And the winner is...

Today we held the Yarn Basket Drawing at Marin Fiber Arts. Here's the video:



The winner is Sue M. from Camarillo, CA! Congratulations Sue, we will be sending a package your way soon!

We also want to recognize all the generous contributors on-line to Knitters for Critters:

Christine W., Redwood City, CA
Martha H., Chevy Chase, MD
Cynthia S., Killeen, TX
Patricia E., Wayne, ME
Theresa B., Los Angeles, CA
Bonnie Jo C., Berkeley, CA
Karen R.
Birdsong S.
Cathy L. from New York, NY
Sue, Rohnert Park, CA


It's great to see the contributors coming from all across the country.

Update on our fundraising: we have raised a confirmed $942.75. We hope that we will sell some more ornaments in the coming days, but we have already exceeded our expectations!

Thank you knitters, donators, and all who have made contributions to this project!

Yarn Basket Donations are growing

We now have $335 in yarn basket donations and they're still coming in. (That makes a total of $737.75 raised before we find out how much the ornaments at one church raised this weekend!)

Two more skeins of sock yarn were added to the yarn basket since its original posting including a skein of MamaE C*EYE*Ber Fiber and one of Opal.

The yarn basket drawing is Friday so you have a few more days to donate (see the sidebar for links to our organizations' donation web pages) and email us at knittersforcritters at gmail dot com to get your tickets put into the hat! Each $25 donation gets you a ticket for the raffle. For the birds, it buys:

• detergent to wash them
• medical supplies for injuries
• Toxiban medication for birds that have consumed oil while preening
• gas for transportation to and from the rehab centers
• overhead costs for the centers such as electricity and hot water
• FISH!!!

We're on our way...

Just a quick project update -- we've now raised $652.75 so far. The numbers are getting better and better!

$402.75 has come from our sales of ornaments so far. We are thankful to Christ Presbyterian Church in San Rafael and Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo for hosting our displays for ornaments, so we can continue that project beyond the walls of Marin Fiber Arts.

Check out the yarn basket -- because our generous knitters keep adding to the plenty!

The yarn basket drawing (see post below and info on the right) is less than two weeks away, and we have six contributions to date -- for a total of $250.00. We can do better!!!

Our thanks to podcasts Cast-On, Stash and Burn, and Sticks and String for their support. The knitting community is terrific!

Yarn Basket Goodness

Our knitters and wonderful Warren of the Marin Fiber Arts Yarn Store have contributed to this wonderful basket, so please donate (links are to the right), send us an email, and you'll be entered in the drawing for this great knitterly treat! Each $25 donated means a ticket in the raffle!

Your contributions will help in the continuing efforts by local organizations to survey and clean-up the Bay.


Yarn
Each type of yarn has enough yardage to make a project. There are 17 skeins total. (Sorry, basket not included!) Includes yarn of wool, mohair, cotton, rayon, and alpaca! Value of the goodies exceeds $175!!!

1. 1 skein Opal Rainforest 6-ply in "Chameleon"
2. 2 skeins Tahki Viva in "Berry"
   
3. 3 skeins Trendsetter Yosemite in "Raspberry Sorbet"
   
4. 4 skeins Lana Grossa Kidair in "Pastel Blue"
5. 2 skeins Plymouth Alpaca Boucle in color 14 (black with a touch of white)
6. 2 skein Louisa Harding Sari Ribbons in "Gold"
7. 2 skeins Mission Falls 1824 cotton in "Maize" and "Chicory"
8. 2 skeins Yarntopia handpainted Rayon Roving in "Sparkle"
9. 1 skein Blue Sky Alpacas dyed cotton in "Thistle"
10. 1 skein MamaE's C*EYE*BER Fibers sock yarn in Faded Glory (limited edition yarn from the 2006 Fall Sock Club) NOT SHOWN IN PICTURE
11. 1 Skein Opal sock yarn in a blue/white colorway
    

Tools

1. 1 Mighty Bright lit magnifying lens on a stand (dropped a stitch in black yarn using a small needle?)
2. 1 Yarn Bracelet (knit while you walk!)
3. 1 Knitpicks Options Binder (needles not included) Can be used to store other circular needles as well as the Knitpicks set.
   

Knitters Make the Connection

The Knit Nighters had a wonderful time at the Parade of Lights in San Rafael on Friday.

We had wonderful ornaments made by our great knitters, amazing support from Warren Agee of Marin Fiber Arts Yarn Store, who donated his booth to the fundraising for Knitters for Critters!




The day was about making connections of all kinds. There was the boy Carlos, who was intrigued by our ornaments and got his dad to donate so he could buy an ornament. I met a boy who had raised $125 at his birthday party for the oil spill clean-up, and there was a gaggle of teenage girls up from Daly City who each bought an ornament out of their Christmas money. Ann from Corte Madera came up to find us because she had just joined the Marin Fiber Arts Ravelry group.



Sandy helped out by providing the canopy and the folding tables for our booth!



















Amazing knitter Judy showed a knitter how to do socks on circular needles, sewed up more ornaments than I can name, and was amazing in so many ways. Emily, who had volunteered for Wildcare, brought great handouts and gave out great info on what to do about the oil spill.

