Honey, I volunteered you…

Every year my husband organizes a youth hockey tournament for kids all over the state of Ohio. During the tournament they hold a raffle to help raise money for our youth hockey teams. They usually get pretty good donations, too. Last year the main prize was a Nintendo Wii.

Two years ago I put together a gift basket for the raffle. It had candles, hand creams, bath bombs, I don’t remember what else, but I had just finished knitting two Kureyon scarves and I was feeling generous so I put one of those in there as well. The basket was a huge hit with the hockey moms. Last year I donated a $50 motorized Lego set.

So last night the hubby comes home from his tournament planning meeting and announces that he volunteered me to donate two hand-knit scarves for the raffle. “They asked if you’d be willing to donate another Lego set,” he said, “but then someone brought up the idea of scarves knit in the team colors and I told them you’d knit two.”

I looked him square in the eye and said “I’m not doing it.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because I don’t have time and I don’t want to do it. I’ll donate another Lego set instead.”

“But they really want scarves.” he insisted.

“Was ___ at the meeting? She knits, ask her to do it.”

“But they’ll only take you an hour.”

“No one can knit a scarf in an hour. Have you seen the scarf that’s in my knitting bag? I’ve been working on it for three months!”

“But these won’t take you that long and I already told them you’d do it.”

“Tell you what, I’ll teach you how to knit and YOU can make the scarves!”

Now I realize that I could knit scarves with chunky yarn and jumbo needles and whip two of them out in no time. But these are for a raffle -to raise money- and no one is going to buy extra tickets in hopes of winning a garter-stitch scarf knit with Thick & Quick. No, these scarves need to be spectacular and I don’t have the time or inclination to do it.

I don’t know how many times I’ve told Dave not to volunteer me for things, but he keeps doing it anyway. I’m still waiting for information on the last thing he volunteered me for (designing a brochure for a local organization), and I do not need another project, thankyouverymuch.