What Do You Think...

This week might be the slowest week in Blogland.  July 4th is the beginning of vacation time, but the slower days in Blogland start every year with Spring Break. Cara noted in her weekend post that Blogland, Knit Blogland, seems to be on the downturn, a shift in the universe may be happening when it comes to this on-line community.  Vacation time is one reason, changing priorities is another and with the number of things to do on-line things are certain to change. As this community grew to a proportion larger than any of us thought possible, it has become impossible to visit every blog (like we actually did in 2004, the old days of blogging), or even know of every blog.  We tend to stay in smaller groups of friends and not venture beyond our comfort zone (kinda like real life). Often the desire to blog ebbs away as lives, jobs and priorities change. Who knows what our place will be like, who will be here, and what will be popular one or two years from now.

On that note maybe it may not be the best time for a contest...or maybe it is, as there will be fewer of you vying to win.  In any case...here we go.

The week before last I blew right past post1200 and again last week, blew right past comment number 40,000 (which just happened to be Leah), with nary a mention. Yes, Leah will receive a little something to commemorate the silent contest. But, it's time to rectify both oversights and have a real contest.

It was Marcia who suggested I have a contest for you to guess how many yards ended up in this skien I plied this weekend. The yarn has been named Peaches in the Sun and I love it more than I should love a yarn. It started life as a superfine superwash from the Spirit Trail Fiber Club (well, it started life as a sheep but we won't go back that far). Spinning it has been a wonderful experience  but, I do need more practice at plying. It's a fairly nice yarn and should be enough to knit a pair of socks. It's a 3 ply, 19 wpi and weighs 3.5 oz.   Leave your yardage guess in the comments of this post. The person who comes closest, without going over, wins a prize. I'll post the prize later this week.  You have until July 6th to guess and on July 7 or 8th I'll announce the winner. Good luck!

Comments

[Angie]

Hmm... that "without going over" clause always gets me.... I'm going to guess... 379 yards.

[Betsy]

327...and the name is PERFECT! Yum!

I used to go to blogs for knitting inspiration...I notice now that I go to blogs for the knitters themselves and go to Ravelry for knitting inspiration more often than not.

[Julie]

What a lovely pair of socks that will make! I love the color. Hmmmm, I'm going to guess 338 yards.

[Sherie]

Love the color. My guess is 348 yards.

[Alida South Africa]

383 yards - very difficult to estimate. Here in South Africa we buy grams of yarn - 50 grams or 100 grams skeins or balls. I love the colour!

[Lynn]

I'll be extravagant and go for 423 yards (and I don't see anything wrong with your plying; whaddaya want, perfection? go buy yarn, then).

Maybe those of you who have been blogging a long, long time notice big changes; I don't, really, but I've only been blogging for a little over two years. People stop blogging, sure, but others start up. Some of us turn out to be worth reading every day, some of us just plod along, lapping up every comment we get. This whole on-line knitting community is so young - about a decade overall, I think - that we have to expect things to change. It'll still revolve around yarn and color and friends and fun, no matter what, and that's all that really matters.

[Kelly]

HUMMM i'm guessing 358, I can't believe you have that many post AMAZING!!

[CindyCindy]

Oh, hell. How about 369? I do love the orange. What did it say it wanted to be? Or is it being shy? And, the blogging thing? I agree. We are shrinking, but still a force with which to be reckoned;-)

[Viki Wallner]

I'll guess 372.

I hope you will continue to blog. I get a lot of knitting inspiration from the blogs I read. I recently finished the yarni cardi your friend Susan made and I just bought my first spindle because of blogs like yours. Things I would have never known about or thought to try. You have influence through your blog - cool!

[Carole]

Hmmm. 257 yards. It's lovely!

[Kim]

Each time I see that color, either in the roving, bobbin or yarn, I sigh...it is beautiful!

Hmmm......I will guess 347 yards

[Kim]

My guess is 393 yards. It's a beautiful color.

[Jamisyn]

This is some gorgeous yarn! My guess is 312 yards.

[Chris]

Um... 342. It looks like a good color for knitting in the winter.

[Laura]

My guess would be 313. You spin beautifully and I always enjoy reading your blog and seeing your great pictures.

[Anne]

Yowza! Now THAT is a summer color.

386 - there - a total guess.

Hard to believe I've known you since the "dawn" of knitblogging!!

[Kathy]

I love the color. I'm guess 316.

[jenny]

great color! 394 yds

[carla]

I'll say 279. Looks like a lovely, balanced yarn to me. I've been working lately on not doing everything tightly spun and tightly plied. I saw so many pictures of that on Ravelry I was starting to think it was the handspun ideal, but sometimes I like the softer yarns better.

[Marcia Cooke]

321, and what the heck has been going on with Bloglines lately? No wonder people aren't blogging, between them and Typepad! Sheesh.

[susan]

318 is my guess. I like the number 18.

[AmyDe]

312 We'll see how it goes - regardless it's really gorgeous.

[Chris]

With all those guesses before me, I have to balance my estimate with what others have already guessed. Kind of like picking a number out of hat. So, 323 yummy yards.

[Vicki]

I'm terrible at weights and measures, but I'll play... 236 yards.

All I can say is that the people I've met through blogging have inspired, supported, enriched, enabled, buoyed, and soothed me in countless ways -- in terms of knitting, of course, but even more in LIFE. I can honestly say that blogging and bloggers have made an incredible difference in my life. Oh, the things I've done!!

We've laughed, knit, cried, knit, raised money, knit, traveled, become a force... just ask Doctors Without Borders, the Orphan Foundation of America, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society (to name a few).

I know that lives, circumstances, and interests change... that I've sometimes been a better blogger, sometimes worse... that blogging can be frustrating (oh, don't I know)... that someday we'll probably stop blogging... but I really can't imagine it.

[Wool Winder]

My guess is 384 yards. I think knitting blogs and knitting in general tend to slow down when the weather is warm. It may pick up again when there is a need to actually wear something made from wool.