Winner!

Welcome to the new blog!

I assume you got here from my old blog, which must mean you want to know who won the soap in my contest. Well, before I announce the winner I first want to thank everyone who left a comment with suggestions on how to set up the new blog. There were 190 comments, in fact! Yikes!!!

The most common suggestion was to move the text away from the left margin and eliminate the large amount of white space on the right of the screen. When I set up the blog back in the dark ages, most people did not have large computer monitors and that format was necessary to fit all the content on the page. Obviously, the posts on this new site are centered on the page and all the text should be viewable on all screen resolutions.

Although some people thought the font on the old blog was too large, far more liked it. I like the large font, too, so I have kept the larger font on this site.

Other common suggestions were to add a search function and a gallery of photos. Both were great ideas. I installed the search function and created the photo gallery–I just haven’t added any photos yet. Hey, it’s a work in progress.

I got a fantastic suggestion from Polly who thought a drop-down menu for the archives would be nice. Brilliant! I added the widget immediately and you can see it on the sidebar. Unfortunately, not all my old posts survived WordPress’ automatic import feature so I’ll be working on adding them manually.

OK, enough chatter; let’s get to the real reason you’re here. The winner of the Blessed Juno, Hand Knit soap and the warshcloth was Stephanie whose name was chosen at random. Congrats, Stephanie, I think you’ll really love the soap.

I still have a few things to tidy up on this site, but I’ll be posting here from now on. I’m also still trying to figure out how to move all my Bloglines subscriptions to this new URL. A techie, I am not. For now, though, you can click here to subscribe individually with Bloglines. And as an incentive, next week I plan to post a free seriatim pattern as a welcome-to-my-new-home prezzie to all of you. I may even share my fool-proof method of Kitchenering sock toes via photos if I can get my Kitchener-challenged friend to help me with the photos on Saturday.

So subscribe or miss out.

And just because I can’t possibly have a post with no photos, here are some Fun Fur hats I made this past week for Kate.

Picture 4494 Picture 4492 Picture 4493

45 Responses to “Winner!”

  1. --Deb on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:33 am

    I love your new place–very cozy! And now I know where to come when I’m ready to try setting up my own blog/design/template/domain, whatever! (grin)

  2. marie in florida on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:44 am

    if i did it right i think i’m subscriber number 3, unless i’m still 1006 from subscribing to the old site.
    hug hug

  3. Cara on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:44 am

    Very nice! I’m hoping to change up some things on my blog – can I ask what fonts you’re using – I really like them. I prefer a bigger font as well. Did you do it all yourself?

  4. Carol on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:46 am

    Congrats on your new site! It looks great! “See” ya tomorrow!

  5. Katherine on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:58 am

    Ah, Susan, this blog looks very nice. I like it better. Good job.

  6. Lauren on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:59 am

    It looks great!

  7. Carole on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:09 am

    Lookin’ good, Susan!

  8. Birdy on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:15 am

    Love the new redesign and domain space. When I first saw it I read knittingfantastic–but then again I am slow. Good job. (If you want to get rid of the border on the images put this tag in your img brackets: border=”0″ but if you like it well then ignore me.)

  9. Amy on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:20 am

    Looks great! Congratulations on the beautiful new site :)

  10. stephanie on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:22 am

    Hooray for random number generators! Otherwise I would never have won since I’m virtually computer illiterate. :)

    Cute hats – you are starting to make me want to wear one – not actually make one – but wearing one would be fun!

  11. Pat on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:36 am

    Lovely new home ….it looks like the move was smooth – Great Job! I’m all signed up on bloglines

  12. Frarochvia on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:43 am

    I’m so happy I can finally comment again! Your old site wasn’t sidekick-friendly and since I don’t have a computer anymore… Hmph! But yay! Comments!

  13. Isela on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:58 am

    Yay, I have updated my bloglines. I like the new look.

  14. Joni on 01 Feb 2007 at 8:07 am

    Your new home looks great! I updated my bloglines too. :) I hope you enjoy the new digs!

  15. Paula on 01 Feb 2007 at 8:33 am

    Love your new blog home. I also love the fun fur hats.

  16. Beth S. on 01 Feb 2007 at 9:28 am

    Congrats on the new digs! :-)

  17. Jen on 01 Feb 2007 at 11:05 am

    Susan, it looks great! I love that shade of blue you’ve got in the background – it’s very soothing to the eyes.

