11 Days and counting!! We are close enough to have a preliminary weather forecast (which looks amazing so far!!) 11 days until what? Read up here!

You all have given me so many more reasons to walk this year with your stories of your loved ones and friends - And every one emphasizes to me exactly why we do this; no one should have to go through what your friends and family have gone through. No one should have to go through what my mom went through. And no one should have to live in fear of this disease.

Just last weekend, I had to add yet another reason to the growing list, sadly another reason that hits close to home. My aunt was just diagnosed with breast cancer; she is one of my mother’s younger sisters. And though she sounds good (she’s strong, like my mom), I can’t imagine her perspective as she goes through this, after what her own mother went through (who survived the disease), and her older sister (who did not). Sigh. I’m sorry all - it is heavy stuff. But you all know that of course. Now I’m walking for my aunt as well, hoping for good physicians, speedy healing, no mets and a healthy future for her. And for her family, because I remember how I felt when my mom was first diagnosed. And for my mom’s youngest sister too, who’s feelings I also can’t fathom (she is now the only female in two generations of this family who has been clear to date). I’m walking for their daughters, and yes, for myself as well -  in hopes that we won’t ever have to face this ourselves.

So, putting the focus back on the positive, on the fundraising! Which is how we will fund better prevention, better treatments, and a CURE, I have another prize posting for you, slightly overdue as many of these arrived just prior to or over our vacation (with my apologies to the donees for the delay in getting these up!)

A decorative spindle made and stained by Teri of Confessions of a Fiber Drunk! Teri is one of my spinning idols, so I’m so pleased to put this up. Although I am a bit of a klutz with a spindle, it spins very smoothly!

There was no way to possibly do this one justice in one photograph! An Absolutely Fabulous hand-dyed Throw Kit from Colinette in colorway Wild One. Eight bright, beautiful skeins of contrasting yarn and a pattern including six different throw designs. Generously donated by my friend Mel of Girl Eats Soup, who lost her mom too. In memory of Carole Nicholson, who is deeply missed.

Princess Pea has generously donated a skein of Malabrigo Lace (Now I finally understand why it’s referred to as Mmmmmalabrigo!) 470 yards/50g of luscious baby merino wool in colorway Forest. Gorgeous.

A hand-tied lap quilt with wonderful wool batting from the local Border Leicester sheep of Humbug Farm. So snuggly and warm! Kate’s been kind enough to provide instructions for all-natural cleaning and care of her hand-crafted quilt.

Thank you all for these amazing prizes - I am so pleased to offer these up! Our running knitter’s tally is $1116 with 11 days left until the event and 13 until the contest closes. Can we raise a few hundred more?? And is this the last prize posting?? It could be, though there may be some last minute surprises - you’ll just have to check back and see!

We’re returning to the real world today after being off since September 12th, our 10 year anniversary (not to be confused with our 15th! We were together for several years before we were married, so we still have a soft spot for our original celebration date.) We had such a great vacation with some very much needed downtime. It seems fitting that we spent it in a pretty simple manner, at home, spending quiet time with each other and the furry ones (and trying to ignore our computers and phones). We slept in, visited our favorite landmarks and parks, saw a great band and a funny movie, ate local food, took some pictures, toured local and sustainably-focussed farms on both weekends, and did some hiking (and I did knit. a lot. @ 56700 stitches with another 30-40k to go before the end of the month. More on that to come.) It felt like a really big, relaxing exhale. We have a few more big events over the coming weeks (the 3Day, of course, among others!), so it was so nice to have a recharge going into them! I’m so (SO) fortunate to have my best friend beside me for it all, everyday life, big milestones, and everything in between.

I’ll be back later today with a catch-up prize posting!

