I have been a very lucky blogger lately, winning prizes just about everywhere. Okay, not everywhere. But enough that I need to tell you about my prezzies.

First up:

ALL of this yarn was a gift from my grrlfriends over at kpixie. Missa and Jessica take really good care of me. And you guys know that kpixie is right in my own town, right? Plus, Hannah is BFF with Jessica’s daughter. So, when Hannah was over there the other day she came home with a big bag of yarn just for ME. There’s yummy sock yarn in Easter-y colors and there’s cotton and stitch markers and cool scissors and notions, too. Thanks. you grrls rock!

Next we have:

This basket of lovelies came from Anne. She had a contest to celebrate her newly opened shop, Wooly Wonka Fibers (don’t you just love that name) and I won $25 worth of stuff. The coolest part – I got to choose the stuff myself! So there’s a bit of yarn and quite a bit of roving. Ahem. I may have sent her some of my own money as this added up to a wee bit more than my allowance. And those new chocolate covered Altoids and hand lotions and wool wash, too. Thanks so much, Anne!

Finally:

I won Scout’s preppy contest. Good thing, too, since I subjected myself to public humiliation by posting all those old college photos. Heh. Not only did Scout send me the oh-so-preppy yarn that she dyed but she also tossed in a yarn ball keychain – just because I mentioned that I liked it. Speaking of Scout, did you see her on Knitty Gritty this past Monday? She was absolutely fabulous!

I rarely win anything in “real” life so I feel very lucky indeed to be the winner of all these wonderful goodies. Just please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful lucky.

Update: I’m home and everything went fine. The screening was completely normal – YAY. And the whole thing wasn’t bad at all, even the IV, which was the scariest part for me. I think i helped that they let me keep knitting right up until I went into the examination room. Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement, it means the world to me!

I know what you’re here for. You want to know the winner of the Blogversary contest. But you’re going to have to hold on a minute while I tell you about what I have to look forward to today.

A colonoscopy. Blech.

You see, my mother died of colon cancer at the age of 66 so I need to start my screenings now. There’s nothing wrong with me, I have no symptoms to be concerned about. And yet this is scary for me. The prep yesterday was scary. It was a day of clear liquids and 32 pills to, errr, clean out my system. Did you know we only have one bathroom? Good times. The stuff that will happen today is scary: the IV, the procedure in general sounds scary, and the thought that they will actually find something of concern is very very scary. So, scary is the word of the day. Any good thoughts, vibes and prayers you’d like to send my way will ease the scariness for me and I’d sure appreciate it.

So, the contest. I loved reading all your comments and thoughts about the blog. The poems and haiku were wonderful – funny and sweet and very, very thoughtful. And I had no idea that y’all love the Eye Candy Friday posts so much. I’m feeling much more pressured to get good photos now.

The winner was chosen in an extremely scientific manner. All names were put in a basket and those who wrote poems and haiku were entered twice, as promised. I pulled the winning name this morning and it was:

Laura of Sugar Bunny Boulevard!

Congratulations, Laura!

I’ll be back tomorrow – hopefully with good news. And probably some knitting from while under the influence.

Hey! Guess what I forgot? My blog’s 2 year anniversary. It was back on January 29th. Way to go, eh? After all that talk about wanting to have 10,000 comments before the blogiversary, I totally forgot. Thanks, Kristi, for reminding me! But you know what? It’s okay because I came up with a better way to celebrate than I would have had last week. So, really, my brain cramp is going to work to your advantage if you stick with me through this post.

I wrote last year about how CaroleKnits got started. This year, I just want to say how glad I am to still be blogging. How honored I am to have you all reading me. And how fortunate I am to have made some genuine friends through my blog. I’m not going to go all rose-colored-glasses on you and pretend that blogging doesn’t have it’s pitfalls because it certainly does. There is drama and there is angst. There are mean people and wonderful people. There are brilliant and talented writers and knitters and there are those who perhaps should study up on their grammar a bit. Of course we don’t all agree and of course we aren’t all friends. But what we are is a community of people with ideas and stories and skills to share. And that’s why I believe there’s a place at the table for everyone. You. And you. And you, too.

Still here? Good, because here’s your reward. Remember how I mentioned I was test knitting a pattern for Kristi?

I finished them last week and Kristi has now released the pattern. It’s fabulous! She designed an incredible way of knitting the thumb and hand all at once that’s perfectly brilliant. Really, you need to knit these.

