Pledge Updates - "Pay it Forward" and Blogiversary

Last year, shortly after my 4th Blogiversary, I commented upon a post on "Knitting in the fastlane", a favored blog written by the charming and talented Olgalyn Jolly/O!Jolly!. (She also writes another blog that I haunt: "Crafting Fashion".)

The post that intrigued me? : "Handcrafting and Pay it Forward".

Basically, Olgalyn had promised to, within 365 days, create and send to three people who left a comment on that blog post a surprise - something handcrafted by herself. The comment-ors must be active bloggers/crafters, and must "Pay it Forward" - within 72 hours, blog an offer to create and send something to three folks leaving comments on the comment-ors' blog {who then becomes the comment-ee {wry grin}}.

By leaving a comment, and by being a {relatively} active blogger and crafter I became part of a Craft it Forward cycle as the 3rd comment-or on Olgalyn's Pay it Forward blog post.
The very next day, I created my own "Pay it Forward, Handcrafter Style!" blog post, offering to create something handcrafted for 3 blogging/crafting comment-ors.... you get the gist of the cycle, yes?

In April (well within the promised 365 days), O!Jolly! surprised me with this:
{As always, please click on the photo to enlarge.}

And whilst taking pictures, Gryphon surprised me with this:

{sigh}
{No cats or lovely hand-crafted surprises were harmed during this photo-shoot.}

It is clever, charming, tactile, and...well, perfect. I believe it is all hand-knit - even the flower.
{{happy grin} Thank you again!}

For my July 6th 5-year Blogiversary, I pledged to {learn how and} make a preemie hat for each of the comments left on that blog post. ;-)
Two lovely souls left comments on that blogpost: DrLeonesse and Sara.
Two! Two preemie hats to Knit!

I saw DrLeonesse a few weeks later and she brought me (!!) these wee knitted preemie treasures:

The largish one has a button at the top to allow for medical wiring and such.

 

The preemie collection was well and truly started! {Thank you again, DrLeonesse!!}

Extra-inspired, I perused Ravelry to find preemie hat patterns to knit.
I found several, but decided to start with the "Perfect Knit Preemie Hat"...which I promptly altered to knit in the round on 2 circular needles.

{On size 6 needles, cast on 32 stitches & divide between 2 circs. Knit a K2, P2 round on the 6s and then switch to size 4 needles and K2, P2 until hat measures 4 inches. Do the usual hat decrease round, plain knit round, decrease round, etc. until you're down to a cinch-able number of stitches. Weave in ends.}

These are very tiny (about 2.5 inches across) and I wondered if they would actually fit a human child, even a premature one. I was knitting the 2nd hat in a shoe store while the DH was trying on new sneakers. The sales lady asked what I was knitting - I explained and expressed my doubts about fit. She thanked me for knitting them and assured me it would fit fine. She knew because both of her grandsons had been born prematurely.
{Wow. BTW - both are fine and a 3rd grandchild is also on the way.}

The two above knit up very quickly so I tried another preemie hat pattern that had caught my fancy.
It had ears:

This one used a heavy worsted weight yarn and the ears were supposed to be knit with regular worsted, but I couldn't find a color in my stash that worked with this periwinkle yarn.
So, I knit the ears out of the same yarn and then...I knit two more hats with ears:

Out of periwinkle yarn, I tried Gigi's Preemie Hat formula (of the Knitmore Girls). {Pardon, it is likely that hat link only works when you are logged into Ravelry.}

Followed by the Lace Edged Preemie Hat pattern:

I'm well past my initial comment-matching of 2 hats. And there are 7 more preemie hat patterns I marked to try in Ravelry. {grin}
I've started inquires as to where I can take the hats from DrLeonesse and myself {and possibly from Sara...who is pondering preemie hat-making!}. If you-all know of where I should deliver these hats, please let me know. Thanks!

Oh - and I've also cast on the Looped Preemie Hat:

Can you tell the summer session started?

I've disappeared from my usual Internet haunts and have been spending much of my day reading a hefty text book or working on the College Website listening to Video lectures, taking copious notes on the chapter outlines, and writing essays about Art History for assignments or quizzes.

Yep, my summer semester started and I'm taking an accelerated, 5-week class to meet the degree requirement that I pass Art History II.
The class is very interesting - and {blessings be} it does not require me to memorize the stats of 50 artworks each week to be quizzed about 10 of them. {Why yes, I may have been a little scarred from the Art History I full-semester experience (years ago).}
Granted this class does not require extreme memorization but it does require a lot of study/writing - which works much better with how my brain functions.

The teacher has been to several of the places we're studying and I like her perspective, comments beyond the text book stuff, voice and style.
({grin}I think her voice sounds a bit like The Yarn Harlot.)
We've been through my favorite period of Art History - the Renaissance. Proto-Renaissance, Early Northern, Early Italian and Italian High Renaissance - it turns out there was a lot more Renaissance than I realized.
We've just covered the Italian & Spanish Baroque and Rococo periods (a bit fussy and busy for me art-wise) and we have also just reviewed the beginning of Neo-Classicism (where the United States turns up in Art History).

Thus far, it appears the majority of historical art seems to have been created per the request of a Patron or for political or social-standing reasons. Hmmm - I might be a little cynical on that perspective.
I have been surprised and delighted at some of the humor or cleverness built into some of the paintings we've reviewed. Some of the art is startlingly beautiful or sad and sometimes the effort expended to complete the artwork is overwhelming (Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - 'nuf said.)

