains when I buy an…….excessive bit of yarn, what more could I ask for?
July 21, 2008 at 9:31 am. Permalink.
Chelsea replied:
Ok…where to begin?!
I’ve been on the receiving end of incredible kindness on Ravelry. This month alone I’ve been given 5 Random Acts of Kindness!!! <=O (that is supposed to look shocked.) If I was allowed to pick favorites, a lady that read my post who is strictly a knitter sent me not 1, but 3 gorgeous Abalone shell crochet hooks. They are so gorgeous, I’m almost afraid to use them!!!
I don’t have a lot of resources to send people things, but I do my best to send other people things that make them happy!! Whether it be just a friendship, a letter, yarn scraps, or whatever, I do my best, and I know how much it excites me to see a PM saying “RAK”, so I know that others must feel that way too.
July 21, 2008 at 9:57 am. Permalink.
Meredith replied:
Congratulations on your 100th post! As for RAK, I have to say that I have been the beneficiary of so many they would be impossible to list here, from gifts of yarn to knit and fleece to spin when I was broke and couldn’t buy any to rides to the doctor in Santa Fe when I couldn’t drive myself the 75 miles. I have been trying to do my best to do RAK ever since, but my meager efforts pale when I review them compared to the kindness that has been shown to me!
Best,
Meredith
July 21, 2008 at 10:23 am. Permalink.
Raymie replied:
I like to send people I know knitted goods. Not things they know they are getting, but things that just randomly appear in the mailbox. Hopefully it makes them smile for the day, and keeps them warm in winter.
July 21, 2008 at 10:32 am. Permalink.
brouhahahaha replied:
I enjoy bringing in food to work unexpectedly – but about once a week – and this seems to go over quite well… other coworkers also join in the RAOK food circle!
happy 100th post!
July 21, 2008 at 11:01 am. Permalink.
Krissy replied:
hi there! 🙂
I need to start doing some RAK stuff at work, I think. the mood here is far too somber!
July 21, 2008 at 11:05 am. Permalink.
Kathy W replied:
Darn you, I really didn’t need another blog to add to my queue of daily blogs. 🙂
This week, I was ready to leave Ravelry and another moderator from another group pm’d me and made me feel good about staying on the R and also about myself. She didn’t have to do that.
Your blog is great and yes, I’m adding it.
Darn you. 🙂
July 21, 2008 at 12:12 pm. Permalink.
Patt replied:
I just gave my daughter my van. She loves it and drives it all the time and I don’t so we just gave it to her as a surprise. Now that is a RAK!!
love the sock yarn.
July 21, 2008 at 2:56 pm. Permalink.
La Nina replied:
Congratulations on your milestone!
I’ll never forget the greatest act of random kindness I was on the receiving end of. I was living in my car, when my bank canceled my ATM card, even though there were a few hundred dollars in my account. I was in Tennessee when I realized I couldn’t withdraw any cash. I was out of gas, at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest branch of the bank was over 200 miles away. I spent almost an hour on the phone with customer service in the truck stop Dairy Queen, trying to make them understand my situation and allow me to withdraw money. They hung up on me, twice. I screamed at them, and cried, a lot. After I was hung up on again, I realized that everyone in the Dairy Queen was staring at me, and I ran outside and hid in my car.
A few minutes later, an old man in a mechanic’s jumpsuit lurched up and started knocking on the car window. I rolled down the window enough to tell him to get the hell away from me, but before I could say anything, he slipped two twenties through the window and said, “I heard you on the phone back there, and I hope this is enough to get you to Virginia.” I stammered something about not wanting to take his money and he said, “I’ll give you my address and you can send me a check when you get home. I couldn’t see you stranded.”
Of course I sent him that check. With “interest.” He is still my favorite person, ever.
July 21, 2008 at 3:05 pm. Permalink.
Nicole (ikkinlala) replied:
Congratulations on the milestone, and that is gorgeous yarn!
The most recent kindness someone has done for me: I’m a university student without a drivers’ license. I don’t need one at school, but I’m at home for the summer right now, I live in a rural area, and my parents are away for a few weeks. My brother gets groceries, so I don’t go anywhere besides hiking in the bush or a short way down the road to the mailbox. On Saturday, a neighbour was kind enough to pick me up and take me to a community theatre performance – even though I’m happy at home, it was nice to go somewhere different for a while and socialize a bit.
