THE PRIZES!

So we're almost to $14,000 (can we make it to $15,000??) and I'm finally getting around to posting the prizes - I appreciate your patience and support and I hope you think that the prizes were worth the wait. I think they are amazing! I'll be conducting the drawing the week of Aug. 26 and I'll get them in the mail to the winner shortly after the drawing (or in some cases, the prize donor will ship the prize directly to the winner).

Please note: If you have already made a donation and would like to make an additional donation, your donations will be combined to determine your number of entries.

Thank you to everyone who has donated a prize.

1. A copy of Wendy Johnson's book Wendy Knits Lace, personalized for the winner by Wendy.



2. A project bag handmade by Sharon (SeashoreSharon). (this is just an example of the type of awesome bags Sharon makes)












3. A project bag handmade by Sharon (SeashoreSharon). (this is just an example of the type of awesome bags Sharon makes)












4. A large wedge CUPCAKE project bag with a matching micro wedge project bag handmade by the Piddleloop Sewing Team, Jen and Wendy.

5. 1 or more knitting or crochet ebook downloads of your choice from Ravelry totaling up to $20, donated by Bev.

6. A shawl donated by Chrystal 















7. A shawl donated by Diane of the Knitabulls podcast.

8.  A $50 gift certificate to Another Crafty Girl donated by Sarah. Sarah dyed the beautiful yarn Laura used to knit the original My Hope shawl. This gift certificate is good for shop updates as well as for special orders for repeating colorways or even a custom colorway!

 













9. A set of my favorite stitch markers in Cupcake Mafia colors by Rose-Marie from Beagin Design.


















 10. A set of my favorite stitch markers in Make-A-Wish colors by Rose-Marie from Beagin Design.

11. A set of my favorite stitch markers in Rainbow colors by Rose-Marie from Beagin Design.



12. A skein of Wollmeise in Skandal um Rosi, donated by Lynda 

13 - 17. Hillary (Hippiepenguin) has donated five copies of her super cute Lattice Cable Hat pattern.  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lattice-cable-hat

18. Hillary has also donated a skein of her handspun. It is 100% wool, 3.7oz & 136yds of super squishy goodness.

19. A bag of Masham fiber from Woolgatherings, donated by Stephanie (Htstrait).

20. A skein of Kitchen Sink Dyeworks BFL Featherweight in Rhiannon, Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Chickweek Geometer Butterfly and Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs Oleander Yarn, donated by Stephanie (Htstrait).

21. A multicolored shawl, donated by Stephanie (Htstrait).

22. A project bag in Cupcake Mafia fabric!! donated by Lisa (lazysockmonkey)

23. A project bag in Cupcake Mafia fabric!! donated by Lisa (lazysockmonkey)

24. A project bag in Cupcake Mafia fabric!! donated by Lisa (lazysockmonkey)
 
25. A project bag in Cupcake Mafia fabric!! donated by Lisa (lazysockmonkey)

26. A My Wish shawl knitted and donated by Stephen (sowaters).
(photo to come)

27. Gorgeous handspun spun by Jessica (showmeyourknits)

28. A wall hanging quilted by my mom
(photo to come)

29. A pair of signature needles in the winner's choice of size and configuration (circs, dpns, or straights) donated by Angel (amcgarrah)

30. A pair of signature needles in the winner's choice of size and configuration (circs, dpns, or straights) donated by Angel (amcgarrah)

31. A pair of signature needles in the winner's choice of size and configuration (circs, dpns, or straights) donated by Angel (amcgarrah)

32. A pair of signature needles in the winner's choice of size and configuration (circs, dpns, or straights) donated by Angel (amcgarrah) 

Next up is my handspun - When I'm not sending out thank you notes and pattern codes, I'll be spinning my little heart out and will give away at least four skeins of my handspun. Here is what they look like now

33. Mixed BFL from Woolgatherings. 

34. Crown Mountain Farms Polwarth















35. I'll dig into my stash and pick something great!

36. I'll dig into my stash and pick something great!

This next prizes are the exception to the $10 rule. Those who donate at least $30 will receive one entry for these prizes and additional entries for every $30 past $30. This will be a bonus drawing - so if you donate $60, you'll have 6 entries in the drawing for the prizes above and two entries in the drawing for the prizes below.

1. A skein of the highly coveted self-striping Nyan Cat sock yarn painstakingly hand-dyed by Lisa aka Fibernymph.

2. A colorful lap quilt handmade by my sister, Linda (zinda)

3. A skein of my handspun - this was spun from a loop! Bullseye Bump. It is 657 yards of chain plied fingering weight yarn.



















4. Sheila from the Knit 1, Heart Two podcast will knit a pair of socks from the Socks that Rock in the March 2012 club shipment, Budding Twig (pattern to be determined by Sheila and the winner)















5. Leslie from The Knit Girllls has donated a quilt handmade by her and machine quilted by Cathie Jones.

And there is one additional special prize. Mandy from Australia has donated a prize to encourage knitters from Australia and New Zealand to donate. She has donated a gorgeous skein of Lush Yarn, which is a company that is unfortunately no longer in business. It's a 50/50 merino silk blend, fingering weight 4ply. The skein is 118grams and is approx 475m in length. The colourway is called 'love'.

