and the winner for September is...

...with ticket #233,...

Ariel!

Congratulations, Ariel. You'll be getting an email from me shortly---I will need your address. Photo of the fabulous prize package to follow shortly.

I really can't thank all of you enough for your amazing generosity in this fundraiser. We crashed through last year's total and have ended up with a whopping $1400 for the AHA Heart Walk, Team Nova. That's 280% of our original $500 goal for this year.
Amazing.
Amazing.

and August's winner is...

...with ticket #99, Regina!


Description to follow.
(also included, but not pictured, a $20 gift certificate from PippiKneeSocks)

Congratulations, Regina!

YIPE! It's July!

Time for another prize drawing! Sorry I didn't get this posted on the first.

With ticket #61, our winner for July is......

Darra!

Congratulations, Darra! I will have a photo of your prize package posted tonight or tomorrow, depending on how things are going here today. I didn't want to wait until the photo is ready to announce the winner.

Two drawings to go! Thank you all for your contributions and for continuing to spread the word.

my Lantern Moon basket overfloweth, aka, the winner is...

But first, what are we playing for?

From top left, more or less...

A skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids (420 yards of luxury merino fingering weight), donated by the fantastic Michelle of The Sweet Sheep

Handmade sheepy notecards from Krafty1 Designs

Ten (count 'em, 10!) skeins of Lavish superfine alpaca donated by last year's top winner, Nancy

(starting over at the next row)

A skein of sock yarn from All Things Heather in pinks, purples and blues

two skeins of Heilo to knit "We Call Them Pirates" hat by Hello Yarn (or whatever you choose, but that's what I would choose)

A sheepy notepad, contributed by wonderful Angie, without whose help this fundraiser wouldn't be nearly as good as it is

(back to the front row in the basket)

Aloe and Comphrey lotion donated by the fabulous Ronni

A skein of Hand Spun Australian wool generously donated by my crack dealer Cider Moon

(in front)

four skeins of Sugar 'n Cream, also from Angie

a bar of Naked soap, which is a righteous bar of unscented and uncolored soap, made by me

All of of it is packed into (and in front of) a Lantern Moon drawstring box, woven with seagrass and lined with silk.

Some non-melting goodies will be stowed away with all of that and will soon be on its way to...

...ticket #144, Jesse! Congratulations, Jesse! Jesse is blogless, as far as I know--please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jesse will also get to choose a nice selection of patterns donated by Harvest Moon Designs.

We still have three more drawings to go--please keep spreading the word! Huge thanks to all of you for helping to blow through the first two goals!

the second prize drawing

will be held a little later today. I am putting together the box of goodies and will post a photo along with the name of the winner. So put on your lucky flip flops (because, really, it's too hot for anything else) and meet me back here this afternoon.

May 1 drawing prize box (aka, Kim's loot)

From the top, sort of...

Twisted Flower sock pattern by Cookie A.

project bag made by Amanda of bulldogknits

Zen Knitting Garden handpainted cashmere, donated by Michelle of The Sweet Sheep

Glacier in Juneau, donated by Cider Moon

Online Supersocke 100, donated by Ronni

two skeins Claudia Handpainted fingering weight in Tropicana

wooly lamb notebook, donated by Angie

4 skeins of Sugar 'n Cream, donated by Angie

Aloe & Comphrey lotion, donated by Ronni

handmade soap made by yours truly

Scarlet Fleece handpainted in I See Red! colorway

In addition to the things you see, Kim also gets to choose her favorite colorway in Socks That Rock (lightweight or mediumweight), plus her choice of an assortment of patterns from Harvest Moon Designs and a few other goodies that you can't see in the photo.

I told you these packages were going to be pretty nice! And there are four more still to come!

and the winner of the first drawing is...

Kim D., with ticket number 84.

Congratulations, Kim! I'll be sending an email in case you're not reading here. A photo of the goodies will be posted tomorrow.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed, so far, and please keep spreading the word--we have four more drawings to come!

Lindy Rocks

I believe I've used that title before, in one form or another. Lindy won my blogiversary contest and was to receive three skeins of Noro Kureyon. But I got a lovely email from her and this is part of what she said:

"...add the kureyon to the prizes for the Team Nova Draw. I'd like it to go towards this wonderful cause."

So the lovely Kureyon is added into the goodies for the drawing. Lindy, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You rock. Please pop over to her blog and tell her so...and tell her she needs to update more often!

prize update of the evening #2: handpainted cashmere!

This is just one of a handful (actually, it's more like two heaping handfuls) of yummy stuff that Michelle of The Sweet Sheep sent for the prize drawings. It's Zen Yarn Garden's handpainted 100% cashmere: 400 yards of it. The colorway is Paradise Fish and the label recommends using a US 0-1 for 7-8 sts/inch. 100% cashmere. Let me say that once more. Cashmere. All of it.

