We're having a blast seeing all these great parcels!

More swap parcels winging their way around the world.

Beth received her swap parcel from Suzi, full of lovely little items in addition to the yarn and lovely pattern.
Nichole also got a lovely parcel from Dorothee in France. I love seeing all these little cute items people add in to their parcels.
Melissa's parcel added a bright point to her day that she needed, thanks to Kerry.
Well done again, ladies.
Knitters are the nicest people.

My email inbox overflows

With reports of wonderful swap goodies received!
Lindsey got her package from April (who just started her new blog). Melissa's mailbox had a parcel from Julie today. Joan received a great parcel from Wanda. Dorothy received her swap from Kate in Australia.
Ailsa, my co-hostess received an awesome parcel from Catherine.

Keep an eye on your mailboxes, I am assured that there are many other parcels winging their way to their destinations.

Parcels, parcels everywhere!

Wendy got a great parcel from Ansley. Ansley made a themed parcel, based on where she lives in new Mexico.
Lindsey received her lovely parcel from blogless Amy, and it's on her blog for all to see.
And blogless Jennifer sent a great swap package to Rae, with yarn, patterns and some fun stuff, too.
Keep up the good work, ladies!

More goodies!

There's been more lovely parcels received!
Tonni got a great parcel from Laura, which contained some gorgeous cashmere. Rhonna got her swap from Rae. April got some lovely stuff from Rosanna.
Well done, everyone, I'm so pleased to see how much thought has gone into the packages.
I'm sure there have been many more parcels received, but these are the ones I've heard from.
Please, if you've received your parcel, let your hostess now.
More importantly, let your swapper know!
Less than a week now to get your parcels into the mail.

More wonderful packages on doorsteps all over the world

Hello everybody peeps,

You wonderful people! Every single package I've seen has been fabulous. I love you guys, you've made this an easy swap so far..

CeCe was the lucky recipient of this fantastic parcel, courtesy of the generous Caroline (who should totally get a blog already!). Caroline themed hers gift as a 'gift from the sea' - go look at CeCe's blog at how it made her feel. Aww.

Corrie had a bad day cheered up when she came home to this on her doorstep from Knittingnatty.

I know of a few others but I won't link any pics until they arrive.

....ONLY TEN DAYS LEFT TO GET YOUR PARCEL IN THE MAIL - DON'T FORGET TO SEND US AN EMAIL WHEN YOU SEND YOURS OFF....

We're keeping the various Postal agencies busy!

More packages. I'm having loads of fun just seeing all these gorgeous packages arrive at their destinations.

Sue received a beautiful parcel from Rhonna, and it's up on her blog for everyone to admire.

And Marika received her lovely swap package from Melissa.

Well done again, ladies! It's so much fun seeing all this gorgeous yarn being sent all over the world.

More!

Janice received a parcel today from Barbara, and you can see it on her blog. Ladies, I have to say that the parcels I'm being told about are really impressive, you've all done a wonderful job so far :)

More parcels!

Suzanne has emailed me to let me know that she has received a fabulous parcel from Kimberly. The contents can be seen on Suzanne's blog. Kimberly went on a week long expedition to find just the right items to send, and you can read all about it on her blog.
I also got an email from Barbara to say that she also received her parcel from Shirley, and I'm hoping she'll send a picture for us to admire as she doesn't have a blog right now.
Qute a few people have let me know that their parcels have been sent out into the ether, so watch your mailboxes!

First parcel received!

Hi everyone!
The first swap parcel has been received by Dawn. It's up on her blog for all the see. And it's a great package, too! It was sent to her by Beth. Well done, Beth.
Now it's really getting fun.

RULE RECAP

YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR PAL BY NOW
You should all have your pals by now. If you've not received an email yet from either myself or Donna telling you who your pal is , NOW IS THE TIME TO LET US KNOW We think we've got everyone though.


WHAT TO SEND
Your lace parcel should have about 1200yds laceweight yarn, a nice needle or BOUGHT pattern (not an internet freebie, even though there are some very nice ones out there) and a little treat from yourself (candy, stitch markers, handcream, whatever). Anything else is up to you, but consider this list to be a minimum.

WHEN TO SEND IT
This is a QUICK and DIRTY swap event (a technical term obviously). Your parcel should be in the Mail by 1 September 2006 - which means we should all have received something by mid September at the latest.

SEND YOUR HOST AN EMAIL (PICTURE PREFERABLE) OF YOUR PARCEL WHEN IT'S READY.
We want to showcase all the lovely pressies, and also we'd like to check the participants off the list as we go, and be prepared to angel anyone if we have to.


WHAT IF IT ALL GOES PEAR SHAPED?
We understand that life gets in the way sometimes.

If you find you can't keep your commitment we'd appreciate it if you could let us know as soon as you can. That's so if you pal bails on you, we'd like to be the first to know so we can decide what to do.


SEND ME AN ANGEL
Towards the end of August, if it looks like there are some lace swappers who may miss out on a gift, I'll be placing an emergency order from an online supplier in the US.

