Becca's Blog

Stocked up.

You dug deep into your stashes, and I’m very, very grateful. Thanks to contributions from Nanda, Teresa, Síle, Kate, Kate, and Carolyn, I have a solid supply of needles and hooks, and enough quantity and variety of yarn to let my students go “shopping” for just about any kind of yarn their hearts could desire. With a selection ranging from solid-color worsted wool to tiger-print chenille, I think they’ll be excited to choose something that suits them exactly, and be excited to get started. You know the feeling... A heartfelt thank you to each of you for making that happen.

I want to say a special thanks to Kate G. for going out of her way to procure the perfect new-knitter needles, and for being my guide to the wonderful world of SCRAP.

My needlecraft students need supplies.

I've been teaching knitting (and a bit of crochet) at the Women's Daytime Drop-In Center for about five weeks now, and it has been incredibly gratifying. Every time I do it, I leave happier than when I arrived, because I've had a chance to share something I love with people, and watch them get enjoyment from it.

I haven't had many repeat customers yet, but I don't feel that's a negative at all--I feel that I'm offering some enrichment to whoever wants to partake, in any way they want to. Often that means that I get someone started on something small, and at the end of the session, they take it with them. As a result, the knitting and crochet needles that I've brought and the odds and ends the center had are rapidly dwindling. We've gone through a lot of yarn, as well.

I'm going to start scavenging for more needles this weekend, starting with a trip to The Legacy in Sebastopol. A North Bay knitter named Fina tipped me off to it last fall at the Nordic Knitting Conference, but I haven't been yet. So I'm going to combine a nice little weekend drive with some supplies hunting. If I'm lucky I'll run across a couple of good thrift stores in Sebastopol and Petaluma as well. Next I'll hit SCRAP in San Francisco and the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.

And I'll happily accept any and all donations of supplies--or tips on good sources. If you have needles that you don't care for, I'll take them off your hands. Super-small needles aren't great for beginners, of course, but I'll accept pretty much anything else. I've got plenty of yarn to donate in my own stash, but I'd be happy to give yours a good home as well (and yes, acrylic is very fine for this purpose!). Leave me a comment if you've got stuff I can take off your hands.

Special request of Bay Area folks.

Hi Bay Areans, and particularly San Francisco folks: I just got a call from Blood Centers of the Pacific because I've been donating whole blood with them for 20-plus years. It's very unusual to get a call requesting blood on a Sunday, but their supply of whole blood is just about depleted due to a single surgery that took 23 units.

If you are in the vicinity of one of their centers and you're eligible, willing, and able to give blood, please consider making an appointment in the next few days.

I don't live or work near a center anymore, but I will probably try to make some time to get over to the city and give. I hope you'll join me.

A couple of other expenditures.

One other small thing I popped for a couple of weeks ago was a donation to Ravelry. I figure that it's worth much more than $5 per month to me, so I donated $30, and in a few months I'll donate that much again.

And last night I had such a good time knit night at Stash that I bought a couple of skeins of Jitterbug. I know it's not free to keep a store open and staffed, and the vibe was extremely mellow and welcoming. So I purchased a little bit o' yarn as a way of paying some dues. Plus, it's really pretty yarn.

Kitty is behaving strangely again and howling a lot. So he's been to the vet a couple of times this week and been through a couple of rounds of blood tests. We won't know for about a week why the calcium level in his blood is elevated. He's going to be 17 at the end of this month.