Nerdy Knitter

Raising money ain't easy

Well, here I am, writing to confess that I already made a mess of my big attempt to raise money for the Virginia Tech Hokie fund. Sigh.

I emailed almost every person in my address book to tell them about my project, included a link, then got a call HOURS later from my brother who told me the link I included didn't work. Argh!

I don't want to be one of those annoying people who sends mass emails over and over. I'm hoping I fixed it!

Anyway--for those random readers whose email addresses I don't already have in my address book, you're in luck: you won't be getting multiple emails from me. You can read all about my plan right here, right now.

Here goes:

I finished my Icarus shawl! Yup, it turned out beautifully. I love the yarn; I love the pattern; I love the two together. Because of my dial-up situation at home, I won't post a photo tonight, but I'll be sure to do that on Monday.

I'm trying to post a photo from home; we'll see how that goes (remember I'm on dial-up)...










So my quandary began before I even finished the shawl: what to do with it once I finished. I have shawls; I wear them once in a while. I don't need another shawl. I don't need a gossamer-weight, lace shawl.

At the same time, I was wondering how I could do something meaningful for the Virginia Tech community as it's really not far from where we live, and it was just such a horrific experience for everyone. The problem was that the Nerdy Bank is perilously low on funds most of the time.

So...(do you see where this is heading?)...

I set up an ebay auction for the Icarus Shawl, and I'm planning to send the proceeds from the auction to the Hokie Fund. I'm so excited about this idea! But it will be more exciting if people actually bid on the item...

I sent an email to friends and family today, and hope to send an email to my colleagues on Monday. What I envision is a group of donors banding together as a "team" to bid with a collective amount of money, then drawing numbers/names/whatever to determine who gets to keep the shawl. How does that sound, everyone?

The link to the auction is here. It's called: "Handknit gossamer (lace) shawl" and it's in the clothing category, not the knitting category because the knitting category only had yarn, patterns, kits, etc., and not finished items.

PLEASE tell your friends/family/acquaintances/people on the street so we can make a big donation to an important cause.

EDITED TO ADD (5/6): I had a very nice email from a reader to warn me that I should have asked for the designer's permission to sell this shawl. Gulp! I was so disappointed with myself because I really wanted this auction to work, and I didn't want to have to send yet another email to everyone, cancelling the auction.

Well, I quickly sent an apologetic email to Miriam and she just as quickly responded, giving me permission to sell the shawl! I'm so relieved!! So the auction's still on, even though I cancelled it and have to relist it. But that's minor. Hooray! Thank you, thank you, thank you to Miriam for her understanding!

Now I hope this raises some money to make all of the embarrassment worth it. Sigh.

PS--I blocked it all by myself on my bed yesterday. Yes, I was too impatient to wait for Janice to return from MSW. Yes, I'm all about instant gratification. Yes, it was actually fun (having a duvet cover with squares all over it helped).

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 7:52 PM