Ribs N Bids Pancreatic Cancer Research Fundraiser

As some of you are aware who know me in person, my mother passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1991. Since then, and with no special effort of my own, I have met many family members of pancreatic cancer patients. One such person asked me if I wanted to help out with a fundraiser for research and patient support. Without much idea of what I was getting myself into, I said yes.

So...

On Saturday, November 14, a fundraiser for research and assistance to patients of pancreatic cancer will be held at Plymouth Congregational Church in Wichita, Kansas. The doors will open at 5:30, and award-winning BBQ will be served. From 6-7:30 a silent auction will provide more opportunities to not only support pancreatic cancer research but also to enjoy (and take home!) the handiwork of local artisans.

Below is just a sampling of the items up for bid.



More information and photos of auction items are on the Ribs n Bids blog. For now, here is the poster for the fundraiser:



Tickets can be purchased at the following locations:

Plymouth Congregational Church
202 N Clifton Ave, Wichita, KS‎

Twist Yarn Shop
607 W. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS

Accent Interiors
511 S Woodlawn Blvd, Wichita, KS

Watermark Books
4701 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS‎

Fire on the Waves

Remember this blanket from last September?



Since you've probably slept since then, you may not. It was based on the water rescue scene in Stephenie Meyer's bookNew Moon, the second book of the Twilight series. Bella Swan had previously taken a header off a cliff just to hear the disembodied voice of her beloved Edward, and Jacob Black--a teen werewolf and Bella's long-suffering friend with a whole muzzle full of unrequited love for our heroine--had just rescued her. For a brief and horrible moment, Bella realizes later that she glimpsed on the waves the firey red hair of her most recent vampiric nemisis, Victoria.

There. That's the background for the inspiration of the blanket. The purpose of the blanket was to be included in a book of Twilight-based knitting patterns. Alas, it's inclusion ain't gonna happen, and neither is book. (Yes, the socks from the last post was meant for this book, too.) So now I get to publish the pattern myself.

Gotta love the ease of vanity publishing.

Here is the .pdf download for Fire on the Waves. It's also listed in the blog's margin under Needle Knitting How To's. If you're on Ravelry, the pattern page with its download is here.

A few specs for the blanket:

Finished Measurements
Approx. 46” x 58”, unblocked

Yarn
Bernat Satin, 100% acrylic, 163 yds (149m) per 100g,
19 skeins of #04111, Denim Mist Heather
(The yarn is held double-stranded. It can be substituted with about 1890 yds of a bulky weight yarn.)

Tools
40” US 11 (8mm) circular needle
Cable Needle
Stitch Markers
Tapestry Needle

Gauge
12 sts/16 rows = 4” stockinette stitch

The pattern has been through the needles of a few test knitters. If you find a problem with it, however, please let me know.

Off Road Socks

Awhile back, I designed a pair of socks based on the Emmett Cullen character in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. Why, you may ask. Well, because inspiration, provocation, and opportunity collided serendipitously in my corner of the Bermuda Triangle. My initial hope for publication of this pattern fizzled recently, but my local yarn shop's WONDERFUL proprietor asked to make the pattern her October Sock of the Month. I could tell you how thrilled I am about this, but I'd use up my lifetime supply of exclamation points.

Instead, I'll show you a big picture of the sock and share a link to the pattern.



Off Road Socks (.pdf link)
My Ravelry project page

The yarn I used for the sock pictured above, Maizy, feels great, but the Bittersweet color leeched dye horribly. It stained my fingers as I knit with it. It turned the wash water a shade of rancid grape juice. It inspired a limerick.

There once was a knitter with Maizy
whose yarn color drove quite crazy.
The Bittersweet bruises
on her fingers and toesies
provoked a more colorful phrase, see?

Knitting Hangover

I woke up with a knitting hangover this morning: I could feel my eyeballs inside their sockets; the gravity of the moon was tugging and squeezing them out of shape. My prefrontal cortex couldn't have been more on fire than if I'd dowsed it with lighter fluid. And both fluorescent and incandescent light has been a spoon scraping under my scalp (oh look! alliteration). I shouldn't even be tempting the pain by typing these letters on a starkly contrasting background, but I'm driven to share.

Of course now that I've remembered to wear my close-up work spectacles, my eyes aren't straining quite as much as they apparently did yesterday when I knitted hour after hour without the proper eye protection. What I was finishing into the wee hours of last night is a scarf for the Red Scarf Project.



Pattern: Asherton
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, Autumn Red color

I'm not working against a deadline or anything (the Red Scarf folks are accepting scarfs into December). I just wanted to finish the dang thing. I'd been working on it for a month already.

And now it's done! And now I'm going to wear my Ray Bans inside the house for awhile. Until the needles I ordered for my new project show up. Soon, I hope.

I can stop at any time.

My first shawl

My first lace shawl.



Spring Things by Susan Lawrence. This shawl began its life in cashmere yarn, lace weight. I now know lace weight yarn is, if not of the devil, then a spawn of his minions. I do not like it, Sam I am. My stubby fingers don't get along with it. So the yarn I used instead is Knit Picks Palette, a fingering weight wool yarn (one step higher and thicker than lace yarn). The colorway is Rainforest Heather.

I wet blocked it (stretched it into its proper shape after washing it) using my lace blocking wires, T-pins, and interlocking foam tiles. I left it to dry in my sewing grotto in which the floor paint is flaking up like mad and is a horror to behold. So don't look at it directly or you may turn to stone. Just saying.



This shawl will be donated to a pancreatic cancer research fundraiser, a silent auction and bbq dinner to be held in November. I will be posting more information about this event in the near future because I'm in charge of setting up its blog. There will be lots of handmade items there to bid on and lots of ribs to enjoy. And music. There will be a band, but I can't recall their name just now. Tune in later.

For now, enjoy the remaining pics.


Beading!


Those little bumps in the knitting are called "nupps." Rhymes with "pups." Their difficulty persuaded me to try the beading, and it was muuuuuch easier.