I'm going to restrain my urge to ramble on about the many amazing paintings, statues, architecture and early mixed media to which I've been exposed. I have a quiz to take for this week and I need to get started on next week's reading. But here is a portrait I hadn't seen before - Jan Van Eyck's portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride. The National Gallery's website will allow you to zoom in and ogle  the clever details of this portrait. I'm particularly fond of the mirror reflection and signature ("Jan van Eyck was here") on the far side of the room past the couple.

Overall, I am finding there is a great deal I don't know - which doesn't surprise me. But I am stretching my brain and learning a lot...and I'm enjoying the process despite the time crunch.
Speaking of which - it is time for me to head back to the books!

Postscript: Not much knitting has been happening over the last few weeks because school has been the top priority. However, there are some Jayne Hats being knit upon at Dr. appointments or as I'm reading a chapter. I have offered to donate two Jayne Hats to the Arizona Browncoats to use for fundraising at the upcoming Can't Stop the Serenity Event at the Fox Theater on August 17th at 6 PM.
Oh...and there are some preemie hats I need to knit!

Blogiversary #5 - Half a Decade of Blogging

{grin} "Half a Decade of Blogging". Sounds impressive, huh?
Per our school system, "Five" is the age to enroll in school - Kindergarten.

{grin-er} I guess that's what I've done in my 5th blogiversary year - I've gone back to school.
Beginning Weaving (Kindergarten) at the local community college.

But Five Years of Blogging.
Well, I guess I'm not much past Kindergarten in blogging either.

Blogging is an interesting outlet for me. And I think it has become an important outlet.
It seems a bit like journalling - electronically - with a touch of scrap booking.
A journal/scrapbook that is visible to anyone on the Internet and... {oddly/wonderfully} visited by folks from all over the world.

Some blog posts are emotional venting:, jubilant, disappointed, loving, distressed, obnoxious ;-), cathartic, happy/envious/stubborn/ patient, sad - but generally heartful. Other posts are funny, musical, photographic, silly or colorful. I have also "scrap-booked" journeys, critter visits, knitterly projects, more critter visits, exercise adventures, poisonous critter visits, cat-snacks, events, or ironic happenstance.

Lastly, some posts are charitable in nature and action.
In last year's blogiversary post, I offered to donate funds to Doctors Without Borders for the first 4 comments left on that blog post. Two lovely souls {Grateful thanks to Janel Laidman and O! Jolly!!} helped me fulfill 1/2 of my pledge and $30.00 was donated to DWB in July 2012.

I will stand by my 2012 Blogiversary pledge to donate another $20.00 to Doctors Without Borders for two more comments on the 2012 Blogiversary post. Would you like to help me fulfill that pledge? 

For this year's Blogiversary, I will pledge to learn to do something new inspired by comments left on the 2013 Blogiversary post.
{Granted it's something I've been meaning to do, but...}

I will pledge* to knit a preemie hat for each comment left on this 5-Year blogiversary blog post.
Would you like to leave a comment to kick off my preemie hat knitting?
Would you like to join me in knitting preemie hats?  ;-)

Comments, pledges and preemie hats aside, Thank you for reading. 

For some of you  - thanks for a Half of a Decade of reading. 

Truly - thank you.

Also - my grateful thanks to the folks at Blogger, for offering this venue for our use and enjoyment.

(*Hmmm. To ward off any Internet craziness, I'm going to exclude counting my own comments and limit the 2013 preemie hat knitting pledge to no more than 50 hats. {wry grin} I know it's unlikely {nigh unto impossible} that there will be 50+ comments, but irony and I are well-acquainted.}

UPs - Event Heads-Up and Catch Up

Greetings and Salutations!
My humble apologies for being absent for...jeez...over a month.
Here's a variety of updates and an Event Heads up:

Event!
I'm not sure if I have previously included in the blog a notice of this Stellar Free Concert:
The 11th Annual Music and Memories Concert will be tomorrow, Saturday, May 11th (6:15 PM - 9 PM).
I understand the Mayor has declared that day to be "Cancer Wellness Day"!
Yes, the concert is free however, any donations, silent auction, or raffle proceeds benefit the Academy for Cancer Wellness' Under-Insured Cancer Patient Endowment fund and Wellness Grant fund.

I have attended this concert for the last few years and have enjoyed each one.
Many of the professional musicians that donate their time and talents to this event are from our Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Repertory Singers. I think they take this opportunity to perform pieces you may not hear at the Symphony performances. That is correct - this concert is not all classical music. Charming, fun and interesting!

The concert will be at the Grace-St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams.
Hundreds of door prizes are also distributed. During intermission cookies are served along with punch and a selection of chinese teas from the nifty Seven Cups Teahouse.
I think it is an amazing evening of music benefiting an excellent charity.

School
For the most part I have been hip-deep in projects for my Fiber Arts Degree. We are nearly done with the Spring semester and, although I haven't been doing "finals" (as in tests), I have been doing a variety of projects for all three of my classes.
I'll try to do individual posts on those projects but I will say I was able to include knitting in my final project for the Mixed Media class. A knitted bag with plaiting. It came out pretty well, although the handles are a bit long. Over-all, I'm pleased.

CooPurr discovered I was working with WOOL and
he plopped himself right down!

