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!
My husband had to made a second-in-two-days trip to his father’s house which is sixty miles away. He wasn’t looking forward to the trip, so I accompanied him though I really needed to be here at home to get things done here.
Leaving the L&D unit after a 24 hour shift (I’m a student midwife), I came across a couple waiting for the elevator up — he laden down with suitcases and she in a wheelchair and clearly in active labor. I waited with them, talking her through contractions, and then wheeled her up so he could handle the luggage. I was tired, but couldn’t leave them alone and it only took five more minutes of my time.
My daughters and I bought our “Angel Tree” gifts for an anonymous child today while out shopping. So proud of my daughters as they worked together without fighting while they wrapped all the packages we bought for the child.
My sister is having a hard year and lives on the East Coast. Her youngest moved away to college, her oldest was gone for several months walking the Pacific Crest Trail and was frequently unreachable, her student loans are now due and she is having trouble finding a job in her field. She is an extraordinary woman and has taught me practically every craft I’ve ever learned. A few weeks back she let me know that she was sharing a table at a holiday craft fair. I had several hats that I had knit for charity but hadn’t dropped off yet, so I sent them to her so that she could include them in her wares. I hope they brought a few extra dollars to her pocket.
Betsy in the soggy Seattle suburbs
Sent a cookie bouquet as a complete surprise for a “special someone”. Also, donated a bunch of hats made from leftover sock yarn to the local Boys and Girls club.
I knit while flying back from an extended Thanksgiving visit. I planted some bulbs, I say bulbs are a spring gift to myself and…of course I checked out some nice yarn at TLE because I have a frequent buyer credit that is burning a hole in my laptop screen!
Oh Shoot, I didn’t read the whole paragraph! RAK… I shared my email address with my seat mate on the plane, her husband had passed away 8 months ago from cancer and she is facing cancer surgery herself next month. I chatted with her the entire flight and told her to email me so I would know how she was getting on before and after the surgery. She has no children and is worried about being alone. I listened to her worries and shared a few of my own. We found out we are very similar.
1) One of my coworkers in the ER has been off work from surgery for 5 months. She struggles normally and when you are on long term disability, 66% off your base pay doesn’t go far. I donated some PTO hours to her and sent some money.
2) Had an elderly patient in the ER who could not get a ride home from her children in the middle of the night (In my opinion, they should be taken out back and whipped, but who am I to make that distinction) anyhow, I could not leave work to take her home so I made everyone donate a dollar or 2 including the docs who were on, and we collected enough for a cab ride home for her so she wouldn’t have to sit in the ER for 6 hours waiting for the transportation van to pick her up at 8AM.
It’s small, but it’s still nice: this week I printed off three Hobby lobby coupons and took to the store with me. I found folks in line who had lots of stuff and asked if they were buying anything full priced, and I gave them a coupon. Just call me the coupon fairy! haha
I taught a teenage girl some self-defense moves since she lives in a rough area.
I didn’t do anything special, just the little things I always do for the Spare Change guy. But I love reading all of the RAKs everyone else is doing. It is inspirational and makes me feel way more into the holiday spirit.
I am getting in on this late! I was in the Gulf of Mexico last week cruising! It was alot of fun with my husband, son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandson. My
d-i-l’s sister and her family were also with us. I enjoyed 3 shows and did alot of knitting around the pool! No I don’t have a tan- I have to stay in the shade so I don’t burn! It was a lot of fun- Couldn’t get online, read a newspaper or use my iphone- No big deal! Glad to back on terra firma!
I knit a daybreak for one of the techs at the pharmacy we use for work. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and just started chemo. Thought it would keep her warm during her treatments.
Did I miss the deadline? Opps. Anyway, this past Saturday I was running errands and there was a man with a sign saying he needed help. I made a point of driving back out of the store parking lot the same way I drove in so I could give him a few $$. He was dressed pretty nicely, but was wearing an oxygen tank. I hope that my small contribution helped make his day more comfortable.
I had met someone on Ravelry and we e-mailed each other back and forth a couple of times, she had been in an accident a few weeks earlier and totaled her car. We were in the process of selling our car and instead I RAK’d my car to her, otherwise she would not have any transportation to work. She was in total shock when I gave her my car.
Our neighbor works nights. He wants his wife to rake up the leaves in the yard while he is at work. We suspect that he is verbally abusive to her. It bothered me a lot that she was out there alone at night. So my husband and I wait until the husband leaves for work. Then we go outside for an hour or two and help her rake leaves.
We have gotten to know her better. It is really quite nice raking leaves by moonlight. We found out this year that she has been raking leaves at night for years.
Like many people, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the shootings in Connecticut. I stumbled across the group 600 Monsters for Newtown on Ravelry. Their goal: to knit or crochet 600 “monsters” for the kids and survivors at Sandy Hook elementary school. I didn’t want to knit a monster, but I wanted to do something. I knew my LYS had several copies of the Opal Sock Yarn Bunny. I purchased 8 of the patterns & mailed them to anyone who wanted one as my gift to the group. One woman who asked for a pattern moved me to go an extra step. Her husband leaves Friday to work in “the war zone.” She is home alone with only her cat for company. Due to a spinal cord injury she is currently unable to drive. She wanted the bunny pattern to keep her occupied. After looking through her favorites on Ravelry, I quickly put together a package with the bunny pattern as well as a shawl pattern and enough laceweight yarn in one of her preferred colors to make the shawl. I can’t begin to imagine what she’s dealing with right now. I can only hope the yarn and patterns help find a little peace of mind.
I have been very ill with Crohn’s disease and have had to have blood transfusions and iron infusions due to low hemoglobin. I have to go to our regional hospital one hour away and sit for a few hours til these these get into my blood stream. I make a point to talk to my fellow cubicle/bedmates and try to cheer them up. I spent two hours last week cheering up an 78 year old man who was extremely frustrated with the delays in getting his drip started. He was actually started to yell at the nurses. I started to ask him about why he was there, and eventually discovered he had Wegener’s disease and it was progressing. by the time his specialist got out of the OR and could come to tell him what was going on, I had actually calmed him right down. This is my mission for the 5 0r 6 weeks over December and into January –I go once a week–to help make each of my bedmates happier and less lonely. It is not much fun being sick enough to have these kind of treatments–chemotherapy, blood transfusions, iron transfusions etc. leading up to and past Christmas. I actually felt hugely better helping this man be much less frustrated and able to relax and take his treatment and perhaps go home to his wife in a better mood than he might have. I have not felt energetic enough to knit but have all kinds of plans to knit as soon as I am feeling just a bit better. ( and finish some Christmas projects that were started before I had another glitch with my chronic disease).