Boobie Blitz continues and is going awesome! I’ve had $70 in donations and $250+ in pattern sales! The t-shirt sales are a little harder to account for because that is a team effort. So thank you, thank you, thank you! But I still have  aways to go. So here we go with your daily reminder of ways you can help:

• Donations to my 3-Day Walk are the easiest way to do it and these donations are tax deductible!
• Knitters can get any of my PicnicKnits Patterns for 25% off and all proceeds are going to my walk.
• Non-Knitters (muggles?) can buy t-shirts from our Etsy Shop!
• And anyone can help by helping me publicize my cause! The more folks I can get over here the better chance I have of reaching my goals!

In 3-Day news I picked up my air mattress and my duffle bag for the event. I splurged and got myself an Eddie Bauer self-inflating mattress. I figure I’m gonna be super tired and achy at the end of each day and I deserve that little bit of luxury! I tested out the inflation/deflation process this morning and let me tell you, it was so worth the money. And I got a 30″ rolling duffel bag to pack everything up in. I need to test out what I’m going to pack soon, and come up with some way to make my duffel stand out!

I had mentioned at the beginning of this that I would share some of my designing process. So here goes, a little picture collage of what goes on when I design. This isn’t always the way it goes, but it does seem to go this way when I put any kind of deadline on myself.

For this design I really wanted to do something ribbon inspired. But honestly I’ve seen a few things with lace ribbon patterns  and I did not like them at all. So at first I thought I would do something with a modified rib pattern. And then I considered a stockinette body with a really intricate lace edging. But then it just wasn’t coming together right. So I swatched a simpler border, and then I found a really pretty lace pattern in one of the Barbara Walker books. I’ve considered it before, but hadn’t found the right application. But when you look at it just so, it looks like hearts and ribbons. Not overtly so, but a perfectly subtle sort of thing. And from there it just went.

Oh and it’s prize time! Today’s prize is something cozy for people who don’t live in Florida. Just kidding! It will make a very warm & cozy shawl, but Florida people have a few days per year when they might wear it. There’s even a bit of a chill in the air in the mornings here already! Today’s prize is one jumbo skein of Baby Twist by Alpaca With A Twist and a Cordelle pattern to go with it.

So for today’s comment to enter, I need a name. A name for this new pattern that I’m working on. Oh the pressure of a name.

I was thinking something along the lines of hope, faith, courage. But I don’t want to use anything that’s been used before. So comment away, give me your best original name ideas for this very pink shawlette!

All is right with the world today. We’re planning some nice family outings, the sun is shining, my friend’s brand new baby is healthy and gorgeous, and my fundraising boobie blitz is working!

Donate * T-Shirts * Patterns

Today is a prize for the non-knitters. Today’s prize is a drawing for one of the Ta-Ta’s Are Sacred T-Shirts. You can choose pink or white in a ladies cut, or white or grey in a unisex cut. This prize will not be shipped out for a couple of weeks when the t-shirt pre-ordering process is complete. For complete details on the tees, including sizing information, see this post.

For today’s giveaway I need to know… have you checked your ta-tas yet this month? And if you’re a boy, have you lovingly reminded the women in your life to check theirs?

So sorry this is late. My best friend had her baby today so I’ve basically been at the hospital since around 7:30 pm last night. I’m exhausted, but that’s probably nothing compared to how she feels. But there’s a new gorgeous baby girl in the world, so all is well!

And woo-hoo, after 2 days of boobie blitzin’ – one of which I wasn’t even around to promote it – I’ve already raised around $235 for my walk! And I have five days and less than $500 to go when everything gets added in! Just to review there are four, count ‘em, four ways you can help me!

1. Donate
2. Buy T-Shirts
3. Buy Patterns
4. Share w/friends!

I meant to take lots of progress pictures on the shawlette, but honestly all I did today was take pictures of the baby. And the mama. And the big brother and the papa and the sister and oh did I mention the baby? But during all that hurry up and wait time I did make some pretty serious progress on the shawlette. More pics of the design process and details tomorrow – I swear – as soon as I catch up on sleep!

And yes, this prize is a little late, but I won’t be drawing for prizes til the end of the week, so you have plenty of time to comment! Today’s prize is to make something that breast cancer warriors sometimes desperately need – a nice soft, warm hat. And the nicest, softest yarn I can think is of course Malabrigo. And I just so happen to have a very nifty hat pattern that uses Malabrigo Worsted – the MacDuff Hat. So today’s prize is one skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Cactus Flower (of course it’s pink!) and one copy of my MacDuff Hat pattern – shown in non-pink colors on my very own man for whom it was designed. Oh and just so you know, my very own man lost his own mother to breast cancer.  So I never met my mother-in-law. Nor did my sons. Just another reason to think pink.

