Drat. Caught.

I am not as generous as I like to pretend I am. In my personal mythology I am altruistic to an extreme, but in reality, my giving is personal and not all-encompassing. No Dulaan. No Afghans for Afghans. No preemie hats or blankets. No prayer shawls.

I will now admit to being the blogger who snapped up the signed copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting when Emily ran her eBay auction for breast cancer research. It was strictly acquisitive. It meant I had a great Christmas present for my sister. My mother being a breast cancer survivor had nothing to do with it.

Well, yes, I did knit for Red Scarf 2007, but that was in recognition of something from my early youth that snuck up on me. Besides I had all this red yarn to get rid of. No, I will not admit to how much red yarn I have bought since in anticipation. I'm only going to knit for RS 2008 for the comments.

Now that I think about it, Catholic Charities Hurricane Katrina Relief is still pretty happy with me.

Then there's Special Olympics.

(In the local Spring Games this year, Marco got a bronze in the 100M and a silver in the Long Jump.)

But the bottom line is, I am never looking for an opportunity to do more for charity. (Ouch. Truth hurts.) It was with some reluctance that I followed the link from Jess's blog to Claudia's. In fact, I delayed for days. I knew once I got there I was going to be in trouble. Claudia is raising funds for Multiple Sclerosis. Marc's sister has been living with MS for over 10 years now. This one is too close to home to ignore.

If you donate. Maybe you'll win this.

This is 8 skeins of Cascade 220 in Japanese Maple Heather. It's enough for a Mason-Dixon Perfect Sweater, up to a 2XL. The bag comes with. It's from Tangled Web in Oak Park, back when there was still a Tangled Web in Oak Park. The store had knitting bags custom made for them, and this is probably one of the last sold. It has a doodad pocket inside.

Nice long straps. Big enough that the 8 skeins of Cascade don't fill it up.

Plus, it has a hand-made butterfly applique.

I'll be donating, too, but this is my contribution to the prizes Claudia is offering. I had to do it. There were way too many prizes for the sock knitters and not enough for the rest of us.

Blocked - 12.
Completed - 35.
On the needles - 36, 37 and38.