Jack's a good boy!

Jack, a great Pyr, needs help! He needs to have surgery because sadly he was neglected a bit by a previous owner. In return for your donation toward his $8000 in surgery costs, there are fabulous prizes from The Merlin Tree.

As of 2/12 - they have raised $1500 - which is a great relief to his owners, but we can help! For every $10 you donate you are entered into a prize drawing - and if you help spread the word, more prizes will be thrown in the pot (read about it on the blog for full details). I don't have a lot of extra money at the moment (though I will have a little more soon - yippee - I got a raise!!!) but I sent them a little something and I hope that if you have a couple extra dollars you will think about it too! There is a prize drawing TOMORROW and one of the prizes is The Hitchhiker (I don't need another wheel but I WANT one of these!)! WEEEEE!!!!

Head over and read about Jack and maybe take a moment to help him out!

A great pattern for a good cause!

One of the bloggers I follow, Skyline Chilly, has designed an awesome sock pattern to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (go to her blog entry to see the pics since I don't wanna steal hers!).

For a $5 donation, you get this pattern and the knowledge that you are helping to fund research and education for this disease. You all know how important research and education are to me personally to find a cure for lupus and if I can help others, I am right there!

If you would like to help spread the word, you can! Check out how on Skyline Chilly's blog - and she has a contest going for helping spread the word! Do a good thing and win prizes - what could be better??? Oh, yeah, more knitting time!!!

hmmm...I wonder if I can CO just one more project this week...

Hats for Alex

Handspun Monday is being interrupted to bring you this Public Service announcement.

Hats for Alex needs you! Yes, you! Got an hour or two to knock out a little knit or crochet project? Well, knit a hat for a little one! Alex was a sweet boy who should still be with us, but sadly, isn't. The kind people at the Omaha Children's Hospital did all they could for little Alex. In thanks, Pam has been heading up Hats for Alex.

This year, the Fairieknits podcast (shut up a podcast IS coming) is proud to support Hats for Alex as the official charity. Pam is having contests and all sorts of fun stuff this year.

Hats must be machine washable and for any any child size head. Not just babies.

The Charlotte knitters are already in on this - here are hats from Cristi, Corey and me. And May and Dani have sent hats as well already! (So 18 from Charlotte so far that I know of!!)

Even Calvin is in on the fun!

NIT HATZ NAO! KTHXBAI!

My goal for this year is to knit 2 hats per month and get them off to hats for Alex. If you are wondering - I am knitting 3 of the same hats each month and they will be in Ravelry if you want to see which ones I am knitting up. This month I knit the Baby Squash Hat from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders (or whatever it is...I am far too lazy to look at the moment).

Also - if you want to knit for your community specifically, contact Pam - Hats for Alex can go to any hospital and count toward the goal if you contact her and set something up for your community.

this is such a small kindness that means so much to families who have their little ones in the hospital and I encourage you to join in. For those of you going to SAFF, I would like to propose that we do this for this year and donate the hats to an area hospital.

Handspinning goodies

Awhile back I donated to Spin Out. I did it because it is a good thing to do - as a bonus I won one of the prizes! They got here this weekend!

Thank you to SpinOff and Soak for sponsoring the event AND for providing prizes!

First there is BABY ALPACA!!! yummy! 4 oz from Chameleon Colorworks.

Funky Carolina Falkland - 4 oz - and colorway Eep Ork! I have been coveting her fiber for awhile and this is my first. I want to spin it RIGHT NOW!! (Forgive my laziness of not taking this out of the package - busy busy day!)

Beth provided this beautiful superwash merino in crap I forgot what the colorway name is and I am again too lazy to go over there!

As you can see I already started spinning that pink goodness on my new Don't Drop Spindle. This thing is LIGHT! I am so glad I got that Bosworth last week so that I had some idea that I could in fact spin...you can see my progress as I got used to it.

This prize is FANTASTIC and what I would like the Lupus Walk prizes to someday be - bigger, better and more FANTASTIC (if you are wondering, I have almost all of them sent out - I spent something like $25 on shipping last week and need to wait until the next pay check to do the rest - hopefully I can get the rest out in the next go!)

