Better late than never, right?

Gah. I am so very sorry. Things have been hectic, to the say the least, around here. And while I never intended to let the contest go this long without announcing a winner, life went and got in the way.

I'm going to shamlessly blame pregnancy brain. Because, in case there is anyone left who doesn't know, I am pregnant. What's more, I'm having TWINS. So I have double the pregnancy brain. Y'all are lucky I remembered that I started a contest at all :)

I do have a winner to announce...

I wrote every entry out and put it into an ice cream bucket, and called upon the man himself to draw the winner. Doesn't he look handsome with his bedhead?


And the winner is...


In case you can't read that, it's Teresa Perkins! Congrats Teresa! Please email me straight away with your address so I can get your goodies mailed out. Email is philsmustache@hotmail.com

Thanks again everyone for your donations and thanks a bunch for your patience.

I haven't forgotten, I swear!

The last 13 days have been hectic, and I wanted to be able to show off the prize package when I announced the winner, but I've lost my power cord to my sewing machine which makes it really hard to sew a bag! I'm hoping to get to my mom's this evening to use hers and get it all done. If all goes well tonight then watch for an announcement tomorrow. With pics and maybe video of the actual draw if I can get my act together.

Thanks again to all, the final tally for Phil's efforts was $321, and the tally for his team was $676!

Canada rocked it big time by raising $20,854,376...we were in the lead but it looks like Australia eeked past us at the last minute with $20,905,568. Regardless, that's amazing and I look forward to seeing bigger totals next year.

We had a blast at the Gala Parte, thanks in no small part to you who donated which meant we were able to attend for free. The party was a big reward for our efforts, and the nachos were awesome, the playlist was like the soundtrack to my teen years...overall and awesome time so thanks again!

And now, I get to kiss my husband again :)

Almost done

Either tonight or tomorrow morning we'll be saying goodbye to the mustache.

So this is a last call for donations, and remember every $5 you give gets you an entry into the contest for yarn and goodies!

Phil's Mospace!

These are the 'stache shots I took last night



"It's ok...I have a mustache"

Close up of the whiskers


All along Phil has had what's called "The Rockstar" mustache, and last night he decided to do some alterations in order to give himself a new look

This is "The Tom Selleck"


(made more alarming by the fact that this is the same mustache style my Dad wears. So weird!)

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your support, draw will take place at some point tomorrow, with pics of a newly shaved Phil.

Now with MOAR MUSTACHE

I really really miss kissing my husband properly. I still kiss him, but there is this added feeling of being kissed by a push broom.

Took this Saturday, Day 20 of the 'mo


Get a really good look at what I have to put up with now


There is still time to donate, and thus get your name into the draw for yarny goodness. I have narrowed the yarn choice down to three, and chosen the fabric for the bag, and collected some other goodies for the prize pack. No limit on how many entries, each $5 donation gets you an entry.

Donate here

And once you've done that, please email me at philsmustache@hotmail.ca to let me know.

Thanks so much for your support so far!

Movember

My husband is participating in Movember this year, an annual fundraiser for Prostate Cancer research where participants grow a mustache. The rules are simple: No shaving the stache between November 1st and November 30.

Here he is on November 1st


And here he is, 10 days in


He's going for "The Rockstar"

As his loving wife (who really misses kissing him, I cannot stand the tickly mustache, it's too weird), I am helping with fundrasing efforts.

I am offering up a prize package containing yarn, a sewn project bag, stitch markers and a few yet-to-be decided upon extra treats. For every $5 donated, you get one entry into the draw. So the more money you put in, the better your chances of winning :)

Here's how you do it.

Go to Phil's Movember fundraising page. There are a couple different methods, and paypal is one of them (yay for paypal!) Once you've done that, send me an e-mail at philsmustache@hotmail.ca letting me know your name and how much you donated. I'll be doing the draw on December 1st.

I'll be updating throughout the month with mustache photos and with teaser pics of the prize you could win.

Let's raise some money for men's health!

You know that thing I do with sticks and string?

I have some finished stuff to show you

Just before the Tour de Fleece started I cast on yet another lacy shawl

I finished it around the time TdF finished up

Pattern: Laminaria
Yarn: The Unique Sheep Eos in the Raven's Wing colourway



detail shot


I love this pattern. I love the texture. I didn't love doing the make-3-into-9 sts but I love how they turn out. And it only used up some of the skein of Eos that I bought so I have more than enough to make another lovely something with it :)

Of course, once I finished this I needed to cast on another lacy something so I grabbed a skein of Tosh merino light that a friend of mine gave me, in the colourway "Opaline" and cast on for Swallow Tail shawl that I've had on my to-knit list for years



First off...I love Evelyn Clark shawls. They are very well written, designs that are easy to get the flow of. I've even forgiven her making me do nupps.



