CCFA Fundraiser: Update

Incredibly, it is the last day of April!

So, a quick update as we move into month 2 of the fundraiser.

Things have been moving slowly, which it to be expected when a fundraiser lasts 2 months. We're holding steady at $65.

Don't let time slip away from you, though--May is the LAST month of the fundraiser, and with Mother's Day and Memorial Day to be celebrated, it tends to disappear quickly.

Don't forget all those amazing prizes up for grabs--donate just $5 and you'll be entered to win! (Isn't that the price of a dinky little latte at Starbucks these days?)

Like this copy of Haiku Knits, donated to our cause by the awesome Betty over at Binding Off, which arrived in the mail just the other day. There are some gorgeous patterns in here just waiting to be tackled by a generous knitter like yourself.

So. Donate today. Every $5 you donate = 1 prize drawing entry. Share one of my Tweets or Facebook posts or Pins about the fundraiser to earn yourself extra prize entries just for spreading the word.

And don't forget, every single person who donates will receive an exclusive new sock pattern from yours truly! These socks are called Pumpkin Butter, and I just love them. I hope you will too.

Saturday Sampler: Mother's Day Gift Knits

(I enjoy doing these sampler posts, but the trouble is, they require the kind of aimless Internet wandering I have much less time for these days. Still, I will try to post them more frequently!)

So, Mother's Day is, astonishingly, 2 weeks away.

I know!

Stumped for gift ideas? Here are a few items you can finish in time!

With or without beads, Arroyo will be a hit--and it's free!

Photo courtesy of Alana Dakos

Alana Dakos' Cedar Leaf Shawlette is another great spring piece that's quick to knit in DK weight.

Photo courtesy of Knit Picks

And this is the one I'm going to attempt--from the Gloss Collection (featuring my Penny Vest), this sweet little Captivating Capelet should work up quickly in DK (and sans beads).

Photo courtesy of Anne Hanson

Anne Hanson's Fallberry Mitts will fend off a spring chill, despite the name. Another free pattern!

Photo courtesy of Susie Rogers

And you can't go wrong with Susie's Reading Mitts.

Photo courtesy of Jared Flood

Maybe it's still hat weather where you are? Try Jared Flood's Porom--airy enough for spring, but works up quickly in DK weight.

Attack of the Yarn-eating Monster

A thing happened to me last week.

A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad THING.


I was sifting through the stash, trying to get my inventory updated, when I spied . . . something. Something that simply didn't belong. Something . . . buglike.

This little monster is a carpet beetle. AND HE WILL EAT YOUR YARN.

First I spotted just one and figured it was a fluke. But then I saw another. And another. Five miserable little buggers all told in my DK weight bin.

And then.

THEN!

A yarn cake. With mysterious ends poking out in various spots. And then another.

Not good.

Not good, not good, not good.

ALL of my yarn was bagged up and stuffed into our deep freezer. (Yet another reason to have one--it certainly wouldn't have fit in our kitchen freezer.) I spent what felt like years vacuuming my studio, wrestling the attachments into my yarn bins and every other nook and cranny that might be hosting a yarn-eating monster.

For a week, I felt lost, adrift in a sea of half-used skeins and projects that couldn't be started.

I was finally able to rescue it yesterday:

Welcome home!

Then it was time to get down to the task of inspecting and bug-proofing.

  

I checked each and every skein for damage, and am happy to report that I found none. I won't really be sure until I try to use them, but it seems the feast was limited to 2 old skeins of O-Wool.

 

I'm not taking chances anymore though. 

 

 

Every skein in my stash will now be stored in an airtight bag. That's still no guarantee, but it's something.

I zipped them all up, crammed them back into the bins, and breathed a sigh of relief that the outcome hadn't been worse.

I sometimes feel like my stash is an art collection: carefully curated over the years, reviewed semi-annually to get rid of pieces that don't fit, gazed upon lovingly in off hours. It's just heartbreaking that something would try to eat it.

Wittle Wednesdays: Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection

It is Wednesday, right?

Sometimes I'm not even sure anymore.

I know it's April.

Or, I'm pretty sure.

Wittle Wednesday this week is dedicated to a knit I finished a while back, but didn't have a baby to use to showcase. I decided to go ahead and post it, because I wanted to talk about Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection too.

This sweater was originally started for JJ, and then by the time it was done, it was too small. So it will be going into storage for baby #2.

(Did I mentioned that baby #2 is a boy? It's a boy! Another boy!)

The pattern is Beatrix, and can be found in Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection, a delightful  set of practical and timeless baby knits, all featuring the beautiful Fibre Company yarns.

This pattern calls for Acadia. I happened to have a little, so I used it for the contrast color, and used up some Knit Picks City Tweed DK for the main color.