  18. Marcia on 01 Feb 2007 at 11:13 am

    Wow! How the dickens did I miss the fact that you were moving? I like it…and I notice that you have a Holiday Headstart button! Yay! Now let’s see if I can post this comment without putting up my first-born son as collateral…

  19. jess on 01 Feb 2007 at 11:18 am

    wow! the site refresh looks great! good work. :)

    I resubbed at bloglines as well. :)

  20. yvette on 01 Feb 2007 at 5:33 pm

    I love your new site, I like big type on white, easy to read.

  21. Leanne on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:09 pm

    Love the new site! I’m now subscribed to your new feed, and unsubscribed from the old.

  22. Wendy on 01 Feb 2007 at 6:54 pm

    Welcome to your new home! Picture me at your front door, covered dish in hand. :-)

  23. Karen on 01 Feb 2007 at 7:29 pm

    Your new place is wonderful!

  24. AmyP on 01 Feb 2007 at 10:04 pm

    Yay on your new home! I think you’ll like it here at word press

  25. Heather Joins The Round on 01 Feb 2007 at 10:36 pm

    I love that color–very restful.

  26. Lu on 01 Feb 2007 at 11:53 pm

    I like your new place!

  27. mrspao on 02 Feb 2007 at 3:00 am

    Nice new site :)

  28. chelle on 02 Feb 2007 at 3:26 am

    I really like the your new blog home! It looks great and I’m very glad you decided to keep the large font. I just updated my Blogline to the new site, keep up the great work. :-D

  29. DebbieB on 02 Feb 2007 at 4:46 am

    Nice new look! I don’t use Bloglines – I just use bookmarks in my browser. Welcome to your new home!

  30. Em on 02 Feb 2007 at 5:01 am

    Lovely new look!

  31. Kate on 02 Feb 2007 at 5:41 am

    Congrats with the new blog, looks very nice to me. And much easier to make a comment, for me.

  32. Nicole on 02 Feb 2007 at 7:47 am

    I love the new look – it’s so much easier to read!

  33. Cheryl on 02 Feb 2007 at 8:03 am

    Yay – looks great, love the colors.

  34. Kimberly on 02 Feb 2007 at 3:14 pm

    It looks great!! I’m so impressed-my blog has remained the same for so long but I’m not as good as you in the IT department so it will stay. Great job!

  35. Miriam on 02 Feb 2007 at 7:30 pm

    Great idea about the drop down menu! I went and found the widget for that and it’s all installed. Your blog looks lovely! You’ll be glad you made the switch, I think.

  36. marjorie on 02 Feb 2007 at 7:37 pm

    I like the new look a lot–and the large text type. I’ve got to wrestle with the design on mine to improve that, and seeing your blog has lit a fire under me to do that.

  37. Cookie on 03 Feb 2007 at 1:44 am

    Lovely new blog!

  38. Cyndi on 03 Feb 2007 at 3:41 am

    The new site looks great!

    As for bloglines – just send them an e-mail with your old blog domain and your new blog domain, and they’ll update the feed for you. Voila! And no one has to switch your feed. I did it when I moved to my own domain a while back, and found them to be fairly responsive & helpful. Good luck!

  39. Kristi aka Fiber Fool on 03 Feb 2007 at 5:21 am

    Congrats on the new home! It looks great!

  40. Sue on 04 Feb 2007 at 1:34 am

    You done good.

  41. Kim on 04 Feb 2007 at 10:11 am

    Looks great, Susan!! Congratulations on the new place!

  42. Baubo on 04 Feb 2007 at 2:22 pm

    It’s just lovely–and I’m almost ready to take the plunge myself. . .

  43. Deb on 04 Feb 2007 at 11:24 pm

    I looks terrific! I look forward to seeing it grow.

  44. Lark on 05 Feb 2007 at 10:41 pm

    Great new site Susan! Wishing you Blue Skies in your new e-home.

  45. Mary on 17 Mar 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Your fun fur type hats are such a good idea. My children’s music teacher has cancer and lost her hair. The other day I seen her walking around with a pink one just like yours and I thought oh my goodness that is so adorable, what and idea. One of my sisters at 28 had breast cancer stage 3 and she lost all her hair during chemo and she said it is really hard to wear hats because they make your head itch when your bald. I often thought of using material to line in hats that are knitted or crocheted. These are precious!! GREAT JOB!