Thankfully, as it got dark, Allison showed up and brought little lights to put under our Christmas tree.



and we raised $350 so far!!!

Later tonight, we'll post the photo of the lovely yarn basket for the drawing!

Photos from the Knitters for Critters booth 11/23/07

Knitters for Critters Sign
Originally uploaded by Braizyn

This is the information page that Renee made so that folks purchasing our ornaments could see who we were donating to.

Rene at the Knitters for Critters booth 11/23/07
Originally uploaded by Braizyn

And here's Renee, staffing the booth at the San Rafael Parade of Lights! A fantastic organizer. Thanks Renee!

Ornaments
Originally uploaded by Braizyn

Our finished booty!

Ornament Supplies
Originally uploaded by Braizyn

All the wonderful knitting sleeves we made the ornaments out of, plus the card we used to notify the purchasers of the Yarn Basket Drawing!

Styrofoam woes

Hi!

Thanks for coming to look at our website.

Quite a few commenters have posted on the environmental problems with styrofoam.

Our group has discussed this, but we began to knit the ornaments right after we started the group and didn't give ourselves any time to figure out possible problems before we started.

We can't make them without any styrofoam as some of the balls were already purchased and used. However, we are using several options for any new balls we make:

1. ornaments that don't need any stuffing
2. recycled plastic bags to stuff
3. a recycled plastic bag filled with reused packing paper
4. reusing styrofoam balls leftover from a school

Some people had suggested stuffing them with beans, rice, etc. but that won't work as the stretchy nature of knit fabric would make the balls no longer round as the weight of the filling pulled it down. If you have any other suggestions of light, environmentally-friendly material, please let us know! We are going to be working on them over the next few weeks as well so we will happily accept local donations of materials.

Knitters for Critters

Knitters are all about seeing connections. Maybe it’s because we are so into figuring out how to take a strand of fiber and make it into something beautiful. We who knit want to make connections to those who are doing such great work on our behalf in response to the oil spill that occurred earlier this month.

Therefore, we are delighted to announce the launch of the Knitters for Critters Project in response to the San Francisco Bay Oil Spill that occurred earlier this month.

This project is both by and for knitters, but non-knitters can support the project through purchasing. We are delighted to have the support of Warren Agee and Marin Fiber Arts in San Rafael!

Knitted Ornaments

Knitters for Critters is focusing this week on knitting the ornament pattern from the Holiday issue of Vogue Knitting – it’s essentially a knitted tube that can go over a Styrofoam ball. It would be better to make the smaller sizes, especially the two-inch size, given the cost of the Styrofoam balls.

Please bring your contribution by Friday, Nov 23rd, 12 noon to Marin Fiber Arts.

These ornaments will be sold this coming Friday from 4 – 8 pm at the Marin Fiber Arts booth at San Rafael’s annual Parade of Lights and Winter Wonderland in downtown San Rafael. Look for the Marin Fiber Arts booth!

What we need:

• A total of about 50-75 knitting ornaments, initially
• A donation of a “tree” (about 3 feet tall) that we can put the ornaments on
• Help in putting together the balls on Friday morning and early afternoon at Marin Fiber Arts
• Assistance in selling the ornaments at the Winter Wonderland on Friday, November 23rd.

Yarn Basket Drawing

Contribute by December 14th—midnight!

Our knitters and Marin Fiber Arts are together putting up their stash and tools for a wonderful drawing for a basket of yummy stuff, just in time for you to have wonderful stuff to knit during the holiday time. Photo of the basket will be coming soon! We invite you to make a donation to one of the three organizations assisting locally in the clean-up listed below. We will have a drawing on Saturday, December 15th . For every $25 you donate, you will get one slip in the drawing itself.:

To participate in the drawing, click on the organization, make your donation directly to the organization, then send an email to "knittersforcritters@gmail.com" with:

1. your name
2. your city (we’d like to be able to know where the donations are coming from)
3. how much you donated (so we can track the donations as a whole, and put in the correct number of slips into the big drawing).

Charities we are supporting!

Wildcare

Wildcare is one of the key organizations that has accepted and treated oiled birds found on the beaches, and a proud member of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) They provide immediate treatment of birds, and transportation to the regional hospital for further treatment.

Baykeeper

Baykeeper’s boats have been on the Bay surveying the impacts of the spill and reporting back key information about the clean-up, both positive and negative, keeping the pressure up on those responsible for mitigation. They are posting reports on their website about volunteer opportunities, and will be on the job for the coming months to survey the damage and provide information for responders.

Golden Gate Parks Conservancy
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of the Golden Gate bridge was one of the most heavily impacted areas. The Parks conservancy is a non-profit that will be monitoring the impact of the spill in the weeks and months to come.

International Bird Rescue Research Center

Located in Cordelia, IBRRC is set up to treat, maintain, and release oiled birds, particularly water birds, which were most affected by the spill.

News about the spill

To see updated information about the oil spill's impact on the coastal beaches and wildlife, please visit the Marine Mammal Center's news page.