I knit the 6-12 month size, and I think 12 months would probably be pushing it. Based on just this sweater, I would guess the patterns might run a bit small, but you can remedy that by actually measuring your baby, and not just winging it. 

The entire piece is knit in garter stitch, so it's full of squishy goodness, and the body is knit in one piece, with mitered shaping on the front.

 It has just one button, so I picked a decorative one I had in my collection.

I love the grown up-looking collar on this piece, and can't wait to see it on a squishy baby this fall!

Photo courtesy of Kelbourne Woolens

This is the first piece I knit from the KW Baby Collection, but won't be the last. There are some great patterns in here. Like Collette:

 Photo courtesy of Kelbourne Woolens

Pretty girlie, but in the right colors and sans the hearts, I think it will work for a boy.

And Nellie is the cutest little unisex jumper:

Photo courtesy of Kelbourne Woolens

 Many of these patterns are fairly simple and straightforward, which is the beauty of it all: as a new or expecting mom, you often don't have the energy or brain power for something complicated. At your best, you might be able to work simple patterns like these out on your own. But on 3 hours' sleep, you just want someone to tell you what to do.

My only concern with this collection is that, while the Fibre Company's yarns are absolutely beautiful, many of them are delicate and perhaps not baby/kid friendly. So I would suggest taking that into consideration when deciding whether to knit your projects in the recommended yarns (perhaps for special occasion pieces?) or to opt for heartier yarns.

If you enjoy baby knits, I highly recommend this 13 pattern collection. You can buy the ebook through Ravelry for $15, or grab a print copy on Amazon for $13 + shipping.

CCFA Fundraiser: Social Media

We're off and running--$65 in our first week, not too shabby! Let's keep the momentum up--and don't forget those great prizes you could win!

If you're looking for those social media links to share, it's as easy as checking out my profiles on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter, where I've been posting like crazy.

They look like this:

And this:

And this:
 

 So make your donation, follow those links, share/pin/retweet those posts, support a great cause, and be entered to win fantastic prizes! GO GO GO!

CCFA Fundraiser - Let's Go!

 
It's time!

Time to start the big 2014 fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America!

You have from today, April 1, until May 31 at midnight to make a donation through this link.

And why would you want to do that?

Well, let me tell you.

First, EVERY SINGLE person who donates will receive a brand new SURPRISE pattern from yours truly.

Here's what I can tell you about it: it's socks. And they're stranded. And they're pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

This new pattern will remain a super secret until the fundraiser ends and prizes have been awarded, so donors will be the very first people to get a copy.

But that's not the real incentive.

No, the real incentive is this AMAZING collection of prizes!


Joelle from Wandering Wool is offering up this gorgeous skein of her High Peaks sock yarn, a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend, in Copper Penny.

 Shayla from Alina Shea Creations has donated 2 beautiful skeins of yarn. First, this skein of MCN Shmerino Moon in the Belladonna colorway:

And this skein of Crystal Moon Merino/Silk blend in Sweet Pea--an exclusive club colorway that is not available for purchase!

This lovely skein of Verdant Gryphon in Dyeing Poison Frog is up for grabs:

Plus, this skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Sport in Well Water:

A 4 oz braid of blue-faced leicester from Misty Mountain Farm, in colorway Cantaloupe:

Hillary from The Yarniad (creator of Citron, one of the best patterns ever--and FREE!) has offered a bunch of pattern downloads for this giveaway! That means you could get this:

 Glacerie

Or this

 Luna Viridis

Or this

Lysa

Or another pattern in her Ravelry shop. FIVE people will win a pattern download from Hillary, because she's super awesome like that.


A very thoughtful blog reader, Betty, has donated a copy of the book Haiku Knits for this fundraiser.

You can see all the designs in this Japanese-inspired volume here.

I also have a copy of Contemporary Irish Knits to give away

And a copy of Fitted Knits

Wow. That's quite a collection of prizes, right?

And I'm hoping to add a few more before our 2 months are up! But more on that later . . .



For every $5 you donate, you'll get one entry into a drawing for one of these fantastic prizes. So $10 = 2 entries, $25 = 5 entries, etc. I'm sure you can do the math.

I'll also give you additional entries for using social media sites to spread the word about the fundraiser. In the very near future (possibly tonight, but let's face it: it took me the entire day to write this blog post, so more likely tomorrow), you'll find a pin on my Pinterest page, a link on MediaPeruana Designs' Facebook page, and a tweet on Twitter about this fundraiser. Repin, share, and/or retweet, and I'll give you an extra entry in the drawing.

(Sorry, sharing is caring, but these drawing entries are additional; you have to make a donation too!)

And don't forgot: please don't donate anonymously! You don't have to give your full, real name if you prefer not to, but I need some way to identify you.

I think that covers the basics, but if you have any questions, be sure to email me at mediaperuana at gmail.com.

Now, let's start raising some money!