I knew a contest would generate a lot of comments and I’m glad to have received every one of them. It was especially fun to read about everyone’s favorite sock pattern. Turns out there are a lot of us who like a “plain vanilla” sock and I think that’s a very good thing. The Monkey Sock pattern was mentioned many times and certain designers, like Cookie A. and Anne Hanson came up over and over. Some of you have excellent taste and chose my Picot Edge Sock pattern as your favorite.

Only one of you, however, can be a winner (I always want to say wiener, you know) and this time our winning number, as chosen by the Random Number Generator, is #56. Commenter number 56 was Susan, a long time friend and occasional commenter – perfect. Congratulations, Susan! I hope you’ll love your skein of Woolen Rabbit Sock Yarn.

As for me, I’ll be knitting with this:

A pretty cake of Sunshine Yarn superwash merino in the color Fades Away.

The colors remind me of the blue ocean and sunset filled sky on Cape Cod so they will be perfect for my vacation knitting.

And we won’t talk about how the name Fades Away is reminiscent of what my summer is now doing.

Wow! Thank you all so much for the deluge of comments on last Thursday’s post. I really appreciate that many of you took the time to de-lurk and introduce yourselves. I loved the comments from my long time readers and friends, too. I certainly didn’t mean to make any of you think that I was considering giving up the blog because that’s certainly not the case. I love writing it and sharing my life with all of you and I have every intention of continuing. I couldn’t imagine not having the connection to this community we’ve all built.

Speaking of community, Kathy and I have decided it’s time for a knit along. We want you all to knit socks (any pattern you like) and we’d love it if you’d knit those socks with Woolen Rabbit sock yarn. Kim is such a sweet friend of ours and she dyes gorgeous colors and we think you should all give her yarn a try. Of course you are free to choose any of Kim’s colors that appeal to you but Kathy and I will be knitting our socks with “Pussywillow” and we’d love it if you all used that color, too.

In fact, I’m giving away this skein of Pussywillow to get a lucky reader started. Just leave a comment on this post telling me the name of your favorite sock pattern and you’ll be automatically entered in the contest. And just for the sake of closure, let’s say the contest is open until midnight on Wednesday, 8/17.

A contest and a knit along. How’s that for jump starting this ole knitting blog?

We have a winner in the 4th Blogiversary Contest. There were 194 comments on the post and the random number generator chose comment #56. The winner is:

Claudia!

Congratulations, my friend. Look for that kpixie gift certificate in your email. Perhaps it will ease your return from the beauty and warmth of Hawaii to the harsh and cold of New England.

And now, for something completely different, how about some finished socks.

These are the Ampersand Socks, designed by Kerstin. (I told you I want to knit everything she designs. Apparently I’m well on my way.) The yarn is Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the color Fairgrounds. I’ve had this yarn in the stash for a good long time and decided that the bright colors were just the thing to counteract the snow and ice around here.

I knit them for my stepdaughter, Jessica. Really, I should knit socks for her more often as her feet are tiny. Her socks are finished at the point that mine (and Hannah’s) are only ready for the toe decreases. That makes for a pretty fast finished pair of socks – these came off the needles in less than a week.

The eye of partridge heel is lovely and this is the perfect match of yarn and pattern. I love them and, not surprisingly, so does Jessica.

1. 4, 2. number 4, 3. four, 4. 4, 5. door number 4, 6. four, 7. Number 4, 8. “4″, 9. 4, 10. Four, 11. 4, 12. 4 sffd, 13. FOUR, 14. four. los angeles, ca. 2005., 15. Quatre

Four years ago today, on a quiet Saturday at home, I started the Carole Knits blog. I can’t even imagine my life without it now. Writing this blog has brought me loads of new friends, allowed me to travel to new and exciting places, inspired me to knit more and knit better, given me the opportunity to learn new skills like spinning and crocheting and photography, and just expanded my life in ways I never even thought possible.

So, on this anniversary of my blog, I’d like to give something back to all of you. I’d like to give you all a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to kpixie.

Kpixie, in case you didn’t know it, is situated right in my own little town and I really believe in supporting local businesses – especially given our current economic situation. All you have to do to be entered in the contest is leave me a comment by 12 Noon my time on Monday, February 2, 2009.

Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for being part of Carole Knits.

83 of you left a comment on my Finishing Contest Post and many of you guessed that I would finish both the socks and the mitts. As you know from yesterday’s post, that is indeed what happened. Now I know you want to know who the winner is, right?

