We sure enjoy seeing all of you knitters and crocheters popping in the shop every day. (Some of you pop in via the webcam, and others of you pop in in person). Last weekend we had a group of Loopy Groupie podcasters up here for a meet-up and shopping. If you are in the market for some new podcasts, you will want to give them a try! Leslie and Laura were here from The KnitGirllls. Mel was here all the way from Hawaii, where she podcasts at SingleHandedKnits. And Diane was up from Denver, where she podcasts at Knitabullspodcast.blogspot.com. Others in the photo – Loopy Office Manager Lynn wearing the cute Elf Hat that Laura made for her, and Tami who also came up with them from Denver for the day. It was fun to have them here. I usually only get to see Leslie and Laura at the Spring Fling, so this was a bonus! (Speaking of the Fling – signups go through the end of the day on Tuesday, 12/11. We’ve had a great turnout for signups so far, and are so looking forward to having you here for the retreat.)
Today is our first Friday RAK Reporting Contest. Did you do something fun this week? Share it with us by leaving a comment below. We’ll use today’s comments to randomly draw a winner for every 50 responses, so check back on Monday to see if we drew your name. In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Sheri finishedacutepairofmittensthisweek.
Photosnextweek!
All of the women at work are doing the Elf on a Shelf for the lo’s this year. We have one woman with a lo who is struggling financially since her husband got laid off. I feel so badly b/c I just know she wants her lo to join in the fun. My local Target just got a shipment of the dolls so I rushed out and bought one. I can’t wait for Monday to leave an anonymous package in her desk for little Kayla!
On Sunday, I got an email from a woman who was struggling after losing her daughter and recently being diagnosed with cancer. She asked if I had any bits of fabric that I could spare. I sent her a box with 6 pounds of fabric in it from my stash to help brighten her day. I also shared her info with another quilter who is sending a care package as well. I hope that it can help her with the depression she is fighting!
This past summer I knitted myself a cherry red beret out of malibrigo to wear this winter. A co-worker, originally from LA, was leaving for a very nice vacation in a much colder climate. I remembered her winter hat from last year and knew she would not be warm enough as she traveled around and toured the cool cities of France. I gave her my new beret to take on her adventures with the promise she would take a very scenic picture with her in for me. Her green winter coat will look lovely with this beret. So I am off to get more yarn to make me another winter beret knowing the cherry red one will see better adventures!!
My office is moving, and the person who is in charge of the move has been very stressed. I found out her favorite beverage is a soy chai, and bought her one yesterday just to say thank you.
My 9-yo daughter and I are sponsoring a child for Christmas, and we went to the girl’s favorite clothing store and purchased a couple of outfits for her, plus we picked up a few other things off her wish list. <3
I knit up and took in to Humane Society 4 snuggle blankets for the animals there. They always seem so surprised when you drop them off. It nice knowing that they are going to get a lot of use our of them.
One time when I was taking my dog for a walk at the local park, I wasn’t to far from the car when I turned around to see three puppies running away from a young 10 year old girl. She was screaming at them to STOP but they went zig-zaging all over the meadow dragging their leash behind. Panic started to set in for her as the dogs ignored her cries. I quickly put my little sheltie in the car and ran into the meadow. I was a little worried if the puppies went outside of the meadow they would run into quite a bit of traffic. Making clicking soumds & whistles, I had a little bit of their attention. Suddenly I remembered a little bag of Fritos in my pocket…..I opened the bag and threw one or two at the puppies …& they came running to me! I knelt down on the ground , rustled the bag, and grabbed their leash. The little girl caught up as she ran to us, looking very relieved and had happy tears hugging the furry trio !
I was the youngest person at a tasting tea yesterday, and I got everybody’s drinks for them, since I could move better than all them!
I baked for a friend in a Alzheimer’s unit yesterday. I am going up today to spend an hour with her since company is what she likes best of all.
This is going to seem silly, but I never see anyone do this so I will post it. The other day I was at the store and having a particularly rough time of it (everyone was pushy and rude and apparently in a big hurry). To help my mood, I made a point to slow down and pick up every item in the store that someone had dropped and just left on the floor, and there were a lot of items on the floor. I just kept thinking that people were going to trip over that stuff and get hurt. Maybe I even helped a store worker, too. They need us to be extra nice this time of year.
