This blog is about reclaiming my anonymity…Oh wait, I am writing a blog.
Aug 07 2008
Sticks N Stitches 2008-09 Season
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Anaheim Ducks, Nationwide Arena
Saturday February 21st, 2009
Puck drops at 7pm
Tickets - $30 per person includes hot dog, soda, popcorn and a Columbus Blue Jackets hat.
Bring your friends and come join us! It will be a ton of fun. Let’s see if we can’t beat our attendance of 100 people from last year! 
May 17 2008
Bright and early this morning the boy and I headed downtown to meet up with Servilia and Stanzi of Raverly for some motorcyclin’ fun. We weren’t entirely certain what we were getting ourselves into but we were certain it would be fun and I was ready to brave the high way from the back of the motorcycle (and lookie I made it home alive which means I didn’t die!). When we got close to downtown we saw a large group of Harleys and figured they must be our group, the boy made a quick and safe maneuver so that we could fall in line behind them. As we pulled up we quickly realized that we were in fact the only sport bike in attendance. We parked and looked around until I found Stanzi. Once we found Stanzi, we found the donuts and coffee. The boy partook of the donuts and I chatted. Servilia soon surfaced and informed us that there was a spot next to her cruiser where we could park so the boy moved his bike. It appears that when he went to move his bike the Destroyers cheerleaders mocked him for his bike being out of place. “Shame on you” I say to them and perhaps I quick knock upside their head…clearly they have no sense if they are chastising folks for coming out to support a charity event in the wrong “gear.”
Because dear readers, that is what this was. The Race for the Cure is a 5k run/walk to raise money for breast cancer treatment. It was an incredibly moving event that 40000 people signed up for and participated in. The role of the motorcycles was that they lined us up with about .5 mile left in the race and all the bikers revved their engines, honked their horns, cheered and high-fived the participants encouraging them along their way. It was very touching and I had tears well up in my eyes when I realized that every single person who was walking in an official pink shirt was a breast cancer SURVIVOR. They had beaten it, or were in the process of beating it. It really was absolutely wonderful and I know the boy is psyched to go again next year. This was evidenced by the fact that he had me take a couple more shots of all the people so that he can post them to his motorcycle forum - you know for those crazy crotch rocket folks…maybe next year we can get a few more sport bikes to show up. 
This year they had 90 bikes! Break it down to 1 scooter, 1 sport bike a handful of Hondas/Suzukis and over 80 Harley Cruisers. It sure was a sight!
The boy’s bike with a pink ribbon and my sexy legs and helmet
Stanzi cheering with the boy revving.
Runners!
More cheering and revving on the left, on the right it’s all about high fives!
More high fives and then just look at all the people (and all the pink)!
This bike is a beautiful work of art as well as a moving tribute:
May 13 2008
I have been thinking about doing this for awhile and now I am finally taking the plunge so here’s how it works:
I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.
I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise!
What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
Now for my variations on the rules… Nothing major, just a couple little things to take into account the things that I know about (at least some of) the readers of this blog…
1.) In your comment, tell me a little bit about yourself. There are so many types of crafts that I do that I’d like to have some idea of what you’ll like before I make your gift. (i.e. if you’re highly sensitive to fragrance, a scent bottle with an extra BPAL imp might be a really bad gift… On the other hand, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in forums where it would be the perfect gift…)
2.) As much as I like the idea of recipients paying it forward through their blogs, I know that not everyone has or wants a blog. If you’re one of those people who has no blog and no desire to create one, you can still participate if you post the promise in an online forum where you participate. Include the link in a follow-up comment so that I can check out the forum. (Hopefully, one or more of your PIF recipients will be bloggers who can continue the blog part of the exchange… maybe the rest will continue it in other forums that they frequent.)
I took this from MysticSpiral’s blog and am not editing it much at all! I look forward to learning more about you.
Feb 11 2008
I know I have been rambling on and on about this Sticks N Stitches event since all the way back in October of 2007. Turns out that it was totally worth it. Last night we had the first annual Sticks N Stitches at Nationwide Arena. My family, boyfriend and I arrived at the arena around 4:30pm with boxes of goodie bags and door prizes in tow. Our wonderful contact at the Blue Jackets let us in and even managed to procure a booth for us to use. The season ticket holders weren’t overly pleased to see their usual space was filled with these ladies who couldn’t sell them Fan Bucks and weren’t quite sure what to make of all the yarn. Woops! They got all straightened out after the 1st period started.
