Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday Giveaway!

Holy bowtruckles, guys! I saw Deathly Hallows Part One last night, at the 12:05am show. I'm still reeling. It reminded me of what an intense journey we've all been on since the first book came out -- and how the next stage of the journey is drawing to a close.

I loved reading all of your stories about your knitting disasters! Not that I loved knowing that they happened, but it makes me really happy that no one took the disasters as a reflection of themselves or their knitting talent. We may mess up, but we keep trying. That's definitely in the spirit of Harry Potter and his friends.

This week's winner's story is one that I've definitely experienced:

Picture 6

Picture 7


450 yards of fingering weight yarn, in a tangle? I would rather have spattergroit/the death flu again than face something like that! Congratulations, CommaSplice! Not only are you braver than I, you've won this week's prize! Please message me on Ravelry with your address so I can mail out your row counter!

Next week is the last giveaway for this term, if you can believe it! Since it is the last one, it's going to be a little special -- a sock or mitten kit (winner's choice) in their House colors! If you want to be entered, please leave me a comment here, telling me your first Harry Potter memory -- whether it's about the books, the movies, whatever you like!

I hope all your projects are going well -- we're almost there!

Love and scales,
theherocomplex

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

oo. I am always jealous of the fancy house-themed socks I've seen - I'd love to have a pair of my own. My first memory of HP is my mother reading it while lying on the couch with her afghan and cat. I thought I was too old for it initially, but loved it once I started reading.

Katrin said...

I stumbled over book 1 in the bookstore, foreign languages section. It hadn't been translated to german yet and I hadn't read english for some years, but it looked easy, so I thought, "Why not?" and bought it on a whim. Haven't looked back!

Anonymous said...

My best memory is standing in line at our local bookstore at midnight for the release of book 7. I then rushed home and didn't go to bed until I'd finished it, which about 9am that next morning.

Tricia said...

I hate to admit it, but my first Harry Potter memory is seeing a poster for a midnight release party (maybe for book 4?) and not having heard of it before. I had to go home and search the internet to find out what Harry Potter was.

I didn't read the first book until a few years later because I hate feeling like I've jumped on a bandwagon! (By that time, of course, I was the only person who hadn't.)

Kristin said...

My father brought the Harry Potter books home around the time that the 2nd or 3rd book in the series came out. Some of my earliest HP memories are of debating who got to read them first. By the time the 4th book came out, I was the definite winner.

CMelvin said...

I was 11 years old. Everyone was talking about the Harry Potter books at school and I was really curious.

Then, one day, on a trip to the Metrocentre, my Dad and Brother returned home with the first three books, and I read the whole lot in one evening (I could read faster then). It was such a wonderful, unexpected gift, and the best thing is that it's lasted a whole decade, and longer!

Abby said...

I started Harry Potter in high school - had friends who liked them and thought, why not? After the first chapter of the first book, I was hooked. I remember talking with my friends about it and can vividly remember working at a Christian summer camp the year the fourth book came out - we had to read it in the woods because that was when a lot of people were still weary of the books for the witchcraft contained in them. Nothing like sitting on a tree stump in a forest of pines trying desperately to cram as much reading into a short 2-hour break!

jessica said...

My first Harry Potter memory is of the first movie about 8-9 years ago... My boyfriend (now husband) and I had just moved into our first apartment(I think it was on July 4th... we had off of work and chose to move that day after the parade) and didn't have any furniture, but a tv and a crappy couch we got from a thrift store... we rented it and i fell in love with it, it took me a few years to actually read the books, now that i have i wish i would have sooner.

~naturallyknitty

Susan from Michigan (sdhsmc86 on Ravelry) said...

My first Harry Potter memory was hearing about the books from my father who read the first one. My son was 11 at the time and I wanted to read it before he did. I was hooked after the first chapter!

kristina palmer said...

I was just talking about this with my friends I was in first grade and my mom bought the first harry potter book, and I thought it sounded stupid, then my mom started reading it to me with us laying in bed together. I fell in love with it and we read a chapter a night together through the first book.