 An "aside" under the School topic - Podcasts. I have been listening to A LOT of podcasts as I worked on my projects and I have adopted a new method for Podcast-listening. It is my habit to go back to listen to the beginning of an adopted podcast and work my way forward. I have "caught up" on several of my favorites but I have been languishing in the past on many others. So...I have started to listen to the podcasts in two times - past and present. {wry grin} This way, I can feel included and be current - on Raverly, current topics, KALs, events, etc. And I can also enjoy the entire podcast - from beginning to end. Eventually. ;-)

My grateful thanks to the lovely souls who create and share their charm, time, expertise, and general cleverness in their Podcasts. Thank you all for keeping me in such very good company: Heather at CraftLit, Paula of Knitting Pipeline, Jasmine and Gigi of The Knitmore Girls, Dr. Gemma of CogKNITive, and Brenda of Cast On. You are appreciated more than you know!

Health
In case anyone is curious, the Little Brother continues to pursue good health. He excels at controlling his Diabetes and his doctors keep decreasing his insulin dosage. Woot!!

My health...pretty decent, actually. For the most part, unemployment/school seems to agree with me.
I did over-do it with late-nights/standing for many hours working on school projects last week and on top of that I got to experience my first-ever, real reaction to my weekly allergy shots. Jeez.
I'm alright but looking forward to some down-time before the Summer semester begins.

Knitting
Not a lot of recreational knitting here...

School-Knitting:
As mentioned in the School section, I did some knitting for my Mixed Media final project so there was some concentrated school-knitting there.
Also - a pair of for-Holiday-gifting Fingerless Mitts were completed via between-class knitting and a 2nd pair are nearly done. But I haven't knit a stitch on those for weeks. Mostly I've been dashing from school project to school project...
Oh.  Yeah - Please see the "School" update section. Sorry.

Recreational Knitting:
As per the last blog-post, I did finish the Scarlet Shade of Shades of Grey Swirl Coat around Spring Break.

There has been a smattering of knitting on the Origami Pullover, a pair of fingerless mitts, and some minor headway on the Lenore Socks (started years ago). 

I did pause briefly in the school endeavors to cast on the "Comfort of a Friend Woman Shawl" for the "What Else Would Madam DeFarge Knit?" Knit-a-long. (I'm a bit behind...)

Gryphon re-exploring my fulled knitting bag I originally created when he was a kitten
(he would play and sleep in the under-construction bag).

Cats

The Monster Cats are doing fine and they continue to be a major source entertainment and the focus of  any tweets I send out.

As you've probably already noticed, I've included (rough iTouch) pictures of two of the Monster-cats.
To round out the Cat-inventory and finish up this post, here's ginger-cat-brothers Nikoli and Mikale!

Kitty-TV has been showing "Bird!!" a lot lately. ;-)

And...Sweet-faced Mikale.

Dec. Shopping Vicariously Theme - Sunday Alms Week 5

And here we find the last of our December Shopping Vicariously Sunday Alms entries.

Got pets?
Got or getting them from where?

The Humane Society?
PAWSitively Cats, A No Kill Cat Shelter
Petfinder?
Best Friends?

Even if you already have pets the folks that shelter the pending-adoption critter-kins could always use your support. Donations of food, litter, supplies, and funds support their efforts and allow them to do what they do.
I know I can only care well for so many pets. But supporting these types of organizations means that more animals can be housed and fed and cared for until they find their forever home.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
Mahatma Gandhi

Dec. Shopping Vicariously Theme - Sunday Alms Week 4

"Shopping Vicariously" Alms options for your consideration:

Unfortunately, these organizations have had to address a lot more emergencies and recovery support the last few years.

• The American Red Cross. Southern Arizona Red Cross Chapter.
  "Give Life, Give Love, Give Blood" - a faded Red Cross bumper sticker on my little well-loved pickup. The Red Cross is still hip-deep in Hurricane and earthquake recovery.
  Please donate blood or funds if you can.
  
• World Care - Civilian Emergency Relief Fund.
  I Love what this organization does and how they do it! They are located here in Tucson and they help people all around the world. Their mission is to "provide humanitarian relief by recycling surplus materials and supply to create usable resources for health, education and sustainable communities worldwide". I've seen them pull together pallets of donated items to take to Haiti, New York... they go where they're needed. 

Lastly - the Bloggess featured this organization in late November:

• Project Night Night - A Project Night Night bag gifted to a homeless child contains: "a new security blanket, an age-appropriate children's book, and a stuffed animal - all nestled inside of a new canvas tote bag." $20.00 will underwrite the cost of a Night Night Package. 

Dec. 17th - Shopping Vicariously - Wyland

I have followed the career of Wyland for...well, a while.
Longer than some adults have been alive. {wry grin}

I have seen a few Wyland Walls and hope to see more.
I am saddened and a bit annoyed that the Wyland Whaling Wall near Tucson is now "extinct" but pleased that I got the opportunity to meet Wyland there at the wall's opening/book signing. He was gracious, charming and had a great smile (still does, as a matter of fact).

I am impressed with this gent's art and heart but most impressed that he uses his art and fame to do good and to try to inspire better handling of our earth and waters.
Well done, Sir!

So - some Wyland Vicarious Shopping and Purposeful-gift options:

• Wyland Galleries and Store
• The Wyland Foundation
• Calendar, Clothing, Prints, and Books!
• Wyland Sandalista designs
• Water Conservation Challenge
• Wyland Cellars
• The Ocean Artists Society

Please be kind to one another.

