Aren’t these stockings adorable? Eva submitted them to our photo gallery (for the Q4 Challenge – and how are YOU doing on that?) and I asked permission to share this photo on my blog. You can get the pattern free from this site. (I love Julie’s website and am the proud owner of some of her wonderful knitted toys. If you have never heard of her, please do not ask to be put on her email list for updates in her shop, as that is just that many more people that I have to compete with when I want to get another one of her toys get on her email list so that you will know when she updates. Her toys are so fun and beautifully done. Each one is a treasure.)
I know I said this last week, too, but I have just so enjoyed reading about all of your RAKs. Truly, they are so inspiring. (If you missed them, you’ll find them in the comments here and here, although there have been others left in comments on other days of the week as well. We’ll continue having RAK Reporting Day every Monday in December.) Today is another RAK day, so leave your comments telling us the things that you have done in kindness to others since last Monday’s blog post. Before I post on Wednesday, I’ll draw another name for the winner of this week’s Loopy Loot gift package! (We have had patterns, books, and even skeins of Wollmeise from Claudia herself, donated to our RAK gift packages! Yay!) One thing that several people have commented on and I have often thought about, too – isn’t it a little sad that doing something kind for people is so surprising to so many? You show them a common (or uncommonly kind) courtesy, and they can’t believe it. Their response is, “Oh my goodness – why would you do that?” I guess that is just proof that there isn’t nearly enough of this RAK stuff going on around the world and we need to do more. It shouldn’t be so astonishing to people. So I’m glad we’re all working on it, and really glad to have all of these fun ideas every week.
Thanks for weighing in on Spring Fling sign-ups. What we have decided to do is open up signups next week (details in next Monday’s blog) but we won’t require your first payment until mid-January. That way, everyone is happy. 🙂 College Guy is coming home this week for Christmas Break (yay!) and we’ll work on getting the information page done so that you can check out the details of The Fling. We’ll also keep signups open all week next week, so that you don’t have to stress about being first in line. (Or we’ll keep it open longer than that if it hasn’t all filled up. We really have no idea what to expect. If we get more than our limit, we’ll pull names and keep a back-up list in case anyone cancels at the last minute.)
Is anyone done with their holiday knitting? I’m woefully behind.
Sheri obviouslyneedingaFlingRetreatrightnowtogetthisknittingdone
Today was pretty cold. I was at Michael’s (again) and I grabbed 3 carts from the lot and returned them to the store. The parking lot attendant probably will never know, but I saved them from a little extra time out in the cold.
Hi Sheri, While at the local coffee drive-thru this morning, I purchased a coffee for the woman in the car behind me! It felt great!
I made a pie for a co-workers birthday.
I am really behind on my christmas knitting. I hope to knit a sweater for my dad, but I’m still waiting for the yarn to arrive…hopefully tomorrow, if I’m to have any chance at all. 🙂
My Christmas knitting is finished. Yay! But those little stockings are so cute I might need to make some to put on gifts.
RAKs: I made an Amy Butler bag for a friend. She picked out the fabric so that part wasn’t random. What was is that she didn’t expect it before Christmas, and I put a Loopy tape measure in the bag. She was very happy. I let people in, in front of me both in stores and on the road. I also bought toys for foster kids and I held a few doors. Slow week!
This past week we had our first snow of the season. Our next door neighbor is an elderly woman who we rarely see. Her daughter (in her 50’s +/-) usually shovels the walk. So I bribed my daughter into shoveling their sideway & driveway.
I also “consolidated” the shopping carts at the grocery store that were taking up the whole cart-coral thing even though there weren’t that many of them. (Actually, I do this fairly often!)
I also cast-on for a hat for the woman who used to clean our offices, but has had to go on permanent disability. She’s been diagnosed with inoperable/incurable stage 4 stomach cancer, & is undergoing chemo just to buy her as much time as possible.
I gave one of the teachers at my school a free ride home the other day. I guess this counts. I would have done it anyway, but she was in great need and I was able to help her out. I also helped an old lady tonight. She was trying to find her car in the Winn-Dixie parking lot. She was standing behind a car that was backing up. I yelled and got her to move, that sounds bad, but I got her attention and the driver hadn’t seen her. So gold star today. 😀
I love to do those Angel Trees at the mall, but I kind of hate the mall and all the hub-bub. I was in the grocery store a few weeks ago and saw a different kind of tree. It was sponsored by Home Instead, an organization that visits elderly people in their homes. I adopted two people, a man and a woman, and just like the angel trees, they had a list of things they would like. The woman wanted earrings, cologne, thigh-highs and a sweater. The man wanted “Shirt, size L, and anything else.” That broke my heart. I’m only 26, but I can’t imagine going through decades of Christmases and suddenly being alone.