To save on postage costs, a volunteer from the US to take delivery of the yarn and then post it to me would be appreciated. You should have a paypal account so I can deposit the postage cost into your account. There will be no cost to yourself.

There are some parcels already on their way!

I've had three emails today from people letting me know that their parcels are on their way to their pals. Keep an eye on your mailbox, it could be on it's way to you! And I'd be more than happy to receive some of the parcels I saw and heard about!

Someone mentioned that they'd like to know what patterns their pal would like or not like. Why not ask her? My pal left a comment on my blog, asking if I liked Fiddlesticks patterns. (Love 'em!). She used an anonymous email address, and a fictitous name. And she killed two birds with one stone, contacting me and getting information she wanted!

Don't forget to check out all the wonderful supplies links Ailsa has posted for you all, she knows where to find all the good stuff.

And I mentioned in a previous post that the person you are sending to is not the person who is sending to you. I was actually wrong about that in one or two cases, it seems that my random number generator was not quite random enough. I do apologise if it causes any problems, although I'm not aware of any at this point. It all appears to be going well so far, I hope everyone is enjoying the swap.

A great supplier deal

Gill from the woollyworkshop uk has offered us a 10% discount on anything ordered from her shop. She has some seriously beautiful yarn there, and not just the laceweight either.

I just had a quick look over there and as soon as I finish this post I'm going back for a better look.

To take advantage of the 10% offer, just mention at the checkout that they are buying for this swap and she'll refund you the discount!

Thank you so much Gill.

We've had a few questions

I'd just like to pop the answers here in case anyone else had the same questions.
The swap is intended to be secret, until your pal receives your parcel. You may email your pal (in fact, we encourage you to do so!), you may ask her questions if you wish.

I'd also like to clarify that the person you are sending to is not the same person who is sending to you.
Any other questions, please feel free to ask!

One other thing, as you receive your prcel, we'd love it if you left a comment or dropped us an email to let us know, then we'll make a post linking to your blog so that everyone can go admire the parcel you've received.

We're set!

Well, after a few days of total insanity, and a late night phone call to sort it all out, everyone should now have their swap partner. We've not made a rule about contacting your partner, but it would certainly be a nice gesture.
Ailsa is going to fix up the blog links as soon as she has a spare minute, thank you to everyone for your patience - matching everyone up was far more time consuming than we'd imagined.
Now go on out and spoil your pal!

Bear with me

Hi lacers.

It's 11.45pm and I've sent out about 11 matches. I'm going cross-eyed with the spreadsheet and I don't want to stuff anything up. Can I go to bed please?

I'll be sending the other emails tomorrow night - please bear with me.

Ailsa
xx

Less than 18 hours to go!

Less than 18 hours until we close signups for the swap!
Don't forget to get your questionnaire back to us before the swap closes, or you'll miss out. If you signed up, but haven't yet recieved a questionnaire, drop me an email at randomknits@gmailDOTcom

It's all getting exciting now, isn't it?

Links for your lace

Thank you all for joining, looks like we may get up to 90 people - it's been very exciting for us.

I have about 10 people or so to add to the sidebar today, but after close-off you should all be up there - please let me know if you're not and I'll fix it up straightaway.

Now, I know a few of you are pretty new to lace. So, to help you I've compiled a list (by no means exhaustive) of places on the net where you can buy yarn, patterns, get free patterns, enjoy ogling the fine work of others or even learn about what this lace caper is all about.

WARNING!! These links are delicious and possibly addictive. No responsibility taken.

LACE KNITTING UNIVERSITY



SOME LACE PATTERN SOURCES
fiddlesticks
fibretrends
heirloom knitting
mim knits (she'll email direct for you)
blackberry ridge - beautiful scarves and shawls including the famous peacock feathers shawl
joslynsfiberfarm - there's a lot of yarns and patterns here including shawl of the month club
bo peeps wool shop - great prices on zephyr right now PLUS all the mystery shawl patterns for sale ($3.50)


ONLINE YARN
sarah's yarns - well priced zephyr
the knitting zone - excellent postage time and service to Australian participants
ozeyarn - no escape spending
tapestry craft - in Sydney
knitpicks - won't post overseas but us foreigners love to recieve it anyway! (hint hint)
purl yarns - won the lottery? This stuff is top shelf
halcyon yarn
colourmart UK - good reputation for cashmere lace and well priced too
Yummy yarns - ebay store in UK
Virginia Farm Woolworks - have got Margaret Stove lace - located in Western Sydney
Blackberry ridge


FREE LACE PATTERNS
A very comprehensive list
another big list
elann - scroll down for more

REAL LACE BY REAL PEOPLE
how
talented
can
one person be?



Got a link you'd like to share?
Found a lace bargain?
Spotted a cool free pattern?

I'd love to hear from you, just post a comment or send an email and I'll be on it like ants at a picnic.

sticksnstring@yahooDOTcomDOTau


ONLY TWO MORE SLEEPS TILL SWAPS SENT OUT!!