SAFF Charity Project

SAFF is coming up (YAY!!!) and there will be a lot of bloggers there this year. I would really like to see if we can get a charity project together. So - he we go. Bring in your 7x9 Warm Up America Squares and I will collect them and get them seamed up and donate them. If enough get there for me to seam them while we are there (and I have time) and there is a local place to donate, then I will donate whatever is finished to the Asheville area (so if you are in Asheville, please let me know if there is a place- kthks).

If you have any questions or if you are not going to SAFF but you want to participate, let me know and I will get you the address to send squares.

Oh - and I am still waiting on a few responses to prize emails - I will announce those as soon as I have all the responses. Hoping that will be tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Charlotte-Metro Fiber Day

Today should have been called the Charlotte-Metro Fiber Day. I swear there was more going on today in the area then there has been going on in the last year COMBINED. And you know I attend everything I can. Cristi and I were only able to make 2 of the 4 events here in the area. What I didn't make was what sounded like a KICK ASS time at the Barnful of Quilts exhibit in Waxhaw. Or the etsy steet team event. But you don't want to hear about what I couldn't make, since well, I have nothing to say about it, I am just sad that I couldn't do it all.

What we did make it to was the Charlotte Folk Society 25th anniversay event at the Levine Museum of the New South where Tvini joined us for a few hours.

There was sqaure dancing.

and spinning.

Tvini spinning. Cristi ummmm...cussing I think.

and knitting.

We LOVE to knit and show our knitwear!

and a lot more that we didn't take pics of like live music and vendors and all sorts of neat stuff. Shut up, we didn't take pics cause we were in a hurry to get to the next event.

Then we hit Taco Bell for an exciting lunch of a crunchy taco (and some nachos) for me and a soft taco (and crunchwrap supreme) for Cristi. I had been craving crunchy for a couple days (no, I am in no way possibly preggers, so don't go getting all in a twitter over me craving crunchy - turns out I am just fat and crave food. get over it) and what better way to get crunchy then with Taco Bell? (And I swear there were people out to keep my from my crunchy taco!!! "honey, did she just yell 'crunchy taco' at us?" - "I think she did. I wonder what that means!")

After lunch, we rushed over to The Hut in Pineville where The Yarn Shop at Rainy Day Creations was having a Charity Convergence Event.

There were charities.

Project Linus and the Levine Childrens Hospital were there among many others.

There were prizes.

I didn't win the REALLY GORGEOUS Latern Moon bag. *grumps*

I bought a Kumihimo Disk. And then got attacked by a spider. I should have taken a pic of that damn spider, but I was afeared of it. I think it was the size of my ass (which is about the size of Texas - I have seen pics - why did you people let me get so fat???) and it was living in the yarn. And it ran at me. And I screamed like a little girl. Sue me, it was HUGE! Others came over and didn't see it at first as it had retreated into the yarn. Then they saw. Cristi said it was huge too. Though she didn't compare it to the size of my ass. Cristi bought another Lantern Moon Bag - and she was glad it wasn't in pink or I would have had to have it. The inside colors just aren't me. But I love it. Too bad it only comes in that shade combo...

So now I am at home. Procrastinting about 3 million things. Like a podcast. And laundry. And packing for my trip next week.

Crazy Aunt Purl, WendyKnits and a BagSmith Bag

9/27/2007
HOLY MOLY! As of today we have raised ALMOST $1500 (just a couple dollars shy). And today I have some HUGE prize announcements!!!

In no particular order - because they are all FANTASTIC -

I would like to thank WendyKnits! She has generously donated an entire set of her published patterns! These patterns have taken the sock knitting world by STORM and The Loopy Ewe has been selling out of them for weeks!

One lucky winner will receive ALL THIRTEEN of these SIGNED BY WENDY patterns. I don't know about you, but I love Wendy's blog (and Rozz has a major crush on Lucy!) and her patterns and I am SO excited that she has donated these to the prize vault!

When I opened my mail today and had Wendy's patterns I didn't think ANYTHING could make my day better ... and then I got to the envelope from Laurie.

Yes folks. That is a signed copy of Crazy Aunt Purl's new book! And I have it here for one of you to win! I can't believe all the amazing things that have come in for this! Laurie is an AMAZING woman who I love reading! And sometimes she knits too :) Thank you, Laurie. I really appreciate your support!