Anonymous said...

my first hp memory was when I was in 3rd grade and my teacher was reading socerer's stone. I loved it so much that I'm pretty sure that I went to school everystinking day that we read it I may have even demanded that my mom didn't make any appointments for me during reading time, but I'm not positive about that :D However the first memory of HP that I'm positive about is I missed school on the day that socerer's premiered because I was sick with a cold and my mom took me with to the theater to buy the tickets for us in advance. She told me I had to be sick the whole time, so I went in my pj's :D and drank sprite and got junior mints because they were easy on the throat.
~Anna92

Steph said...

I was flying home to the States from Australia in August 2001 and on one of my flights wound up sitting next to a young lady from Canada reading Goblet of Fire. I'd heard of Harry Potter but thought it was for kids, but here this person about my age was reading it and told me that when I got home I should give it a try from the beginning.

One chapter and I was hooked.
~ Needlesnswiffers

Anonymous said...

First HP memory? Getting the first book for Christmas and thinking "what on earth was my aunt thinking when she bought this for me?"

Silly, silly 14-year-old me...

Tangledskein said...

The first memory of having Harry in my life? Reading the books out loud to my oldest son, who turns 19 today! The books opened the world of reading to him, and it was a wonderful magical time together as we discovered Harry's world. I wish I could use a time turner to go back and discover him all over again for the first time!

canigs1 said...

Anyone who knows me very well knows I have a poor memory so I'll share my best memory. When the 7th book was released my daughter & I (with my brother & niece) got tickets for the "Hogwarts Express" which we rode to "Hogsmeade" and enjoyed a whole evening of Harry Potter themed activities and foods! We were all in wizard costume - as were the hundred of other people in the town! When we got off the train at midnight we were handed our books - it was an amazing evening!
AmyPC

Amanda said...

My first Harry Potter memory is of my younger sister being enthralled with the first book. Me being a recent high school grad was way to cool to read a "kids book". So I did the natural thing and snuck them it of her room when she had finished. ;)

MindySue said...

My first memory of Harry Potter was at a Family funeral right before Book 4 came out. My older cousin was reading book 3 and saying how fantastic is was. She said that is wasn't just a kid's book. When I got home I bought book 3 and started searching for 1&2 since I couldn't read 3 before them. As soon as I finished the first 3, #4 was out and I read it. The wait for #5 seemed to take forever.

Anonymous said...

My first memory is getting the third book in the UK edition from my grandma who had traveled to Ireland that year. Definitely one of the best. =)

Vertigo1414 said...

My first HP memory was my mom buying me the first book. I told her i was too old for it, and decided i didn't like it (without reading it) because it was so popular. Well once i read it I LOVED IT! i actually never watched any of movies until after i finished the books, somehow i didn't think it would be good enough.
It's nice to know i'm wrong once in a while

joseybug said...

I don't have a vivid first HP memory - but I did get to go see a special early screening w/ my mom that the local library put on. It was awesome!

spartyliblover said...

I remember that the first time someone handed me HP1, it was the summer between 5th and 6th grade (so I was 10) I read the inside cover and said "This doesn't sound like something I would like" Clearly my 10 year old self did not like adults telling her what she liked. Needless to say I read it anyway, and have since read it 12 more times (plus another time in Spanish) and not so patiently awaited each of the following books starting with 3 (or the movies for that matter).

nightrae said...

My first HP memory? I can't pinpoint anything specific. I just remember after the second book was released in paperback, I got it at the school book fair and kept it in my desk. I read it cover-to-cover at least every other day because I loved the book and class was boring. To this day, it's still one of my favorite HP books!

Robyn Nanae said...

Let's see, that's going back a little ways. My first memory...Huh, I was a moderator for a writing forum back in high school and one of my co-mods was absolutely obsessed (and this was back before GoF came out) and begged me to read the books so she'd have someone new to talk to about the series.

Jilly said...

I wasn't sure what all the hype was about - but a few friends were going to catch the movie and asked if I would tag along...I did. So, I saw the movie before I ever read the books... but I was quite taken and went you and read the Sorcerer's Stone the next day. And now, I have re-read the entire series a few times. :)

Nina said...

