We had to have a mini photo shoot for something today, so I thought I’d include a photo of the Loopy Elves for you to see! (Do you like how I’m knitting them all together from above? I had fun tangling the all up in yarn.) So the middle row – Sue, Kathy, Wendi and Diana, and sitting down – Susan and Vicki. Wendi has taken over doing the photos for us (although WH still does alllll of the color correcting on the computer every week) and Diana does the bookkeeping. (My least favorite thing in the entire world.) Aren’t they wonderful? 🙂
Today is our weekly RAK Reporting Day! Have you done any RAKs that you can comment on and inspire us with? Remember, although we all love doing them secretly, when you share it on the blog, it gives others some good ideas about things that they can go out and do, too. I’ll do the weekly Loopy Gift Package drawing on Wednesday before I blog that day. I did the “pay for the Starbucks in the car behind you” a couple more times this week. Although I’ll keep doing that, I want to come up with something else for this week, just to keep it fun. So I’ll be interested in all of your new ideas! I loved the ideas that people had about giving out knitted items. Back in my “just getting back into knitting after 20 years” days, I knit sooooo many scarves. Many have been worn once (or …. not at all) and I thought I should wash them all and then be on a mission to give them away this month.
I also wanted to give you a Sneak Peak at the new Dream in Color colorways – their 400 series! (And a special thanks to Veronica at Dream in Color for sending the photo so that I could share it with all of you on the blog!) We’ve had these on order forever (it seems like) and they’ll be here this month, as soon as they can get them labeled and shipped. (It will be a fun Dream in Color month with more Smooshy, more Classy, all the new Lace, and all of the new colors!) The colors, starting with the orange/peach and going counter clockwise: Flamingo Pie, Butter Peeps, Go Go Grassy, Lunar Zazzle, Pansy Golightly, Punky Fuschia, Into the Mystic, and Midnight Derby. YUM!
Sheri hadmylastspinningclass&nownotspinningalickuntilsomeknittinggetsdone
My Raks- Last Wed. and today I paid for a drink for the car behind me, luckily they both only had 1 person with one drink order. I was wondering what I’d do if the person behind me orders like 3 drinks, would offering to pay for just one be weird?
My RAK this week started out as a not-so-great experience for me, but ended wonderfully for someone else. My family ordered pizza for lunch the other day and one of the pizzas arrived with wrong toppings. I called the pizza place, and since my kids had eaten it anyway, I declined to have a new pizza made for me. The pizza place made an error and sent out 2 new pizzas anyway about 2 hours later. I took those pizzas to our local homeless shelter. I recognize ordering pizza is a luxury not everyone can afford.
RAK: Taking my complete and used once Denise set of circs back to the yarn shop and asking the owner to give them away to a deserving knitter who couldn’t otherwise afford them.
It’s nice to see the beautiful people with beautiful yarn at the Loopy Ewe!
My RAK last week was a spinoff from the Starbucks RAK: to pay for shipping for the next person who ordered at the Loopy Ewe after me. I learned that the recipient was a first-time customer! Yeah! Thanks for the idea!
My RAK of the week was spurred on by snow. We are not used to lots of snow here, just enough to play in now and again. Oldest Son had a birthday party Saturday afternoon that was scheduled to end at 6pm. Well the snow was falling and the house was full of teen-age boys who were all newer drivers. I told them all to call their parents and let them know they would be spending the night, no driving in the snow/ice for them. The streets began to thaw come early afternoon Sunday and everyone went home safe and sound.
Our RAK is heading out to get mittens and hats for the local shelters as part of my kids church program. I will also be cleaning out the closets for my kids old winter coats for donation.
What a wonderful idea – RAK it should be year long and not just seasonal.
I read about this and decided to try it, while shopping at a “Bath” store I had 2 get free things coupons. I used one and turned around to the ladies behind me and gave them the other, the look on their faces was priceless. A few days later I was in line at a dept. store and a kind person gave me her unused coupons for my purchase. To contine with the RAK, while in my favorite bookstore, I paid for a book to be donated to a needy child. The process continues. I have also shared this idea with my middle school child, hopeing she would try it out as well. Keep up the wonderful work
Love the picture of the Elves…
I’ve always been a practioner of “Pay it Forward” (RAK (even before the movie came out.) I’m on a fixed income but it makes me feel rich to be able to do something for someone else. And if someone is having a bad day, you can just see them brighten up.
I loved the idea of buying breakfast for that harried family, but how does one do that? Just give the drive-through a certain amount of money? Or do you just choose something? In other words, how do you know what the cost will be? Or what they might want? Breakfast or a hamburger?
