Slip Up

With all the cold and the days off from school, and then the nice weather and all the work the yard needs, I’ve not had a lot of knitting worth showing.

OK. Except this doggy custom.

customdoggy

She gives me a big smile.

I’m also on tentacle eight of the octopus example AND almost ready to ship my swap box.

I know some boxes are already packed and on the way. Y’all are making me look bad.

The Hard Way

How I make partners in a round-robin swap.

matching

I did most of the matching and then handed off to Michael. I was feeling really guilty about the amount of work I unknowingly talked him into.

Y’all. We really need a universal ap for this. I’d happily, gleefully, delightedly pay money to host a swap with an ap that saves swappers’ profiles, and allows me to make custom questions for the current swap. And then makes matches with selected pieces of information. It’d be cool if it were smart enough to know that Zonda gifted Brenda (or whoever) in the last swap and not match them up again for the current one. And I’d like to be able to hand tweak the list before partner information is emailed in case I have insider information. I know someone will get right on this.

All that said: partner information was sent out last night! It came from Michael at YarnMiracle in case you need to check your spam folder. If you don’t know who you’re gifting, let him know. If you’ve got other questions or need your partner to clarify something while maintaining your anonymity, please let me know!

Start gathering goodness – boxes should be mailed no later then January 31. Quick reminder: if you are shipping to another country, go low-tech! DVDs and things don’t work the same way from nation to nation.

Matchmaker

Our questions are answered, let the matchmaking begin!

PS When I asked Michael to make the matches so I could be surprised, I said “Oh, I’m sure there won’t be more than a dozen folks who want to participate.” I was really wrong. Thank you! I’m completely tickled.

Swap of Discontent: Fill out your Questionnaires Please!

Heeeeey, swappers! Signups are closed!

Y’all please fill out your quick little surveys and get them back to me! We need them before Michael can make the matches. We haven’t heard from about half of you (there will be individual guilt-making tomorrow if necessary). If you didn’t get a survey, email me (emily at yarnmiracle) or comment with an email address that you check! I’ll send it to you.

Through cutting and pasting in haste, I lopped off the “What is your mailing address?” part of some of the questionnaires. If you were one of the lucky few, we really do need that piece of information. Just add it to the end when you answer the rest of the questions.

One last thing:
Who DOESN’T have cats and dogs? And if you have no furred animals and a smoke-free home you get extra gold stars. I needed to put that in the survey – I’m sorry, it’s been a while since I did this and I’m rusty. Please please email me (or comment if you’d rather) about your allergen-free status.

The Swap of Discontent

Sign-ups are closed for this Swap

“Now is the winter of our discontent”…but we’ve got to make our own bright spot since we don’t have that York fellow to bring the summer. Knitters, I present:

The Swap of Discontent

This swap intended to provide at least one cozy evening indoors.

Swap boxes should include:
– The yarn and pattern for one smallish, comfy knitting project to ward off the cold (scarf, hat, cowl, nose warmer – think one-size-fits-all-outerwear)
– A book or movie
– Something warm (or warming) to eat or drink.

Here’s the catch: At least one thing in the swap box must be Pre-Owned. Yarn from your stash, a book you’ve already read, a pattern that you’re done with (purchased in a physical format or free to distribute – be mindful of copyright, please). Actually, everything in the box can be pre-owned! There’s no reason to spend anything but shipping if you don’t want to. We’ve all got lovely things and patterns and yarns that we may never ever use. Why not let them fulfill their knitting destiny in the hands of a friend?

Swap boxes should be in the mail no later than January 31, 2014.

Michael is going to make the matches for us because I want to be surprised! Let’s make it a secret swap. Because that’s fun – reveal your identity in the box you mail!

To sign up, leave me a comment before the end of the day Friday (January 10, 2014) and I’ll send a short questionnaire to the email address you use for the comment. Mostly I want to know about allergies – nothing worse than a yarn that makes you itch or nut-filled chocolate that you can’t eat. Non-US residents are more than welcome! Michael will make matches this weekend.

To hit the highlights:
*In the box: Yarn and pattern for project, book or movie, warm drink or snack. ONE must be pre-owned, but all can be.
*Comment by the end of the day Friday, January 10.
*Fill out your questionnaire.
*Matches made over the weekend.
*Boxes in the mail by Friday, January 31.

Ready? Set! GO!
Sign-ups are closed for this Swap

Octopus Knitters

Thank you so much for all the support! I think I’ve figured out our swap, but Ellie is home today (many of the school buildings in the county are open and breezy so with our lows as our highs they decided to close) so maybe tomorrow!

**Octopus Knitters Acquired. Thank you.**

octopusattacks

Eight legs are best for a cataclysmic dollhouse attack.

Thank you so much for the kind Great Gran thoughts. I had hope to have time to reply personally in a timely fashion (now that I’ve found where WordPress keeps the comments), but we are having as close as we ever get to a Snow Day instead. Gotta get back to Mary Poppins – it’s dancing penguin time!

2014

We’re five days into 2014 and I hate it. There’s no Great Gran here.

hands

Hospital hands.

I’ve been putting this off because I’m such a downer, but I guess it’s got to be written for me to stop obsessing about wether or not to write it. I miss Great Gran. Everything makes me sad. What to make for dinner. Grocery lists. Buy 1 get 1 free. Amazon Prime. Tacos. When the guy cuts the grass and it looks so good. The as-seen-on-TV section in Target. Bedtime when I’ve called to say sweet dreams every night for the past 10 years. I may have missed a dozen evenings in all that time – we made videos on the hospital nights that I wasn’t there. For the past two months I’ve panicked at 10am because I haven’t talked to Great Gran yet (did she get up, did she take her pills and eat breakfast?). That one is getting better. But the rest of it just sucks. It sucks. And it will suck for a while. So there you go. That’s where I am.

Here’s where I’m supposed to talk about what I want to accomplish this year. Mostly, I’d like to publish more than one pattern before next Christmas. Looking at my patterns chronologically on Ravelry is just depressing.

I also haven’t been part of a swap in a while. I’ve got a good idea for a cold weather (and I hear there is going to be some of that) swap. Anyone want to play and help cheer me up?