I knit mine from Socks that Rock medium weight. The color is “Rare Gem” which was a bonus skein from last year’s Rockin’ Sock Club. They go with everything and they fit perfectly so I can knit and type and do whatever I want without having to take them off. That’s a real plus considering the weather we’ve been having.

So anyway, your reward. Leave me a comment wishing the blog a happy anniversary and telling me why you read CaroleKnits. I’ll enter your name in a drawing for a copy of Kristi’s Two Thumb’s Up pattern along with a skein of Socks That Rock medium weight in the colorway Fire on the Mountain. If you want to double your chances of winning then leave your comment in the form of a poem, limerick or haiku and I’ll enter your name twice.

You have until midnight on Sunday, February 11, 2007 to enter. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, February 12th. I can’t wait to read what you have to say!

My weekend was good in a bunch of ways – most of them even fun. I started on a new pattern of Kristi’s that I’m test knitting for her. We had a romantic dinner out. We went to see The Queen and did a little shopping. All of that was fun.

The one thing that we did that was not so fun (because it’s more of an obligation, I suppose) was attend the annual meeting of the New England Brigade. And it’s not that it’s a bad time it’s just a long day and some of it is rather boring. Sadly, I was reelected as Clerk. Why is this sad, you ask? Because the clerk has to take minutes. It’s hard to take minutes and knit at the same time. There was one thing about the meeting that was really fun. I bumped into a fellow knit blogger.

I had Dale snap this photo of both of us wearing our Fetching mitts. I’ll send a skein of sock yarn to the first person who identifies the other blogger.

ETA: And that person is Jessalu who correctly guessed that the hands wearing the other set of mitts belong to Betty. Thanks for playing along everyone!

This just in . . . the winner of the “Guess When Carole Will Finish Adamas Contest” is:

Anne!

She was the 11th commenter and that’s the number the Random Number Generator selected as my prize winner. I don’t have any fancy way to prove this, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

Anne, come on down and collect your prize! A beautiful skein of purple laceweight merino. Hope you like it!

I finished Adamas on Thursday at 2:11 pm, right at the end of my lunch break. Woo! The Hoo will wait until she’s blocked, I’m afraid.

I started Wing of the Moth on Friday morning at 6:30 am. Yes, this was technically after the race was over since Vanessa finished at 4:10 am. Sad, isn’t it? I think Liz and I will be racing for last place in this contest. Right now she and I are at about the same point – 7 repeats into the Fir Cone section. Yawn.

And that’s all I’ve got this evening.

Picture me, on Friday, innocently reading blogs and leaving comments. You know, like I do every day. So, I’m reading and reading and I come to the latest post at Seed Stitch. And Cheryl, like Julia and Beth, is all excited about the release of Anne’s Wing of the Moth pattern. Cheryl says she wants to knit this pattern as a race to see who can finish it first. I, again innocently, leave a comment about how I’m planning on knitting this shawl but I need to finish Miriam’s Adamas shawl first. Count me in for the knitting but not for the race, says I. And do you know what she did? Here’s a hint.

Yup. She threw down the gauntlet. She called me out. Here’s what she said, exactly:

Oh no, you’re not getting out of this that easily! You’re in, consider yourself raced.

Ahem. I am not one to back down from a challenge. Then again, I have my rules. And one of my rules is only one lace project on the needles at a time. The race is on but the race is to finish Adamas before I start Wing of the Moth. Here’s Adamas in her current state.

I have 5 more repeats of the main pattern before I switch to the edging. How long do you think this is going to take me to finish knitting? Leave your guess in the comments by Friday, August 25, 2006 at 11:00 pm EST and you’lll be entered into a drawing for this skein of lace weight yarn – so you can make your very own Wing of the Moth Shawl.

Merino Lace, made in Italy for Skacel Collection. 1375 yds.

You don’t have to be right about when I’ll finish to win. Anyone who guesses in the comments will be entered and I’ll randomly select a name. This is an excellent chance to de-lurk, all you lurkers. Just sayin.

The race (and the contest!) is on!

I really wasn’t going to enter this Amazing Lace Challenge. I had an idea, right from the beginning, but I didn’t think I’d have time to get the photos I wanted. And I figured since I had already won Challenge #3 (thank you, again!) that I didn’t want to push my luck by entering again. But this challenge kept nagging at me. Here’s what we were asked to do:

Your challenge — your final challenge — is to post a photo of your lace being proudly worn or displayed by the strangest, funniest, or most unlikely model you can find.

And here’s what I came up with. This is the Massasoit statue in downtown Plymouth, MA.