My RAK this past weekend was to take 3 portions of apple Clafouti to friends who have taken another friend under their wing while she’s recovering from surgery. We all had a nice visit and I’ve gotten at least one of them back into the fiber arts and she’s crocheting a neat layette in jewel colors for her future grandson.
My RAK was to take care of my sisters dog (for 8 days), after
her dogsitter cancelled. She is in Disneyworld, and I am
sitting here knitting with 3 dogs looking at me!!
My RAK last week was to leave my left over change from lunch in a jar for our local food pantry.
My RAK this week was to donate some knitting books to my local library. Since I learned from books at the library, I thought others might like to do the same and have some newer books to look at.
My RAK is really my DH’s. We got weird weather here on Saturday – snow, sleet, rain and ice. Most of the streets were fine on Sunday. However our church parking lot was a sheet of ice. My wonderful DH helped several little old ladies across the ice and into the church. One of the many reasons I love him.
My not-so-random act of kindness is that I’m giving away a $25 gift cert to the Loopy Ewe on my blog….you may check it out if you wish! Good luck! 🙂 It makes me happy to think that someone will have a great skein of yarn (or money towards some accessories) to use for whatever they want! YEAH!
Great Picture!
My RAK was to give a bunch of coupons to a woman behind my at Bed, Bath Beyond. I get tons of those and she had an armful of presents to buy and she could use them. I also bought a hot chocolate when I got my Starbuck’s treat and gave it to the chilled Salvation Army bell ringer so they would stay warm. Yes, put the change in the red pot too. I’ll figure out some more to do soon.
Thank you, thank you for having this ‘contest’ … it’s made me a little more aware on a daily basis.
hugs, Virginia
Well… How ashamed I am that I didn’t make an effort to do a RAK this past week! Baby boy had the tummy flu and then I got it. It was a pretty quiet, cranky and homebound week here. However, my hubby did come home a few hours early from work to watch the sick baby, while sick mommy could sleep! That was such an act of kindness done for me and I appreciated so much! 🙂
My RAK-
I took a batch of raspberry scones, fresh from the oven, up to my Moms work. She works with a bunch of great ladies who have always given to My Boys at birthdays and holidays. So sometimes they become my “guinnea pigs” when I try out new recipes (the scones were a new thing for me. I start my job this week at a local coffeehouse and they want me to become their “in-house baker” some day!!). Even though I try to convince them they are doing me a favor, they insist that this is the best thing someone can do for a person- fresh baked goodies!!
**waving** Hello Loopy Elves! I love the picture, especially the color coordination!
My RAK for the week involved a friend of my mom’s who is a HUGE help to us generally, and a lot of other people, in spite of many challenges in her own life. Anyway, she’s about my mom’s age — late 70’s — and was hit last week with what is either the cold from h*ll that has been going around or a version of the flu, and either way, I suspect that it kicked up her diabetes, though she wouldn’t let the paramedics take her to the hospital. Anyway, very much unlike herself, she stayed in the house all last week with her husband (who is one of her challenges for so many reasons I won’t go into). It was probably better for her health, as she seems to have started getting better, but I think it was a bit challenging emotionally. Anyhow, I picked up a box of special tea for her and dropped it off on Friday as a “Hope this helps you to feel better” present. I also picked up some information from church for them on Sunday.
So, not much, but something. I have more somethings brewing for this week. 🙂
RAK….I belong to a local “freecycle” group. While cleaning for Christmas— I realized I…. ummmm… have enough yarn to be able to share…..
Someone posted they wanted yarn to make Christmas gifts. IO responded. Culled my stash…..then went back and picked out some really good stuff… sock yarn and las=ceweight and wool…. and some magazine with witer patterns… and a pair of colonial ebony straights…. and some bamboos- and yes. Some Addi’s.
I packed it into a HUGE Ikea bag and set it on the porch—- RAK= random act of knit— was able to help someone with their Christmas love spreading— by doing a little stash dive.
For this upcoming week- I’m knitting a few “cup warmers” and will be taking them to starbucks with me… 😉 a little handknit cheer- for the cranks in line— and will probably buy some coffee’s too;)
bummer- can’t tell from that post I was an English major……
I swear I CAN spell— I . Just. can’t. type;)
AHHH! I wish you hadn’t shown me the picture of the new DiC!!!! I don’t need more yarn!!! lol
As for RAK this week……I don’t have a lot to report. The best this week is that my hubby has been having a very difficult time lately and so I spent an afternoon cleaning the house top to bottom, making a nice dinner and having the kids all ready for bed so that he could come home and relax after a monster of a week.