If you're from Australia or New Zealand and have already made a donation, you're already entered to win this lovely skein of yarn (and there are several of you - thanks!!). To make a donation, send me an email at lynnazimmerman AT mac DOT com, and I'll share the details on how to donate.

I think I'll have a few more prizes to add before the drawing so check back later this week! If you have contacted me about a prize and you don't see it listed here, please send me a message to lynnazimmerman AT mac DOT com. Life has been a bit hectic with the success of the fundraiser, a new job (more about that later) and a move (more about that later too). I promise I didn't leave it off on purpose!

Thank you to my incredible friends for their prize donations and for spreading the word about the fundraiser. And thank you to everyone who has made a donation! This is a team effort and we are making a lot of amazing wishes come true. I'm still taking prize donations, so if you'd like to make a donation, contact me at lynnazimmermanATmacDOTcom.

To make your donation, visit my personal fundraising site at: www.RunningGuru.com/RunWithMe/LynnZimmerman  (Please make sure you donate on the page at this link)

I will receive an email with your donation amount. With a $5 donation, you will receive the My Hope shawl pattern designed by Laura Linneman. I will email you the pattern and enter you in the drawing (usually within 24 hours of your donation...sometimes it might take a bit longer, but if it's been more than 3 days since your donation, send me a note). For every $10 you donate, you will receive one entry in the prize drawing that will be held at the end of August.

If you live outside of the U.S., you can make your $5 donation for the My Hope pattern on Ravelry. If you would like to make a larger donation, please send me an email at lynnazimmermanATmacDOTcom.

Why we do this. Part 1

UPDATE: I have sent out pattern codes to everyone who has donated so far. If you have not received yours (especially if you have an AOL or Hotmail email account), please check your spam folder. If you have not received an email from me, please send me a note at lynnazimmermanATmacDOTcom or on Ravelry. My username is LynnZimm. 

In less than two weeks, we have raised more than $3,000 for Make-A-Wish of Colorado. I think we're well on our way to meeting our goal of $10,000 by Aug. 24.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of visiting the Make-A-Wish office to meet the staff and tour the offices. I was given the honor of signing their Wall of Fame (and like a bad blogger, I forgot to take a photo) - I signed the wall on behalf of Team Cupcake Mafia, which includes everyone who has donated to this fundraising effort this year or in the past. Thank you for making this possible!

Make-A-Wish is such an incredible organization. Their office is set up to make the kids and their families feel comfortable when they're finalizing the details of the wish. They had a room for the families that was decorated every season - it was decorated with a Candyland theme today - and that room included a throne. When the child's wish is granted, he or she sits in the throne. The throne is even adjustable so a wheelchair can fit in the throne, if necessary. I could tell that this is a special place.

The Colorado chapter grants an average of 240 wishes a year and they work hard to make the kids' dreams come true. The kids get trips to DisneyWorld where they are treated like princes and princesses, they meet movie stars and get the red carpet experience, they meet their sports heroes, they get shopping sprees, they get computers...whatever their hearts' desire.  They shared a list of upcoming wishes that they are hoping to grant, so I'll share some of those wishes with you in upcoming blog posts. I also have some stories of some incredible kids who have had their wishes granted to share. Your donations make a huge difference in the lives of these kids and their families.

Thank you! 

It's that time again...

Team Cupcake Mafia is back and getting ready to race in the Denver Oyster. We're biking, running and keeping our eye out for clues that might help us out on the course, but the most important thing we're doing is once again raising money for the Make a Wish Foundation of Colorado. Last year, we raised $8,300, which helped grant the wishes of two very deserving kids and their families.

This year, our goal is to raise $10,000!

I know that with your help we will make our goal. Aside from knowing you are helping create a bright spot in a child's life with your donation, we have some fantastic gifts and prizes for this year's campaign. I'll blog about the prizes in a separate post and if you're interested in donating a prize, contact me at lynnazimmerman AT mac DOT com.

• For your $5 donation, you will receive the My Hope pattern that was generously designed and donated by Laura Linneman of The Knit Girllls. 
• For a $10 donation, you will receive the My Hope pattern and one entry into the drawing for some amazing prizes, including skeins of my handspun. 
• Each additional $10 will get you an additional entry into the drawing 
• If you donate $30, you will receive the pattern, three entries in the main drawing and one entry into a special drawing for some extra special prizes including a skein of FiberNymph's Nyan Cat sock yarn!  

To make your donation, visit my personal fundraising site at: www.RunningGuru.com/RunWithMe/LynnZimmerman  (Please make sure you donate on the page at this link)

You will receive an email from me within 24 hours of your donation with a code to download the pattern from Ravelry. Please do not email the fundraising site contact for questions regarding the pattern. If you have not received your pattern within 24 hours, contact me at lynnazimmerman AT mac DOT com.

Please note: The donation amounts that are listed on the fundraising site are set up by the Oyster staff and I can't change them. You can enter any amount in the empty box below the suggested amounts. Every donation makes a huge difference and gets us closer to our goal of granting three wishes for deserving kids and their families.

Unfortunately, we are not able to take donations from outside of the U.S. using this system. If you live outside of the U.S. and would like to make a donation, send me an email at lynnazimmerman AT mac DOT com. The race is Aug. 25, so all donations up until noon on Aug. 24 will be eligible for the pattern and the prizes. Thank you for your support!