This is Massasoit modeling my Amazing Lace shawl.

How’s that?

I know it’s a rare thing for me to post on a Friday but . . .

I’ve been nominated as a finalist in the Amazing Lace Poetry Challenge.

Can I hear a woo? And also a hoo?

My competition is tough and voting closes on Sunday. If you’re inclined to vote for me, click here to make it happen.

Thank you!

Here it is, the moment you have all been waiting for. What? You haven’t been pacing the floor for a week? Wondering if it’s you? C’mon, you know you have. So, without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to announce the winner of the movie recommendation contest is:

Ms. Too Much Wool herself, our dear Cassie!

Yippee for Cassie and have fun spending that money over at kpixie! And, hey, let’s hear it for all the losers, too.

You guys came up with some great movies for Dale and I to watch. And, ya’all know my ulterior motive here, right? No, not to get more comments, although that is an added bonus. My ulterior motive is more knitting time because movie watching = knitting. This, my friends, is a very good thing.

So, you want a recap? The most recommended movie was An Affair to Remember with 5 votes, followed closely by The Phildelphia Story with 4 votes. Lots of movies were recommended by 3 people. We’ll be planning on watching Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Bringing up Baby, The King & I, The Bells of Saint Mary’s, Singin in the Rain, The Sound of Music, Roman Holiday and West Side Story. And, those mentioned by 2 of you include A Streetcar Named Desire, Little Women, The African Queen, It’s A Wonderful Life, Arsenic and Old Lace, North by Northwest, Sunset Boulevard, White Christmas, Sabrina, Oklahoma, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Meet me in St. Louis, Billy Elliot, Pat and Mike, Desk Set, Babette’s Feast, Key Largo, Harvey, The Lion in Winter, Going My Way, The Thin Man and Sabrina.

Woo! That’s quite a list and we’ll be busy, busy, busy. Thanks everyone for playing along and sharing your favorite movies with me! I’ve got to go make some popcorn now!

I had a very pleasant weekend. It was great to have two whole days with no holiday pressure, no social commitments and just plain nothing that had to be done.

I was able to spin on Saturday and I’m almost finished with the BFL. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with the colors when I ply it. I finished the main part of the Nordic mitten, too. Now I have to do scary things like take out the cast on edge and finish the picot hem. Then I have to undo the thumb stitches and pick them up and finish the thumb. Yikes. So, I put the mitten down for the time being. I’ve made pretty good progress on the Feather & Fan Socks for Cecily, my pal from Secret Pal 6.

But, really? Even with all that stuff that I did? I kept thinking how I had nothing for the blog. Dale and I went for a ride yesterday and visited Plymouth and Duxbury. I knitted some in the car and kept thinking I should take a picture of the sock at the beach or the sock at the boat ramp or the sock going over the Powder Point Bridge. But the sky was gray and the air was cold and I just didn’t have the motivation to get out of the Jeep and do it. I’ll tell ya plain, I was worried about what I would have to say this morning. And, let’s face it, the Monday morning blog entry is an important one.

Then, last night, while Dale and I were having dinner, I found inspiration. We were discussing classic movies – those we’ve seen and those we’ve missed. There’s a fair number that we saw before we met each other and most of those we wouldn’t bother seeing again. Then there are the must-sees that we have watched together because they are so good that you want to watch them over and over. Casablanca and To Kill a Mockingbird and All About Eve, for instance. We have made the effort to watch the major Hitchcock films like Rear Window and Vertigo and Pyscho. We’ve seen Rebecca and Gone With the Wind and Jezebel. We’ve watched most of the major musicals including The Music Man and Hello, Dolly! and Brigadoon.

But, the bottom line is we’re worried that we’ve missed out on some great classic movie because we’ve forgotten about it or we just don’t know about it. Oh, sure, I could go trolling in the Internet Movie Database and start fishing around. But why would I do that when I can ask my blog readers for some advice?

So, here’s the deal. I’m asking for you to send me a comment and let me know what your favorite classic movie is. If we haven’t seen it, we’ll make an effort to do so based on your recommendation. But, whether we’ve seen the movie you suggest or not, I’ll pick a random name from all the commenters and that person will win a $25 gift certificate to Kpixie. That’s enough to get yourself a skein of Vesper Sock yarn or some Claudia’s Handpaint – which is in stock, by the way.

You have until midnight Friday, January 13, 2006 to enter. I’ll post the winner next Monday. Thanks for playing along. I can’t wait to hear what everyone’s favorite movie is!