So for today’s prize, I will keep the comments light and fluffy. What’s your favorite shade of pink? Salmon? Fuchsia? Neon Pink? But you gotta comment if you want to be entered to win. Prize drawings will happen at the end of this fund-raising week!

Remember I mentioned that I was gonna do something big to try to raise funds for my walk? Well here it goes. This my friends, is a week-long boobie blitz. Did you know that every 69 seconds a woman somewhere in the world dies of breast cancer? Nearly once a minute someone loses a wife. A daughter. A mother. An aunt. A grandma. Forever.

Part One: So there are four ways you can support my insane 3-Day 60-Mile endeavor to change that.

1. Donate! All donations are tax deductible and if your work has matching gift programs, take advantage of ‘em!
2. Buy Patterns! All PicnicKnits patterns are 25% off for the first week of October. And all proceeds this first week will go to my race fundraising. So if you’ve been eyeing Daphne Ann and think she’s too pricey…. well right now she’s only $7.13. And most of my other patterns will be from $3.75-$4.50 – it’s bargain time!
3. Buy T-Shirts! These awesome t-shirts are a great way to support the boobies. All proceeds from these shirts go to our team fundraising efforts.
4. Shout it out! Maybe now isn’t a good time for you to be buying things. Maybe you’ve already donated (thank you!) or whatever. Point other people here! If you can help me publicize this, that would be awesome.  Look, I even have a cute little graphic you can steal and put on your blog!



Part Two: I’m designing a very pink shawlette. I’m starting today and it will be finished and published by the end of the week. It’s worked up in Malabrigo Light of Love (so very pinkity pink!) in the sock put-up.  So by the end of the week you will see the real ins and outs of me designing. Warning: it ain’t pretty!



Part Three: Oh and wait – there are prizes! This week every single day I will be giving away some pretty nifty prizes for knitters and some even for non-knitters (gasp!) And all you have to do to be entered in the drawing is comment.  Today’s question of the day – have you lost anyone to breast cancer? For me it was my Aunt Diane. The craziest, most fun, most loving person ever. Later this week I’ll tell you some fun stories about her.

So to be entered in the drawing for the prize, you just have to comment on this post. I’ll announce the winners of all the prizes on October 8th. If you’ve not lost anyone, count your blessings and send some love to those who have, but you gotta comment to be entered to win. So without further adieu, here’s today prize:



A Namaste Circular Needle Case. This is an accordion case in a beautiful shade of (you guessed it!) bubblegum pink! It’s perfect for corralling all the crazy circular needles you have floating around. In fact, I really need to get one for myself!



And just to kick things off, we have a blitz song today for your amusement and entertainment. Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!

First off, if you ever need graphic artist work done and you want it done right, go visit Kristin at ComeToSilver - she is amazing. And I will show you exactly why.

A few months ago, I needed a logo for my 3-Day team – Ta-Tas Are Sacred. Now my dear friend Kristin is a lover of all things pink. She is famous on the Ravelry swap boards for her love of pink. When we shop for her, we know we can’t go wrong if it’s pink. So I knew she would do my pink needs justice. So I sent her a little sketch to show her what I wanted.

Isn’t that beautiful? A true piece of artistic workmanship I tell you. I probably should have warned you not to have a mouth full of drink. You probably spewed all over your keyboard, didn’t you? Sorry about that. It looks like some kind of psychotic pink bug, doesn’t it?

Well the good news about that pathetic piece of scribbling above is that Kristin took a look at it and somehow (somehow as in she is amazingly talented and made of awesome) miraculously transformed it into this:

I told you she was made of awesome. Why did you doubt me? Anyhow, we’re taking Kristin’s awesomeness and translating it into wearables to make money for our team. My fabulous friend Kim at Proforma is doing all the t-shirts for us.  We need to raise $13,800 and we’re only at $8884. So it’s a t-shirt pre-order sale!!!!

I have my etsy shop set up to sell the t-shirts. These are PRE-ORDERS only. We will be taking pre-orders until October 7th. Then the printing company will print them up and as soon as we get them in our hot little hands we will send them to you! For US buyers, you will have your t-shirts in your hands no later than October 25th, just in time to wear them on Halloween weekend while you relax with candy and I walk 60 miles. (Save me some snickers, will ya?)

The t-shirts are available in standard adult sizes S-4XL in grey OR white with a one-color hot pink logo (no Jacksonville, Fl on the logo by the way) for $15.