So my random number generator chose 21 and the 21st commenter to guess that I would finish both projects was: Dinah! Dinah is a local knitter and spinner and she just happens to be a library director, too. I’m happy to be giving her this:

It’s a skein of Bambie, a brand new superwash merino and bamboo sock yarn from Blue Ridge Yarns.

And I’m afraid that’s all for today. I have a lousy sore throat and cough. I am home from work and my plan is to drink lots of tea and nap. I’m sorry but the Rhinebeck recap is just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

As you can see from the photo, I did indeed finish the socks and the mitts before I went to Rhinebeck. The socks were done on Thursday morning and the mitts were done on Friday morning.

Back tomorrow with a contest winner and a Rhinebeck recap.

As you know, I have a new sweater for Rhinebeck.  I’d also like to have new socks.  And new fingerless mitts.

This is where I am on my Fallen Leaves Socks.

One sock finished and the second sock has about another 1.5 inches before I start the toe decreases.

This is where I am on Genmaicha.

One mitt finished and the second one is halfway through the cuff.

Both photos were taken yesterday at 4pm.

Let’s have a little contest, shall we?  Leave me a comment guessing whether I’ll finish the socks, the mitts, both or neither.  I’ll do a random drawing from all the correct guesses.  The winner will get a little something from Rhinebeck.

Sound like fun?  Get those guesses in by Sunday night at 9 pm Eastern time.

Three years ago today I started this blog and I’m so glad I did. I’ve met people and traveled places and learned things that I never would have otherwise. I’ve expanded my horizons, jumped on bandwagons and spent my disposable income on yarn, spinning wheels and photography equipment. I’ve happily responded to thousands of comments. I’ve gained readers and lost readers and gained them again. Writing and maintaining this blog has been a blessing and a joy and I’m thankful every day for this community. Yes, I mean YOU.

So, in the spirit of my blog-versary, it’s time to give back. First, there’s a new look to Carole Knits. I loved my old look and you can see that I haven’t changed all that much but it was still time for a bit of a change. Do you like it?

Second, it wouldn’t be a decent blog-versary without a contest. So, you know the drill. Leave me a comment on this post and I’ll enter you into a drawing. Since you all have plenty of yarn, I thought it would be fun to mix things up a bit and offer a different sort of prize. Instead of yarn, I’m going to offer the next best thing: chocolate. In the form of brownies. From here. They’re really good, just ask Margene.

To summarize for all you skimmers:

1. It’s my blog-versary and the blog has a bit of a new look
2. Leave me a comment on this post by Friday at 8pm EST
3. I will send brownies to one random winner
4. That is all.

I posted about finding my mother’s recipe box back in 2006 for “R” of the ABC Along. But I’m not adverse to showing it again in the interest of entering a contest over at Mason Dixon Knitting.

It’s not the prettiest box in the world but it’s got a certain vintage appeal about it.

The recipes, of course, are the important part. When I originally posted about my mother’s recipe box I know I mentioned the Sour Cream Coffee Cake but I never actually shared the recipe. Until now, anyway.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream to butter and sugar then add sifted dry ingredients.

Prepare nut topping as follows:
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

Pour 1/2 batter into greased tube pan and sprinkle 1/2 nut mixture on top. Add remaining batter and top with remaining nut mixture. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

This truly is the most moist, most delicious, most wonderful coffee cake I’ve ever had. I hope you all enjoy it, too.

The Tour de Fleece started Saturday and like any good athlete, I did some training in preparation. Spinning training sure is more fun than other types of training. Just saying.

This is Nightshade, the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club selection for the month of May.

And this is Tulips, the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club selection for the month of June.

Finally, remember the vacation spinning I did? Well, I finished spinning the roving from Spinner’s Hill and plyed it up and got about 600+ yards. That’s enough for a Shetland Triangle, which is going to be my Spun Stitches knitting.

I started off Saturday morning with empty bobbins and a plan to spin every day until July 29th. I’m hoping to make a significant dent in my fiber stash. Anyone want to play a game and guess how many ounces I will spin by the time the Tour de Fleece is over? There will be a fibery prize for the one who comes closest without going over.

Here is some information to aid you in your guessing:
~I’m not a particularly fast spinner. It usually takes me 2-3 sessions to spin up 4 oz.
~Anything I spin will count towards the total. In other words, it doesn’t have to be plyed and finished yarn.
~I’m working the next two weeks and my weekends will be moderately busy

That’s about all I can think of to give you for hints. To enter the contest just leave a comment on this post anytime until July 29th. Hopefully you’ll have fun playing while I have fun spinning.