I gave a friend of mine a Prayer Shawl. Found out recently that she has breast cancer and is undergoing chemo & radiation treatments. She is also still working as a professor and hanging in there! Vibes & prayers appreciated.
I am very proud of my RAK. All year I have been secretly refilling the Teachers’ bathrooms with soap. Last year they took away our soap and replaced it with foaming hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer does not get rid of dirt, paint, or glue. I bought a few soap dispensers (one is even ceramic) and the refills from the dollar store when they run low. None of the other teachers know where it comes from.
I bought a class for a friend at a local lys – she’s having a horrible time of it lately with an infected leg from wearing a cast on it since September! I hope she has fun and feels distracted from her body.
My office was having a big conference and I had to bring a document to our Duplicating Services to print and bind; we didn’t have the three days Duplicating requires to have it ready. One of the workers took the time to do the project right away, even staying late to complete it. I was so grateful he took the time to do that that I brought his department lunch.
Working on a prayer shawl for a friend with a sick husband.
Earlier this week as I was running into Wal-Mart really quickly on my lunch break there was an elderly lady with a full basket of purchases fumbling with the wheelchairs that have the baskets on them. I stopped to ask if she needed help, she replied “I just want to sit for a few minutes my legs hurt so bad, but can’t figure out how to move the basket so I can sit” I helped her by moving the basket, held the wheel chair for her while she sat and made sure she was ok. She said she was just fine, and a few minutes of sitting would do her a world of good, she said she was grateful for my help especially since several other people had just breezed on by her (how could a person do that really?). So I went on about my shopping, she was gone when I came out about 15 minutes later, guess she had rested up and went on about her way.
A little girl about a year older than my daughter was recently diagnosed with leukemia. I already knit and gave her one pair of socks and the second pair is nearly finished (knit from yarn I bought from Loopy Ewe, of course!). The little girl’s mom said she saves them to wear on days they go in for treatments.
When a customer came in and was upset because many things had gone wrong that day, I gave her my baggie of homemade chocolate chip cookies and her response made me feel so good. It’s amazing that such a small, spontaneous gesture can make the giver and the recipient feel so good!
Broke with tradition and bought a Christmas tree from a nearby family needing a bit of help right now. Also got the mail for a man that struggles to get out of his car with a walker every day. I was unsure of whether to offer assistance but he was most grateful. I guess it never hurts to ask!
I purchased and sent an item to a stranger in another country because she expressed interest in it but did not have the funds to purchase it herself. She does not know that I sent it to her and will likely not find out.
i made a second delivery of crocheted shawls to our local cancer floor at the hospital near here. The first was received with more gratitude then anyplace I have ever delivered too and this delivery was no exception. I am going to enjoy knitting and crocheting for this wonderful cause.
I gave the mail man homemade cookies and a thabk you card for all that yarn he hauls around!!!!!!
I made soup for one of the members of our church who fell down the stairs, broke her collar bone, cracked two ribs and had multiple stitches. Thankfully she is doing much better!
I haven’t had an opportunity to do one of my own, but I witnessed one today I had to share! I’m the secretary at a grade school, and in the hallway today I found a 4th grader and a kindergartener. The Kindergartener was crying, her little hands were dirty and she had tear tracks on her face that looked like her mascara was running. (Why a 5 year old was wearing mascara is still a mystery to be, but oh well…) I asked the smaller girl what was wrong, and she tearfully told me “I miss my sister!” Her sister is out with the flu, it’s running rampant through the school right now. The 4th grade girl, who is an only child, was tenderly wiping the younger girl’s tears, cleaned her face, and then her hands. It was so sweet! That the older child who had no real connection with this younger one except for being in the same school would walk this little one in from recess and take such good care of her was really touching. RAK from all ages! 🙂
While at the drive-thru getting coffee this week, I arrived at the window to find out that the car in front of me had paid for my order. In turn, I paid for the two cars behind me. My day was made knowing that other got the same surprise I did!