I just had an RAK on Saturday. My husband and I are still involved with the Boy Scout troop that my husband was in a s a kid and that my two sons (now 20 & 22) went through (the 22 year old made Eagle). Our banquest will be in January and a friend of mine was holding a meeting on Saturday to get things rolling. SHe called me about an hour before the meeting and said that there was a water main break in front of her house and she’d need to cancel. SHe was getting ready to cal the women she was expecting and let them know. I told her to give me the names, looked up the numbers and made the calls for her. Before I got rolling I called my husband at the camping trip the scouts were on and got him to send her husband home (he never turns on his cell phone). Fortunately the trip was only about 30 minutes away, so he got home to help. Later that night I took her out to dinner so that she’d be away from the jack-hammering. To me it all seemed like no big deal, but she told me that I really helped her to stay sane through the whole thing.
Not totally random, but certainly unplanned… I’m always knitting socks. Guess it comes from being a participant in the 52-Pair Plunge. This morning, while waiting in line for coffee, one of my co-workers came over to see the latest pair in progress. I’d planned on keeping them for myself but she so obviously loved the colorway and pattern that it was easy promising them to her — provided they fit (one was already done). We came back to the office and she tried one on. Fit like a glove. Hmmm, well actually more like a sock that had been custom knit for her. I think this pair is going to have a very happy home.
I (think) I have a whole bunch:
I paid for two of my coffees at Starbucks, with the request that they give the other to the next person who ordered the same thing I had (a Venti Mild — nothing too fancy). The Starbucks is not a drive-through, and I wanted to be anonymous, so I couldn’t really just buy for the person behind me.
I gave some yarn from my stash and a set of newly-purchased Denise interchangeable needles to a good friend of limited means who is just learning to knit.
I ran into another mom from our church and found out that her husband was in the hospital in the ICU, and nobody knows what’s wrong. After offering to take care of her kids or bring her food (both of which she indicated others were doing), I emailed our minister to let him know the situation. He called her that evening, and she thanked me the next day — but it had honestly never occurred to me *not* to do that.
We took care of a friend’s elder child for a few hours one night when she had to take the younger child to the Emergency Room.
There are others, but I’m starting to feel obnoxiously self-aggrandizing, and they weren’t entirely random things because they weren’t for strangers and were not unexpected. So I’ll stop here.
Thanks, though, for helping me to focus on the good that I do — so often I beat myself up for the bad things without remembering also to feel good about the good things.
One not-so-random kindness this week was bringing a meal over to a family in need.
On a more random note, I let a young man in front of me at Target – he had only a card to purchase and I was pushing a cartload. He looked rather startled!
Love reading about everyone’s RAKs – so much inspiration for little things that can make a big difference. My RAK for this week was yesterday. A group of friends and I got together and baked and decorated holiday cookies for a local children’s hospice. We’re going to wrap them up in nice gift bags and drop them off for the children later this week.
Covetousness thy name is Kelli. lol Random Acts of Kindness. Here’s one that happened to me today: one of the other grad students decorated my desk. lol I was going on about how everyone else has stuff that makes it look like they actually live at their desk and mine is boring. She up and decorated my desk while I was walking my papers to the recycling container. 🙂
As for what I did, mostly letting someone merge in front of me in busy traffic. That’s all for now, but there should be more to come. 🙂
I took six extra coupons for “Spend $10.00/Get a product worth $11.00” from Bath & Body Works and handed them out on Saturday to people who were Christmas shopping. I knew I didn’t need any more “stuff” and I loved to see how their eyes lit up when I asked them if they wanted a coupon. Especially the guys who looked SOOO out of place!
The new yarns are so pretty. I am on a “yarn diet” and all these beautiful yarns are making me think about falling “off the wagon”!
Debi just reminded me – a couple of weeks ago I was at the local Ben Franklin Crafts and Frames shop (which sells yarn btw) and had an extra coupon. I gave it to a mother and her daughter who had just come to the check out line as I was entering the store.
Reading through, I’ve been reminded of one I’ve started doing — and it *is* for complete strangers: I make an effort to let other cars pull out in front of me, or turn in front of me, or merge into my lane, or whatever it is that they need to do. It goes totally against my insticts, having been born and bred in NYC (and learned to drive there, too!), and I must admit that I worry that even though I am being kind to the person I allow to go in front of me I am being unkind to the person stuck behind me. But I’m working on it, and I think I’m making progress.
Okay my RAK this week came early today Monday. We have Secret Santa at work and I knew a co worker REALLY wanted me to get her as she wanted Fingerless gloves. I did not get her but I did make her a pr. and gave them to her as a happy winter gift. Now off to make some for my real secret santa pal!
