Happy Movember

What's Movember, you ask? Well, let the Movember Foundation About Movember page answer that in detail for you. In short, men and women around the globe are growing moustaches. For a good cause! Yes, you heard me -- growing moustaches for a higher purpose than just looking cool. I ask, "Are you growing that moustache to be an ironic hipster, or are you raising awareness of men's health issues?" If you're into Movember, it's the latter.

I have to say I LOVE this idea. I found that a blog I like to visit, Natural Papa, has been participating by creating a 'stache video every day this month. Then I found out that one of my coworkers is doning the 'stache, too. What better way to start a conversation than casually waltzing into the office sporting a moustache?

If you'd like to support these worthy causes, such as LIVESTRONG and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, click the link above and donate today.

Oct. 24 Save the Date for Bundles of Love

If you're in the Twin Cities, please consider coming out to a fun fundraising event for Bundles of Love. It's for a great cause -- babies!!!

What: Bundles of Love Fundraiser Dinner & Silent Auction
When : Saturday, October 24th 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: TriCity American Legion
400 Old Highway # 8 N.W.
New Brighton, MN 55112
What: Dinner, silent auction and a night of fun.
Why: Because with your assistance Bundles of Love Charity can help more Minnesota babies receive the basics they
deserve.

We are delighted to invite you to join us in celebrating our tenth anniversary at our Annual Fall Fundraiser. It will be held at the Tricity American Legion (400 Old Highway 8 NW, New Brighton, MN 55112 • (651) 631‐1124) on October 24th from 6-pm. The tickets will be $15 a person for a delicious dinner of marinated chicken breast, whipped potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables and tossed salad or Fettuccine with broccoli (our vegetarian choice). Amazing desserts will be provided by our volunteers. In addition to dinner we will be having a silent auction of items that were donated by local organizations and a raffle with first place being a Toro snow thrower and second place being a Llyod Security system. Kindly RSVP to Deb Persing by sending $15 per ticket to

Deb Persing
1352 155th Ave NW
Andover, MN 55304
Hope to see you there!!

The raffle tickets will be sold for a $5 donation.

First place is a Power Clear Toro Snow Thrower, Model 38583

Second place is a GE Concord 4.0 basic system- 2 doors, a keypad, 3 window contact and a motion Installed. A $395 value!

Finally Finished with the Baby Blanket Project

Here I sit, wasting time blogging and reading blogs and lolly-gagging around the internet. You'd think I didn't have ANYTHING better to do. Oh, WAIT! I DON'T! That's right -- after four months (more?) of knitting almost every night, I finished my first charity knitting project. It's luckily large enough for a baby, and it's got no major flaws, so I think it's destined to be part of a bundles of love bundle! The feather and fan knitting pattern didn't turn out half bad with two colors. I actually kind of love how down the middle you can really see the curve of the pattern. The pattern was free if you'd like to try it.

Here's what was running through my mind as I knit this blanket over the last several months:
1. I have a really short attention span; why did I choose a blanket?
2. I am expecting my first nephew; should I be knitting for him?
3. I am totally going to run out of teal yarn (which happened)
4. I'd rather be sewing
5. I could get a lot more knitting done if there weren't so many White Russians to drink or bags of microwave popcorn to eat
6. I wonder what sort of baby will get this blanket...? A cute one? A happy one?
7. Am I done yet?

Well, I'm finally done, and I think Bundles of Love will be much better off if I knit some smaller items for them in the future. Otherwise, lots of babies will have cold nights from lack of blankets because of my slowness. Maybe tiny sweaters is more my speed.

In other news, we (like every hipster in town, apparently) hit the Craftstravaganza this weekend. It was nice to see some of the awesomest and most friendly people I know, and we were glad to pick up the next size bigger of our kiddos Charlie and Sarah gear. This time we let Wee Pumpkin pick his own and much to our surprise he chose "aar" (car) over lorry (truck).

Feather and Fan Progress

I have a notoriously short attention span when it comes to (well who am I kidding, everything) knitting projects. So why I decided it was a good idea to knit a blanket for charity, I'll never know. Maybe it was because that's what they said they needed most. Maybe I thought, hey, it's for a baby, and babies are small, right? They need small blankets, right? Wrong.

I already ran out of the yarn I planned to use so had to come up with a clever alternate color when I realized that buying more of the original teal would not pan out as it had been discontinued. In fact I got a computer virus trying to Google search to find more of it when I finally gave in and got the chocolate brown to finish the blanket. My thought is that it will be exactly half teal, half brown. Hey, it's gender-neutral! Bonus!

All frustration aside, I actually really love the pattern. I don't think it's turning out half bad. God bless Ravelry, right?? I can knit it in front of the TV, and I'm really looking forward to proudly handing it over to the ladies at Bundles of Love. I mean, last year I spent the whole year growing my hair out for a cause -- why not spend the whole year knitting for a cause? Lookout, next year it's going to be knitting a bus cozy for some sort of cause. That's at least a two-year project, right?

Anywho, next up in knitting I'm going to try to make the Purl Soho baby placket sweater for a certain wee one's cousin-to-be. I heard this pattern was a little wonky as first published; anyone know if this is the corrected one?