Dec. Shopping Vicariously Theme - Sunday Alms Week 3

A lovely suggestion echoing Last Sunday's post and a minor way to offer support regarding the Newtown tragedy.

I received an e-mail from Grandma's Spinning Wheel earlier this week offering assist folks in contributing to
"the goal of knitting 600 monsters for the survivors of the Newtown tragedy, Ravelry has a group set up. Grandma's will be happy to collect and ship these to the distribution point. We have a stash of donated yarns for charity knitting so if you'd like to come by and dig through it to make a Monster, feel free. We don't have a deadline yet, but will let you know as soon as plans solidify!
Please check our blog for links to the Ravelry group and a couple of free patterns".
My thanks to Michael and Vicki at Grandma's for the mailing!


Today's "Alms" gifting options are the core Holiday drives that we hear tell of every Holiday Season. They can become filler-noise on the radio or between-ads to skip on the TV.
Yep, please take a moment to consider what they truly mean.

• How many times a day does a baby need to be changed? What about the cost of elder-care diaper needs? That's what a Diaper Drive supports.
  
• Yes, there are a lot of food drives for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona this time of year. And it helps to cover the food needs NOW....please don't forget them the rest of the year or consider donating funds to support them in the less generous gifting seasons. Our local food bank does an excellent job of creating interesting and useful fund raising events. Have you looked at the events in your local area?
  
• Toys for Tots - Our Marine Corp does a great deal more than protect our country. As a child, did you experience a Christmas with no gifts? Yeah, it sounds like a commercial you fast forward through on TIVO, but seriously....there are people that are NOT overextending their credit to buy a game cube. They're concerned about affording food and toys will have to wait.
  
• Salvation Army Blanket and Coat drive. Yes, it does get cold enough in Arizona...
  
• Salvation Army Adopt-a-family programs. Ok, this one has history with me. It's a bit late to bring this up and do I apologize for the late timing.
  I was able to organize these for a few years for my co-workers at the old job. I cannot begin to describe the generosity of the Stores and my co-workers when we pursued sales and discounts on bicycles, clothing, heaters (a big box store gifted us with two for the price of one!), and some toys for the multiple families our office "adopted". Our IT/Ops guys got amazing deals and put together bicycles in our mini-kitchen area.
  I cannot describe how it felt to deliver those gifts without dissolving into tears.
  The look on the little girl's and her brother's face when we brought them each the bicycle, clothing and a few toys from their wish-list.
  The Grandfather couldn't speak to us but gave us a teary smile as we brought he and his family clothing, toys, and space heaters.
  The woman who hugged us and let us hold her few-week old preemie baby that had had to stay in the hospital until just a couple of days before. We carried in clothing and toys into her sparse but clean house. 

If you can - Give.  Funds, items, time - well wishes. It's a gift that gives back.

Dec. Shopping Vicariously Theme - Sunday Alms Week 2

With the 2nd Sunday of the December "Shopping Vicariously" series, here's another option for Alms-gifting.

I know of many kind souls that do this all year 'round: Create for charities.
People knit/crochet hats, blankets, gloves, scarves...and give them to a variety of charities so that people in need might have some added warmth - from the created article and from knowing that someone cared enough to spend time and yarn creating something for them.

Off the top of my head, here are some options to gift warmth to folks that might be without:
(Yes, I did support the top-o'-my-head subjects with some Internet linking!)

• Kiwi Knitting - our mid-town LYS is sponsoring "Hats for the Homeless". Donate funds or Knit/Crochet hats or scarves for homeless or "Youth on their Own". (Last Day to drop off donations is 12/22!)
• Purls of Tucson is also supporting some charitable crafting - "Hats for the Homeless" through the Salvation Army and "Caps for Kids".
• Grandma's Spinning Wheel - Grandma's supports a variety of charities and designates the 2nd week of each month as Crafting work time; Grandma's provides yarn, pattern and inspiration!
• Pima County Public Library - per discussions with the Librarians at the Wilmot branch, I understand scarves and hats are collected to distribute to needy kids via the Bookmobile.
• Homeless Shelters, the Elderly, and Cancer patients (Knots of Love). A quick call to your favorite charity will identify the items most needed.
• Project Linus - Kiwi Knitting, Tucson Yarn Company, and Purls of Tucson are both drop-off points for Project Linus Blankets!

This might be the truest instance where the making and giving of a gift has the most impact on both the maker and the recipient.


Bonus Blog Content - For those of you who have asked or are just curious, the Little Brother is doing rather well. He's gained a little more weight (nearly ranks as "slim", I'd say {huge improvement over the previous "scrawny"), he's got more energy, and his Insulin doses have been radically decreased! {We're not sure why. Either it's the last "hurrah" of his pancreas or maybe his pancreas wasn't actually failing. We'll see what happens next.}

Dec. Shopping Vicariously Theme - Sunday Alms Week 1

As with the November "Thankful" theme, I spent a bit of time jotting down ideas to support the December "Shopping Vicariously Through You" theme.

Several charities appeared within the jottings so I decided to do a theme within a theme.

December "Shopping Vicariously" blog posts on Sunday will feature options for "Alms-gifting". 

It is great fun and sometimes a true gesture of love and appreciation to give a thoughtful gift to a friend or loved one. And it could be exactly what they have been wishing for all year.  But if you're not quite sure what they've been wishing for all year, the thoughtful gift doesn't have to be a physical item. It could be a gift to help improve the world in a tangible way that doesn't mean collecting more "stuff".

