Hats for Ethan

It is getting closer to auction time on Hats for Ethan. Please come and check out the ever increasing range of hats. There are also some other types of things available to including a beautiful scarf, headbands and some yet to be revealed items.

Each item is handmade and all of the purchase price is going into a special fund for the MacMillian family to support their eldest son Ethan through his leukemia treatment. With each item sold it will help them and take off some of the financial pressure they are under in this very hard time.

 

The link to Ethan’s facebook page is www.facebook.com/EthansLeukaemiaJourney

My items so far are:

 

 

 

Princesses and Pirates!

I am partaking in my first showcase on facebook and it has been somewhat fun! My friend Julia who runs Booti Tutu has organised a showcase on her FB page in the theme of Princesses and Pirates. It is a way of show casing other creative people in face book land. It is amazing what other ladies have made in the theme.

Booti Tutu Princesses and Pirates Showcase

I enjoyed making the items for this showcase. I had a huge 1kg skein of wool to divide up and then hand dye with some items in mind.

and then a wee Pirate contribution ♥

Gosh the milo took some work with adapting the chart to the number of stitches and then doing it upside down! It was made for a hat knitted bottom up but the Milo vest is knitted top down! Anyway I won! I got the skulls and crossbones chart from here.

Please check out the showcase offerings as there are some wonderful items available! The items are available from 7.30pm on Friday March 8th.

I am going to be doing some rainbow inspired items for another friend’s “Rainbow” Showcase in April…

Keep an eye out!

Enter this competition!

I did!

My friend Jo has a home business called Jodulbug Creations and at the moment Jo has a “Create your own colourway” competition. Click here for more information.

Check out her semi solid colours and her variegated colours for inspiration. There are honestly a lot to choose from!

I have recently finished a few things from yarn that Jo hand dyed….

Reid Hat

Jo also has an upcoming showcase on her facebook page which I will be creating a Rainbow item.

 

Thanks so much!

 

…for the awesome response to the launch of ♥ Hats for Ethan ♥ that I started on Sunday. There are lots of keen crafters from New Zealand and Australia who want to use their skills and create handmade hats to sell for the event.

Please check out some of the business who are joining in on the ChevGirl facebook page. There will be some different items like crowns and headbands available to buy as well.

For anyone interested in baby-wearing, there are a few auctions that you can bid on also raising money for Ethan. Please make a bid and spread the word. It is called “Fundraising for Ethan” .

This morning I went on a kindergarten trip with Makayla my middle daughter who is 4 1/2 years old. It was a great visit to a beautiful place called West Lynn Gardens and Butterfly House in West Auckland. I think the kids had the most fun on the bus there and back as they did seeing the hundreds of monarch butterfly’s and caterpillars.

Here are a few favourite photos of the trip this morning.

 

 

 

Hats for Ethan Showcase

I have some exciting news on my ChevGirl Knitting Face book page. I have launched an event to help raise funds for my friend’s family as they fight their son’s leukemia.

Hats for Ethan Showcase

There are a few patterns on Ravelry that you are allowed to knit for charity as long as you credit the designer.

• Pekapeka Design Studio
• Chemo Earflap Hat
• Sezza Knits
• Poppy hat from Just Jussi
• Stitchymama

The following patterns are licence free once you purchase them:

•  Shannon Patterns – Reid Hats – DK/Worsted & Bulky
• Alison Britt patterns - Winter Garden Beanie, Farmer Beanie (FREE), Rainbow Ridge Beanie (FREE), Daisybob (FREE)

I will add to this list as I become aware of them. If you know of patterns that can be used please let me know. I would love to do a shout out to the designers who allow their work to be used like this.

If you can’t knit, crochet or sew please join us on the 10th of May at 7.30pm and purchase a hat or three made with love and support Ethan and his Mum and Dad and little brother Aiden.

To follow Ethan and his progress please check out their facebook page: Ethan’s Leauaemia Journey and their new blo called “Alongside Ethan”.

Ethan

Please also donate to Ethan’s Give A Little donation page as well.

♥ Kate ♥

St Valentines Day

Yesterday was St Valentines Day or as my awesome Miss 4.5 says “Lovins Day”. I planned to treat some people in my life with some cupcake L♥VE!

I recently went to a wee 1st birthday party and I tried the most decadent cupcakes and I wanted to make them myself well the icing more so! I mean White Chocolate Butter Cream Icing sounds delish doesn’t it? Hell yes! Thanks Nicola you certainly inspired me. This is the recipe I used: White chocolate butter cream icing. 

I made a batch of vanilla cupcakes the night before (not sure I love the recipe for those so will try another recipe…) and made the icing up after school & kindy drop offs. Miss Holly made the task of icing the decorating them hard by hanging around my legs. Every now and then she would tickle me or a little hand would creep up to grab a crumb or a bit of dropped icing! Toddlers ah?

I sprinkled them with some pink stuff as you do and then placed a chocolate heart on each of them. Voila! Done.

It was a real buzz delivering some plates of these to my friends and family

What did you do on St Valentines Day?

Try this recipe!

