A Double Anniversary Requires a Double Contest

Somewhere in this month is my blogiversary. And today is my wedding anniversary. So it’s time for some contests.

When considering sponsoring a contest, I’m always torn. I’d like to get tons of entries like the contests that require the entrants to do nothing but leave a comment but I think a “contest” should involve more than drawing a name out of a hat (or a random number generator as the case may be). To solve my dilemma, I’m going to have two contests: one low-effort and one higher-effort.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The two contests have two different ways of entering! Please follow directions or your entries will not count.

Contest 1: Put a little effort in, in the nickelodeon
I went to visit my parents back in November. One of the purposes of the trip was to collect some of my stuff that’s been hanging out at their house. One precious object I retrieved was my first and only weaving project. I made this when I was in 4th or 5th grade using a loom that belonged to my elementary school. It has some mistakes (the biggest mistake is not my fault—someone screwed up when he or she warped the loom) but it’s a good beginner effort. You can see that I was already partial to pink at that age.

The elementary school that I went to had the same name as my hometown. And that leads us to the first contest: Name my hometown!

By hometown I don’t mean where I live now. I mean where I lived the first 18 years of my life. I have named this place in a post somewhere in my archives. My hometown has an unusual name and that name has a knitting connection.

To enter Contest 1: Send an email with your answer (city name AND state) to ScoutP (at) gmail (dot) com (Yes, that’s Scout’s email address, don’t abuse it!) A winner will be drawn from all correct answers.

Please forgive Scout’s grumpy expression, she just came home from the vet.

Contest 2: Take a wild guess
Another precious object that I took from my parents’ house was my wedding gown. It’s been living in this box since I got married, supposedly “preserved.” However, I notice that the veil and headpiece are turning funny colors. So much for preservation.

Nevertheless, I’m happy to have my wedding gown back in my possession. I’ve forgotten how pretty it is. I almost want to take it out of the box to wear again. And thus, the second contest: What anniversary are Peter and I celebrating today?

I’m fairly certain that I’ve never stated how long Peter and I have been married anywhere on this blog so you’ll just have to guess the number of years. You can take a wild guess or attempt an educated guess. I’m not giving any hints.

To enter Contest 2: Leave a comment on this post with your guess. A winner will be drawn from all correct answers.

Prizes!
I supposed you want to know what you’re playing for. The winner of Contest 1 will get his or her choice of the three prizes shown below. (Yes, three prizes for two contests, I can count, I just wanted to give the winners options. Only two prizes will be awarded.) After the Contest 1 winner selects a prize, the winner of Contest 2 will select a prize.

Prize 1: A slightly used copy of Vogue Knitting Accessorize. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought this book. I don't usually knit accessories. It does have some very nice patterns in it, but nothing that I'm dying to knit.
Prize 2: Yarny surprise! At least 4 full balls/skeins/hanks of yarn mostly left over my past projects. You know that I like to knit with natural and good quality fibers, so that’s what will make up most of the yarny surprise. (No, the yarny surprise is NOT in that bag, I was too lazy to pull out the yarn from my stash and that was the only plain brown paper bag that I could find.) I will say that Brown Sheep and KnitPicks will be represented in the yarny surprise.
Prize 3: Jewel-toned cotton yarn. This yarn was partly used then frogged from sweater that I never finished. I planned to use this yarn for knitting toys, but I’ll never get around to it.

Deadline: Have your answers in by noon CST on Saturday January 13, 2007. Winners announced soon after that.

Edit to add: I have enabled comment moderation for the duration of this contest. So don't worry if your comment doesn't show up immediately. Remember to follow the rules for Contest 1!