Lastly today we have a BagSmith Project bag donated by Rainy Day Creations. The ladies at Rainy Day are amazing! The shop is right around the corner from me (OK - 10 minutes) in downtown Pineville, NC, and I really encourage you to drop by.

The Rainy Day ladies are also holding a charity event on October 13th from 10-4! A light lunch will be provided and there will be free classes on techniques we all want to learn. I will be there (not that anyone cares that I will be there, but I will) and I encourage you to come - there will be a lot of charities there that are accepting knitted items. Please go check out all the information on their site!!! I have a FANTASTIC flyer for this if you email me I will send it to you :) I was going to post it, but technology and I aren't getting along today.

Great minds and such...

I had been planning to blog about the Charlotte Yarn Swap and Sell from this Saturday all week and decided that today was the day. Imagine my surprise when reading bloglines and Cristi beat me to it!! Well, I am doing it anyway because while I have a FO to share, I don't have the pics loaded yet because this was the planned post for the day.
Because she beat me to it, right there is Cristi selling her yarn! What she didn't sell, she donated to charity!
And here is Autumn buying some of Cristi's yarn. I met her tonight for a little knitting fun and tea talk and she is already knitting up what she bought this weekend into a cute wrap to wear to her brothers wedding in 2 weeks. Or maybe she is buying Heather's yarn here. Not sure. But she was buying yarn!

But where is my table? Well, I have to be honest - I didn't take any yarn to swap or sell. Instead I took a large trash bag and 2 grocery bags full of yarn to donate to charity and let them go to better use. I took 3 passes through my stash and a real look at what I would really have time to knit before I die. I have a lot of yarn.

Oh - I mentioned a FO. Guess you will have to wait until tomorrow to see that.

Episode 8 - No clever title here!

FO:
Dream Swatch from Knit n Tonic - there are pics and talk about the pattern a couple posts back.
Lotus Blossom Socks for the Hill Country Yarns Sock Contest

Yarn: Hill Country Yarns Instant Gratification in Hot Fuscia
Yardage: Well, I haven't weighed my yarn to figure out how much I have left, but I have a lot.
I would tell you more, but then I think they have to kill me. And you. We shall see if I even place.

WIPs:
Pinwheel Sweater
Mystery Stole 3 (which has a crazy number of people!!!)
Tomato from No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
There are some more, but I didn't work on them so shhhhh!

Spinning:

Finished the Gothic Queen Colorway and started Gothic Princess from the Distillery Kids - working on it for the Tour de Fleece!

Books Mentioned:

The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave - the plan is to review this next time. However, I reserve the right to buy something between now and the next show that I just HAVE to talk about.

Glamour Knits: 15 Sensuous Designs to Knit and Keep Forever (Erika Knight Collectibles)

Ahhh...Fun!

Cristi and I went on a yarn tour of Ashville, NC! I put up a full post about this trip last week if you want to back up there and read all about it.

Earthguild

Purl's Yarn Emporium

Yarn Paradise (it should be called Koigu HEAVEN!)

Book Review:

I got wordy on this one. Sorry. I LOVE this book!!

Charity Crafting:

Annie Modesitt's Red Carpet Convertible Pattern. You can download the pattern and/or make a donation.

Crafting for a Cause:

1287 items donated as of yesterday!

517 in July!

Square contest is going on through the 15th.

Upcoming Events:

Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival!

If I said "I must say" one more time I think I will have to die!

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I had such lofty goals for today.

1) Knit Chart B of Clue 1 of the Mystery Stole
2) Work on Candleflame.
3) Bloack Lacey Lamb
4) Finishing sleeve one of the pinwheel with the loop edge.
5) spin the last bit of the roving I am working with
6) work on the dream swatch
7) house cleaning
8) spend some time with the kitties.
9) Announce the winner of the midway point for the sqaures contest at Crafting for a Cause.


