Guest Writer, Erin Chesnut, blogs about Sticks 'n Stitches

Saturday January 16 marked the 3rd annual Sticks 'n Stitches with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This year’s opponent was the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blue Jackets fought hard but the Blackhawks pulled it out at the last minute to win the game 6-5.

Sticks 'n Stitches was great this year! As the organizer it was a bit more relaxed on game day for me, which was nice. We had a good flow for handing out goodie bags and raffling off the prizes. It did become a bit hairy about two weeks before the game when our ticket sales jumped from 48 to 92 to 112 to finally land at 148 tickets sold. It was definitely our best year yet for tickets sold even if it did come with a minor heart attack for me. Our event coordinator with the Blue Jackets, Grant, was very awesome in rounding up enough seats for the majority of us to sit together.

This was the second year for Yarnmarket to be our main sponsor. They are wonderful to work with. Deb provided the grand prize for the raffle, a $100 Yarnmarket gift certificate, as well as the Ravelry advertising (which subsequently was the most common way that people heard about our event!) and a skein of Caledon yarn for each goodie bag that was handed out. All 125 goodie bags! Most of the 125 goodie bags also contained a stitch marker from Pear Tree Designs, Namaste re-useable grocery bags, Cast On and Interweave Knits magazine, Temptations re-useable bags, yarn & needles from The Yarn Shop, Twist Collective pin and postcard, WendyKnits pattern coupon, a free admission coupon to the Ohio Historical Society museums, Ohio State Fair competition information as well as Columbus maps and quarterly event brochure. Once again this year we collected donations for Touching Little Lives a local charity that provides knit, sewn and crocheted items to families of premature infants as well as to families coping with a miscarriage.

We’re really looking forward to next year’s event. If we can get enough people to order their tickets early, (as in a few months in advance) we will be in the Sky Terrace next year. This will allow us to make sure we have enough seats and goody bags to go around and gives us more bargaining power. If you would like to be contacted for next year’s event as soon as the date is picked please drop me a line so I can add you to the list.