LINKS
TOTAL RAISED
BE NOTIFIED
If you'd like to be notified when new items are posted, just email Caryn Law.
(You will not be added to any spam lists; we wouldn't do that even to our worst enemies!)
(You will not be added to any spam lists; we wouldn't do that even to our worst enemies!)
THE KNITTERS
Allison Salmon
Allison is a programmer for Quake 4. She has been knitting in her spare time for just about a year.
Her favorite charities are The Red Cross and the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
Ellen Lurie
Ellen Lurie is a sound designer on X-Men II: Rise of the Apocalypse. And she plays a mean bassoon.
Rosalie Kofsky
Rosalie Kofsky is a line producer for Quake 4. She just recently learned to knit.
Caryn Law
Caryn Law is an interface designer for Quake 4. She's been knitting for just over a decade and also spins her own yarn.
Her favorite charities are The Red Cross, The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and The I Have A Dream Foundation.
Wendy Hawkins
Wendy Hawkins is a Madison, Wisconsin graphic artist and an experienced knitter.
Kjerstie
Kjerstie holds degrees in Music Education and Music Therapy. She is passionate about knitting and kayaking. She is also taught Allison how to knit over a bottle of wine one night!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
» What is this?
» Who is "us"?
» How much goes to charity?
» Why don't you offer a buyout price?
» What if I don't want to buy on eBay?
» I'd like to help! How can I?
» What's up with the whole "Hellchick" thing?
What Is This?
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S., there were many of us who wanted to help but didn't know what to do or didn't have the means to contribute a lot of money. Then I got an idea. Friends of mine had often told me I should sell my knitting...why not take all that yarn I had stashed away for future projects, knit something cool with it, and then sell them and donate the money to the relief efforts? Instead of giving $25 to the Red Cross, I figured, I could take $25 worth of yarn and put my time and skill into it to make it an item that someone might want to buy for twice that and donate all of it to charity.
After speaking to a few knitters I work with at Raven Software, others were interested in donating items as well. So together we knitted about twelve items and sold them, raising almost $350 between us to donate. Not bad for just four knitters with really busy work schedules. We decided that once we'd sold the items we put up for hurricane relief efforts, we wanted to parlay the effort into a general and on-going grassroots charity effort.
These are handknit items made by us in an effort to raise money for our favorite charities. Each one of these items is a one-of-a-kind handknit item, most of which were knitted specifically to put up for this donation.
Who Is "Us"?
Good evening. We'll be your knitters tonight. Would you like to hear about our specials?
We are a handful of video game developers from Raven Software and their friends or spouses who are also knitters. When we're not working on Quake 4 or X-Men Legends II: Rise of the Apocalypse, we're knitting. We decided that we could give a little bit of money to the relief efforts, or we could take that little bit of money and buy some great yarn, throw in our free time, and knit something cool that people might like to buy, and hopefully quadruple that small amount and contribute more.
On the left side of the site you'll meet the knitters contributing to the project, and you'll see a bit about the charity (or charities) they've decided to donate the money to from the sales of their knitting.
How Much Goes To Charity?
90% of the money from the sale of the item on eBay goes to the charity listed. Why not 100%? Because the other 10% is used to offset the cost of the eBay item listing fees. No profit whatsoever is made from these items -- it all goes to charity.
Why Don't You Offer a Buyout Price?
Having shopped on eBay a lot, I know how great it is to be able to just buy out an item and bypass the bidding process. But remember, we're trying to raise as much money as possible for the charity effort. I feel that by requiring people to bid on items, it can help bring about some competition for the item, which in turn can bring in more money for the charity.
What If I Don't Buy on eBay?
If you're not an eBay shopper and would prefer to buy an item outside of them, we can try and make special arrangements for you. If you have a PayPal account, consider making an offer on the item and then emailing us to ask about buying it outside of eBay. As for credit card purchases, sorry -- we're not set up for those.
I'd Like To Help! How Can I?
Right now, this effort is pretty much a one to four woman machine, depending on what each of us is knitting at the moment and the items we have to donate. It's all done in our spare time, and I'm using my personal web space, time, and eBay account to auction the items. So if you're a knitter interested in contributing, I'm unfortunately not set up very well to handle any items from outside our knitting group. However, if you're auctioning a handknit item on eBay and would like me to promote it here, please let me know.
