maggistitches

Another Made Thing (Facebook version)

I handed over the fourth item I made as a result of the Facebook promise detailed below in the Thanksgiving post. I knitted a wrap for Amy from three skeins of Knit One Crochet Too Mousse, a mohair blend that's also variegated in color. I swooped at her while she was greeting some other friends before the Christmas eve service began at church, so it wasn't really a place for me to gauge a response. The thing is huge: 13 x 96 inches, knitted on US9s with some yarnovers and garter rows but no pattern. I hope she likes it. 

 

Christmas snapshots

The Cherub choir sings on Christmas Eve, the boots Santa brought me, Little B this morning trying out her new cooking set.

Help 20 Non-Profits

Are you on Facebook? Have you received requests about the Chase Community Giving Program? My friend Scottie Caldwell is an artistic associate, founding donor & staff member of Sideshow Theatre Company in Chicago ("Familiar Stories. Unorthodox Methods. Perpetually curious.") Sideshow is participating in this incredible grant opportunity: Chase is awarding $25K to 100 small non-profits across the country, all based on the number of votes cast for each company on Facebook.

Just recently, Sideshow was in the top 100. But just barely. They've been working their talented butts off for weeks on this project, and the results are showing. IT IS A TIGHT RACE, and even a handful of votes could mean the difference between a huge grant and no grant at all. There's just today and tomorrow left to vote. This grant would cover more than HALF of Sideshow's current annual budget. And it is totally within reach--they just need your help, now. Sideshow, with a volunteer staff of 11 people, is competing against other non-profits ten times its size. They need your help. Everyone gets 20 votes, and you can only use one vote per company. If you have friends working for other non-profits, vote for them too.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1. Vote! It takes literally 20 seconds and four clicks of a mouse, and you can do it here on Facebook.
2. Encourage others to vote for Sideshow. Tell all those friends you have on Facebook about Sideshow. Get them as excited about this company as you are. Even just posting it as your Facebook status or Tweeting the link above could mean $25,000 for Scottie's little non-profit theatre.
Thanks!

Sock A1, done

 [Look, it's my second post via iPhone!] I just finished a sock. It may or may not be snowing. The relation between those two statements is that the sock is lacy and knit in a wool/soysilk/cotton/chitin blend (from Ellen's Half-Pint Farm), so I'll feel perfectly just in following my preferred mode of avoiding Second-Sock Syndrome by starting another pair before finishing this one. Sock A1, sock B1, sock A2, sock B2. No idea which yarn I'll grab for pair B, but I kinda feel like an unpatterned pair for a change. I bought this yarn at MS&W in 2008, so it would be nice to finish the pair by May. The phone pic is pinking the purple, as far as true color goes. I'll model it in another shot for Ravelry. This is my first try at a Cookie A. pattern, too; I wanted a springy sock for this yarn, and she offered many options. I'm generally intimidated by her patterns, so I bought her book to get over my fear ~ then ended up beginning with a free one from Knitty. I do love me some Knitty!

Cupcake outing

B and I decided to check out Richmond's newest cupcakery this afternoon. Her first impression was overwhelmingly positive, as Carytown Cupcakes has painted its walls her favorite color, pink. I love to watch her eat a cupcake. She licks the chocolate icing off unhurriedly, taking an occasional cake bite from the side. She's still holding the wrapper in her right hand and refused my offer to take it from her. Does she like the bossa nova coming over the speakers? Yes, but she needs to go to the bathroom. And that wrapper? She's coming back to finish every last crumb!

I am waiting to eat mine with Wee C. I like the lack of icing excess as compared to a couple other local cupcakeries, but I'm not sure any cupcake should cost $2.75 ~

Quilt swapping: Nine months late

Man, I have no idea what happened to this post, but the groovy new Typepad dashboard makes it clear that it was never published. Bummer! I haven't made any little quilts since this one, either. We've been rearranging some spaces in the house and I haven't yet got my sewing area reconfigured. But I will. (Swap 7 is over now, too, but sign-ups for number eight start in January.) 

I just can't resist a doll quilt swap. I think I have only missed one of those organized through the Flickr group. Number six is in it's swapping stages now, and I have sent one off and opened one up! 

This came in the mail from Megan in Kentucky yesterday:

 

And this was off to Amy in Utah last week:

 

Thankful for Facebook

Today is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for Facebook. I'm not kidding. Oh, first and foremost I am thankful for my family, not to mention for friends and work and health and resources and the like. But as I begin my first real blog post in about a year, I am reminded that a year ago I caved and joined the social networking site that has swept my world into it, for good and not so good. I have lost many a productive hour to reading status updates and browsing friend lists. I've found it easy to say that Facebook made me stop blogging, as it became ultimately more interesting to see and read what other people were up to that to report on my few fibery pursuits. I caught up with friends far-flung in time and distance, and now I've somehow connected with more than 800 people. Before Facebook, I didn't know that I knew that many people. Certainly this blog never had that many readers. But I don't want to give this up completely, and today the blog's the place to report on a bit of Facebook-driven sttiching goodness.

Do you remember this? Did it come across your FB feed eight months ago? I happened to be logged on when it hit, from Dena Fultz, and I thought Sure, I can make something for five people so that Dena will make something for me. I posted my note, and 12 people responded, including my 9th-grade beau. Because of the reciprocity requirement, the five were easily winnowed. I've delivered three things and am in progress on the other two. 

I will make something for you ~

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 Monday, March 16, 2009 at 9:20pm | Edit Note | Delete

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU.
- I will make it this year (2009).
- I will make something in the real world, not a figment of the internet.
- I may bake a batch of cookies, knit you a hat, sew you something or write you a poem ~ who knows?
- Photos will be posted in a group TBA of the giving and getting :)

In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make 5 things for 5 other people.

Make sure to comment here that you are interested in my little gifty and tag me in your note.

Void where prohibited, use only as directed, for a limited time only, store in a cool dry place.

Let's keep it going!

First, I knitted this little sequined silk scarf for coworker Katherine:

 

Then I made a little quilt for neighbor Cathy. It's kinda girly, and she's in a house full of boys. Also, she's a Realtor who does great staging, so I thought she might be able to use it for that. 

  I made a snuggly warm scarf for Sarah, who recently moved from Virginia to New Jersey, and shipped it off without photographing it. I used my friend Mary Ann's boucle yarns left from the Superfluity wrap, so you can have a sense of the color scheme.  UPDATE: The good reverend has sent a photo:

 

The other two are in progress, a knitted something for Amy and a quilted something for Mary. I know I will finish the former in 2009, but the latter still has a fair bit of sewing to go! And it's no longer Thanksgiving, and it's time for breakfast. Then: to shop or not to shop? Only if it doesn't involve parking the car. I'm thinking checking out the geocaching options in the Green City is a better idea ~