The answer is, "$434 439.41"

The correct question is, "How much money will knitters give to Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontiers when challenged to give $250,000?" For those who may not know the history, Stephanie Pearl- McPhee issued this challenge on her Yarnharlot blog a while back. It began innocently enough when she simply asked folks to give whatever amount they could spare, the price of a skein of yarn or so. In true knitterly fashion, the community went well above and beyond what was requested. To the tune of the aforementioned $434 439.41!!! All I can say is "Knitters Rock!" When asked what the new goal chould be, an overwhelming number of commentors replied, "A million dollars, of course."

I'm now trying to figure out what my next step should be. I really want to open a local yarn shop. I love where I live. It's a fairly small town, but it's growing. The local leaders are trying to revitalize the area and are currently encouraging craft based businesses (think pottery and quilting shops and the like.) Right now, there are no yarn shops in the area. The closest ones are nearly an hour away and while they are quite nice to visit, with gas prices being what they are and with no public transportation between here and there, it's a bit challenging to frequent them. My husband and I have discussed it, looked at it, talked it over, thought about it and darn near analysed it to death with the end result being that I believe it could really work. Now I just have to decide if the timing is right to go for it. What I would really like is to have the shop up and running and be able to donate some Karmic Balancing Prizes (KBP) for Knitters Without Borders. Any thoughts?

While I ponder the best course of action, I'm spending most of my free time working on my grandmother's Christmas gift, a pair of stripey socks knit from Wendy's Toe-up Sock pattern. I'm using Regia sock yarn in a kind of jewel tone colorway (Sorry I don't have pictures at the moment, but the camera got left in the car and it's freezing out there.) I still have one and a half socks to go. (I'm almost ready to turn the heel and then move up the leg.) I don't have Grandmother's measurements, but I inherited my lower limbs from her. Her feet and legs are not only the same size but the same shape as mine, so I get to try them on as I go. Of course the guy who runs the garage raised an eyebrow when I stripped my foot bare to try on the sock for a fitting, but I had just given a glowing recommendation to a potential new customer, so he just smiled. Trust me, a woman peeling off shoes and socks to try on a half a sock with needles poking out of it is not even close to being the oddest thing you'll see around here. I love our little town!