Change is in the Air!!

Hello All-

I just wanted to post a quick update that there are going to be some changes coming in the new year here on the WCOBBS blog. We now have a website, http://wcobbs.web.officelive.com/default.aspx and you can now find all of the WCOBBS contact info, links, etc in one place. As for this blog, it will have news, and finished blanket updates.

Please stay tuned for these changes, and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

Cheers!
Sharon
VP WCOBBS

WCOBBS General Board Meeting

The WCOBBS board is going to have a board meeting on Saturday, November 27th to discuss the motions put forward at the Annual General Meeting. 

Below is an outline of what we’re discussing. All members are more than welcome to review and submit any comments, ideas or suggestions for discussion in the meeting. Email Tamara or any one of the board members with your comments or suggestions and we will be sure to table them for you. Please forward these to us before 9 am on Saturday, November 27th to ensure we receive them in time.

1 - We will be discussing a manual of best practices (or the option of changing our bylaws) to include:

• Meeting invitation notice
• Membership rules, including membership loss
• Access to financial institution in the event a member from outside Calgary wants to be a treasurer in the future

2 - We will also be discussing options for the funds that are currently sitting in our bank account.  They originally were for incorporation, but the fees changed and we saved a few hundred dollars. The option of a shipping fund came up, other ideas are welcome.

2010 Annual General Meeting

Hi everyone!

It is time to hold our very first Annual General Meeting of Members for the WCOBB Society. It will take place a 3pm MST (Calgary time) on Sunday, June 20th. If you are in Calgary at that time, you, as a member, are more than welcome to attend. If you would like the address, please email wcobbsociety@shaw.ca . We don't expect it will take more than an hour.

If you are not able to be here for the meeting, you can still attend via Skype internet conference calling. If this option works for you, please email me back and I will give you the details.
I hope to see you all there!

Tamara Ell
President, WCOBBS

A Big Thank You!!!

Happy February!!

As you may be aware, for the month of January, we were collecting funds to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton. Thanks to all of your generosity, we raised $150! This money will be donated in the name of a special little blanket recipeint who lost her battle with her Congenital Heart Defect in December 2009.

A big THANK YOU to those who helped us during this time!!

Cheers!
Sharon
VP- WCOBBS

Attention Members!!!

Hello All-

At the request of some of our members, I have added the text from both our "Staring an OBB" and "Blanket Letters". I do have them as PDFs if you need to print them, I am just having some trouble posting the PDFs here on the blog. I'm still working on getting the PDFs posted, but in the meantime, here is the text.

Thanks!
Sharon
VP- WCOBBS

Member Info: Blanket Letter

Hello there, Western Canadian knitter!
It’s your turn with the Oddball Baby Blanket!
********
Thank you so very much for sharing your time and talent by knitting some rows on our baby blanket. Won’t it be fun to see it completed? I think all the different rows of colours and yarns and stitches will be beautiful!

You should start your knitting session by counting the stitches on the needles to make sure there are 130 stitches, before you start knitting. If there are more or less than 130, just do an increase or decrease near the center of the blanket to make it right. If you need help doing an increase or a decrease, just ask one of us in the forum.

Please use 100% acrylic, SOFT yarn. Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Soft Yarn, or Bernat Super Value (new version – softer) are good choices. Just pick a nice colour that will look good in the blanket (the hospital requests no light yellow or light green yarn please). Be creative! The yarn and stitches will tell a beautiful story when it’s complete. 

Remember to do 3 knit stitches at the beginning and end of each row, to make a nice border on our baby blanket.

You should knit as many rows as it takes to add 6 inches to the length of the blanket. You are welcome to use any design you want, just be sure to end your section on a WRONG SIDE ROW with ALL KNIT STITCHES. That way, it will be easy for beginner knitters to knit their rows. I would hate for someone to get confused by yarn-overs, and become frustrated with the project.


You have two weeks to work on this blanket.

Feel free to add small gifts for the next person on the list if you want, but do not feel obligated to. (Don't add perishable food items or liquids, because they could soil the blanket.)

I've added a small journal with the blanket, as a place for our thoughts to be recorded. The hospital requests that no religious or get well messages be put into the journals please!

You may have problems that arise at exactly the same time the blanket appears on your doorstep. If that's the case, just let Tamara (aka Daddysgirl) know, and forward the blanket on to the next person. The blanket can come back to you at a later date when your life isn't so hectic.

Please do all you can to keep the blanket on schedule for mailing

When you have finished your rows, contact Tamara (aka Daddysgirl), and she will give you the next person’s address. Her e-mail is WCOBBSociety@shaw.ca Put Western Canada OBB in subject line, or PM her on Ravelry.
When mailing, please get a tracking number (now free in Canada)! We don’t want
to lose our precious knitting!

THANK YOU FOR BEING A GENEROUS KNITTER!!!

(Please remember to keep this note with the blanket!)

Member Info: How to Start an OBB

How to Start an OBB

Here are the directions for starting a blanket:

1. At a craft store, pick up a set of US 10 - 29 or 32" circular needles. They stay with the blanket! Also purchase SOFT worsted weight acrylic yarn in the colour you have decided to start the blanket with (Red Heart Soft, Bernat Super Saver or Caron Simply Soft are the recommended kinds, but as long as it is SOFT and WORSTED WEIGHT that is all we need). NO baby yellow or green is allowed as those shades make a sick child look much more ill, but the bright jewel tone versions are just fine.

2. At the dollar store, pick up a small notebook, suitable for a child or baby, to use as a journal as well as a roll of brown paper used for wrapping the box for mailing. On the inside cover of the journal, print the name you chose for the blanket and the date it was started as well as your note to the baby. NO religious comments are allowed in the journal or the hospital will refuse it.

3. CO 130 stitches, seed stitch the first three rows, and then knit to a total of 6 inches in length of your chosen pattern, following the directions on the memo I usually have inside the box. The memo must remain with the blanket so that each knitter knows what to do.

4. When you are finished knitting, let me know so that I can contact the next knitter to see if they are ready for the blanket.

5. Go to the post office and purchase a mailing box that is about 12x10x4. Use the brown paper you purchased at the dollar store to wrap the box in and write the address on the paper (not on the box, so that the box will last for all six mailings). The parcel MUST have a tracking number when mailed so that we can track it in case of loss. Don’t forget to use the venture card!

6. If you want to send a small gift to the next knitter, make sure that if it is food stuffs it is in ziplock bags and that no perishable foods are mailed. We usually put knitting related gifts in the box, but it is not required. I usually just get something small to go to the next knitter.

That’s it! Thanks for starting a new blanket!

Tamara

President-WCOBBS