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Now playing: Sera Cahoone - You Might As Well
via FoxyTunes

It’s day nine of September, we’re just shy of a month away from our walk. I have been close to tears (and in full throttle) many times lately - overwhelmed by kind emails, comments, and notes from my donation page (all of which have just appeared tonight on my report - due to a glitch in the website your lovely notes weren’t showing before, but now they are and that started a whole new set of sniffles), your donations, and links, and prizes… Your generosity, your kindness, your words (and you and you and you and all of you that I’ve not linked but who have so kindly spread the word as well - don’t worry, you are all on my list for the special raffle!). You’re all amazing. Thank you (and that’s not nearly enough to tell you how I feel). You’ve helped me raise a total of $950(!) of my total as of this afternoon. Please keep spreading the word - I couldn’t have guessed we would raise that much, and there are still almost four weeks to go!

More prizes, my friends. And a word about my mom, because I can’t resist - She would have totally dug all this!! The indie dyer scene, the environmental slant that many independent and established yarn companies are taking, the creativity, the home-grown businesses, the crafters and artisans, the shared camaraderie and support - all of you and your generousity. I know you have all donated for your own compelling reasons, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

Earthly Hues Vines yarn in colorway Butter - 850 yards of 100% merino laceweight - So SOFT and lovely. Tricia uses natural dyes, many made from plants grown in her own garden!

From Susan of Susan’s Pointy Sticks - 4 oz. of hand-dyed merino roving. A colorway called “Charlotte” in honor and in memory of a dear friend’s mother (hugs to you Susan, and to your friend).

Also, through October 3 Aunt Kathy will be donating proceeds from the sales of the sweet dishcloth she designed for the cause. Thank you Kathy!

If you are just joining us, click over to my 3Day Contest Page for complete details - these prizes and the running “knitter’s tally” of the fundraising dollars will be added as well. Thank you all again, so much.

You know how the saying goes. Thank you all for your crossed fingers, offers of yarn, sympathy and humor (Shannon’s comment added some needed levity)! Despite all the good vibes floating around, I did in fact run out of the purple yarn. Even though I took precautionary measures by leaving out a few stripes and starting the border early (figuring I could fix the other side to match). The inevitability of the situation became more and more clear the closer and closer I came to finishing and yes, the faster I knit. I swear my fingers never fly as fast as they do when I believe I’m running out of yarn - I’m glad to know I’m not alone with my frantic fingers!

Here we are about 8 rows from casting off, and about 4 rows before running out of yarn:

Drastic measures were taken:

A few stripes were ripped out from the first side front - enough so that the sides would match - leaving me with a separated left front button band and two extra lengths of purple yarn. And then the nerves set in. So the little sweater had to be set a side for a bit.

Grafting followed over the weekend when I had the needed focus and quiet time:

This was a new trick for me - I wasn’t at all sure it would work out - especially when my first attempt had me increasing the width of one of the green stripes instead of grafting it back together to seamlessly match the others. After ripping another row of green, and trying again, it began to look like it would work.

And, all is well. Phew. Blocked photos of the little Sweet Caroline Sweater to follow soon - thank you my friends for the good vibes. They definitely helped! After grafting the stitches to close the sleeves, requiring more of the purple (the stitches, some of which were fortunately on “waste yarn” which just happened to be a perfect match!) and weaving in the ends, this is exactly how much I had left over:

No joke.

In keeping with every other big knitting mistake I’ve ever made, I learned a lot from this one.

1. Make sure you have enough yarn before beginning. If that’s difficult to determine due to a sub, size change, or what-have-you….

2. Check by weight once you have a bit knitted. It may be time to invest in a scale that can read grams (or, alternately and more cheaply, trek myself over to the local kitchen store to use their floor model) since this is not the first time I have attempted to get more out of a ball of yarn than seemed possible.

3. Desperate times call for desperate measures - Creativity, or at least, a little bravery. I had nothing to lose even if plan A failed, I would still need to order another ball of yarn or hunt for one on Ravelry and hope it matched. So I held my breath and snipped - and it worked out. No more yarn needed! Ripping and grafting this gained me a whole lot of confidence, but not without enough stress to ensure that I remember lessons 1&2 in the future!

Contest update & news to follow!

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Now playing: K’s Choice - Believe
via FoxyTunes     a little triumphant music for the way this made me feel!