I did another 18-mile walk this past weekend and I’m putting some of the final details on my plans for packing, etc. There’s not much time left.
And there are still a couple of days left to donate to my Walk and enter my yarn raffle. There’s a lot of prizes and an excellent chance of winning something if you enter. Do it now!
Today I offer up some of the largest prizes I have for this raffle. One of these could be yours for a simple $5 donation to my Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.
Earlier this summer, when I saw the Yarn Harlot at Webs, she talked about her fundraising efforts for Medicins Sans Frontiers. It turns out that knitters are especially generous and others have asked her how to duplicate that success. She said that maybe knitters know that a small action repeated many times can create something huge. I think maybe it’s also the prospect of winning yarn. All you have to do is donate (and publicize!).
Prize #13: 1 bag of 10 balls of Cascade Bollicine, 70% Merino, 30% Acrylic, 50g balls (125m). A lovely variegation from lime to white and back again.
Prize #14: 1 bag of 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay, 50% Cotton, 35% Viscose Microfiber, 15% Silk, 50g balls (100m). A shiney silvery-grey color.
Prize #15: 1 bag of 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK, 80% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk, 50g balls (105m). This is one of my favorite colors - a bright magenta-purple.
I’ve been making progress on the sleeves for my Ruby hoodie. Two at once, so even though I’ve been knitting forever, not much to see:
I’ve got about 2.5 inches on each sleeve, aiming for 10.5 inches before shaping the sleeve cap. I’m increasing every 4th row and the width is getting to the point where I’m going through about one color per row. I should get some interesting pooling soon instead of the jacquard pattern.
In other news, if you’re waiting on one of my Hanne spreadsheets, I’m in the middle of processing those requests. I’m caught up with Mermaid (so please re-send your request if you haven’t heard from me). I going to catch up with LaStrada next. And I have some issues to resolve with Ballerina, so that will be next week.
And here’s today’s new Breast Cancer 3-Day Raffle prize(s)…
Prizes #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, and #12 - Lang BeBe Superwash wool sock yarn. Each prize is two 50g balls in a single colorway, enough to make a pair of socks. Each ball comes in a neat little square bag, all ready to center-pull! I was enchanted when I saw these and had to get every color Webs had for prizes:
For those of you stashbusters on yarn diets, remember: you’re not buying yarn, you’re donating to a good cause; if yarn comes to you from it, it was karma. Donate now!
I’m busy making travel arrangements for my 3-Day Walk. Today I booked the last room at the last host hotel that still had rooms available for the night before the Walk. I could have stayed elsewhere, but the hotel will have a shuttle to take me to the starting point…at 4:30am!!! And then I have to walk 20 miles! Eek!
To help me reach my fundraising goal, here’s a new batch of prizes to tempt you to donate to my Breast Cancer 3-Day Raffle:
Prize #3: Regia Crazy Color sock yarn. 75% wool, 25% polyamid. Machine washable. Makes a crazy pair of socks:
Prize #4: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Olive:
Prize #5: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Rain Forest (greens are in this season!):
Full instructions for donating and entering are here. And to help spread the word, I’m offering a new way to enter the raffle. Make a donation and post a note about my raffle on your blog and I’ll give you a bonus entry. Just e-mail me a link to your post along with your donation receipt.
I’ve been talking about this for a while now, but it happens in just over a month. November 9-11, I’m going to be walking 60 miles for breast cancer in the San Diego Breast Cancer 3-Day, benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust.
This year will be my 3rd year participating. In 2005, I walked 60 miles in Tampa, Florida. In 2006, I worked 4 days as a camp volunteer in Boston, Massachusetts. In additional to walking miles and miles in training, and buying shoes and gear, I have a fundraising requirement. In this past, I’ve just met it, but this year, I want to blow it out of the water. So far, with a stash sale, donations from those who have used my Hanne spreadsheets, bake sales at work, and donations from family and friends, I’ve raised over $4000.00. I want to raise $10,000. And so I appeal to all of you.
Because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, it’s the perfect time for a yarn raffle. I have a pile of prizes, some larger, some smaller. I’ll be showing more as the month progresses, but let’s get going with a little traditional pink!
Prize #1: 2 skeins of pink Malabrigo. Yummy merino, it looks soft, it feels soft!
Prize #2: 1 ball of hot pink Opal sock yarn. Make pink ribbon socks!
