This page was published early so those wishing to help the cause could contribute even if they couldn't attend the stream,
Next, giveaway item news! Some more items have been finished, and either sent to me or photos provided.
First are these Little Pillow Dudes created by GirlNovember. She streams knitting, though she has recently come to the dark side and tried her hand at crochet. She created these in purple and teal like the suicide prevention awareness ribbon. Each LPD has a small handmade pillow inside. They are soft and squishy, and happy little reminders someone out there loves you. While these are unscented, I imagine they would be lovely with lavender in the pillows, or another pleasant herb.
The above item is being shipped from the artist's location, and so when a winner is chosen, their information will be sent to her.
The above item is being shipped from the creator, since it will be created per the winner's instructions. The winner will be instructed to contact this artist to give creation preferences as well as mailing information.
Finally, schedule changes are being made.
I have gotten some advice from a Twitch streamer known for doing long streams. And so I have altered the schedule accordingly. Instead of two rest periods, there is now one. I will be hosting another streamer who will provide the donation link and direct viewers to the page. Incentives I am unable to honor due to being offline will be turned off, but the pillow and mural will remain active. I still have main activities written out, in approximately five hour long chunks. These large chunks will allow me to handle honoring donation incentives earned, giveaways, shenanigans, or just taking a break as needed to rest sore joints.
Five minutes before the end of each hour, I will take a 5 minute break for bathroom, food, drink, stretching, standing, etc. I will have a kitchen timer set to fifty-five minutes. it will also allow a brief intermission for the chat goers as well.
Around 8 am Central Daylight Time, I will go offline for a break. it will be a 6 hour break following a 22 hour stream block. The advice I was given said this would be a more effective rest period. The break will end around 2 pm Central Daylight Time. I will log back on to twitch and begin the second 22 hour block. I will leave the option open to push uptime if I don't feel dead tired, but that is the default limit.
The whole thing starts 10 am CDT Friday and ends 10 am CDT Sunday. You can view the schedule here: https://www.tiltify.com/events/strength-in-every-stitch, and share the link with anyone.
Another topic I will address: shaving my head at the $500 mark. I have waffled between DIY with clippers, or going to the salon and having it professionally done. The thing is, I want to record this and I have always preferred the option for people watching the stream to watch me shave my hair off. I have been at the Googles and I have talked to a few people who know a thing or two about head shaving. I have gone to Amazon, bought a WAHL hair clipper, and decided to just go all in. With the guards on the clippers, I'm not that worried about cutting myself. I might be a bit uncoordinated, though. But, I think it will be the best reward for proving to me how generous the community is. It will be messy. There just might be tears. But it will be worth it.
September 9 is fast approaching. One week from the writing of this blog post. I have butterflies in my stomach already, and I wonder if I can do this. It will certainly be a challenge, and a push outside my comfort zone. But the encouragement from the Twitch community has been a blessing, and keeps me going. I love you guys. <3