A friend pointed out this recipe on a forum and I had to make it since the girls cousins are all gluten free. They are called “No Bake Fudgy Snow Balls” on the Skinny Taste website.

No Bake Fudgy Snow Balls

No-Bake Fudgy Snow Balls
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes  
Servings: 21 • Serving Size: 1 cookie • Old Points: 1 pt • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 69.5 • Fat: 3.8 g • Carb: 9.2 g • Fiber: 2.2 g • Protein: 2.1 g  

Ingredients:15 pitted dates

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup whole roasted unsalted almonds
• 1 tbsp honey (agave if vegan)
• 2 tbsp water (or more if needed)
• 3 tbsp confectioner’s sugar (I used icing sugar but you can use coconut to be sugar free)

Directions: 
Add almonds to your food processor and pulse until ground. Add dates, cocoa powder, honey, and water. Mix until it forms a sticky mass. If it seems too dry, add a little water, 1 tsp at a time. Wash hands and using damp hands (keep sink running)measure 1 tbsp and roll into a ball with the dough. Set balls on parchment paper.

Put confectioner’s sugar in a bowl. Roll balls in your hand and then roll in sugar (or coconut).
Can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

Winter Garden Beanie

I joined in a KAL (knit along) in a group on Ravelry and took on the Winter Garden Beanie by Allison Britt.

I must say it was a fun knit and was rather addictive. I used some Red Riding Hood Yarns 8ply called “Botanical Garden” and some Woolganics yummy DK.

Winter Garden Beanie

I can also knit this hat to sell as well. If you are interested in this hat let me know.

I will endevour to get some in action photos of me wearing it so will update later on.

K

Hats for Ethan

Please support Ethan and his family as they fight leukemia by visiting their Facebook page:  CLICK HERE

 

I have made two soft warm hats for Ethan using the awesome Reid DK/Worsted Hat pattern by Shannon Passmore. I love the construction of the earflaps so mind blowingly simple and it saves having more ends to sew in and casting on more stitches and in general a mess!

For Ethan’s two hats I teamed up two 4ply yarns to make a 10ply.

The first hat was a soft baby white yarn and a self striping sock yarn – I called this one Courage.

Reid Hat for Ethan #1

The second hat I used the colour red as this is one of Ethan’s favourite colours and aptly called this one “Red for Ethan”

The red in this one is actually a very soft acrylic! I know! Shock horror. It is not often I knit with acrylic but teamed with another self striping sock yarn it just looked great.

Reid Hat #2

Good news is I can custom knit this hat to sell as once you buy the pattern you can knit to sell from it. I plan to make a few hats and sell them to help raise some extra funds for Ethan’s family to help pay for the many incidentals that are incurred going to and from hospital and appointments.

Here are some other Reid hats I have knitted:

For a first birthday present.

Reid Hat – child size for a Birthday Present

Please help my wee friend Ethan and his family!

My friends are in a nightmare that any parent hopes never happens. Ethan is six and was diagnosed with leukemia just over a week ago It has been a huge upheaval for him and his Mum & Dad and his younger 4 year old brother. Trips to and from the hospital including the parking fees at the hospital and juggling care of younger brother Aiden. So much stress and information overload….so many things.

There is a growing group of friends and family surrounding the family and providing help where we can but more is needed.

There has been a fundraising page set up to help raise more funds:

On Saturday 26th January 2013, 6 year old Ethan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) B-cell. His new home is the oncology ward at Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital.

Ethan’s family are beginning to realise the costs involved with having a child in hospital. The parking, the meals, the petrol … and that is just the start. It seriously affects the income of the family. They also require fundraising for some larger items such as a decent juicer, water filtration system, refrigerator and a heat pump.

Ethan

There is a facebook page set up to support Ethan and his family: Ethan’s Leukemia  Journey. Please “LIKE” his page and share among your friends. If you can help please let us know!

One friend of mine is shaving her hair off to raise funds for “Shave for a Cure” with Leukenia and Blood Cancer New Zealand. Please check out Jacquie’s Shave for a Cure event page and donate!

Message from Jacquie:

I’ve decided to do this crazy thing for an amazing cause.I’ve joined Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) in their effort to get 10,000 people shaving in a mass expression of solidarity. That’s one Shavee for each one of the estimated 10,000 New Zealanders living with a blood cancer or condition like leukaemia.

*UPDATE* (02.02.13) With a HUGE thanks to the kind folks at Sacred Tattoo, I am upping the ante – if I can reach my $2000 target not only will I have all my locks lopped off, I will be adding some ink! The design in question will be the two little ‘dancing people’ that make up the Leukaemia Foundation logo, and the time and ink is being generously donated by Sacred. 

Please sponsor me and help me support this great cause.

It’s simple, fast and totally secure. Just click the ‘sponsor’ button to your right, whip out your credit card, and LBC will email you a receipt directly.

Many thanks for your support.

There are other auctions happening including handmade gem bracelets, a trade me auction of an unopened jar of Marmite spread, handmade toys, handmade tutu’s and many more to come.

Ethan with my girls Holly and Ariana. He is so gentle and kind ♥ NEGU Ethan ♥