Swap Experiences So Far, Part I: Sending

I've gone through two rounds of the 'Knit it Forward' swap, and at the end of August or beginning of September there will be a third. That was my first experience with swapping.

As a sender, so far I'm the type of swapper who mails the package within two weeks of the deadline, but doesn't wait until the actual deadline to do it -- so much could go wrong, I'd rather be early. That didn't help with my very first swap though. My spoilee was in Australia and even though I sent my package well before the deadline, she was the last one in the swap to receive anything. The time lag killed me. All that time to worry that my package:

a) wouldn't arrive at all
b) wouldn't arrive intact
c) wouldn't please the person I sent it to

In truth, the third option was my greatest concern. (I was prepared to send a second package.) But when the package finally arrived after two and a half months, my spoilee did a great job of convincing me that she liked it, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

The second round involved sending a finished object of a type I wouldn't normally knit. But the category was flexible, so I found a project that appealed to me and I was careful not to challenge myself too much. Although I could have tried some fancy new stitches, I decided that an item finished on time with the minimum of frustration would benefit the recipient more, especially if I paid attention to her likes and dislikes for colours. This is what I made:



A set of potholders. The knitted side is simply stockinette stitch. I was a bit disappointed at how rusty my sewing skills turned out to be, but "the perfect is the enemy of the good" so I worked on managing my expectations. (I wish I could teach my son how to do that for himself, but I digress...)

This one was meant to be a budget swap, so I didn't go overboard on the spoiling. (I think that will change with the more swaps I participate in. Spoiling is fun.) I included a package of handmade chocolates from our local chocolatier, and a purchased mini-book of patterns.

If I could change anything, next time I would make sure that I specifically bought a book of crochet patterns. My swap partner was exclusively a crocheter and I bought a mixed knitting/crochet pattern book. Turned out it only had one crochet pattern (out of about six) in it.

Live and learn.