Hi again, Last week I had the opportunity to meet Dino, a representative from Diamond Yarn, a Canadian company that imports fine knitting yarns. It turns out that many of the yarns I've been using for my projects (including Malabrigo and Sirdar) are imported by Diamond Yarn. If you've been trying to find these yarns for your own knitting projects, it's worth a visit to their website – they have a handy " find" feature. Just enter your postal code to see a list of local-to-you stores that sell their yarns. It's also worth checking out the Diamond Yarn blog. One of the things that Dino brought along to show me was a selection of Mirasol yarns. I was familiar with the brand but I didn't know that the yarns are a fair trade product whose sales not only help support shepherds and their families in Peru, but also contribute to funding the construction and operation of a boarding school for the shepherds' children. It's called The Mirasol Project (check out some photos of the centre here). [caption id="attachment_1252" align="aligncenter" width="243" caption="At the school on opening day; photo from mirasolperu.com."] [/caption] This week I'll be giving away four skeins of Mirasol yarn, plus Book One of the Mirasol Collection books, a collection of designs by British knitting designer Jane Ellison. (The Diamond Yarn Blog recently posted an interview with Jane that's quite interesting.) [caption id="attachment_1254" align="aligncenter" width="359" caption="Yarn photos courtesy diamondyarn.com"] [/caption] The yarns are: Qina (80% baby alpaca, 20% bamboo); Sulka (60% merino, 20% alpaca, 20% silk); Tupa (50% merino,50% silk);  and K'acha (60% merino, 25% suri alpaca, 15% silk), in a variety of earth tones. They'd all be perfect for a one-skein winter cheer-up project such as a cowl or some wrist-warmers. For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, January 31. I'll post a winner here on Monday, February 1. This week, I'm wondering what other examples of crafting-for-good are out there. Whether it's an online auction, a church rummage sale, a fair trade product...I'd love to know about it. Thanks!