Here's a very nifty gift option:
As you can see by the left side-bar of the blog and from previous blog posts, I support Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)/Knitters Without Borders as often as possible.

Doctors Without Borders work in nearly "70 countries providing medical aid to those most in need regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation". I admire these people more than I can say. A wide variety of experts apply their energy and knowledge to help others. They can work in very dangerous situations where the need can be nearly overwhelming - but they make a huge difference. Donating to support such an effort is a gift on many levels.

Minor note regarding the offer I made in my July 6th 4-year Blogiversary post to donate funds to Doctors Without Borders for the first 4 comments left on that blog post. Two comments were left (thank you again Janel and Olgalyn!!) but TWO comments are still available to help me complete my Blogiversary pledge to MSF. Any chance you feel a comment coming on? 

Another Alms-gifting option:
The past few years I had adopted the habit of gifting my family and co-workers with Heifer International shares in Sheep, Honeybees, Trees, Rabbits, Pigs, Ducks .... you get the idea.
(They have a lot more share-options this year - "Gift of Clean Water", "Send a Girl to School", oh - "Knitter's Gift Basket"...cool!
More cool - Alton Brown recorded a message that neatly explains the Heifer Intl. premise.)

Heifer International assists families by giving them education and starter animal stock to help improve their "nutrition and general income in sustainable ways". This improves their lives and the lives of the people in their community because the "families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need".

Heifer calls that "Passing on the Gift" - so when I gifted my friends and family with a Heifer Share, I felt as though I was also "Passing on the Gift". I hoped that the donation and card that explained the premise of Heifer would help my friends and family understand the depth and effect of the gift I had given them.
A few of my co-workers were particularly tickled with the gift and adopted Heifer as a gifting option themselves.

So, there's a couple of Alms-gifting options. Yes, I must confirm that there are some types of "stuff" (i.e. YARN) that I find nearly irresistible (and giddy-hug-worthy) but how often do we wish we could do something on a much larger scale to improve our world?

Blessings Be and a lovely Holiday Season to you!

November 11th Thanks/Auction-Knitterati Support!

Today's November thanks will echo a previous thanks.

This is what is on my mind today: 

I saw a post on Ravelry regarding the fire that had consumed the studio of Judith MacKenzie on October 29.
A perusal of Twitter revealed some mentions references to a {rather excellent} blog post by the Yarn Harlot regarding this loss.
And some truly lovely folks have setup a website for donations, the opportunity to fulfill a "Wish List" item to help re-stock the teaching studio, and an auction to help raise more funds (Auction scheduled to open Tues., 11/13).

Per the RebuildJudithsStudio website, quite a few donations have already been made.

I have offered to auction off a skein of Prism Yarn "Wild Stuff" that I purchased as part of my late Sister-in-Law's stash. It is a $92.00 skein of creative "art" yarn - the winning bid might win it for 1/2 the original price! And the proceeds will go to help Ms. MacKenzie.

Per the e-response I received, I'm not alone in my offering. I suspect the Auction offerings will be amazing!

So the "echo of a previous thanks" relates to the 2nd bullet from my 11/3 "catch-up" Thanks list:
"I am thankful for the Knitting/Crafting community - here in Tucson, on the Internet/Ravelry/blogs/podcasts, and throughout the world. A common thread. (Pun intended.)"

I am thankful that many, many people in the Knitting/Crafting Community are getting the word out on Raverly, Twitter and their blogs and that people are already stepping in to help.

My heart goes out to Judith MacKenzie - and grateful thanks are offered to all the lovely folks that are stepping in to help her move past this setback.

Event Heads Up - "Can't Stop the Serenity"!

Guess what I've been knitting? Yep, more Jayne Hats for the Arizona Browncoats to auction off or use as raffle prizes at the next "Can't Stop the Serenity" Event!

(These are the hats I knitted for last year's event. This year's hats are still short pom poms and a current picture. I'll try to post current pictures later, although this year's hats look strikingly like last year's! ;-) )

Our local Arizona Browncoats group is again plotting to treat Tucson and Phoenix to a showing of "Serenity" to benefit Joss Whedon's charity of choice: "Equality Now, which works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world."
A portion of the charitable screening earnings are often donated to local charities. The Arizona Browncoats have also donated to the "Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona (WFSA), a local Tucson organization devoted to helping women in need get back on their feet."

Sunday, September 16th in Phoenix at Studio Movie Grill Scottsdale.

Saturday, September 22nd in Tucson, at the Fox Theater at 6 PM. 

Based on the Fox Theatre's website, it appears "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" will also be shown with "Serenity"!
(Please pardon the "Ohh, Shiny!" moment - looks like Joss is planning a sequel to Dr. Horrible!)

Aside from the opportunity to enjoy some of Joss Whedon's best work in style at the Fox Theatre, we get to do some good with our ticket purchase and possibly via the Serenity/Sci-Fi inspired shopping opportunities in the lobby.

I think this is a Shindig not to be missed!

Blogiversary - #4 to benefit Doctors Without Borders

Four Years.

Heck, this last year feels like 4 years all by itself. OK, not quite...but it's certainly been eventful.
It's interesting to look over the blog and see the changes from the last few years.