Looking for other ways to help? The best ways are to buy an item (of course!) or to get the word out about our items to your friends and family. Remember, many of these items make great gifts and are one of a kind, so think ahead to birthdays and holidays and get them while they're here!
What's Up With the Whole "Hellchick" Thing?
There are two driving forces in my life: video games and knitting. Occasionally I'll get someone from one of those areas of my life who runs into the other area and gets a little confused. So if you're a knitter who stumbled onto this site and is a little confused yourself, the short story is that Hellchick is a nickname I adopted when playing games online and it stuck so well that many people I work with and play games with tend to call me Hellchick instead of my real name. It's cool. I like it.
» What is this?
» Who is "us"?
» How much goes to charity?
» Why don't you offer a buyout price?
» What if I don't want to buy on eBay?
» I'd like to help! How can I?
» What's up with the whole "Hellchick" thing?
What Is This?
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the U.S., there were many of us who wanted to help but didn't know what to do or didn't have the means to contribute a lot of money. Then I got an idea. Friends of mine had often told me I should sell my knitting...why not take all that yarn I had stashed away for future projects, knit something cool with it, and then sell them and donate the money to the relief efforts? Instead of giving $25 to the Red Cross, I figured, I could take $25 worth of yarn and put my time and skill into it to make it an item that someone might want to buy for twice that and donate all of it to charity.
After speaking to a few knitters I work with at Raven Software, others were interested in donating items as well. So together we knitted about twelve items and sold them, raising almost $350 between us to donate. Not bad for just four knitters with really busy work schedules. We decided that once we'd sold the items we put up for hurricane relief efforts, we wanted to parlay the effort into a general and on-going grassroots charity effort.
These are handknit items made by us in an effort to raise money for our favorite charities. Each one of these items is a one-of-a-kind handknit item, most of which were knitted specifically to put up for this donation.
Who Is "Us"?
Good evening. We'll be your knitters tonight. Would you like to hear about our specials?We are a handful of video game developers from Raven Software and their friends or spouses who are also knitters. When we're not working on Quake 4 or X-Men Legends II: Rise of the Apocalypse, we're knitting. We decided that we could give a little bit of money to the relief efforts, or we could take that little bit of money and buy some great yarn, throw in our free time, and knit something cool that people might like to buy, and hopefully quadruple that small amount and contribute more.
On the left side of the site you'll meet the knitters contributing to the project, and you'll see a bit about the charity (or charities) they've decided to donate the money to from the sales of their knitting.
How Much Goes To Charity?
90% of the money from the sale of the item on eBay goes to the charity listed. Why not 100%? Because the other 10% is used to offset the cost of the eBay item listing fees. No profit whatsoever is made from these items -- it all goes to charity.
Why Don't You Offer a Buyout Price?
Having shopped on eBay a lot, I know how great it is to be able to just buy out an item and bypass the bidding process. But remember, we're trying to raise as much money as possible for the charity effort. I feel that by requiring people to bid on items, it can help bring about some competition for the item, which in turn can bring in more money for the charity.
What If I Don't Buy on eBay?
If you're not an eBay shopper and would prefer to buy an item outside of them, we can try and make special arrangements for you. If you have a PayPal account, consider making an offer on the item and then emailing us to ask about buying it outside of eBay. As for credit card purchases, sorry -- we're not set up for those.
I'd Like To Help! How Can I?
Right now, this effort is pretty much a one to four woman machine, depending on what each of us is knitting at the moment and the items we have to donate. It's all done in our spare time, and I'm using my personal web space, time, and eBay account to auction the items. So if you're a knitter interested in contributing, I'm unfortunately not set up very well to handle any items from outside our knitting group. However, if you're auctioning a handknit item on eBay and would like me to promote it here, please let me know.
Looking for other ways to help? The best ways are to buy an item (of course!) or to get the word out about our items to your friends and family. Remember, many of these items make great gifts and are one of a kind, so think ahead to birthdays and holidays and get them while they're here!
What's Up With the Whole "Hellchick" Thing?
There are two driving forces in my life: video games and knitting. Occasionally I'll get someone from one of those areas of my life who runs into the other area and gets a little confused. So if you're a knitter who stumbled onto this site and is a little confused yourself, the short story is that Hellchick is a nickname I adopted when playing games online and it stuck so well that many people I work with and play games with tend to call me Hellchick instead of my real name. It's cool. I like it.
- Caryn "Hellchick" Law