July 21, 2008 at 3:40 pm. Permalink.
Christopher replied:
This is just one out of many, but it’s the most recent so it came to mind. My friend super-graciously offered to drive me to go pick up my gigantic desk that I bought off craigslist for my new apartment, since he has a pick-up truck. It was around 20 minutes each way (gas is expensive!), and he helped me move it into the truck and up to my apartment. We spent quite a while wandering around carrying the (very heavy) desk, too, because I got a little lost – and all this without complaint or payment. What a good friend 🙂
July 21, 2008 at 4:04 pm. Permalink.
Sharah replied:
Friend through ravelry ILFB group… didn’t know you had a prolific blog! Will be adding it to my RSS feeds on my mac when I get home 🙂 yea!
Thanks for the opportunity to throw my name in the giveaway!
July 21, 2008 at 5:45 pm. Permalink.
Georgi replied:
Congratulations on the posts, blogging can be a lot of work can’t it? That is a wonderful colorway, sort of like the colors on a cormorant.
As for a RAOK, my husband and I were driving down a very busy highway on Saturday when a mama duck and her babies where trying to cross the street. My husband jammed on the breaks and we stopped traffic, gathered up the ducklings and put them on the other side of the road for mama duck. She was very glad when she had them all bundled up with her again.
July 21, 2008 at 6:01 pm. Permalink.
Ellen Bloom replied:
Congratulations on your blog-posting anniversary!
For my random act of kindness, I help others learn crochet. I attend at least 3 different Stitch ‘n Bitch meetings weekly. Whenever someone has a crochet question or needs a demo, I try to help them out. One day, crocheters will rule the world!
p.s. I knit too, but sock yarn is wonderful to crochet with!
July 21, 2008 at 9:33 pm. Permalink.
Desiree replied:
Everyday while I am in traffic I let as many people out as possible. I am not sure if that is a random act of kindness or not, but I dislike it so much when i can’t pull out from where I am because no car will let me go.
July 21, 2008 at 9:59 pm. Permalink.
Lulu replied:
YAY! 101 posts! I am on my way home from Nashville, from a Compassionate Friends conference where I encountered nothing but random acts of kindness. Saturday night was the fancy banquet and candle lighting ceremony. While all the parents attending the conference lit their candles and the siblings too lit theirs, a beautiful arrangement of Amazing Grace played. I just lost it, sniffling and dripping tears. The ceremony ended and I had trouble finding my dad so this sent me into a panic attack, I was just sobbing. I was approached by a woman I had never met, she too had lost a sibling like me, and she offered me a hug, asking me if I was all right. I slowly felt reassured. Still a bit sniffly, I was encountered by a man who taught one of my workshops and he also gave me a hug. Over the course of the weekend, whenever I got emotional, I was always comforted with a hug, a box of tissues, a glass of water. If there is ever a group that exhibits random acts of kindness, it is the Compassionate Friends.
July 21, 2008 at 10:25 pm. Permalink.
My RAK: A Package From Alaska! « The Lumpy Sweater replied:
[…] is the original random act of kindness that helped to inspire my own giveaway. (Follow the link to enter, if you haven’t already, it’s oen until midnight EST this […]
July 21, 2008 at 10:35 pm. Permalink.
stitchtwister replied:
OOOOHHHH! I love those nice dark colors. Pick me, pick me.
What a great idea for your loyal readers and ravelry friends (hint hint).
July 22, 2008 at 1:30 am. Permalink.
reeva replied:
a lady gifted me a membership at a forum that I frequent. Totally unexpected and made my week! To pay it forward, I adopted a single parent family and made them a movie gift basket and included a store gift card to help with school supplies for the year 🙂
great giveaway! i love reading all the comments! I hope im the lucky winner 🙂
July 22, 2008 at 3:08 pm. Permalink.
Rita replied:
My favourite RAOK is to put money in parking meters when they’re about to expire. If I drive by the bus stop and see someone I know I’ll drive them where they’re going even if it’s out of my way and the bonus is we have an unexpected visit. I’ve been lucky enough to experience someone shovelling my sidewalk in the winter and one neighbour even cut my lawn just because he was doing his and figured why not.
July 22, 2008 at 4:19 pm. Permalink.
