Happy Birthday to Mel - IH Contest Time Again

Please note that the deadline has changed to September 19th. I'll be updating the graphics as soon as I can!

For the last few years, I've held a contest that ended on my birthday. This year, I had to mix things up a little, and I'm starting it on my birthday. Help out a worthy cause and win stuff! This is the 5th contest, but the 4th I've held linked with my birthday.



Short version of the details

• First Prize: 1 skein of Urban Legends sock yarn in a to-be-determined (and dyed) colorway)
• Second Prize: 1 Urban Legends project bag (There may be more, but I don't want to promise until I'm sure)
• Deadline: Package mailed and email to me by noon on September 19th, 2009
• You could have up to five chances to win (1 for mailing, 1 for blogging, up to 3 for referrals) - see the part about spreading the word. Of course, you need to enter yourself for this to work!
  
• Absolutely EVERYONE qualifies, no matter where you live or if you won last time.

Longer version of the details
Interim House is one of a very small number of charities that I both trust and support. It's a rehab facility that (very successfully) added knitting and crochet to their curriculum. Volunteers come in to teach and show off projects, and all the clients learn at least one of the crafts. It contributes a huge boost to their self-confidence to finish something tangible. You can read more about it at their blog. Please note that you'll never see the faces of the clients in the images for privacy reasons, but you'll see their volunteers and interns modeling the clients' work (and their own).

On to the details: It's simple!

• Between now and noon (ET) on September 19th, send a package to Interim House, containing yarn (see notes at end about what to send) and/or notions/tools. Make sure you take a picture of the contents!
  
• Please include a postcard from your area (the ladies like knowing where the packages come from!)
• Send stuff to: Kathy Duffy, Social Worker
  Interim House Inc.
  333 W. Upsal St.
  Philadelphia PA 19119
• Send me an email telling me that you sent a package. Please include a picture (or a link to one) of the assembled goods (and who referred you, if that's the case (you can't refer yourself)). My (spam-proofed) email ends with @gmail.com and starts with crazycatladymel (just switch the order and pop 'em together).
• Keep track of updates via this link, or click on the button in the sidebar. I'll post about developments, update about prizes, etc.

Please, please, please spread the word! Don't think of it as lowering your chances of winning. If you're meant to win, you will! Feel free to grab the button and link to this post. In addition, to sweeten the pot:

1. If you post about this on your blog (and let me know), I'll put your name in a second time. You can post about it before you mail, of course! As long as you get a package out before the deadline, both entries will go in.
2. If someone enters and says you referred them (and you entered too), I'll put your name into the basket again. Up to 3 more times!
   

Sometime after noon on the 8th, I'll put all the names into a basket (including the bonus entries) and draw the winning name.

What to send

• Please send at least a couple of complete skeins. After that, feel free to pile on any partial balls. (It's absolutely fine if you shop from your stash 100%.)
• An assortment of accessories and tools would also qualify (new or gently used). Lingerie bags are helpful because of the popularity of felted bags. (Update: requests from IH.)
• Please send what you feel led to; however, if you need ideas, I'd consider sending things like feltable wool (felted bags are very popular) circular needles (short for bags, long for shawls & blankets), darning needles, etc.
• Please don't send scary yarn. Barring texture and fiber preferences (e.g. fun fur or acrylic), if you wouldn't knit with it, please don't send it. This is my request, not necessarily theirs, and I've never yet had an issue with it. But I've seen the kind of things people donate to charity... it's okay to throw some things away!
  

A great thing that more than one person has done in the past is to put a kit together, with everything needed for a project: yarn, needles and pattern. Most of the women that come into the program start out as beginners, but some of them progress really quickly, so they can use virtually any kind of project (cotton washcloths, felted bags, lace shawls). If you're a sale-watcher, watch for clearance items like tape measures or yarn. If you're a knitter/crocheter, then you KNOW what to get (anything!).