I only started reading the series just before the 7th book was due out. My friend Liz sent me an email to a livejournal read-along group and I started reading them in order with her. I was pretty much hooked :) She ended up dropping out of the read-along but I was already chapters ahead of her anyway.

kjgonn said...

sumMy first HP memory is from when I worked at a bookstore. I'd heard of HP before but couldn't understand the hype. But when the books started appearing at the store I actually took some time to preview the book and I was hooked. I grabed up copies as soon as I could.

Elizabeth said...

I remember first reading the Sorcerer's Stone in middle school and thinking how stupid it was going to be and I didn't want to read it. Well, obviously I changed my mind.
I think my favorite memory is going to see the Half-Blood Prince with my brother, and him agreeing to dress up with me! I bribed him a little bit with promises of taking him to the mongolian bbq before hand, but don't let him fool you he loved it.

Madeleine

Evfa/Nystverket said...

My best memory of HP is having the audiobooks to look forward to when beeing to sick and tired for even for reading (after having chemo). All I could cope to do was lying in the sofa with my cat on my lap and listening to Harry Potter.
Solfjader/Hufflepuff

Mrs Shak said...

My first memory is when Sorcerer's Stone was released in the US. I was bartending at the time and one of our local librarians (a regular) came in and was talking to me about new books that came in. Knowing that I enjoy fantasy books she recommended it and had taken the liberty to put it on hold for me. Even though it was put in the juvenile section I enjoyed it immensely. I read it in less than 4 hours, I couldn't put it down.

Unknown said...

My first memory? I don't know when Harry Potter first entered my mind, but the first time I knew it would change my life was when I got a job at a bookstore a month after Goblet of Fire came out. All of these employees were telling me horror stories of crazy mothers and kids and grandmas elbowing each other in the face to get the book. I think they were trying to scare me- turns out, I'm one of those people now. Lol.

Pixiewear said...

My first memory of HP? I guess that would be my friend urging me to start reading the books right away (after the 2nd was published, I think) instead of waiting until my babies were old enough to be read to. She was so right. It turns out I'm the HP fanatic in the house. The kids are only mildly interested. Thanks for the chance to win!

LFSAlden said...

First Harry Potter Memory was hearing about the books in the media - and I knew if they were so popular, they certainly couldn't be high enough quality for me to waste my time....

And then, losing my self and sanity in the throes of new motherhood, a friend gave me Book 1. Who could possibly have time to read it? Finally I learned to nurse and read at the same time.

No looking back!

01Tangled said...

My first Harry Potter encounter/memory...

When I was in 6th grade, I had finished my reading book at the end of class with 30 minutes still to go until the bell rang. My teacher demanded that I find another book to read, and a friend leaned over and handed me Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. She explained that it was book 3 of the series and therefore might not make a lot of sense. I enjoyed what I read in that short time so much, that I borrowed her book to finish it, and begged my mom to buy me the first book in the series in paperback form to see if I liked it or not. I read the first book, and liked it so much, my mom ordered the first three books in hardback for me. I read the paperback book one so many times while I was waiting that the pages started to comeout of the binding. To this day, a whole section of the book jumps out when you open it. :)

Joannie Newsome said...

In college, I worked in the library in the children's section (full of juvenile fiction, non-fiction, curriculum, and manipulatives) and someone came in asking for "the Harry Potter books." I thought she meant an author so I went searching the system but (surprise!) couldn't find any books under an author by that name. - JMN of Hufflepuff

Annie said...

I remember the first time I read Sorcerer's Stone. I was sent home from college spring of my freshman year because of the evil mononucleosis. I didn't have energy to do anything in the times that I was awake, so I did a lot of reading. My mom had bought the book in hopes that it would interest one of my younger brothers (who have never really enjoyed reading), and I picked it up and started in. I can clearly remember reading that first chapter and thinking "Huh. Maybe I'm not going to read this." But after a nap, I read some some more, and have been hooked ever since.