The latest winners have been notified, so I can now announce that:

A skein of Dream in Color Starry in Night Watch is going to my friend and teammate, Tami

The Yarntini merino sock in Don is going to Megan F

I should also announce that I am being given two skeins of Wollmeise to add to the list of prizes! I don’t know what the colorways are yet, but that triples the amount of Wollmeise available! There will be 5 more weekly drawings, with 12 more prizes to give out. Get your donations in so I can add you to the potential winners list! :)

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I thought I’d start the month by talking about my favorite subject: Mammograms

If you’ve read any of my previous messages on Facebook or Twitter, or my About page here or on the Komen Race for the Cure site, you’ve already seen a lot of talk about mammograms, what they mean to me, and why I fundraise for Komen. Let me just restate, succinctly, and then I’ll move on to the real point of this post:

At age 40, a mammogram saved my life. My wish is that no one will EVER have to pass on the life-saving opportunity of having a mammogram simply because they don’t have the insurance or money to pay for it.

So here’s what I want today. At this point, Shell’s Angels has raised more than $3600, which is enough to pay for at least FORTY mammograms. If you are 40 or over and have never had a mammogram, please go get one. If you are overdue for a mammogram, please make an appointment now. If you cannot pay for a mammogram for whatever reason, PLEASE reach out to the Komen organization and use some of that money we’ve raised!

If you are, like me, lucky enough to have insurance and/or the means to pay for your mammogram, then please find someone you know who could use assistance–and at this point, how many of us DON’T know someone who is without health insurance?–and encourage them to reach out to Komen to arrange a mammogram.

We’re raising the money, now let’s put it to work! Who’s with me?

Sorry about the slight delay, but the drawing for week one is complete and we have two winners!

Prize #1 was a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in Chinatown Apple, which is going to Roz.

Prize #2 was a skein of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Laguna, which is going to Amy.

Congratulations, winners! I’ll send your prizes on their way by the end of this week. I’ll also post photos from the Race soon!

Thus far, Shell’s Angels has done an AMAZING job this year. We surpassed the goal I set for us well before the race. I reached my personal fundraising goal, increased my goal, and then passed it again.

This is all wonderful (we’ve raised over $2600 all together!), but you know what? There are still EIGHT WEEKS left to keep fundraising, and any money we raise will go for EVEN MORE MAMMOGRAMS.

We need a new challenge. And I have one for us!

I would like to be one of the Top 100 Fundraisers this year. Based on the information on the Komen site I’m probably in pretty good shape for it already. But since it’s a moving target–the minimum amount we need to raise depends entirely on how much everyone else raises–I just want to keep reaching higher and higher.

To encourage participation, I have some incentives. I have sock yarn from Pico Accuardi Dyeworks, Stitchjones, Wollmeise, and Yarntini, among others. I will be giving away a skein a week (or possibly more) from race weekend through the end of October. That’s a minimum of seven prize drawings!

How do you qualify for a chance to win a skein of sock yarn?

1. Go make a donation to Komen Oregon under my name. (For the duration of the yarn raffle, the big “DONATE” button above links directly to my Komen page.)
2. Let me know you have done so and want to be included in the raffle by leaving me a comment here.
3. Wait to be notified that you are my weekly winner!

Technical details:

• Every $10 donation earns you an entry into the drawing. ($20 earns two entries, etc.)
• Each person remains in the pool of potential winners until they have won. Winners may re-enter the drawing by donating again.
• Those who have donated prior to this promotion may enter the drawing based on the previous donation–just let me know you want to be included.
• The list of prizes will change throughout–because I expect some yarn donations and due to weekly winners–but I will keep an up-to-date listing here.

I think that’s about it, but let me know if anything is unclear or missing. Please share with your friends, post to FB, Twitter, your own blogs, etc. The more I can get the word out, the better!

Thanks everyone, and I can’t wait to see how much money we end up raising. We are the cure!

Tomorrow will be the official kick off of the final fund-raising push to get me into the Top 100 (individual) fundraisers for this year’s Komen Portland Race for the Cure. If you are a knitter, crocheter, or anyone else who appreciates beautiful sock yarns–or know someone who does–you will want to come back to find out what we’re doing.

Details tomorrow! :)

PS There is a shipping deal going on at Zazzle for the next few days, so this would be a great time to buy some Shell’s Angels swag. If you spend at least $30, they’ll ship free with the code SEPTSHIPDEAL. Ends Wednesday!

A big box full of t-shirts, race bibs, and pins arrived yesterday! That means race day is drawing near, and I’m very excited. I really like this year’s t-shirt design (and my pink “survivor shirt” is really pretty). I can’t wait to give them out to everyone!

I need to collect addresses from my “Sleep in” members so I can send your goodies along. :)

It’s kind of funny to have the first post be an announcement that our fundraising goal has been achieved, but since I didn’t think to pull this site together until just a couple of weeks before the race…

As of this morning (or more accurately, while I slept last night!) Shell’s Angels has reached our fundraising goal of

$2225

or 25 mammograms!

I am beyond thrilled to be able to say that, but truly that doesn’t mean our work here is done. Every additional dollar we raise will help fund even more life-saving mammograms, so keep up the great work, team! :)