News from WCOBB Society

Change is in the Air!!

2011-02-23T09:18:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

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

2010-06-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

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!!!

2010-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-13T15:25:00.000-08:00

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

Please Help...

2009-12-31T14:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

On behalf of the WCOBBS family, I want to wish you all a Happy 2010! 2009 was a great year for the WCOBBS. We tripled our blanket donation from 2008, added many new members to our group, held an online auction to raise funds, and in August, we became the first OBB group worldwide to be incorporated!! We cannot wait to see what 2010 will bring! I can assure you that there will be many warm, cozy blankets being made by some extremely generous, and loving crafters!!!

Along with all of the good, also came some recent sad news. As you may or may not be aware, our blankets are donated anonymously. Each one is given to a NICU baby along with a journal that each crafter has written in. Though we write our name and location in the journals, we never mention that we belong to the WCOBBS. Because of this, we rarely get to know the stories of the little ones who receive our blankets.

One of the first blankets that our group ever made was called Sugar and Spice. Shortly after it was completed, a special request was made to have this blanket go to a special little girl who was born with a Congenital Heart Defect. Over the past year or so, the family of this little girl kept the WCOBBS up to date on the highs and lows of her progress. I am sad to say that just before her first birthday, this special little girl lost her battle with her CHD.

In an attempt to honor this special little life, the WCOBBS has decided to raise funds to donate to a charity in her name. The charity that we have chosen is the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton, Alberta. The reason that this charity was chosen is because all of the children born with heart defects within our knitting region go to Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton for their heart surgeries. We felt that this was the best way to help the children that our crafters represent geographically. So, for the entire month of January, all donations collected on the WCOBBS website will be donated in this little angel's name.

I thank you in advance for your generosity. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at wcobbsociety@shaw.ca .

Happy Holidays and Thank You again!

Sharon (heffalump23)
Vice President

2009 Blanket Delivery

2009-12-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

I just finished delivering the blankets for 2009! Jessica came and picked them up (H1N1 restrictions wouldn't let us deliver them this time), and she is so happy that we had 15 blankets this time! That means we tripled the number that we delivered last year. AMAZING! We also have 10 other blankets still under construction, so we are doing very well. We have been invited back to the hospital in the new year when the restrictions have been lifted, so we should be able to deliver a bunch then too! Here is a picture of all of the blankets delivered today (note, Goodnight Moon is in the picture, but we decided it needed a fabulous border, so it will be in the next delivery):

Thanks everyone for all of your hard work! They look amazing!

Tamara

Follow the WCOBBS on Twitter!

2009-12-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hello All-

In an effort to spread the word about the WCOBBS, we are now on Twitter! Please add us to your following list @WCOBBSociety. We'd love to hear from all of our members and supporters!

Thanks and Happy Tweeting!!!

November 2009 Update

2009-11-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

Well, summer has left us, but the weather is still rather nice here in Western Canada. We may yet have a Grey Cup without snow!

A lot has happened to our little group in the last few months. As you may have read previously, we held a silent auction in June to raise funds to incorporate as a non-profit society, and in August we received our certificate. We are now the first OBB group worldwide to be incorporated! Great news!

With all of the H1N1 fears around right now, the NICU at the Foothills hospital has asked us to wait to do our next blanket delivery until close to Christmas. We will not be doing a photo-op that day, as we will just be handing over the blankets to our contact off hospital property. Instead, we will be doing a photo-op in the spring which all of you who can make it will be more than welcome to join in on. I will keep everyone updated about that.

There are a few spots still open for new blankets, I just need knitters to start them. Not much is involved, just a few steps more than doing a regular section. Anyone can do it. Let me know if you are interested.

One thing that I would like to touch on is timing. Please, if you have a blanket, keep to the two week limit. If you are scheduled on an upcoming spot but you know you will not be able to keep to the time limit, let me know. I can schedule you on later when it works better for you.

Speaking of blankets, we are doing very well in the blanket department! Last year (2008) was our first year, and we completed 5 blankets. This year, we are already on blanket number 25 with open spots for three more! WOW! Thank you to all our amazing knitters and donors. Without you this wouldn't be possible.

