The Sisterhood of the Traveling Shawl

Have you heard about the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Shawl Project?

The Traveling Shawl is a pink lace shawl that will be knit by compassionate knitters in each of the United States, and travels from person to person in increments of three days per person until it has been completely knitted. It will then be raffled off in late 2009. All profits will go to the Susan Komen Foundation. This site states:

... The shawl will visit all fifty states of the US, with one knitter from each state adding 6-8 rows of intricate stitching. Upon completion of the shawl it will be won by someone who has donated to the Passionately Pink for the Cure campaign.

If you would like to be entered in this drawing, make a donation to our Traveling Shawl Team (ID # 3408007). Then forward your confirmation email to travelingshawl@gmail.com For each $5 donation you will be entered into a raffle to win the Traveling Shawl. If you'd like to join our Ravelry group, please visit us at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/traveling-shawl. You can also join our group on Facebook. Simply search Traveling Shawl.

And from the internet Ravelry Knitting Group:

This is about 50 Ravelry knitters from 50 different states...to document the journey of a traveling shawl. It’s journey will begin in Arkansas and once it has been passed to a knitter in every state of our GREAT country, it will return. We hope to accomplish this by October 2009.

For each $5 donation made to the Susan G Komen Foundation via our Donation Page you can be entered in our drawing to win a chance of owning the completed beautiful lace Traveling Shawl.

Everyone has been impacted in some way by breast cancer. Each entry will highlight the knitter, their state, and the person in whose honor or memory that they are knitting for. Enjoy the journey with us. Check out our blog. The journey has begun - share the news! Don’t forget to get your mammogram.

To follow the progress of the shawl, log in to The Traveling Shawl Blog. Today it is in Oklahoma.

Be generous and donate. Who knows, you might just win the shawl and be able to give it to someone who is in The Fight!

St. Patrick's Day!

Try Decoupage with Wood Picture Frames

That useful product Mod Podge is a favorite medium when decoupaging. It is fast drying, and tough as nails. A little goes a long way with this finish, and sanding between coats of the varnish is not necessary.

In just a bit over two hours, I created two picture frames from unfinished wooden frame blanks purchased at the craft store. The frames cost between $1 and $2, depending on size.

There are many sources to learn how to make a picture frame using the decoupage technique. Check here and here for complete, easy instructions.

These two frames have an undercoating of blue acrylic paint. Then various photographs from the trip and a few post cards were used in the decoration of the frames, including maps and tour tickets as mementos. (You can tell that the recent New Zealand and Australia trip was good photo fodder for decoupage pictures.) There is even a whorl of indigenous possum and wool fiber incorporated into one of the frames that I am currently using to knit a lace shawl.

This is an easy and fun project to create for your favorite vacation photos that will incorporate even more memories preserved on the surface of the frame.