I accidentally posted this a day early so I copied it here to this post…
I have a co-worker who has been very stressed both at work and at home. She came to me the other day in tears about her situation and after talking to her and letting her know that everything will be fine, I snuck out of work and went the local bakery. I bought a bag full of yummy baked goods, wrote uplifting sayings on the bag and I dropped them off at her desk. Later that evening she sent me a message saying how much she appreciated it. I hope it put a smile on her face if just for a moment.
Not one that I’ve done, but one that was done for me. We had the mobile blood donor unit visit the school where I work last week, so that staff and students could donate. I mentioned to my colleagues that I really liked the biscuits they had at the refreshment table, but I could never seem to find them in the shop.
I came into work on Monday to discover that two of them had gone shopping over the weekend, found the biscuits on sale, and bought a packet for me. It might only be a small thing, but it makes me smile every time I open my desk drawer to get a biscuit to go with my morning cuppa.
I decided to support our local charities this year by giving a passel of washable yarn to the knitters who make them hats, scarves, mitts and shrugs, I cannot knit with the yarn they say they must use, so I can at least purchase some yarn for them. We live in a very cold climate and the homeless as well as the aged in caregiving homes need to be snuggled up in w armies too.
I was at the Farmers Market this morning, although we are lucky enough to have several during the week in our area, this one is by far the most crowded, and there seem to be a lot of elderly people in the mix, often struggling to manage their bags, purses, canes or walkers even in the crowds at the stands. I was in line for the only vendor with eggs this week, and there was a little lady in front of me, she had a cane and a bag with a few veggies and apples and was trying to find enough money in her coin purse for her dozen farm eggs. I had a pocketful of quarters that I bring just to help out the vendors who are always trying to make change for people, so I pulled out $7 in quarters and paid for her eggs and mine. She almost burst into tears, I helped her stow her eggs and gave her a hug.
I searched through the Ravelry RAK group and was able to send out a book on toe-up sock knitting to someone who has always wanted to learn.
I was in a parking lot in Greeley with my daughter and we were approached by a young man “needing work so he could eat. ” We had no work but gave him the cash we had between us. My daughter watched as he ran to the nearest fast food restaurant.
I have been doing Random Acts of Patterns – each week I randomly pick a person and send them a pattern from their queue.
My RAKs for this week was to a) send $100 a friend who’s struggling financially right now, but who’d never ask for help, and b) send flowers to my mom, sister, and aunt just to brighten their days.
We have a caring circle at my temple. I made two big casseroles and placed them in the freezer at temple to be distributed to families who need them. I also left some frozen veggies to go with them.
I am taking a class on photoshop through my community college adult ed program. I met a young woman in the class, here as an au pair from Mexico who was not wearing a coat last night (it was in the 30s). She is not making enough to buy a coat for a few months so I am giving her an old down jacket with a knitted scarf that matches.
We host an annual gingerbread decorating party and there was one of our guests who couldn’t make it because this is the first year she and her husband are divorced and her daughter was going to be with her husband at the time of the party. Also, she’s been finishing up her degree and is getting ready to move, so she has been stressed an unable to spend as much time with her 8 year old as she woujld like, so I saved a house and decorating supplies for her to do that with her daughter at home at a time that works for her.
Our church sponsors an Angel Tree at Christmas and I always fill a couple of these requests, but this past Sunday at church we were made aware of a family who doesn’t ordinarily need help, but has really had major struggles recently and so i volunteered to fullfill the requests of the 9 and 11 year old girl who both asked for craft supplies. I bought colored pencils and markers, but I’m also going to get them some yarn and a loom! I think I get more out of this though….I always love doing this kind of stuff. Thanks for sponsoring a contest, though, Sheri!
today i made the office into candy cane lane. i am usually the first person in the office, so today i hung a big candy cane on everyone’s doorknob, if they work in a cube, i hung it on the edge. we have really long hallways so it made for a very festive sight! i also brought a latte and muffin for our cleaning guy — i am always startling him in the early morning, so i reckoned i owed him a nice surprise…
While shopping at the bookstore, I picked out an extra book to donate to a children’s hospital. I know if my kids were in the hospital, it would mean the world to have fun books and toys to distract them from being scared!