I know my what my RAK is – I just got my licnese about….2m onths ago. And I have a bad habit of switching lanes right in front of someone – not dangerously, but it does scare them. And they beep.
So my RAK is I haven’t driven for the past week!
Does an attempted RAK count? Today on the subway a man was asking for food and/or money for breakfast. He kept emphasizing that he was really hungry and wanted food. Now I don’t give money to people on the street, I choose to help those in need by donating to charity, but I did have an apple that was going to be MY breakfast. So I tried to hand it to him-he responded by saying “No, I already have a bunch of apples in my bag. I don’t need anymore” and went back to asking the rest of the subway car for food!
So I tried and it was rejected, it was a little bit disheartening.
Some of the little things were things such as allowing people to pull out in front of me when trying to get out of a parking spot on a busy street. I also wrote my boss a note thanking him for his patience as I adjusted to this new job. It made a difference because he’s really gone a bit easier on me and is friendlier to me. It’s such a small thing to say thank you but I find that it really just changes a day.
How much fun to see all the Loopy Elves! Thanks for posting the picture, Sheri!
My RAK for this week was to purchase a couple of bags of of food at the grocery store that will go to our local food bank for the holidays. I have also made it a point to be courteous to other drivers whenever I can. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to get out of a parking lot this time of year!
I am so excited to see the new colors of Dream in Color – I adore Peeps and Flamingo!
Hi Loopy Elves! Thanks for all your hard work!
Yummy yarn colors. Love love love Dream in Color!
My RAKs included letting two people in front of me at check out in two different stores, mailing an unexpected gift to a far away friend, giving my dry cart to a woman with a kidlet and finding another dry one for myself, letting a harried woman into my lane (many kids in the car), and paying for lunch for a friend. I find the less appreciative the recipient of my RAK is, the happier I am that I did it because I figure the person I RAK’d must have really needed that kindness.
I am often asked to knit a chemo cap for someone. This past week I was asked to knot one for a little girl who is only 22 months old. These always break my heart. I knitted her the prettiest pink cap and sent along a crocheted cupcake purse. I’m told she was very excited. Not totally random I know.
Thank you for encouraging and sharing RAK’s! Inspired by the SB stories, I gave a $5 credit to the person behind me in line at the grocery store. (RAK1) I asked the cashier to wait until I’d left the store to tell the young woman with the fidgety toddler about the gift.
Like someone above, I’m always extra pleasant to cashiers, particularly at busy stores.
I read to a kindergartner on my lunch hour two days a week, but this past week she wasn’t there. I had a brought a book that had belonged to my kids when they were younger and then ran into the little boy that I had read to last year. I whispered to him in the hallway that I didn’t need it anymore and asked if he wanted it. It was about a cat that had the same first name as his – Tom! He said yes.
With the colder weather here I start cooking for our neighbors who work, are divorced, widowed, or are elderly. Each week I make a huge pot of soup and an equally large pot of stew or chili. I pop containers in the freezer and make sure that deliveries are made by my husband in our little court of nine houses twice a week. Gives me a chance to experiment with new recipes and I know that our friends and neighbors appreciate it.
I was heading into Borders and there were a few other people also heading for the door. I ran up ahead of them and I’m sure by the look I got they thought I was trying to beat them into the store. Their faces sure showed astonishment and total surprise when I didn’t head in, but held the door open for them to go in. I did the same for a gentleman when I was leaving, and he also looked at me with total shock. LOL loved seeing their faces.
Hugs!!!
What a great picture of you knitting the elves together! Actually, I think you knit together all of us who get to take advantage of all you offer at the Loopy Ewe, not only the yarn etc. but the friendship and sense of community which we all get from your blog and emails.
As forRAK’s, on Saturday we had a snow storm and got about 7 inches of very heavy snow. When I went out in the morning to shovel, my neighbour to the south had already cleared off our sidewalk, so I shovelled my neighbour’s to the north. I like to think that this might start a chain reaction, with each person doing their neighbour’s walk all the way up the street. I don’t know if it went any farther than us, but I hope so!
This week my husband and I both donated blood at the Red Cross. My extended family also cuts, splits and stacks a seasons fire wood for several older friends. As my husband says, warms many ways, once when you cut , again when you split and stack, again when it is burned and lastly, when it warms your heart knowing that you have helped another human being. As the children, as soon as they are old enough to be safe in the task, are always involved, it is also good to know that you are teaching the next generation that this is “just the way one does things”. I will not say that the young ones are always volunteers, as the draft is still active in our family. I will say that, once to the task that they always have fun. Last year we had one of our adopted wood orphans marvel that our grandchildren, whom he does not personally know, would do such a thing for him. Pay ahead. You never know when you yourself will kneed the favor.
