A helping hand

those wonderful folks at Ravelry have been at it again - this time you can now search or browse pattens tagged with "help for Haiti" where the designers have pledged part or all of each sale to help the people of Haiti as they deal with the aftermath of the horrific earthquake in their little country.

now is a good time to have a look through your Ravelry queue, purchase a pattern that you would have bought eventually and help the people of Haiti at the same time.

I have pledged 20% of my gross sales (before any fees or charges) until further notice, which will be paid fortnightly to the emergency response fund of Doctors without Borders whom I support for their ability to just go in and get the job done without any religious, nationalistic or monocultural underpinning.

and on a totally personal note - I won't be here for a few days, I'm going to hospital to have my left ovary removed - it has gone feral and I know I will be a healthier, slimmer and much happier Justine without it, and to answer some of the questions I have been asked recently:

Q. what if you want to have more babies?

A. as the 41 year old Mother of 3+2 delightful adult children I do not see pregnancy in my future, however if I lose my mind completely and decide to give it one last go - I still have my nice, tidy hard working right ovary.

Q. so now you will get the menopause?

A. No - it's just one ovary - the other takes over the job of both ovaries and will no doubt make a much better job of regulating my womanly hormones.

Q. What knitting are you taking to hospital?

A. I'm so glad you asked! I'm taking worsted and DK to make a couple of Aviatrices - I'll be playing with the pattern at the same time so that I can write up more sizes. I may take the Moth wing hood with me...but I doubt it, I do not fancy my chances with even basic lace while recuperating - but you never know.

see you all in a few days!