And this yarn is stunning. Depending on what light you see it in, it can be pink, purple, or grey with touches of pink or purple. It's stunning.

My current shawl is being knit in malabrigo sock yarn in a gorgeous blue-green. I can't wait to show it off when it's done.

Over the summer one of my very dear friends had her fourth baby, a delightful baby girl.

I knit one of my favourite baby patterns, the Seamless Baby Kimono (rav link)



I did the 3-6 month size, knit it in soft but functional Knit Pick Swish DK, the colourway Storm (which I bought years ago, and that colour is no longer available)

I've also managed to break free of my sock rut...since May I hadn't been able to cast on a sock and knit further than the toe. Towards the end of summer I was able to finish these



Alright, they don't match. On the right is the first of my pair of Leyburns(rav link), another pattern that's been on my must knit list for a while. I'm knitting it with koigu (rare moment where I'm knitting with the called-for yarn). I've modified the pattern to suit my foot, ditched the lower st count on the sole for a better fit, doing my standard type of toe and using Deb Barnhill's toe-up sock formula for the heel (I prefer a heel flap over a short row heel). The second sock is progressing a lot faster than the first sock because the mods are all sorted out.

On the left is the first of a pair of Manolo socks. As soon as I saw this pattern I fell in love with it. It's so well written and it's incredibly charming. I'm using The Unique Sheep's Verve, in the colourway American Beauty, which was part of the Lust shipment from the Seven Deadly S(p)ins club I was in a couple years ago. The pattern that came in the shipment wasn't to my taste but this pattern just screamed for a nice red yarn. The second sock is progressing, already done the heel and working my way up the leg.

So that's us caught up with the finished knitting content :)

Not quite what I was going for....

Summer of 1989. I was nearly 11, expecting a baby brother very soon, and I was spending a week at my aunt and uncle's cottage. Not far from their cottage was the summer home of a girl my age, and we became fast friends.

One day I was hanging out at her cottage watching while her mom dyed my friend's aunt's hair. We were waiting somewhat impatiently because we were headed to the aunt's house for a swim in her pool once we were done.

The aunt was trying a new shade. She did the rinse and said "Hmm...seems a little red." The mom said "Oh, it does. Let's dry it and see what it really looks like"

So they dried it...and it was red. A gorgeous shade of red, and we young girls loved it. The aunt, however was not loving it. We gushed over how amazing it looked and how much we liked and she was very nearly swayed...until I said

"You look just like Tiffany!"

From my not-quite-11-year-old self who had spent many many days singing along with Tiffany with her like-minded friends, this was high praise indeed!

Um, for reference:



She looked at me in horror, then realized I thought I was complimenting her and said "Thanks hon, but that's not really the look I was going for"

Off she went to the salon to have her hair fixed, while off we went for a swim.

I find myself thinking of that moment again today.

I've always approached my hair with a "meh, it's hair, it'll grow back!" and have been rather fearless with regards to colour. In my late teens early it was mostly about being blond, until I had to recognize that my hair had enough natural red to it that my blond dye was destined to always be a bit strawberry. When I was twenty I gave into that completely and dyed my hair a deep red. A few years later I abandoned the deep red for reddish brown.

When I pregnant with my daughter I put away my stained dye towels and kept my natural brown with hints of red. Not a bad colour, but eventually I got bored and started to play with colour again.

This spring found me adding blue stripes to my hair, which I LOVED. Unfortunately maintaining it comes with a lot more fuss than I have attention span for, so I let it go. The result was blond stripes with a hint of green leftover from the blue dye.

A week or so ago I decided to grab a bottle of dye and cover up my blond streaks (I'll be honest, it looked AWFUL by that point)and I loved my red/brown hair once again.

Until...well, red doesn't last long. It's never been a problem before, since it would fade rather nicely into my hair. But the blond started creeping through, which would have been fine, but so did the green tinge. Couldn't have that.

So I bought another bottle of dye, planning to use it to cover up just before the wedding I'm attending this weekend so I'll have nice hair to go with my new dress and my new shoes.

And I made a mistake. I bought more of the same red dye. Forgetting that when you add red dye to dyed red hair, what you end up with is RED HAIR

See what I mean?


Honest to blog, I have no idea what I was thinking. I remember the disaster years ago when I tried to bleach out red dyed hair (ending up with various shades of bright orange...oh god it was bad!). Red dye has to be handled with care, and I know better.

I considered just leaving it, but my dress for the wedding tomorrow is a gorgeous shade of red, and the hair...it clashes with the dress.

Not the look I was going for.