Here is what I have done.
1) knit 6 rows of chart B of Clue 1 of the mystery Stole. Yeah. When I got to row 6 and I decided to knit all the way back instead of purl all but the 2 end stitches I decided my head wasn't in the right place for lace knitting today.
2) Sleep. A lot. I went to bed at 11:30, slept in this morning and then took a nice afternoon nap after #1.
3) Spent time with the kitties. WOOHOO I got something on my list done.
4) Watched 5 episodes of Knitty Gritty. Want to know how many I have to go? Well, when I counted them on my DVR I stopped at 30. I am not rewatching ones I have already seen, but I will watch unseen ones even if I have no interest in the projects because I tend to learn something new every show.
5) Well, I had gone several days without a chocolate milkshake and I had to remedy that.
6) Got caught up on blogs.
7) Got the Crafting for a Cause midway winner for the Squares Contest announced. (Hey - that is something else from my list!!!!)
8) Got a couple repeats into the dreamswatch headwrap.

Now, the good thing is that it isn't quite 8pm and I have 3 hours to accomplish more. I am currently spending a few minutes with Eva curled up with me while I type this, thus accomplishing more kittie time. And maybe I will spin during The Next Food Network Star tonight. I really want to finish this last bit of roving so I can post it tomorrow. I will post it anyway, but I am really close to being done, although Wednesday is spinning night, so I can finish it then. hmmmm...I really want to go see Live Free or Die Hard. I hear there is a lot of blowing up of stuff. I like movies where there is a lot of blowing up of stuff. Not to mention I think Bruce Willis is HAWT!!! hmmmm...if I have to guess though I am going to say that I will be lazy the rest of the day as tomorrow looks to be crazy and zany at the office.

I think Wendy had a similar title recently. But I have to say that I say that any time I have a list of things to do and then accomplish not a damn one of them.

Episode 3: OMG I need HELP!!!

So here are the show notes I promised. We shall see if I remember everything. Luckily I have notes however they are not in the order that I really talked in. Sorry about that. And I just heard there are some sound issues. See what happens when I change mics to one that is supposed to be better and to a room that I think has less ambient noise???? *sigh* I could hear just fine when I replayed. Sorry. I suck. I will do better. Next time we will move back to the office and the other mic.

I went out to LA this week and was lucky enough to visit Unwind. Great shop and you can shop online. I bought yarn. I took Capnbob to the yarn shop with me along with some other friends. He loved the yarn. No really, he did.

Books:
I said I would review Knitting Heaven and Earth: Healing the Heart with Craft this show - but I haven't finished it. SORRY!
Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby makes me VERY happy and it has Victorian Ruby (my illfated 3rd project EVER) in it - maybe I will finish it now. I really love this book. The photography is BEAUTIFUL. And there is a great section in the back about reading charts and stuff if you aren't the chart reading type but want to learn.

I taught my friend Danielle to knit while I was in LA. Turning the world tot he dark side of yarn one addict at a time.

Other Stuff:
Hill Country Yarns is having a sock design contest. If you love knitting socks - well - head on over there and throw your hat in the ring ... er...sock. $15 enters you and gets you a skein of yarn in your choice of color (they choose the weight).

The Knitoff is over for me - but still going! Congrats to the ladies who made it to the semi-finals.

WIPs:
Monkey socks in TOFUtsies
Fitted Knits: 25 Designs for the Fashionable Knitter Two-toned Ribbed Shrug in Cascade 220 (9477) and Cascade Quattro (9436)

Community Stuff:
Crafting for a Cause is up and running. We are really moving over there and we are getting a couple yarn shops to help us collect Warm Up America squares for our drive. Lots of information coming over there about it.

YARN!!!!
Oh yeah - I bought some yarn. If someone can please direct me to a 12 step program for yarn addicts, my budget would be very happy.
Midnight Sky Fibers - Caravan Monthly Yarn Club and Magic dragon box which I refered to as the Mystery surprise magic box or some such silliness.
Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in plum to knit the IK Spring 07 Clemintine Shawlette (the pics in the mag do it NO justice). It is sqooshy and makes me smile.
Artyarns Cashmere 5 ply in 130 Petal Pink Chocolate - It feels like heaven and looks like neopolitan ice cream. Enough said.
Louet Gems in black for Stitch Diva's Bellocq Stocking Collection - holy crap I was expecting good - I wasn't expecting that freaking good. And the mega plus is that The Loopy Ewe shipped it the next day!!! I love The Loopy Ewe!!

A quick shoutout to BOBBAY!!!!

I think that is just about all of it from this epi. Seriously, I need a prorgram for yarn addicts.