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I'll be walking in my second Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-day this year. It's not until November here in San Diego, but the team I walk with is starting our fundraising. We've already had a garage sale, and this Saturday we're throwing a large Cinco de Mayo party/benefit. Dinner, drinks, live band, dancing, raffle, auctions. We wanted to put together some silent auction items to go along with our larger live auction items, so I volunteered some things.

First is a yoga pass that I actually won in another charity silent auction. Is that considered regifting? Hmm. Anyway, the brunch where I won it was in Orange County (about an hour north of here), and so this week pass to the Chopra Center about a mile from my house (retail $195) went to me for the minimum bid of $30! I really did want to try out some of the yoga classes, but reality tells me that I'd waste a whole week's pass by only actually make it there once or twice. Besides, I'll be able to get a lot more than $30 for it here in San Diego, so that went into the silent auction pile.

Next is a jewelry set in pink crystals for breast cancer awareness. The photo shows the bracelet and earrings (that I had already made up for my fundraising last year), and tomorrow I'll be wiring together a necklace with the same chain and crystals dangling from the front of it to match the bracelet. I'll also add an awareness charm to the bracelet.

Third is a basket of chocolate chip cookies. My husband M is fairly famous for his cookies among our group of friends and acquaintances, and he has regularly gotten $50 or more for a basket of his cookies (with "top secret" recipe included) at another charity auction that we donate to. So I figure what the heck? Might as well throw those into the silent auction pile, too. It's easy and cheap, and cookies will make someone happy. I just might follow up this post with a cookie post later this weekend. And yes, I'll share the recipe with y'all, too. Top secret schmop secret!

Finally, the knitting content! I thought I'd put together a baby set, as that's something that a lot of people of all ages and either sex might be in the market for, for a shower or birth gift. I briefly considered doing something super nice, but decided that in the interest of washability as well as stashbusting, I'd use some Bernat Softee Baby that I already had. Add that to using patterns that are all found for free online, and this was a seriously cheap project, aside from time. I chose yellow, thinking that I'd make a simple cardigan, hat, and booties that could be worn by a girl or a boy baby. Um, I think I failed in that regard, I certainly wouldn't have put my sons in this:

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I have a friend who said she would have, though. I think it's the bows that do it for me. The hat and booties on their own would have been okay. I'm just really not a pastel-y person, and this isn't something I would have chosen, but hey--it's stash yarn, it's washable, and it's for charity. Good enough, right?

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Sweater: Easy Baby Cardigan, by Diane Soucy found at Knitting Pure and Simple
Hat: Just a generic roll-brim baby hat, around 15" in diameter, with an i-cord knot at the top
Booties: Garter Ridge Booties, by Carole Barenys, found at Knitting on the Net (see notes below)
Bunny Lovie: Bunny Blanket Buddy, found at the Lion Brand site (registration required)
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby, in yellow and white
Size: 6-12 months
Gauge: 4.5 st/in on US7 needles
Notes: I tried to find patterns that somewhat coordinated. The sweater and booties go together with the garter stitch and the white crocheted ties. The bunny also has a white crocheted bow around its neck. Warning: The pattern for the booties is wrong in one place. I was knitting along on the first one at C's baseball game last week, blindly following the pattern and not really paying attention to how it was coming together. Next thing I knew, I was down to the sole, and my instep didn't have the aforementioned garter ridges on the tops. Partly my fault, as I got most of the way through the flap thinking that it was a heel flap, and obviously not wondering to myself why it didn't look in the photo like a heel flap was necessary. It turned out cute enough and I didn't rip it just for that, but to anyone who might knit these, don't do stocking stitch on the flap if you want garter ridges! Duh. I've contacted the woman who puts the site together, and she's aware of the error, so there might be a corrected version up soon.

If any of you live in the San Diego or South Orange County area and still need something to do on Saturday, you're welcome to come to the Cinco de Mayo party/fundraiser! You will be able to buy tickets at the door. Here's a link to the Evite for the party. Email me (address in right sidebar) if you have any questions and would like to come!

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of fundraising and all that, I'll mention here that if you'd like to support me in my 3-day walk, there's a link in the right sidebar to my 3-day page where you can do so. :)