Hats Hats Hats!

Friday after work I took the most recent arrivals on an outing to the park. These hats include 50 that RC has collected in Pennsylvania - PLUS 19 pairs of mittens and 6 pairs of socks, 131 from the knitters in New Mexico, 28 from the group in San Francisco (who invited me to dinner and knitting last Wednesday in the city and it was a wonderful time!!), and varying numbers from other knitters all over.

The total count to date? 619 YES!! Six Hundred and Nineteen!!!!

(I forgot my camera at my parents’ house over the weekend but I did manage to upload a couple of pictures before that. As soon as I retrieve the camera, I’ll show you the rest of the pictures. A fine time was had by all....The mittens, in particular, loved the slide.)

619. I am so excited and amazed! Thank you so much, everyone!! Please keep knitting and sending. I'll be collecting until September 5. That Monday, I'll be shipping them ahead of me to North Carolina. Do you think we can make 700?

A RAFFLE!!

As I shared with ya’ll previously, I’m working to raise the additional funds to cover the expense of getting the hats to the Ukraine. I’ve had several people make donations already via PayPal and regular mail - Thank you so, so much to each of you!! To aid the efforts, I’m holding a raffle!

Say hi to Terry Wiggs (R) & his son TJ Wiggs (L). They are the fine gentlemen who own and operate Terry’s Touch of Gold in Modesto. Last week, I stopped by the shop to talk to Terry and told him about the Ukrainian orphans and the hats and all the awesome. I also told him about the package fees and extra expenses that I hadn’t originally counted on. Being the kind, generous soul that he is, Terry agreed to offer up a raffle price to help me race the funds.
His & Hers Watches from ESQ Swiss. Retail value: $400

And just for the knitty fun of it, I’m throwing in a beloved skein from my stash: a skein of Schaefer Anne, in beautiful shades of purple. ETA: Picture of Anne.

Want to make them yours?? Buy a raffle ticket!! The cost is $5 per ticket. (For those who’ve already contributed, I’ll put your name on a raffle ticket for every $5 you donated.) You can use the PayPal link at right or email me at crickitleigh at hotmail dot com, and I’ll give you my address and you can mail in your ticket money by check or money order. All raffle tickets must be purchased before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday, September 15. I’m recruiting the help of my little pal Matthew (coincidentally, the son and grandson of TJ and Terry) to draw the winner, which I will announce on Wednesday, September 17.

As a matter of full disclosure, the money raised from this raffle will be used for the following purposes:
- pay the third bag and (likely) overweight fees for the luggage containing the hats.
- cover additional expenses for my trip to Ukraine like…
- hotel stays when I go to meet the group in NC and the night I fly back to NC, before I return to California.
- Meals while in Kiev
- If we raise more money than I need to cover those expenses, I will donate that money to the children at the orphanage in Rivne.

Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication in knitting hats. It has been so amazing seeing this come together and in such a major way. The outpouring of kindness and generosity…I just don’t have the words to describe how awed and inspired I am by all of you!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. crickitleigh at hotmail dot com