Becky replied:
Congrats on 101 posts! Once for a RAoK (that wasn’t knitting related) my friend and I put pennies heads-up all around a mall. Yep, we’re big nerds, lol. We hoped people would find them, and then they’d have good luck!
July 22, 2008 at 11:42 pm. Permalink.
Carla Pullum replied:
love to win!!! I just started doing all crafts and including yarn crafts!! my mom is helping me with the needle!!
July 23, 2008 at 1:09 am. Permalink.
anushka replied:
the latest random act that happened to me was that a complete stranger, unknown to me, with a return address which i did not recognise at all, decided to send me a copy of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca” in the post. I’m still confused about who it was, and their intention.
July 23, 2008 at 9:11 am. Permalink.
yarnardent replied:
My received RAOK reciently was an unknown gentleman opening a door for me, flashing a smile my way, and saying, “You look very nice today.” Women of size do not hear this from strangers. We are usually invisable. It made my day!
Another one was from the restaraunt across the street. The owner sent me a free serving of their vegetarian stew just because I love it and they had not had it earlier in the week when I wanted to order it.
July 23, 2008 at 10:19 am. Permalink.
stringcatknits replied:
Wow, congratulations on 101 posts! That yarn is really pretty, I love dark colors. 🙂
July 23, 2008 at 11:55 am. Permalink.
Tory replied:
Prettttyyy! Count me in!
I passed on my size 2 circs to 2 people on the Teen RAK group who wanted to give magic loop a try. And someone is sending me some much-needed darning needles. I just love knitters…
And last week at camp, we had to set our tables for every meal. Every day, this guy would come early to set our table. I just love gentlemen…
July 23, 2008 at 12:16 pm. Permalink.
Jane replied:
I moderate a Yahoo Group called Whoduknit where we read mysteries and knit. We have lots of contests and prizes mostly coming from my stash. This week one of our members not only sent me a box of her own stash to add to the prizes, but she sent me a gift – just for me! It’s the Yarn Harlot’s Never Not Knitting 2009 Calendar. What a great RAK!
(I have a contest on my blog too!)
July 23, 2008 at 1:50 pm. Permalink.
Beth Harte replied:
I love that yarn!! It’s just beautiful!!
A RAOK–my daughter was in the hospital and unable to work. She doesn’t get paid when she works, and I had to depend upon her income as well as my own to make ends meet.
My Small Group from my church surprised with everything needed for Christmas dinner as well as $100 worth of gift cards from the grocery store.
I don’t have much material wise, but I do have the love of so many wonderful friends, and whenever I can I try to share the love right back to others.
Beth
July 23, 2008 at 4:22 pm. Permalink.
Andy Baker replied:
My sister wants to fly over for our wedding and needs some cash. So I threw some American money in an envelope and sent it her way. Then my partner (this is the RAOC) said, “Oh I have some dollars. Look in that red wallet and give her whatever’s there.” It was $200! Score for my sister. The recipient was not so random, but him contributing was a little random. I enjoy your blog. I’ll have to link it from mine.
July 24, 2008 at 10:54 am. Permalink.
Cindy replied:
Yay yarn!
Random act of kindness story: One day last year at school I found a book just sitting on a bench in our hallway randomly; no one was near it. There was no name inside it. It wasn’t a textbook or school book either, it was “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister” by Gregory Maguire, who also wrote “Wicked”. I took the book, thinking about giving it to the Lost and Found later that day.
Turns out no one lost the book. Another girl in my grade had left the book there on purpose so that someone would pick it up and have a book to read, like a pay it forward. So although it wasn’t targeted at someone specific, this random act of kindness was still awesome.
July 24, 2008 at 1:38 pm. Permalink.
riizu replied:
Ha ha! In just under the wire. Congratulations on 100 posts. That’s a great a achievement!
Random acts of kindness? Someone shared their umbrella with me yesterday ^_^
July 25, 2008 at 8:19 am. Permalink.
mimipz5wjj replied:
Congratulations on your 100th post! I got here from Aunt Kathy — followed a link.
Random Acts of Kindness… The other day at the grocery store I let someone check out in front of me… of course my kids were screaming and running amok…
And then today at the wine store (again, kids running amok — you wonder why I need wine…) someone let me go in front of him.
What goes around comes around!
July 25, 2008 at 4:42 pm. Permalink.