Exciting Developments in Stacie's Adventures--and a Bonus!

Exciting times! For the past year and a half, since DH's diagnosis with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April 2008, I have been plotting to attack cancer in my own stitchy way. I have been knitting for a cure.

Today I officially opened up shop at etsy, and I hope you will come and visit. To raise funds for the Lymphoma Research Foundation, I have listed gazillions of knitted items I've been amassing through the past year or so. All of the proceeds from your purchases go straight to LRF. There is one catch--I am open for business just through Dec. 31, 2009.

In my shop, you may well recognize some of my scarves, hats, and other hand-knitted items, as I was casting on yet again, working on them, moaning over them, and finally finishing them. For long-suffering devotees of my knitting blog, I have a special perk--mention "blogspot" in the comments section as you check out, and I will waive your shipping fee.

Here are just a few of the items for sale: 

Watermelon Cuddle scarf, from freshisle fibers' mohair/merino blend (and it is so incredibly soft, you cannot believe it!)

Yak beanie, made of a yak/merino blend from A Verb for Keeping Warm.

Felted purse (a version of the Sophie purse) from a wide variety of wools, including some mohair/wool blend from Be Sweet that I got at Stitches West three years ago.

Hope you can stop by and visit, and remember the blog visitor's perk--free shipping!

Movies and Knitting = Relaxation

That's what I've been doing when I get home from school and make dinner--the DH and I most nights get a movie going and eat dinner, and then I knit on whatever strikes my fancy (so many UFOs to choose from!). These are my most recent pieces--

Finished: the wine and blue twin rib scarf (could turn into a gift for DD#3's new college roommate from Colorado); Le Perle alpaca (supposedly washable--hmmm).The crayon jumble scarf--Socks That Rock (Jabberwocky colorway)
The seed stitch wrap--Lambs Pride Super Wash Bulky (Japanese Plum)Several washcloths out of Wick and something else.





UFO THIS close to finished:
The Cocoon scarf in 2x2 ribbing. I'm crazy about Cocoon--great stitch definition and somehow a bit of shine. It does make my nose twitch and my eyes a little itchy though . . . but I bore up under the discomforts because it's so very pretty. I've basically just got two rows and the cast off left but, before that, a repair. I muffed a stitch quite a ways down that I'll need to go in and fix when I've got focus and good light. What I worked hard to hide is that I have a lot of finish work to do. ;^)

As for movies, some great, some OK, a few abandoned.

I like Helen Mirren a great deal, so we watched two nights of her Elizabeth I, and then I enjoyed Calendar Girls a second time. It's a little movie, but I like the character Mirren plays.

We've also seen Mrs. Henderson Presents (Dame Judi Dench is so good at everything!--Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was good too).

A lovely little movie that could have gone way wrong was Lost in Austen, in which 2008 meets Jane Austen's world.

And I loved Priscilla Queen of the Desert (finally! a little late to the party!).

Abandoned: An American Crime. True story, too ghastly and twisted to put ourselves through.

Off to a memorial service for a colleague who died late in September after four years of up and down experiences with cancer. He, his wife and grown daughter, demonstrated a kind of grace about the last weeks that everyone who knows them is in awe of.

Keep knitting, all, and those of you heading into spring, enjoy your warmer weather. We get rain and cooler temps starting next week apparently.

Knitting for Babies

Have been having a great time making booties and a hat that will fit "Baby Bob" for oh, about a week when he debuts in early October. His mom, Danielle, is our admissions director at the MS and liked them when we gifted her at a baby shower last week. Just have to imagine the cap--same yarn of course, 2x2 ribbing. I liked this color combo and thought it works for a boy, born in autumn too. The yarn is one of my favorite yarns for babies (not only, but in my choice-making), Wick by K1C2.

In other Knitting Knews, I've started a seed stitch scarf with a skein of mink that I bought last spring from Great Northern Yarns. This yarn is like buttah, only fuzzy. 8^) Downside to black yarn, as you know, is that unless I knit in bright light, I don't see what I'm doing. So I'm going to rip back several rows where I stopped "seeding" and started "1x1 ribbing."

Still working on several other scarves though, in various patterns. I pick up one and work on it awhile and then go with another. The one I'm doing in mohair blend watermelon colorway from Freshisle Fibers has to wait for cooler weather though, as I cannot knit with anything THAT thick and fuzzy until we get through this heat wave we're having, which threatens to warm up to the triple digits next week.

Now that I'm knee-deep in school again and have taken on yet another role as grade level coordinator for "Students of Concern," I see some knitting but alas not much blogging in my immediate future. Thanks to anyone who sticks with me through RSS feeds etc.

Happy knitting, all!