It is really a pleasure to read all the imaginative ways everyone has found to pay ahead. Let’s keep up the good work.
Our grocery store is giving out $25 gift certificates when you spend over $200.00. As I was leaving the store I gave the certificate to a young mom as she was entering.
I love reading all the comments!
My RAK was to buy the cat food, water bowl and new litter box for an elderly lady who was in the process of adopting a cat at Petsmart. She said she had planned to get a kitten after her old female cat had passed away, but got an older cat (who had been abandoned by his former owner) instead (I have two older rescue cats of my own!). She was excited and a little daunted by all the store’s choices as she was collecting all the things he needed. I was buying supplies myself and handed her several of my coupons for $1 off litter. Then I offered to bring her items to the register as she had to also handle the cat carrier. When I got to the register I had the manager ring up her purchases with mine, added the container of litter too, and he then put it all in a cart and helped her out to her car. It felt more like an act of kindness for ME as it made me feel so happy to know the cat was getting a great start on his new life.
My not-so-random act of kindness for this week was bringing a meal to a family in need.
More random was letting a young man in front of me in line at Target; he had only a card to purchase and I had a cartful. He looked rather startled!
I thought I was going to come up short on RAKs this week. I already posted about my main RAK (the one that really seems random) and here I find I have another! I teach an evening class, 7:30-10 on Mondays. Here in western Massachusetts, we’ve had off- and on-again snow all day. Nothing terrible, but the first real snowstorm of the season. I emailed my students not to come to class tonight. Who needs to drive in messy weather at 10 o’clock at night trying to get home? Even more to the point, who needs to risk an accident at this time of year and at that time of night?
I was shopping this weekend for a new outfit to wear to a job interview (wish me luck!). I had a killer coupon for one store – $25 off a $50 purchase…but I didn’t see anything there that I could wear to the interview. So on my way out of the store, I gave the coupon to someone who was in line with several items. She got out of there a little cheaper, and I got a smile.
Oddly enough, when I did find my interview outfit at another store, the cashier told me that she was giving me a 25% percent “Friends and Family” discount…I don’t know if everyone got that or if she just did it to be nice to me…but it was a great discount!
This made me so happy that as I left, I went out of my way to tell the woman who had just come out of the dressing room that the green top she was trying on looked great on her (because it really did and she seemed uncertain about it).
Kindness begets kindness…such a simple thing, but something that can be so easy to forget…
Wow the yarn is beautiful and the elves look like the wonderful people they are!
Recently my daughter and I were out for ice cream sitting in a booth at a shop. Well, a family of 5 came in and were trying to squeeze around a little circle table, so I suggested to my daughter that we move (being 6 she gets attached to certain seats) so that they could sit more comfortably. She was happy to, and we let them know that the booth was available. What bothered me a bit was how appreciative they were — while I like thank yous, it makes me feel that enough nice things aren’t done, so that when they are we are doubly appreciative. Does that make sense?
This is such a great idea to spur kindness!
thanks!
As you know, I am not well and my friend Melinda makes my soup for me. Well
the last two weeks she hasn’t had a car so Norman who lives in this building has
been taking her to the store. Sometimes I give Melinda money (besides for the groceries) so this time
I gave her enough money to buy food (she loves to cook),to make Norman a
nice meal. When he takes her to the store I benefit from that also. The other day
she needed to go to the store and Norman couldn’t take her, so I baby sat a dog,
so the other lady could get her to the store. I was feeling really bad so it was
a real RAK for me. The dog was sick too, so we commiserated with each other.
Misery loves company. The new colors look very nice. I’m sure they won’t last
long. There have been several RAK for me this week. I needed them and they
were wonderful.
My RAK this week was to bake up a special dessert for my boyfriend’s mother, who just had major neck/back surgery and is pretty much going to be out of commission until after Christmas. She mentioned that she wanted something sweet, so I made her a dessert. 🙂
I emailed my daughter’s kindergarten teacher and asked her to let me act as a book fairy to any child who was not able to order books from the scholastic book fair.
The children all get order forms to bring home…we live in a fairly well off area but there are still some children (about 7% of the school) who are eligible for free/reduced lunch. I do not want anyone to go home empty-handed on book distribution day. I asked my daughter’s teacher to talk to the other two teachers and figure out how many children come in with blank order sheets. I will subsidize a book for each of them. The teachers will have the names..I will not know the names nor will the children know that I am the book fairy.