It's Live!

Here it is folks!  Let the raffle to raise funds for American Animal Rescue Society begin!

First off, here are the prizes:

A Golding Fiber Spindle donated by The Golding Family at Golding Fiber Tools.

This is a 1.4 oz walnut spindle with a 2 1/8"Vintage Silver Inset whorl and hand tooled silver ring.  

Retails for $97

Another Golding Drop Spindle, generously donated by Tom, Diane and Seth Golding at Golding Fiber Tools.

This is a 1.0 oz walnut spindle with a 2" hand painted Russian Lacquer inset whorl and bronze alloy ring.

Retails for $77

1 Skein of Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in the Marigold Colorway.

Generously donated by Sundara Yarn.

50% silk, 50% merino wool. 500 yds, 150 g.  7-9st per inch. US1-2/2-2.75mm needles. Hand wash, cool water.

Retails for $50

1 Skein of Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in the Cobalt over Mediterranean Colorway.

Generously donated by Sundara Yarn.

50% silk, 50% merino wool. 500 yds, 150 g.  7-9st per inch. US1-2/2-2.75mm needles. Hand wash, cool water.

Retails for $50

1 Skein of Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in the Basil over Buttercup Colorway.

Generously donated by Sundara Yarn.

50% silk, 50% merino wool. 500 yds, 150 g.  7-9st per inch. US1-2/2-2.75mm needles. Hand wash, cool water.

Retails for $50

1 Skein of Sundara Fingering Silky Merino in the Mint Julep Colorway.

Generously donated by Sundara Yarn.

50% silk, 50% merino wool. 500 yds, 150 g.  7-9st per inch. US1-2/2-2.75mm needles. Hand wash, cool water.

Retails for $50

                                         

A gorgeous Namaste Zuma in Red.

Donated by Namaste Inc.

Retails for $79 

Matching Namaste Mini Cozy also in Red.  Donated by Namaste Inc.

Retails for $10.50

A Namaste Mini Clutch in Peacock.  Donated by Namaste Inc.

Retails for $45.00

A Namaste Buddy Case in Hollywood Pink.  Donated by Namaste Inc.

Retails for $17.25

1 skein of Socks that Rock in lightweight, Lenka colorway.  Donated by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

100% superwash merino.  360 yds/329m. 4.5oz/127g.

Retails for $20

1 skein of Socks that Rock in mediumweight, Valenscummy colorway.  Donated by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

100% superwash merino.  380 yds/347m. 5.5oz/155g.

Retails for $22.50

1 skein of Autumn House Farm, Summer Sock.  Donated by Ms. Risa of MD.

Colorway Bayougel Beach. Superwash merino/cotton/spandex. 360 yds.

Retails for $20

2 skeins of Noro Yuzen.  Donated by Ms. Risa of MD.

Col. No. 6, Lot A. 56% wool, 34% silk, 10% kid mohair. 50g. 110m. DK weight.

Retails for $9.95 each

1 container of Chamomile Shea Buttah.  Donated by Deneen at Yarns and Musings.

4 oz container - if you haven't tried this stuff, you are missing out! 

Retails for $19.99

And finally - a Knitty Pitty Lego Drop Spindle, donated by myself and Nick.

1.3 oz workhorse spindle - we can customize the color of the shaft.

Retails for $25

1 winner will be chosen for each of these lots:

• 1 Golding Spindle + 1 Lego Spindle + Shea Buttah
• 1 Golding Spindle + 2 skeins Sundara
• 2 skeins Sundara + 2 skeins STR + 2 skeins Noro Yuzen + 1 skein Autumn Sock
• All Namaste Items 

that's 4 separate lots - 4 individual winners!

So here's how to enter!

1. Go to AARSociety's Chip In Page or click the Widget Below.
2. Each $5 donation you make equals 1 raffle ticket.
3. When you make the Paypal donation - please mention ONLINE RAFFLE in the instructions section.
4. After you've made your donation, please leave a comment on the ChipIn page with the number of entries you've made.  Example: "I have 3 entries - your name"

And now for the Raffle Details!  