Tamara,
President, WCOBBS

THANK YOU!!!!

2009-10-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

I just want to say on behalf of the WCOBBS...

THANK YOU!!!!!

The auction is just about over (the site is still allowing some last minute bids, but that should end shortly), and I can say that I am overwhelmed with the response we got from everyone!!! We'll be posting soon regarding whether or not we made our goal.

There will also be a post coming out first thing Monday morning showing off the knitting that was being done while the auction was going on. Did I mention that our knitters are also great at multi-tasking??

Thanks again, and congrats to the winning bidders. You will be receiving an email shortly regarding your purchases.

Have a great night, and Happy Father's Day!!!!

We love our LYS (Local Yarn Shops)!!!!!

2009-10-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

So, as we count down the days until our Auction, I wanted to do a little highlight of the donations made by our generous local yarn shops here in Calgary.

First up... Gina Brown's

Gina Brown's is a purveyor of fine yarns, needlecrafts, and knitting classes in Calgary, Alberta, Canada since 1970. They have graciously donated a weekend class which lets you choose from one of the following classes:

FELTED CLOGS - These slippers are comfy and warm. They are knit with pure wool and then felted in the washer.

MULTI COLOURED SPROUT HAT - Make this colourful hat with ear flaps. You'll learn both fair isle and intarsia-how to knit in the round, read charts and use the two handed technique to carry the different coloured yarns.

RETRO GRANNY SQUARES - Who knew that there were so many different granny squares? Your squares can then be joined to make afghans, scarves and bags.

LACEY KNIT WRAP - Make a romantic wrap with one of our new lace weight yarns and learn the basics of lace knitting. We'll even show you how to add the all important "life line".

FINISHING FOR KNITTERS - Learn all the tips that make your work look more professional. Bring a Project in pieces and we'll help you put it together.

Value of this certificate: $59.00

Next, Pudding Yarn

Sharon of Pudding Yarn in Calgary, Alberta has graciously donated a $50.00 gift card for their store to us.

Pudding is chalk full of the most up-to-date selections of yarn and accessories including Koigu, Noro, Mission Falls, HandMaiden, Malabrigo, Namaste, Rowan, Sublime, Lantern Moon and Signature Needle Arts.

If you are not in Calgary but would love some of Pudding Yarn's wares, you can still bid on this gift card. Pudding Yarn will coordinate with a member of the WCOBBS Board of Directors to purchase what you would like and have it sent to you.

Value of this certificate: $50.00

Last, but certainly not least... Make One Yarn Studio

Bess of Make One Yarn Studio in Calgary, Alberta has graciously donated a $100.00 gift card for use in their store to us.

Make One is a happy little shop full of a lovely selection of yarn and accessories, and also caters to the local spinning and weaving community.

If you are not in Calgary but would love some of Make One's wares, you can still bid on this gift certificate. Bess will coordinate with a member of the WCOBBS Board of Directors to purchase what you would like and have it sent to you.

Value of this certificate: $ 100.00

Please help us in thanking these wonderful donors by not only bidding on their auction items, but also by shopping in their wonderful stores and following their websites/blogs. When you do, please be sure to mention that you learned about them from our blog!!!

The Auction is Coming...The Auction is Coming!!!

2009-10-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, the Western Canadian Oddball Blanket Society is hosting an online auction from June 15th through 19th. I thought this might be a good time to show off a selection of our auction items. Many of the items up for bid have been made by our knitters and crocheters, and other items have been graciously donated by our supporters. To see these goodies, take a look at the slide show on the right. In addition to the items shown, we also will be auctioning off concert tickets, gift certificates, web development services, and much, much more!!!

Please continue to check back for more info and more sneak peaks at auction items!!!

Society Incorporation Update

2009-10-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

So, as most of you know already, we are in the process of incorporating as a Charitable Society with the Canadian Government (yay!).

The paperwork is filled out and the bylaws are written, however we still need a few more board members and the application funds.

If you would like to volunteer for the board (one year commitment with elections annually) or if you have fundraising ideas, let me know.

We are looking at $110.00 to incorporate, and then about another $200.00 for the seal, minute books etc.