It was fun to watch the first surge arrive. Nationwide Arena has escalators to take folks to the 2nd level and we watched the knitters and crocheters as they rode the escalator with their bags that gave them away. (The boy says you can always tell a knitter/crocheter because they always have a couple of bags.) Everyone was pleased and had fun checking out their goodie bags. The goodie bags consisted of the following:
Each person received either an IK or IC magazine and at random. There were also 3 different patterns and folks received one of them at random. The colors of yarn also varied at random.
When we gave each person a goodie bag they also received a listing of which vendors had donated to the event and what they donated. (The fun part about that list was that at 2pm I realized that I had forgotten to include one business so I began to write that company in by hand on all 100 sheets that had been printed out. Thankfully, my mom stepped in and helped or I wouldn’t have finished!) Everyone also filled out a raffle slip that I had created specifically for this event. The raffle slips included their row and seat numbers so that we could deliver all the door prizes during the game. I got to meet several people that I have been communicating with online and through Ravelry. It was all very fun!
Once the first period started our Blue Jackets contact said that the usual guy who ran the Season Ticket Holders booth would be coming and could hand out our bags as well so that we could watch the game. Score! We cleaned up the area as we didn’t really have very many bags left at that point and instructed him on all the intricacies of passing out bags.
I came back down during the 1st intermission to check on the progress. I think one of my favorite interactions was a guy who came down, read our sign and then said “ahh so this is what all the stitching is about!” He informed me that he had a seat in the back row of our section and was surrounded by knitters. “There were all these people knitting and it just blew my mind!” I heart good sports. There were a few other folks who came over to read the signs and seemed interested in the idea.
During the 2nd intermission I separated out the raffle slips to start the drawings aided by my little brother and my boyfriend. We drew for the crochet prizes and then dumped the crocheters who didn’t win in with the knitters and undecideds for the general prizes. After all the prizes were assigned and the 3rd period began my poor 14 yo brother was sent by himself to deliver Raverly totes and tees to the winners. Let’s just say he was popular. One of the attendees TechnoCowboy looked at him while he was reviewing the winning slips and said call my name. My brother was like hmm are you ___? And he was! Too funny!
The winner of the $100 gift certificate to YarnMarket didn’t seem the least bit disappointed. Our family friends that came along to support my event walked away with two of the door prizes. One of them even won some of the gorgeous handspun donated by Five Llamas. We had 25 door prizes and about 100 attendees so 1 in every 4 people won a prize! Talk about your good odds. The final stats are:
We collected 100 blocks for Warm Up America. I will be contacting one of the local organizations Warm Up Worthington to donate the blocks to. Sadly, the Blue Jackets lost but the rest of the game was great and we should have another one next year!
Feel free to leave feedback from the event here or over on the Sticks N Stitches page. Also check out more pictures from the event: photos and door prizes.
Feb 10 2008
Most people spend their birthdays chillin out maxin relaxin all cool, some even shoot some b-ball outside of the school. Alas, I had a very busy working birthday. To wit: We took two loads to our storage unit. It’s amazing how two truck loads and one car load of stuff out of our apartment barely makes a dent… then we met up with my parents for some birthday eats around 2 pm. My father then continued his quest for a Wii, unsuccessfully, while I tried to find a cell phone that I actually like, unsuccessfully. It seems that *technology* has advanced beyond my tastes and I am SOL. I will just get a new cell, later, someday.
Once we returned home the real fun began. The boy took a brief nap and then we began assembling the goodie bags for Sticks N Stitches. One of the distinct advantages to having many siblings is that you have lots of cheap labour that can’t say no. I asked my beloved engineer to set up a good process flow for us, since you know that is precisely what he got his degree in. He feigned disinterest and so I began our process. As one would presume, he quickly took over the process line, set up sub assemblies and we were on our way. (There was also some assistance from my father who also works in manufacturing, it is so handy to have these guys around!)
A lovely action shot of me adding items to the goodie bags while explaining the end goal to the boy.
My brother and sister helping out. They both knit! (The other brother was excused because he was at “work”)
Mom helping and keeping the dog (Sassy) at bay. Sassy kept wanting to play with the yarn!
The process went fairly quickly and our house was soon overtaken by clear bags. It looked a bit like some alien force was growing. We had one quality control issue but that was quickly sorted out and the bags are good to go. We will be quite a sight at Nationwide Arena today but I am quite certain all the attendees will be pleased with their spoils. I wrapped up my evening cataloging all of the door prizes so that I can show them all to you after the game. (Don’t want to spoil the surprise!)
The alien bag army has leaked into the rest of the house, it is aiming for world domination, methinks.
I have a couple more tasks to complete today before game time but I will be at the arena around 4:30pm. I look forward to seeing you all there!