• Each Raffle entry = $5 donation.  You may enter as many times as you'd like.
• Donations must be done via ChipIn.com - you must have Paypal to use ChipIn.
• Raffle ends on May 22, 2010.
• Winners will be chosen by True Random Number Generator.
• Winners will be announced on my blog on May 23, 2010.  They will also be contacted via their email address used to make the Paypal donation.  
• Prizes left unclaimed by June 11, 2010 will be forfeited by winner and an alternate will be chosen and contacted to claim the prize.  They will have 3 weeks to claim prize before it is also forfeited and another alternate chosen.
• American Animal Rescue Society is a registered 501(c)3 not for profit organization - your donation is tax deductible!

Thank you all SO much for your generosity and support.  American Animal Rescue Society strives to take in as many animals in need as possible, regardless of breed, age, or disability.  100% of your donation goes towards paying down vet bills and our new goal of opening a shelter so more animals will have a safe haven before they find their forever homes.

THANK YOU FOR SAVING A LIFE!

www.AARSociety.org

Questions? Feel free to email me at kchan [at] aarsociety (dot) org

It's Worth The Wait...

I Promise!!!

Not all the items have arrived yet for my raffle to raise funds for American Animal Rescue Society, so the raffle will not begin this week as I had hoped.  But by next week, all the items should be here and we can get rolling!

Are you excited yet?  I have another clue for you... 

one of the raffle prizes are for making rockin' socks - can you handle it?!!

Animals + Knitting = AWESOME.

You are looking at (over there <---) the new Fundraising Director for American Animal Rescue Society! We are a small registered 501(c)3 non for profit, foster run animal rescue based in the Chicagoland area.   We have in foster old dogs, dogs with 3 legs, cats with missing eyes.  We take in the most unadoptable animals from all over the country - because we do not believe that these animals deserve any less happiness than the cute, young animals.  My goal is to get this rescue out of debt and start a savings fund for a physical shelter so we have the space to help even more animals find homes.  I just know we can do it!

So to start, I turned to my other passion and remained in my comfort zone - knitting and spinning.  I've managed to secure a few fantastic (seriously - FANTASTIC) donations from knitting/spinning related businesses and plan to raffle them off here on my blog!  100% of the proceeds will go to AARS.

So keep an eye out ... as soon as some of the items start rolling in, I'll begin raffling them off.  I promise you will not be disappointed... and tell your friends - they'll be so upset if you don't fill them in!  And of course, you'll all sleep happy knowing that you've helped save the life of an animal that otherwise would be put down.

And this sweet sleeping girl?  This is Katy - a 14 year old chow Nick and I are fostering.  She was found abandoned in a foreclosed home in downstate Illinois with 3 other dogs and 15 cats.  Once the owners were notified with how much trouble they were going to be in with Animal Control, they threatened to shoot the animals thinking it would lessen their penalty.  Katy was riddled in fleas, bacteria and parasites.  She is now free from all of those icky things, and has had her bloodwork done to confirm she is healthy! Katy is now adjusting to the good life comfortably while waiting for her forever home!  She may be a mature lady, but she is still happy and spunky and would make an excellent companion for anyone not wanting to deal with the hyper energy of a young pup!

Her vet bills are through the roof - but every penny was worth it to see this dog comfortable and happy.  The difference in Katy from the first day she came to us and now is inspiring.  If you can help sponsor Katy - anything, even a dollar or change! - would be a tremendous help for the rescue.  You can make a donation to the rescue at www.AARSociety.org or to the vet directly;
Naperville Animal Hospital
(630) 355-5300
Client ID#58111

Ok - so after all that, you want a teaser on what might be raffled off?
Here are some (cheesy) clues...

- something gorgeous (but animal and eco friendly!) to tote your yarn around town in
- some silky smooth yarn that shines beautiful, especially in the sun
- a spinning tool that is worth it's weight in gold!

Another New Hobby!!

This is what I got Nick for his birthday - a MasterCraft Mini Lathe.

He's always wanted one, and I was super curious.  I found a used one on Craigslist for a decent deal, and the guy was going to give us tools and a free turning lesson!

Today we went out and bought some purpleheart to play with on his new lathe and here are the results!

Purple Heart is so hard to photograph - the color is so rich in person and the flash just washes it all out.  Fresh cut purpleheart is actually a coffee brown - takes a few minutes of oxygen to turn it that vibrant purple color!  Pretty cool!