Changes in me too. And changes in my knowledge of blogging, podcasting, knitting, and the internet, as well as what I've learned of other countries from the bloggers and podcasters elsewhere in the world.
{grin} And of my many points of ignorance. S'ok, I'm trainable.

Lots to learn.
So many blog ideas, so little time.

Alright, here's a slightly different approach to this blogiversary.
Have you noticed the spiffy icon that appears to the left of the blog posts that looks lika dis:

I have supported Doctors Without Borders for years. I was tickled to find that many, many other knitters also support DWB, inspired by the Yarn Harlot's Knitters Without Borders fund raising drive that also started years ago.
This is particularly spiffy:
"Since it's inception, Knitters Without Borders has raised a staggering  $1,102,506"!!!!

In honor of my 4th year of blogging, I will donate $20.00 to Doctors Without Borders for the first comment left on this blog post and $10.00 for the next 3 comments left on this post. 
If I have access to your contact information, I will log the donation with Doctors Without Borders as a Tribute to you with my grateful thanks. (My comments don't count. {wry grin})
(Updated 7/14/12...Two comments were graciously left on this post and two donations have been made to Doctors Without Borders in tribute to those commentors! Two comments/donations left to fulfill my blogiversary pledge...do you feel a comment coming on?)

Of course :-),   if you'd like to go to the Doctors Without Borders Website or visit DWB via the Knitters Without Borders Website to post your very own donations, that would be a grand and lovely thing.
I'll let the Yarn Harlot know about our Blogiversary Donations to Doctors Without Borders.
If you drop off a donation yourself, please do let the Yarn Harlot know so the Knitters Without Borders donation tally can be updated!

Thank you for dropping by, comments or no...it has been amazing to see from whence people come to look at the blog. I am very tickled as local Tucsonians visit and gobsmacked that there are also visitors from all around the world. Amazing and humbling. The world is a vast place. Wow.

Blessings Be.

Tucson Quilt Show Apologies

Greetings.
Quickie post/confession.

On Sunday, I had tweeted out 6 pictures from the Tucson Quilters Guild 34th Annual Quilt Show and had indicated I would post more here on the subject. Alas, it was inappropriate for me to have tweeted those pictures or to post on this blog any of the quilt pictures I took.

The tweets have been deleted and you see before you an honest, but colorless blog post. 

Here's the deal.
When I went to the Quilt Show on Friday, I did ask if I could take pictures and the kind hostesses readily answered "Yes".
However, I forgot to ask if I could post them on the blog/the Internet. (Yep, key plot point there...and I usually do ask about the blog option. {sigh})

On Sunday, whilst reviewing the Quilt Show outing with a favored friend (who had been unable to attend the quilt show with me), I made mention of my colorful tweets of the morning. My friend asked if the Quilt Guild would be alright with that sharing. Even as I answered that I'd asked about pictures being OK, I realized I hadn't asked about blogging or tweeting said pictures. (Thank you, Linda, for asking!!)

I checked the Quilt Show program and the Show Etiquette noted folks were welcome to take photographs for "personal use only, unless otherwise specified...".
Hmmmm. That didn't sound like a "go for it" endorsement to brighten up the blog with spiffy quilt pictures.  So I e-mailed my questions to a couple of the Tucson Quilter's Guild contacts Sunday night.

Monday morning I received a very nice response AND an even nicer phone call from one of the Quilt Show Directors. (Yes, I'd fessed up and fully disclosed myself in the e-mail.)

The lack of pictures in this blog tells the tale and also indicates my support and personal feelings that we do need to protect the ideas and patterns of our fellow crafters.

The Quilt Show Director indicated they would consider modifying the photograph etiquette in the Program to clearly state that photographs should not be posted on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
I think that is a grand idea.

So...please take my word for it, the quilts were spectacular (some photos are available on the Guild's website) and inspired me to go look a little longingly at my fabric stash. I'm more of a basic quilter and have mostly made baby blankets. A very little quilting from my stash was covered in this blog post.

Having been pointedly reminded of my fabric stash, I didn't buy much at the Quilt Show beyond two spiffy patterns from the Quilt for a Cause group. I was impressed with their patterns, their premise, and with the charming and lively Jain Barrett, who explained what their group was about and who had also  designed one of the patterns I purchased ("Desert House"). (I also purchased "Scraphunters's Star2 by Evelyn George and Dorothy Lee.")

Thusly, this confession-blog serves as a reminder that we should always ask if we can share pictures on the Internet and offers even more proof that I can be a ditz on occasion.

Yes, I am very chagrined that I inappropriately tweeted quilt pics.
The good news is, I have VERY few Twitter followers (11) and, near as I can tell, the pictures were not re-tweeted.  (Saved by anonymity!)

Empty Bowl Luncheon and unsuccessful but heartening Dog Rescue

Not Empty Bowls:
I got to attend my first Empty Bowl Luncheon to benefit the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on Thursday.
T'was pretty spiffy.
I dropped off a donation and my friend and I purchased "large" bowl lunches (i.e. we got to choose from the larger bowl options). There were hundreds of unique, hand-crafted bowls created and donated by the Southern Arizona Clay Artists. The first one that caught my eye was lovely but struck me as the perfect bowl for my friend - and that is exactly the one that she immediately chose!

I was drawn to several but I ended up going with the first blue and white bowl that struck my fancy.

A variety of local restaurants donated bread and interesting/yummy soups for our luncheon.

