Warming Grace Update

It has been a busy, busy week. Lots of mail; lots and lots of mail. Lots of goodies, more draw prizes added to the mix. Monday's mail to the right. Tuesday's mail to the left. Wednesday's mail to the right. Thursday's mail to the left. Friday's mail to the right. That is a whole lotta squares (and other stuff!)! I continue to be blown away by your productivity and generosity. And knitters continue to email me and ask to added to the list - we are at 163 knitters! Words fail me. I must thank the following knitters whose squares I received this week: Aija, Ari, Becky, Beth K, Bethe, Dani, Deb, DeDe, Denise, Elisabeth, Elizabeth, Emy, Erin, Faith, Jackie, Jamie, Jane, Jenn, Karen B, Karen K, Kathy, Kelly, Kit F, Lin, Lisa H, Lisa, Lucia, Lucia, Michele, Michelle, Norma, Pacalaga, Sarah B, Sarah, Suzanna, Suzie and Tam! Whew! If I have made a mistake or not correctly connected you with your blog, please let me know. I have not emailed all of you yet and I do apologize - I have gotten a bit behind! I cannot thank everyone enough. The letters you have sent, the stories you have told and the inspiration you give me is wonderful. I am touched by the number of knitters who have knit for their children, for relatives and friends who are sick with or have been lost to cancer. I appreciate all the offers to help with the sewing (I will keep you posted on this issue...LOL). I do have to tell you a little story. In opening Monday's mail I found two packages of M&M's in Lucia's parcel. Ed and I were driving to Foxboro, Ontario at the time to pick up some organic chicken feed and I said to him that while I felt a little guilty I didn't actually think the M&M's were going to make it to Calgary (I do love M&M's; particularly the peanut version). Then I opened the note and found out they were for me! Yahoo! Okay they were supposed to be for sustenance during the sewing but sadly they didn't make it back to Warkworth - Ed and I eagerly gobbled them, guilt free, on the way back! My huge faux pas? I emailed the wrong Lucia to thank her for the M&M's and she emailed me back to say it wasn't her! (Note to self: next time I run some hugemungous project make sure to have everyone include their email and blog with their mailings!). Thank you Lucia!! Bethe sent this really cute little bear and two lip glosses for Grace. It is a very cuddly little guy. Thank you Bethe!

These lovely stickers (and I had to show you the cute little bunny sticking out of the square) come from Elizabeth. The square is absolutely adorable! Grace will love the stickers! Thank you so much Elizabeth! DeDe sent this lovely book along with her squares. It is such a beautiful and inspiring book. This book will be an inspiration for Grace and her family. Thank you DeDe! Emy sent these goodies all the way from Singapore! Nick was eyeballing these in a large way and I had to remind him that they were for Grace and Simone. Thank you so much Emy for the exotic treats!

This beautiful angel was made for Grace by Norma's daughter Abigail. It is so incredibly beautiful and I was so touched that Abigail made this just for Grace. Thank you so much Abigail - thank you! Jane sent these lovely bears along with her square - they are so cute! She also sent this really cool postcard for Grace that was made from an old postcard. Thank you Jane! Check out this bunny! This incredibly beautiful and sweet looking bunny was handcrafted by Lois, Michelle's mom. When I unwrapped the bunny I couldn't believe it - I am so touched by the work and care that Lois put into this stunning little creature. Grace will love it. Thank you so much Lois! Aija sent this beautiful skein of Brooks Farm Four Play Wool/Silk. I was not expecting this and so it was quite a pleasant surprise. It is lovely let me tell you. The colours are so lovely and rich; reluctantly (LOL) I will be sending this beauty along to some awesome square knitter. Thank you so much Aija for your incredible generosity! Kelly sent this lovely hand dyed, handspun yarn for one of the draws. It is such a lovely colourway and oh so soft. Someone is going to love this stuff! Thank you Kelly!

I also got 2 CD's from Faith that were made by her sister. I need to take photos of them (sorry Faith). They are children's CD's and I think that Grace and the other kids will love them! Thank you so much Faith! I have a couple of skeins of Fleece Artist Cashmere for the draw. It is 100% handpainted Cashmere and oh my, it is so incredibly soft!

I also have some other last minute yummy stuff for the draw; sadly Blogger is giving me some trouble with it but fear not I will get it on here somehow, someway..but not today!

I also received these incredibly wonderful handcrafted needles from Dorothy. Dorothy has made 6mm circulars in 29 and 60 inch lengths, and 9mm circs in 16, 20 and 24 inch lengths. They are really beautiful and the join between the needle and the circular cord is quite smooth. This is the first time that Dorothy has made her needles for knitters other than family (she has sold some locally) although I have to say I think she has done a spectacular job. I am dying to test these out but I don't want to take the markers off - we will have to get feedback from those who get the needles. Dorothy is willing to make the needles for others if they are interested. You can email her at duchofb@yahoo.com.

More needles from Dorothy. These are a set of 5 dpn's, 3.25 mm, 8 inches long. I don't know what the wood is but they are incredible. There are also 3 cable needles, 3.25mm (each 3 inches long). Thank you Dorothy for your incredible generosity! I also want to mention an important website given to me by Dorothee. Dorothee is a bone marrow donor and she wants everyone to know that this valuable service is very much needed and of little sacrifice of others to register and become donors. Please check out this website.

Adjectives fail me as I continue to receive squares and goodies and notes and cards. You are all wonderful. I have done the draw with Ed's help. I will post the winners tomorrow. I would like to email them all and the hour is getting so late (it's after 3am - there are times that working with Blogger is like using a dull knife on a piece of wood; agonizingly slow - and my email doesn't seem to be functioning much faster). Thanks for your ongoing patience!

Further Update:

So the draw has been done. I did have some last minute yarn entries (a bunch of Fleece Artist, Regia and Annabelle Fox - I have photos but Blogger is not being cooperative) which I added to the list of previous prizes. I entered everyone's name into the Lantern Moon basket and had Ed draw names (he enjoyed it very much!). I so seriously wish I have a prize for everyone and while I am excited for those who won I am just so touched with the enthusiasm and effort everyone put forth - thank you all! (And there is going to be another draw - more about that later!).

So the draw winners are:

The $100.00 gift certificates for Make 1 Yarns go to Samantha, Rhonda, Michelle, Erin, Aija and Jackie!

The STR and Pralines from Amanda go to J!

The Handmaiden Sea Silk goes to Lise!

The 2 skeins of Koigu go to Kit!

The skein of hand dyed from Celia goes to Kelly!

The Gracemarkers from Rabbitch and 2 skeins of Regia sock yarn go to Danielle!

The Necklace from Joy goes to Ari!

The skein of hand dyed, handspun from Kelly goes to Kathy!

The skein of Brooks Farm from Aija goes to Bethe!

A set of the circular needles from Dorothy and a skein of Fleece Artist Cashmere Scarf go to Tam!

Another set of the circular needles from Dorothy and a skein of Fleece Artist Cashmere Scarf go to Amy!

2 skeins of Regia sock yarn and a skein of Fleece Artist sock yarn go to Deb!

A skein of Fleece Artist Favourite Soft Mittens goes to Jenn!

8 skeins of Annabelle Fox Double Knitting Yarn go to Ann!

2 skeins of Regia sock yarn and a skein of Fleece Artist sock yarn go to DeDe!

Thank you to the generosity of our knitters. I hope those who won draw prizes enjoy their gifts. Most importantly, congratulations to you all! I will be posting about the details of the next draw (and some of the prizes I have already received tomorrow!).