A longtime work colleague dropped in to see me yesterday. She moved this summer and we don’t see each other often. She told me about some hand spun yarn she’d gotten from one of her new neighbors and was saying she wanted to knit a hat with it. She wasn’t adept at knitting with two circulars or with dps. I found a great pattern she loved that was knitted flat and seamed, gave her tips on pattern searching on Ravelry, but sensed that she was feeling low. I had a Sockhead Hat sitting on my table that my daughter returned to me since the yellowish green variegated yarn made her skin look awful! I had been wondering who I could give it to who would love it. My friend has wonderful salt and pepper hair and a light tan so I asked her to try it on. Told her about the pattern, but she was so excited about the softness of the yarn and the ‘spring greens’ of the colorway. I said if you wish it, the hat is yours. She was elated. I realized the hat had been sitting there waiting for her to come and get it…. Definitely random, definitely a welcome act, and I felt really good that the hat had found such a good home..
We have a large move project going on in our building. I know that the person that was taking my spot does not embrass change and usually has a difficult time any time anything changes. So as I moved my stuff to my new spot, I made sure to clean the desk and wipe down the shelves, so that at least he got a shiny spot.
Today is the day our University hosts a holiday dinner for Lakota elders on the Rosebud Reservation. Many of our staff and faculty were feeling like the University was demanding that they come and help serve the meal, so they weren’t very enthusiastic about volunteering to help. I wrote a letter to them reminding them of the good memories we all share of past Elder Holiday Dinners and of those staff and faculty members who have passed on in the twenty-odd years we’ve hosted this dinner. I also went with a cheerful outlook and helped prepare and serve the meal. Our Lakota elders are precious to us, and this one thing we do each year is something they look forward to every Christmas. I was glad to see more elders than ever at our dinner this year, and more staff than ever coming to volunteer with good cheer and willingness of spirit. It wasn’t such a RAK, but it’s something I look forward to each year, too.
After Superstorm Sandy, I read a blog that said that what support agencies really needed wasn’t donations of random canned goods, but instead — cash. The agencies can purchase the right goods, in bulk, for less than you and me. So I gave a check to my local agency!
A coworker found out that some friends were suprising him and his wife with a visit this weekend – when he was scheduled to work. I volunteered to work his shift so he could spend time with his out of state guests.
I have a good friend who is insanely busy with school, work, and trying to take care of her ailing father. Needless to say, her house is the last thing on her mind. I was able to go over and clean up (dishes, sweeping, clean the bathroom, etc.) for her while she was out at work 🙂
I have a co-worker who is struggling financially. I secretly leave store coupons and gift cards on her desk.
The photocopier was jammed, and the bell rang for class. I photocopied a quiz and took it to the classroom for the teacher so she wouldn’t be late for her next class. I had a free period.
I was at the hospital lab having blood drawn and on my way out, I had to walk past one of the surgery waiting areas. There was a large family gathered there, and you could tell by the look on the faces of the adults that things weren’t going well. The family had 3 boys, roughly ages 4-9, who were obviously a handful at that point. Even though I was well overdue for work, I approached the family and asked if I could help with anything. The staff and mom kind of looked at me, but said they were fine. I’ve seen that look more than once. I asked if it would be ok if the kids and I hung out. The boys were fascinated by my military uniform and quieted down. I offered to take them to the cafeteria and paid for the family’s lunch. Afterwards the boys and I settled on the floor and played Chutes & Ladders and Candyland. (I haven’t played those in ages!) I even showed them how to knit on plastic straws. I didn’t get to learn everyone’s names, but the hugs I received in return were heartfelt. I never made it to work that day, but the small bit of relief I could provide made it all worth it. After telling my coworkers where I was the next day, they decided to volunteer as an office on one of the hospitals ongoing projects. Guess you can make RAKs mulitply. 🙂
I have been using the odds and ends from leftover balls of yarn and hand spun to knit little stuffed mice for the poor little kitties at the humane society. This week I delivered 28 “mice” to them and they were so happy!
I went to Walmart last night and the lines were terrible, so when it was nearly my turn I took some older folks out of their lines and had them get in front of me. If we could all band together and practice better store etiquette during the holidays, the world would be a better place!
On the not-so-random side, I’m also helping my coworker make a special Christmas gift for her mom. My coworker had fabric printed that has old family recipe cards on it, and I’m sewing the fabric into a table runner, some towels and some potholders for her.