Needles & Hooks

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!

My Breast Cancer Stash Sale is going incredibly well! So far, I’ve shipped off a bunch of packages and earned $334.00 toward my 3-Day Walk! Thank you all!

At this rate, I might have to increase my fundraising goal.

I updated the page to remove everything that has been paid for and shipped. There are still a number of good things up for grabs, including older magazines and Opal sock yarns. Take a look! If you are interested in something, but would prefer PayPal instead of donating directly to the site, let me know and we’ll work something out.