Feather and Fan Knitting for a Cause

I am finally doing it! I am finally crafting for a cause! I have this great blanket in the works that is coming along well, and the pink hat is up for sale in my Etsy shop (buyer gets to pick the charity of their choice for 100% of the cost). I'm feeling so productive! I hope I can finish up my blanket so I can start knitting something for wee ones soon-to-be boy cousin. Weeeeeeee! Maybe this year will be my year of knitting!

The blanket pattern is called Merino Stripes Feather and Fan. I'm not knitting it in a self-striping yarn. I'm just using some acrylic yarn I have around. Bundles of Love requires non-wool yarns, presumably so they may be washed easily. If I knit something for them again in the near future, I think it will be a sweater. I think it'd be much less time-consuming to finish. And, hey. I'm an instant gratification girl, but at least I know that about myself.

Got any good knitting projects going on? I'm addicted to Ravelry and cannot stop adding projects to my favorites!

Finishing up the Pixie Hat

I finished knitting the pixie hat -- tiny little yarn on tiny little needles so it took me LOTS of hours. All good times, though, spent in front of the television. And I still cant't decide if it's in fact pink, or not. Ho hum. Well, my kid does not need another winter hat, so I think I might either donate it or sell it and donate the money. As much as I'd love to slap some nipples on it (suggestion compliments of my favorite nipple-crafter, thanks!) I think it's got to go to some good cause. I gotta get my karma juiced up this year so my whole new life plan comes to fruition for me. That's how that stuff works, right??

Well, new life plan or not, lately I'm just feeling really darn lucky to have a job at all. And really lucky I have one that's good enough to support all three of us. Yikes, it's ugly out there. I'm taking the approach of not turning on the TV or opening the newspaper. I just don't want to know sometimes. I am "cautiously optimistic" which seems to be a phrase I hear quite a bit lately.

Anyway, I started knitting a new baby blanket for charity, which is really just my lame excuse for sitting and watching loads of bad TV. And drinking wine. No harm in that really, right??

Staying Inside, Reading Books

We have been cooped up in the house during the cold snap, but it hasn't kept us down. Tonight, feeling the need for a little comfort food, I made "the boys" a dinner of wa-chos. It's waffle fries, covered in a bag of frozen "tex mex" mix like black beans, corn, and peppers and then slathered in melted cheddar jack cheese. O.MY.GOD. You must try it. It takes 20 minutes to make, it's cheap, and it warms you up!

After dinner, wee one made himself a bed out of his books. He's really into moving things from one place to another and then moving them back. Repeat. For example, he could entertain himself for a good 15 minutes taking his crayons out of the baggie they're in and putting them back. Of course, it helps that I say "KA BOOM!!!" every times he drops one in the bag. It elicits lots of giggles.

I've got a new volunteer opportunity in the works. I'll be knitting up a storm for Bundles of Love. Turns out they make bundles of stuff for babies in need in Minnesota. They have a group that meets near me, so I'm hoping to crank out a few things for their next meeting. If you're interested in joining me for a little knit along, let me know. I'm trying to gauge interest.

Goodbye Long Hair!

I cut my hair off today to donate to Beautiful Lengths. They require at least 8 inches, and I luckily had 9 or so, so I was able to keep a little length. It felt so amazing to see all that hair go! It's refreshing to have the short summer 'do again. Right now I'm drying the ponytails we cut off so I can send it in. It's a great feeling to have a sense of accomplishment and also a sense of having a fresh start. Who knows, maybe this is just the beginning of another ponytail donation!

Gearing up to Loose My Locks

I'm super excited! I'm going to cut all my hair off! It's been 8 months or so since I had it cut last and I finally have enough to donate to Beautiful Lengths for women suffering from hair loss due to cancer. They require 8 inches and I'm up to about 9 or 10 now, so May 6th it's all getting chopped and I'll be sporting a new summer 'do!

Now the hard part: what summer 'do should I do? I have curly hair, so it's got to be something that doesn't require straightening. I used to check this "mad rad hair" site for hair ideas, but I think I lost my bookmark. Where's a good place to look? Hair magazines? Hmmm...

Resolve to be Crafty and Good

One thing I would like to "resolve" to do this year is to apply craft to good causes. I've thought about working out a way for all of the vendors at No Coast Craft-o-rama to donate handmade items to families in need of holiday gifts. I've always wanted to attend Crafty Planet and the Rollergirl's Charity Knit Nights. But this year, I'm really hoping to do something. Maybe not something grand or world-changing, but something.

If you think you might want to do the same, I have compiled some interesting resources that bring together doing good and doing craft.

--Here's an academic cause -- a professor at Gustavus Adolfus teaching a course on the Geography of Knitting.
--Check out the Craftivism.com website for a list of crafty causes
--Mother Bear Project, run by a woman in Minnesota
--MN Rollergirls Knit for Charity (next meeting is tomorrow, 1/5)
--Project Linus makes blankets for kids who are seriously ill or otherwise in need (all kinds, knit, crochet, whatever!)
--CareWear provides handmade items to hospitals
--Chemo Caps

What others are out there? Any recommendations or additions?