Clockwise from left: Chicken with Wine(?) and Wild Rice,
Minestrone,  & a spiced yam soup.
All VERY Yummy!

There was also a silent auction featuring other pieces from the clay craft. Larger bowls, cups, plates, decorated bowls - with different shapes, designs and finishes.
I bid on this bowl and one of the volunteers asked me if I knew who had made the bowl. I confessed I did not and she told me the name of the gent (which I didn't quite catch) and I confessed I still didn't know who that was. She indicated the teacher of the classes at the Kino Community Center had made the bowl I had bid upon.
And I won the silent auction on this lovely bowl and got to bring it home!

(And Gryphon helped me take the pictures!)

I enjoyed the luncheon and the time with my friend. I intend to go again next year, work permitting, and I'll try to get the word out sooner to the "Local Events" mailing group next year.


Dog Rescue Attempted:
Thursday was an interesting day. On the way back to work from the Empty Bowl Luncheon, the traffic slowed to a stop and up at the intersection, I saw two dogs trotting out into the street. I thought they'd turned off onto a side street, but when I got further along, I found they were still trotting along in the bus lane and still wandering out into the traffic.

I was in the middle lane so I passed them and pulled into a parking lot, hoping to lure them out of the street. I could see they were wearing collars and tags and they did pause to look at me...but they didn't stop. However, a well dressed blond in a nice car did stop. We talked briefly...she'd be willing to take them to the Humane Society if we could catch them. And a 3rd person stopped to see if she could help. Her van was actually loaded with alllllll sorts of dog-related stuff for a dog-shelter fund raising event over the weekend - including cans of dog food. The blond woman took a can and hopped in her car and drove off to try to catch the dogs who had moved on down the street - still wandering out into traffic.

The lady in the van lived in the area and called a neighbor to have her check the "Lost Dogs" posters she'd seen recently placed in their neighborhood.
Our duo-trotting-in-the-street didn't match the poster description and the van-lady and I hopped back into our cars and headed down the street to try to catch the dogs again.

We lost the blond lady somewhere and I stopped and tried to get the dogs to come to me two more times. They were now, at least, mostly staying out of the street. On the 4th try, they seriously paused and thought about coming to me.
Another pair of women had stopped to try and help - and they had water for the dogs! But the dogs moved on down the street again. The ladies with the water headed down the street and I tried to join them but traffic had gotten heavier again.

From my position trying to join traffic from a parking lot 60 feet or so from the next intersection - I could see traffic stopping again and the dogs were crossing the street. This is a major street - 3 lanes plus a bus lane - on each side on the median (8 lanes total). I held my breath and I saw them cross safely on the far side of the street - past all the lanes and they trotted off into a residential neighborhood. Interestingly enough...I also saw a family crossing the major street in the cross-walk, coming over  to my side of the street. So maybe the cars stopped for the family at just the right time for the dogs to cross. I don't know - my view wasn't that good.
I was finally able to pull out onto the street and get down to the intersection where I found the water-ladies and the van-lady pulled off the road. The dogs where nowhere to be seen but they were off the major thoroughfare.

Unfortunately, there had also been a fender-bender at the intersection, although we didn't know if it was caused by people stopping for the dogs or the family. No one had been hurt, but 2 cars were dinged up.
A woman in a US Postal Service truck pulled in to deliver the mail and checked in about the dogs too. She hadn't been able to stop to help, but she'd been following their progress.

So - the Dog Rescue had been unsuccessful, but I was heartened that so many people had stopped to try and help.

That day was a blessing. To be reminded that there are so many people in the world willing to take extra steps...to make lovely bowls, bread, and soup, to put on or attend a luncheon to raise funds to help others have food to eat - or even to stop to try and help some dogs get safely out of the street.

Can't Stop the Serenity 2011

The DH, the delayed-twin (little brother) and I went to the "Can't Stop the Serenity" event Saturday night at the Fox Theater Downtown.

Our Arizona Browncoats group once again put together a terrific and fun evening to benefit "Equality Now" and "Women's Foundation of Southern Arizona". I have to say the new location at the Fox Theater was excellent. I thought it to be a friendly, stylish, historical option with bit more room for the event and displays.

There were a few vendors with a variety of spiffy t-shirts, and Serenity/Firefly or steampunk-esque items for sale/viewing - and a plethora of cunning Jayne Hats all made to benefit the CSTS charities!

(You're not seeing things, the yarn colours are different.
There are a variety of yarns mixed into these 3 hats.)

I knitted/donated the 3 Jayne Hats pictured above.
A friend of mine knitted 2 full-sized and a bag o'mini-Jayne Hats. The Arizona Browncoat shop organizer who picked up the hats I donated had crocheted her own bag o'mini-Jayne Hats for the Browncoat shop!

T'was a grand and lovely evening!

I purchased some raffle tickets but my numbers didn't come up. There were two prizes unclaimed when announced and I found out later another friend of mine (who was part of the Az. Browncoat Crew putting on the event) had the winning tickets for both items! (I think - a Serenity Music package and a Serenity book packet.)

I didn't think there were as many participants in the Costume Fashion Show/Contest as last year, but there were some stellar entrants - who deserved to win as they did.

I understand there was a gaming room downstairs featuring Serenity-based games, but I forgot to go explore to see what it was about. (Durn it!)