Michelle was so kind to speak up on the very first day of the fundraiser and offer to donate something for our prizes. If you haven't been to The Sweet Sheep, you really should. Michelle has a great selection of yarn by indie dyers as well as the standards. And, as I said, this skein is just one of the great things she sent to be included. More photos to come! Michelle, thank you again!

prize update of the evening #1: Lavish!

That's what Nancy, last year's top winner, donated to be included in the prize drawings. It's an unopened pack of 10 skeins of Lavish--109 yards/50g of 100% superfine alpaca in a really lovely soft peach color. I am keeping myself from tearing open the package to feel just how nice this yarn is. Thank you so much, Nancy!

gratuitous Lydia pic

I have more prize photos to add including some of things I haven't told you about, yet (a hint: hand dyed cashmere). Good, good stuff. Dental drama with Ben that has had me on the edge has delayed getting them off the camera and up here, but watch this spot and they should appear later today.

If you click on the "prizes" tag at the bottom of this post, you can see all of the prize posts together.

another peek...

...at something that will be in the first prize package drawing on May 1:

This super cute bag is made by none other than Amanda of bulldogknits. How cool is that fabric? And it's lined in a great coordinating print. The bag is the perfect size for toting a small project. It even has wee snaps on either side of the handles. Thank you, Amanda!

Photo courtesy of Amanda and the needles are shown for size reference.

teaser...

In addition to many other wonderful yarn-y delights, the winner of the first prize drawing will get to select a skein of Socks That Rock in lightweight or mediumweight in the colorway of their choice. And folks, that's just the beginning.

Please help spread the word!

Oh, and if anyone knows how to add one of those nifty goal bar things to the sidebar, I'd love to hear from you. gretchenknits at gmail dot com

added to fabulous box o'prizes:

These were contributed by Ronni, whose family was touched by congenital heart defects.



Ronni sent five bottles of Aloe and Comphrey lotion that she makes herself. There are five different wonderful scents, full of wonderful, skin soothing ingredients. One will go into the box of prizes for each drawing.

She also sent two skeins of of yarn: the first is Seacoast Handpainted Panda in the Mountain Rainbow colorway. It's a merino/bamboo/nylon blend and so pretty--soft with a lovely sheen. I've been wanting to see Panda up close after seeing it online so many times and it is now officially on my want list.

The second is Online Supersocke 100 in color #805. To have a peek at this fun jacquard print all knitted up, click here and then supersize the photo.

Thank you so much, Ronni!

In further prize news, Nancy, last year's top winner has asked to contribute to our prize pool for this year! She has given me an idea of what will soon be on its way and it's something good! More details once it arrives.

Angie and I are truly humbled by the outpouring of generosity from the online knitting community for this fundraiser. Thank you all so much.

One last thing, don't forget about my blogiversary contest-- 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon will go to a randomly chosen winner. All you have to do it post a little something about this fundraiser on your blog, link it to me and then leave a comment to let me know. Drawing to be held next week, 4/25.

oh, the beauty!

They are now safely nestled back in their protective bags, but for a little while they were showing off for my camera this morning. Here are the promised photos of the Cider Moon yarn for the prize drawings. Each of these will be in one of the drawings (along with lots of other stuff), in order to spread the Cider Moon love around. I have them linked to Cider Moon's photo of the colorway on some of them. I am using the dark monitor (the laptop's cord connection place is trying to withdraw inside like a turtle head when we connect it) and don't want to risk misrepresenting the colors because they are so gorgeous!

First, Flurry in the Hot Flash colorway. This is the first one I saw as I openened the package and oh, it is gorgeous! 440 yards/110g of superwash merino that will knit up to approx. 8 sts/inch on US 1's. I had already been eyeballing this colorway on Cider Moon's website and now I am sold! I am nearly certain I haven't captured the colors on this one, so please click to Cider Moon's photo of the colorway to get a better idea.

Next, handspun! This is 100% Australian wool in their Blue Highway colorway. 75 yards/105g. Recommended needle size US 13+ with 6 wpi. Is it just me or is there some kind of magic taking place when the strands are plied together like this?


Adagio in Serenade! This yarn is so soft that the first thing I told Angie when describing it was, "I want a pillow made of this!" 64.5 yards/110g with a gauge of approx. 3 sts/inch on US 13's. It's 92% mohair with 5% wool and 3% nylon.

And last but absolutely not least, one of my favorite yarns, Glacier, in Juneau. This is the yarn I used for Billiam's socks (in Johnny Cash) and I can personally tell you it's a pleasure to knit it up. Really soft and squishy, it's 253 yards/110g of superwash merino and knits up at approx. 5.5 sts/inch on US 4's. Cider Moon has a great pattern for socks (free!) called Camp Fire. It's easy to memorize but still plenty interesting. Hope and Clara both made grabbing motions at this when I was showing all of the yarn to them.

Again, huge thanks to Jacki and Gail for their generous contribution to the prize drawings!

Remember, $5 = five chances (one in each of the drawings). Just click on the paypal link up at the top of the sidebar.

Coming soon: my blogiversary contest!