When participating in swaps, I consider being on the receiving end to be the bonus part of the deal. I've only had two swap experiences so far and both have been positive. I say this even though my first swap package was manhandled by the post office somewhere along the way, and my second swap package was subject to a bit of procrastination by my swap partner.
The key to swapping, I think, is to be realistic in your expectations. So, for example, even though I would have loved to make new friends, my previous swap was just not set up that way. (I'm sort of hoping this extended version of a swap will provide more opportunity, but with such a variety of people participating, I realize that it might be pretty hard to find a knitting soul mate among them.)
One of the best things I received was on my very first swap. My swap partner, Tracy, took a look at my stash and figured out that I would love a skein of Misti Alpaca Handpaint Chunky in reds. She knew me better than I knew myself. And that's something that I hope to gain from swapping -- exposure to different yarns that I might not be able to get, or might not think of getting myself.
I shared that love with my friends at the Knit & Chat, and it made one of them think of me when a yarn store was going out of business in a nearby (but not that nearby) city that required a road trip. She knew she'd seen the Misti Alpaca at the yarn store in question, so asked me if I wanted to go. So that one small, thoughtful gesture of a swap partner has rippled through my life like the beating of a butterfly's wings.
The second swap was more of a budget swap. I got some fun things. My partner was thoughtful, seeing I liked tea, and including a tea ball with the loose tea she bought me. Even the notepad -- a simple gift -- worked out well in my world. My previous notepad of the same shape (long and thin, great for shopping lists) was down to its last two sheets. Synchronicity. I like to see the good in things.
Not that I see swaps as spiritual. I'm no Oprah (a woman for whom I have great respect). But I'm also not a cynical misanthrope like Gregory House (curiously, another character I admire) who in one episode organized a "Secret Santa" event and included his own name five times so that everyone would buy for him.
I'm just somewhere in between, trying to make connections.
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