They are also available in a “ladies cut” t-shirt, sizes XS-2XL in pale pink OR white with the same hot pink logo for $17. See the shop for details.

All profits from the sale of these shirts will go directly the Ta-Tas Are Sacred Team to help us raise our fundraising goals. Saving the boobies is expensive business!

You see things different when you walk rather than drive. You can stop and smell the roses, you can break into a run to get past the doggie doo. All the little details of the part of town I live in (and the fancier parts I like to walk in) are coming alive to me, and it’s amazing the things I notice. First off a small annoyance – people with fancier cars are much more likely to try to run me off the road if there aren’t sidewalks. I’m just saying. A very short man in a very big hummer nearly ran me over – and I was in the grass!

There are places off the beaten  path – off the main roads – that are just beautiful. Last Saturday morning I walked six miles up into Avondale. It was threatening to storm, but luckily I made it home and only got drizzled on. The pictures isn’t great, but you can see here how the wind is beating the river into a frenzy. I didn’t even know this little cul-de-sac existed!

This beautiful flower caught my attention on Tuesday. I was glad it was still there today. I’ve never seen anything like it!

I notice how people keep their lawns. I say good morning to all the lawn workers. And that old saying about how people and their dogs start to look alike. Totally true. So true. Of course I can’t really whip my cell phone and take a picture of that. They might sic their dog on me!

Today I didn’t get on the road til about 7:45. I walked 5.25 miles and didn’t get back to the house til about 9:15. Not a fast pace, but I’m not really going for fast. I’m going for getting it done. But the last mile this morning was really kicking my tookus. The sun was up, and there wasn’t much shade on this last portion. I was tired, I was hungry, and I was seriously debating how bad it would be to go back to bed when I got home. And then I saw this:

And with a spring in my step, I picked up the pace and powered it back home. I’ve had a proper breakfast and all is right with the world. 26 miles on the calendar this weekend (eek!) – won’t you support me?

I walked sixteen miles this weekend. And now I’ve got the sixteen tons song in my head. Maybe you are not afflicted with earworm disease. But I have it bad. I just think of a lyric and I have another outbreak.

So there you are. I’m sharing my pain with you this morning. Well my earworm pain. I can’t really share my aching leg and foot pain. Somehow I got attacked by a spider on the walk yesterday morning. I have a little trail of blisters running up the back of my calf. Guess it thought I was a tasty snack!

The thing about the walking is this. On the short walks, I’m fine. I’m a big girl, but I’m pretty strong. So I walk by myself, listening to some music and enjoying the morning. The really long walks are harder though. Saturday was five miles – no big deal. Yesterday was eleven miles – kind of a big deal. We took a break at seven, and it really did a number on me, as I never got my oomph back. But I walk with Eloise. She’s in her mid 60′s. She’s a survivor. She just had her yearly mammogram and we all let out a cheer when she announced that it came back clean. And she walks. She doesn’t complain, she doesn’t even seem to get winded. So at the ripe old age of 38 I need to follow her example.

Sometimes I wonder why I am doing such a thing. I must be crazy. But I feel stronger already. And although I haven’t lost any weight, I measured myself this morning and I’ve lost 4 inches off my waist. Kind of cool.

But the real reason I am walking is raise funds. $2300 to be exact. And I still have like $1800 to raise. And I’m raising this money so it will go away. So no more Eloises will get sick. So I won’t have friends like Kim – my teammate – who is walking in memory of her mom that she lost 6 years ago. She’s my age with 4 kids. When you have 4 kids you need to call your mama sometimes. (Ok lots of times). And she can’t. Her daughters will all grow up without that Grandma. And my sons who never even met my husband’s mother. He will speak of how she would have loved us all – but we never get to have that. And my husband doesn’t get to make his mama proud with the family that he adores.

It shouldn’t be that way. Everyone deserves a lifetime. That’s the Komen motto. And I agree. I want to be around to spoil my grandchildren rotten. That’s part of my life plan. And I need a good amount of time to do that in – every woman does.

Every little donation helps. Five dollars helps. Sure, $500 helps more, but if you know me online and you like me – maybe you could spare 5 bucks? If you’ve been touched by this disease like so many of us have please consider making a donation.

Also, if you are local – we are having a big ole fundraising garage sale/bake sale/lemonade stand. Saturday morning, starting at 6:30 am. If you are a garage sale junkie this is an awesome way to support our walking team. It will be a six family garage sale – at least – as we have donations coming in from other families.

Ta-Tas Are Sacred Team Garage Sale

Saturday, August 14th, starting at 6:30 AM

8086 Shadwell Court * Jacksonville, FL 32244