We were also treated to some additional pre-show entertainment: 2 episodes of "Voyage Trekkers" had the DH chortling plus we saw an episode of Steam-punk Stylish "Mantecoza" (spiffy!).
Then "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" was offered  (already a noted favorite of mine), followed by the pre-Serenity videos/messages from Joss Whedon on the excellent point of why we were all there and why you "Can't Stop the Serenity".
The main event "Serenity" on the big screen capped our evening.

And I did something I've never done before.
I got a henna tattoo on the back of my left hand/wrist. The young lady who did the deed, Bridget, indicated she'd been doing henna adornment for quite a few years and is quite particular (Thank you!) about how she creates the henna paste she uses.
She was also dressed a la Kaylee and participated in the Fashion show - after she paused some of her natural exuberant energy to neatly decorate my hand.
(Bridget contact info: bbensonatpowercdotnet. I understand she will bring her henna art to special events. She will also be at the Spring 4th Avenue Street Fair. )

She had me come back after "Dr. Horrible" when the henna was dry and she taped up my arm to allow the paste to stay put for the best possible stain.

As advised, I left it on overnight and took off my slept-in mummy-wrappings the next morning to see how my henna tattoo turned out:

Spiffy, huh? 

It has darkened some over the past few days as she indicated it would:

All in all, I had a great evening and I hope to attend our Tucson "Can't Stop the Serenity" event again next year.
Grateful thanks to the Arizona Browncoats for their fun, generous and entirely Shiny efforts in putting on a stellar CSTS shindig!
Kudos are also offered to the Fox Theater for supporting and hosting this fine event.

De-stashing with a Charitable twist

Ok, not a lot of de-stashing occurring - just a couple o'skeins. But every little bit helps and these skeins had greater effect as they left my hands.

A la "Ma Cobb", I knit two more Jayne hats to donate to our local Arizona Browncoats group. They picked them up last week for their table at the Phoenix Comic Con next month. I'm awaiting word on the final plan for the hats, be it raffle, display, or auction.

A VERY belated update on the fate of the Entrelac Scarf I donated to the Academy for Cancer Wellness Confetti Gala last October.

I heard that the Entrelac Scarf I donated was sold at the silent auction for $65.00! However, the most gratifying part is: the woman who bought it - pulled it out of the bag after paying for it and ***put it on*** right then and there! She stated she loved the colors in the scarf and she wore it home! That is an amazing compliment and I am ever so pleased!!

Destashing with the help of Ravelry:

In January, I had been pondering a random skein of purply-pink Filatura Di Crosa Centolavaggi lace weight yarn in my stash. Frankly, I was wondering what I would do with it. The pink aspect of the yarn seemed much more prominent to me than it had when I purchased it.

Oddly enough, a few weeks later, I was contacted on Raverly by a young lady who had found the yarn posted in my Raverly stash. She was in need of that particular shade of lace yarn to knit a shawl for a friend's wedding. A friend who's wedding colors were that exact shade of purply-pink.
In trade, she offered me a lovely royal purple shade of the same lace yarn that suits my color preferences much better!

About the same time, I was again found on Raverly by someone who also needed some random yarn.
I'd picked up a ball of Blue Crystal Palace Yarns Puffin Print for a baby project that did not come to fruition.  

However, a woman on Raverly needed one ball to finish a Blanket Buddie for a friend who was having her first baby. She offered to pay for the yarn and shipping, but I had a stray thought and asked that she consider donating $10.00 to $15.00 to Knitters/Doctors without Borders. She had never heard of  Doctors Without Borders or what they do. And - she indicated she thought the donation idea was a good one and would follow through with payment to the charity!

It would appear that sometimes I might "randomly" buy yarn for a purpose...someone else's purpose, perhaps?

The Shaking of the Earth and How We can help

On a trip to California a few years ago, we experienced 2 earthquakes.
Once when we were driving and the car seemed to lurch forward oddly - we thought we were having engine troubles.

The 2nd earthquake that shook us was unnerving, to say the least.
We were awakened in the early morning hours by the rattling of the very heavy hotel room door as though it was a hollow door with someone large and angry trying to come in. My next realization was that the bed was shaking...and it shouldn't have been.
My reaction was to get up and put on my pants with the desperate intent to GET OUT. The shaking stopped before I got zipped up and my husband kept trying to tell me it was over and I didn't need to get dressed. I "explained" that I HAD to go outside...to be outside RIGHT NOW. (No, I do not suffer from claustrophobia.)
We heard later that we'd experienced a 5.9 earthquake. Pretty mild by most Californian's standards.
But that - and the aftershock that shook the truck later as I was loading it, was Way more than I wanted to go through ever again.
The shaking of the earth is not a casual thing.

The earthquake in Haiti last year and the recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan are beyond comprehension.
(The Boston Globe's "The Big Picture" covers the recent earth quake/tsunami with many photos that can only hint at the devistation. The video link I had here seems to have become inaccessible and I removed the link 3/15.)

Shortly after the news came in, the need to help in some way became overwhelming for me:
Red Cross support options to help Japan
Doctors without Borders is in Japan
World Care is collecting supplies and funds to help Japan (Supplies to be donated can be left at Local Walgreens Stores!)
Best Friends Animal Rescue Preparations
Americares
International Rescue Committee
Mercy Corps
Oxfam
Save the Children
World Vision
Actually, this blog seems to cover a lot of good options.

And in case you haven't already gone here:
Red Cross donations to help New Zealand
Ways to help Haiti
World Care Helping Haiti