You get 1 entry for every $5 you donate to my walk. For every $25 you donate, you get a bonus entry. If your employer does matching donations, you get matching entries!
I’ll draw winners on November 1st and mail out all the prizes. Then I’ll walk 60 miles for breast cancer!
Here’s how you enter:
- Make a tax-deductible, completely secure, totally spam-free donation with your credit card or checking account directly to my Official Breast Cancer 3-Day fundraising page.
- You’ll get e-mail confirmation and forward it to my 3 Day e-mail address: amy3day@gmail.com (so I know to associate your donation with your contact info and raffle entry)
- I enter you in the raffle and send you a raffle confirmation.
You can also make a PayPal donation and I will pay all the PayPal fees, e-mail me for my PayPal address.
The 3-Day site will accept donations from your checking account, but if you prefer to mail me a paper check, please also e-mail me for details.
It’s pretty simple: you like yarn, you have breasts (yes, men too), you knit for people with breasts, you should donate for my 3-Day Walk!
That’s the front and most of the back of the Ruby kangaroo hoodie from Bees Knees Knits for my niece. I finished the back on my flight this morning and did the 3-needle bind-off for the shoulder seams. I should be able to get the sleeves going for my next flight. The yarn is Lang Jawoll because they do a really good job of making coordinating solid colors for their jacquards. The sleeves and hood will be in the jacquard.
Also today, I show you the last few things I bought at ThreadBear last time I was in Michigan.
This is the Colinette kit for the wrap that my Mom lusted after. I can’t remember the name of the pattern right now, nor the colorway. But lots of purples and reds and greens.
And this is a ball of 3 different Jitterbug solids that were twined together fetchingly on the shelf. Cream, olive, and purple (of course). I remember a conversation about striped socks knitting all 3 at the same time, like a group shawl. And there was a name I was supposed to e-mail about for some hints on getting it going. And I wrote it down. And that was back when I still owned a house, so who knows where that paper got to. But, you know me, I figured out the basics in my head and I’ll be making a go of it. I think it’s the purple that makes me do impulsive things like buy sock yarn I don’t need for a pattern that is a whisp of imagination.
Okay, enough with purple, tomorrow I’m going to announce my fundraising raffle, so start thinking pink!
Seems so long, I’m not sure I remember how to blog anymore.
My post-divorce, post-house life has been kind of crazy, and my internet access has been far less than it was. I spent most of September working in Los Angeles in a room without access to the outside world. And where I’m living right now doesn’t really have internet access either. I bring my work laptop home and use its wireless dial-up card to check a little e-mail in the evenings. And my commute is LONG! now. Not a lot of time left in life to do fun things, like blog. Or knit much. In fact, this post was written in some stolen moments while waiting for feedback on a big presentation I worked most of the weekend and 18 hours yesterday on (and really, I meant to write it yesterday). Oh, and when I’m not driving or working, I’m out doing training walks for my 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. This past weekend, I walked 28 miles in total. Today, I have to find time to walk another 5. Oh, and 90% of my belongings are in storage. Makes me feel a little scattered at times.
I do remember how to knit. In fact, last week I went to a knit night at my LYS. I’m slowly making progress on the hoodie for my little niece. And despite all of that, my eyes are bigger than my hands right now, and I keep buying more yarn for more projects: 1.5 kiddie hoodies, a baby sweater and hat, 3 pairs of socks, a wrap, and a cat sweater. I need a stern talking to.
I did find some time to read, and I blazed my way through Crazy Aunt Purl’s book in 24 hours. I loved it. Maybe that’s just because she’s only like 2 steps ahead of me in life right now.
My October resolution is to get back on top of a few things, like blogging, my knitting projects (both in stash and online - hey Hanne fans!), my checkbook (work travel and no rent means this isn’t as dire as it could be), and sorting out my storage space. And my 3-Day Walk is coming up and I have been planning a fundraising raffle. If I get home before the sun goes today, you’ll get an announcement tomorrow. Otherwise, well, I have Columbus Day off!
And if I finish up my slides with some time to spare, I might make another post, this time with photos!
Tomorrow I’m back to Los Angeles for a couple more meetings (that big presentation). Maybe some more free time. Definitely knitting time on the plane if I don’t sleep the flight away. Which is very likely, especially since I scored a first class upgrade.
Mermaid Jacket
Odessa Hat 
ZigZag Sweater
Twisty Baby Set
Miss Dashwood
Clapotis (Mixed Berries)
Tychus
