Our Call to Share

“We are called upon to use our gift, our gift we have to share with the world.”   –Terry Tempest Williams

Here I am, ready to begin this year with renewed focus, an open willingness to take risks, and great optimism about the impact many small actions can have.  As a knitter, I am well-versed in what a million different tiny stitches, created one at a time, can create. I have many sweaters, hats, socks, and shawls to show for it in fact.

As a result, I have found myself in a position of abundance. Quite honestly, I have more shawls than I could ever hope to wear. Creating these gorgeous wings of wool, I’m finding myself feeling weighted down by the sheer number of them. I’m ready to let some of them take flight and find new shoulders to warm, new bodies to embellish.

It is not enough for me to give them away, though, or even just to sell them. As I knit, I feel a deep sense of purpose, clarity, and peace. To sell them for profit negates the beauty of the shawl for me. Instead, I want my knitted shawls to continue creating that peace in this world, carrying with them all that I felt while knitting them to the recipient and even to the broader world.

My idea is this: I will auction off one shawl at a time, committing to auctioning six shawls over the next three months, and all the money will go towards a charity or cause of my choice. Once the winner has been notified and donates the winning bid to that charity, I will pass the shawl along into the hands of the kind winner. If the winner lives away, I will cover the cost of shipping the shawl via Priority Mail.

Every shawl I auction will be knit out of the very best yarn, will be free of errors, and filled with good karma.

The first shawl is the Jujuy Shawl. This shawl is knit out of Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere, a gorgeous blend of merino wool, cashmere, and nylon. I knit this shawl along with an amazing group of women in coordination with my first ever Knitalong. Because this shawl embodies the strength, comraderie, and kindness of women, all proceeds of this shawl’s winning bid will go towards Planned Parenthood.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone and everyone, because the higher the bidding goes, the more impact this one beautiful shawl can have.

• The opening bid starts at $50 and begins NOW.
• Please bid in whole dollar amounts.
• All bids need to be within the comment thread of this blog post in order for everyone to keep track of the highest bid.
• I will close the auction at 7:00 PM MST on Monday, January 23rd.
• When the auction is over, I will send the winner an email; the winner must donate directly to Planned Parenthood within 24 hours and must forward the confirmation email to me as proof; I’ll coordinate getting the shawl to you by February 1st.

Here’s hoping this idea takes flight… Much love to all of you…and happy bidding!