Collaborative Souvenirs: Destination Imagination and a bunch of knitted vegetables

For the past six months, Sonar X10, his five teammates and two Sponsor Teachers (aka Teachers who have given so much of their time and patience that they deserve cookies, medals, a nice bottle of scotch, and a reality-based legislature) have been preparing for the local Destination Imagination (DI) competition. When people ask me what DI is all about, I always tell them it’s a creative problem-solving activity. But that doesn’t really give DI it’s due, so go check out their website and know what an awesome enrichment opportunity DI is. 

Sonar X10 and his teammates have had a lot of fun, they did great at their competition, and - like any group that works together over time to solve problems, deal with stress, and learn something - they developed some inside jokes. One such joke had to do with jalapeños. The team knows how to say the word ha-la-PEN-yo, but they choose, with a giggle to say ja-LA-pen-o - hard j. This joke amuses them so much that they named the setting in their DI skit Jalopolis. In the skit, which was part of the “Verses! Foiled Again” Challenge, their hero Ace (played by Sonar X10) tried to steal Abraham Lincoln’s platinum pocket watch from the Jalopolis History Museum of History, but he was foiled by his family and a time traveling hat with sparkly hair.

To commemorate the months of work and some of their silly jokes, the Sonar and I decided everyone on the team should have a jalapeño. The teammate implicated in the jalapeño joke’s origins already had her own chili knit, which I talked about here. THAT jalapeño became something of a lucky charm, or perhaps a de facto team mascot. So I made a new batch, a whole carton of jalapeños for the kids and their sponsors. For the teammate already in possession of the lucky jalapeño, I made a carrot. That makes perfect sense, right? 

Six jalapeños and a carrot, knit-wise

Sonar X10 then made tags for each vegetable. The other side says “Minute Green Jalepeno [sic] 2010-2011” plus the school and DI team names. 

Greetings from the Jalopolis History Museum of History Gift Shop. Wish you were here.My method and pattern for these new vegetables was unwavering. I used Acorn Bud’s great carrot pattern for all of them. Because surely there’s no better way to commemorate a bunch of smart kids doing smart stuff than to give them knitted vegetables.