A sparkly yarn and a giveaway for Sandy relief

I'll get right to the point. It's been about 4 weeks since Hurricane Sandy struck. Here in New York City, there are people, some within a few minutes walking distance of where I live and work, who are still displaced and cannot live in their homes. There are people, a train ride or ferry ride away from me, who just don't have homes anymore. I'd like you to help me raise money to donate to New York Cares, a NYC organization that mobilizes volunteers and supplies support services. (New York Cares is rated 4 Stars on Charity Navigator.) Here's one recent blog post from New York Cares regarding donations to support the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief effort.

If you have extra cash, cool. Just click on this link and donate.

Donate to New York Cares now

Every bit helps. If you feel your reasons for donating will encourage others to do so, please tell everyone about it in the comments section of this blog post. If you like, you can say how much you donated, but that's not required. Do save your receipt, however, you could win a prize. Please read to the end to learn more.

If you feel you can't afford to simply donate outright, I'd like to encourage you with a "thank you" gift -- Yarn! And not just any yarn. It's green wool with sparkles, perfect for the holiday season.

 Some of you may remember I used it to knit last year's Christmas tree.

Click pic for a closeup look.

The yarn is called Platina and was produced in Finland by a company, which is no longer in operation, called Hyvinkää.  It's a wonderful fingering weight, cabled yarn. It knits very smoothly on a standard gauge knitting machine, so we can assume that it can be easily used for hand knitting, crochet or any other yarn project. As I mentioned last year, despite the alluring 'tinsel', the yarn is very soft. The label states "100% villaa" (wool). This means the mystery tinsel fiber is most likely less than 5% of the total fiber content (or whatever the Finnish regulations state regarding unlisted fiber). The yarn is labeled 50 g and 220 m (about 240 yards). Please note: I have weighed each ball of this lovely yarn, and the actual weight comes in at between 47 grams and 49 grams!

I have 11 9 8 7 6 4 balls of this fun yarn. I'm selling each ball for $9.00 each plus $1.95 shipping to US addresses. 100% of the proceeds derived from the sale of this yarn will go to New York Cares.

Let me repeat: 100% of the proceeds derived from the sale of this yarn will go to New York Cares. Click the link below to visit my online shop. 

Buy Yarn Now

The Giveaway

If I can get 20 people to participate by either purchasing Platina green sparkly yarn or by donating directly to New York Cares between November 24 and December 4, 2012, there will be a giveaway! All participants will be automatically entered to win an O! Jolly! Jesse Scarf in grey. If you buy some yarn and make a separate direct donation to New York Cares, you get 2 chances to win. (No more than 2 chances to win per person.)

Here's the Jesse Scarf that you could win! It's super soft, super warm, natural grey baby alpaca wool with cream and golden tan  bamboo embossing and fringe. Click for enlargement.

On December 5, if 20 or more people have participated, I'll choose one winner using Text Mechanic Random Line Picker. (If you're chosen as a winner and you're from the direct donation group, please have your receipt available to validate your donation.) The winner will be announced on December 8, 2012 and I'll ship your prize anywhere in the world. Be sure to check back on December 8!

Please be generous. Many people still need help. Thanks.
___
Last update 27Nov2012