I’m half-way through the ribbing at the end of the last sock of my Christmas knitting.
Actually, I realized today that I’m not going to get all the knitting done that I’d like to have ready for Christmas…so, I crosed the projects off the list and bought a few things to give instead!
I let someone go ahead of me in the line at Walmart. I didn’t have much but the gentleman only had a donut. I have noticed when you do nice things for people that they tend to talk to you and say hello. I don’t do Christmas knitting really but I am always behind on the projects I want to make.
After church, my daughter, son-in-law and grandbaby were all going to a local pizza place. They asked friends if they wanted to meet us there. I paid for their meal as they came in. The sweet husband was trying so hard to pay me back. I just told him to put it toward the Christmas gifts for their kids. I was there once and so remember how difficult it is to make ends meet.
I gave away my umbrella! The Salvation Army bell ringer was outside of a store as I was leaving. As I popped open my umbrella, I asked why he didn’t get under the store’s awning. He replied that the store required them to be out further away from the door. He didn’t want to take my umbrella either. Once I had assured him that not only did I have another umbrella, but probably another one in the car, he was willing to take it. I was very happy about that. Here he was volunteering his time in the rain and cold.
I just finished gathering a collection of crosswords, search-a-words, and suduko books from different stores (to create a varied selection) to send to the troops through a local charity. I am already planning my next collection as there are numerous local groups who can always use the activity books.
Along those same lines I have been taking advantage of all the sales and purchasing quite a number of board games and craft kits for various ages. They make great interactive gifts for kids through any number of local charities: hospitals, small schools, and needy families. I really like to do gifts that can involve the parents or older children. Clothing, while necessary, is not nearly as exciting to receive as a gift as something that you can do.
an annual rak I do is to collect the stamps the grocery store gives out the month before thanksgiving and easter. I fill up the card and then give it to someone who looks like they could use the discount.
Another one is to offer my first cup of coffee to my husband. He usually doesn’t drink it but some days he really looks like he could use it. (it also keeps him from drinking it on the sly)
I saw this news story this morning and immediately thought of you.
http://www.knbc.com/news/14856317/detail.html
Confessing my sin…
I haven’t reported any RAKs because they didn’t seem like much. Letting people into the line of traffic when they’re clearly just cutting the line-up has been my daily RAK because it’s something that irks me to my bones.
I also have been extra nice to all Santa’s helpers. I’m usually pleasant to all wait staff and store employees, but instead of a thank you, I’ve been adding little extras, “You’ve been very helpful” or “Thanks for explaining that to me” or “I appreciate the time you’ve spent with me.” I usually get a genuine smile instead of “HaveanicedayNEXT”.
Then I went to the mall after work on Friday. I know that isn’t a great time to go, but it was just a quick run in and out. I rode around the parking lot looking for a space, which I fully expected and wasn’t at all annoyed at. Then I spotted a Mom with a stroller opening her car and I pulled up and put my blinker on. You know I waited a while – till kiddo was locked into the car-seat, packages were unloaded in such a way that the stroller could then be folded down and wedged into the back of the car. Then Mom got in the car, fixed her make-up, made three calls on her cell and finally pulled out.
As soon as she drove away and I started to press on the gas and pull into the spot, a car load of young teenage boys whipped past me and pulled into the parking spot. I laid on the horn. There was no way they didn’t know I was there. They didn’t budge. I even heard one of the little snots yell “What?” like they were innocent of being little snots. I laid on the horn again. I yelled at them from my closed up car.
I had a “Fried Green Tomatoes” moment. I knew I was older then them, but did I really have more insurance than “Daddy” was carrying on the Beemer? Could I really afford to accidentally run into them 17 times?
Just as I was coming to my conclusion, they backed out of the spot and drove away. The driver looked slightly ashamed from which I took a small amount of pleasure.
So all my little RAKs and the karma I built up from them have been on the way to you know where in a hand basket since Friday evening.
Do we get points for trying?
Still picking up dog poop from dogs other than our dogs as the general daily RAK. I didn’t post on Dec. 3rd because we were busy in California for the national agility invitational — I got half a sock knit, my dog took seventh place in her jump height, and I picked up a LOT of dog poop from other dogs. Couldn’t believe how much was left behind at a dog show. You’d think people handling at the national level would be more responsible, but I suppose the point of the RAK is to be kind and not to kvetch. : )
Adding to this, we are collecting spare dog stuff — toys, extra leashes, treats our guys won’t eat, etc. — and taking it to a canine rescue group before Christmas.
With a friend at the doctor’s office, we met someone who had just finished a round of chemo. The woman had lost her hair because of the chemo and she was self-conscious (and cold). This gave me the idea to make chemo caps and leave them at the doctor’s office to be given to chemo patients. I left several this week and plan to continue. The doctor and nurses have let me know how much they have been appreciated.