They're destined to be orifice hook handles for my vintage spinning wheels - the top more traditional one is done by Nick, the bottom bigger one is done by me.  Not bad for my first try on a lathe, ey?!  I wanted to try out all the tools and techniques in my piece.  It's so much more fun than I expected - and way addicting!! I've warned Nick that I may end up being out in the garage turning more than he will be - but hey, now I'll never have to buy a spinning tool ever again!

i love apples.

they are probably my favorite fruit. really. so versatile, so delicious, so easy.

we went apple picking this past sunday, it was our first time and we don't even know if we went to a good orchard or not but it didn't matter - the weather was fantastic and we had a wonderful time!

their season had been extended this year due to high yield.  being so late into the season, we weren't sure if we would get a lot of good ones, but  it was 16 acres of gorgeous trees, filled with fresh apples still!

it was a blast, fresh picked apples are so amazing.  we tasted every type, quickly discovered which we liked and which we didn't, and had so much fun in the gorgeous weather, just eating and stuff apples in a bag.

nick had brought a little swiss army knife with him, which came in handy because some of the apples were so tough to get through their skin.

i, of course, am a giant fat kid and didn't need a stupid knife to get to my apples.  i think i ate double what nick ate just in the orchard alone.  especially when i found the fuji apple tree...

then there were these goats... 

this one had a beard.  or we thought it was a beard. turned out, it was just a lot of burrs stuck under his chin.  he didn't seem to care though.

here's what we came home with.  10 lbs of fresh picked apples, and a cat who was not impressed.  he likes doritos, fries, cake frosting and spam - but not apples.

and check this out!  nick saw this and just had to bring it home.  it's a blue hubbard squash, weighs about the same as a large turkey and looks like one too!  lady at the orchard said it was completely edible and gave us a recipe.  we can't wait to try it out!  it's so huge, she told us we would have to smash it on the concrete to break it into manageable pieces!

so for now until winter, it sits on my front steps along with the 3 little green pumpkins we accidently grew in our old apartment garden!

lots of catching up...

been kind of blah since we moved.  it was really stressful and in conjunction with this craptacularly dreary weather we've been having, half my brain shut down.

but, things are starting to settle back to normal - the house is feeling more like home, the animals are finally recognizing the new routine and actually know where the door is!  there's still lots to be done, but something broke down inside me and finally allowed me to tell myself that it will get done.  it just doesn't need to be done right at this moment.  

not much knitting or spinning accomplished since the move.  i've been knitting a few rows here and there of my dad's christmas socks but only because they are straight stockinette.  i need very much for knitting to be completely brainless at the moment, so the sleeves of my mom's Serrano Cardigan will just have to wait a little while more.

however, i did take a nicer picture with my actual camera of my yarn cabinet to show off.  my stash, of course, was one of the first things to be unpacked and organized!  it's one of a pair of antique chinese curio cabinets brought over from china by my dad's father over 20 years ago.  anyone that knows me knows that i'm quite fond of antique pieces and i've been fortunate enough to receive several items from my grandparents for the new house.  i'm so proud to call them mine.

still waiting to be CO and completed before christmas:

1. grandma's Petra Cardigan

2. judy's socks (haven't picked a pattern yet!)

3. nick's Some Assembly Required

4. soul's Endpaper Mitts

5. chuck's Sackboy

6. marianne's Sideways Bobble Hat

7. jo's Floopy Hat

8. my Prairie Boots house slippers

and a couple misc. generic guy's beanies for random guy friends.

yeah.

better get that knittin' mojo back right quick...

looks like we're in business!

We sold the Lego spindle.  Nick was just curious if anyone would be interested.  I posted it on Ravelry in the middle of the night (because that's when I get the most done!) and by 11 am the next day - it was sold to fiberfreek in California!

We were super nervous about it - not knowing how well it would hold up in shipping, how well it would hold up to other people's spinning habits and expectations, just nervous!  Well what a waste of energy!

Here's the feedback I just received:

re: leggo spindle

Sent at 3:58 PM Today

I am so hooked! Love this spindle!!!!! Would you be able to do a wholesale price? If so, what would your minimum order be???

When I do order, is it possible to get a slightly larger hook?????

Thanks!
Jamie

BTW the yarn is made up of several co-workers who wouldn’t ordinarily give a hoot about spinning etc.!! The spindle was too much!! They had to have a spin!!!! It spins so smooth, long and with VERY little back spin! perfect for teaching I think!!!!

His LYS is interested in carrying a truly unique spindle, and ours may be chosen!  I'm not holding my breath, but I am staying optimistic!  All things come in threes - so we've got the house, the spindle business... and??

(a bunny! please let it be a bunny!)