Whose lace is it anyway? Knitters Lace Swap

A few more parcels

2006-09-28T11:50:00.000+10:00

I think these are the last few from my list.
Mona received a wonderful parcel from Laura, which included a lovely hand made project bag. Jae received a great parcel from Jesh, which contained some beautiful pink handdyed yarn. And Lindy scored a great package full of wonderful stuff from April.
If there is anyone I've forgotten, and I was your hostess, let me know!

And if you have any concerns, such as you haven't heard if your parcel was received, or you haven't received a parcel, let your hostess know! We're more than happy to look into it, but we can't help if we don't know what's happening.

After some very brief discussion, because it appears that everyone enjoiyed the swap, and it was quite successful, there is a very distinct possiblity that the Lace Swap could become an annual event.
Stay tuned!

Nearly the last

2006-09-23T18:13:00.000+10:00

Hi there, well we're nearly at the finish line now!

Here's an update of who sent to whom in my group, the only ones left out are the ones still waiting on their package (as far as I know) or I've already mentioned.

Chloe sent a wonderful parcel to hostess Donna
Donna sent GREAT goodies to Gill

Ingrid to Erin
Erin sent a great purple parcel to Leeanne
Leeanne sent to Dorothy
Dorothy sent her goodies off to to Lynne

Cece to Phyllis who had some post office delays but was worth the wait
Phyllis send her lace to Kelly
Kelly in turn to her rhyming partner Elli

Ansley sent her stuff to to Wendy
Wendy's lace package found it's way to Mary
Mary sent hers to lucky ZhiWhen
Zhi-When did the right thing by Lorinda
Lorinda sent her great package to Lynda
And, to finish this little chain off here, Lynda sent stuff to Valerie

Amy is to Lyndsey
As Lyndsey is to Rebecca
Rebecca sent her goodies off to a delighted Amanda

Ann (sadly no blog) sent her parcel to Lisa
Lisa sent hers to CeeJay
And CeeJay sent to Vicki

Lois of got it knitted sent lovely lace to to Laura
Laura was a great lace pal to Tonni
And Tonni rounded it up by sending back to Chloe

And, last but not least, Eva sent to Donni.

Now there are a very few people on the list I haven't mentioned. That's because I haven't received confirmation of the parcels being recieved.

Please please please if you have recieved but not let me know please do so as soon as you can.

And, If there's a problem I can't help you if I don't know about it so tell me. There's no judgement here.

2006-09-18T22:11:00.000+10:00

Lots more parcels! I think the majority of the parcels have arrived now. I know of two that are missing in action, but I have every confidence that they will appear soon.
Wanda received a great parcel from Christina. Lacking a digital camera at hand, she made good use of her cell phone. The things we do for our blogs! :)
Blogless Jennifer got a lovely parcel from Joan, but was unable to forward a picture. Yvonne in the UK got her parcel from Nichole, full of Knitpicks goodies. Seriously, us non-US knitters love to get KnitPicks!!

2006-09-14T19:30:00.000+10:00

I'd bet that the various postal delivery persons around the world are cursing the internet. Before email, they had heaps more letters to deliver, but these days, I'll bet there's a lot more parcels!
Suzette (who is unfortunately blogless) got a great parcel from Martha, who is also blogless. I don't have a picture yet, but if I get one, I'll post it!
Adele got an excellent parcel from Megan, with Knit Picks Shadow, Zephyr and a Knit Picks option needle. Vicki got a lovely parcel from CJ, which included a cute handmade bag.
Rox got some yummy cashmere/silk blend yarn from Maylin.

Everyone who hasn't received a parcel yet is drooling in anticipation, I'm sure. Rest assured, we've been promised that they are all on their way!

2006-09-13T09:20:00.000+10:00

More parcels, more parcels! And still more, out in the world, trying to find their way home!

Helen has no blog, so she sent me a picture of the lovely package she received from Beverly (also blogless). You can see the contents of her parcel here.
Martha is also blogless, so she sent me a picture of the great parcel she received from Nic. It can be seen here.
Nic also got a great parcel from Laura. And Kerry got her goodies from Jenn.
I got a great parcel from Chloe (who also got a great parcel) and it's here.
There are still some I'm waiting to hear from, but so far, most of the parcels have been absolutely wonderful!

How much do we love you guys?

2006-09-10T21:40:00.000+10:00

You know at this stage it looks like every single one of you has played nice and been fair in this swap event.

That's not bad for over a hundred strangers.

Donna and I would like to say, YOU GUYS ROCK!!

Because it's all about blog stats

2006-09-10T20:58:00.000+10:00

OK, so I've succumbed to the pressure. I was trying to get out of doing this (way too lazy) but it appears I've been apprehended.

Those parcels have been so great to see, great to recieve and great to send. Donna and I have really enjoyed this swap, and so far it looks like everybody (all 103 or so of you) has come through in the end. We knew you could do it.

From the top:

Pixel Diva just loved her lace love from Donni of MogsBlog - check out the rap here.

In turn, Kristi loved what she got from Pixel Diva - here's her post on the subject. Don't you love her blog name - eau de bean?

So, who did Kristi send to? Well I can't tell you yet because I don't think it's arrived yet! But it's on it's way ....

April received her parcel from Rosanna, and funnily even though she sent it to the USA it's going back to Canada whence it came, what a co-incidence.

Rosanna herself received a loot of lovely lace from Kate at Fly in My soup.

Kate received her package from Corrie, whose package has already been documented here.

Now Nathalie, who sent to Corrie, received her package from Julia - who sadly is blogless.

Julia received her package from the lovely lacey Lynne at yarnivorous.

Gabrielle and Chantal were lucky (unlucky?) enough to get EACH other in the random number system, but they didn't know until after they recieved there packages. Sorry about that guys, I hope it wasn't too icky for you!

Lyndsey B received her package from April Mc - who did get a blog after all boy did she get spoiled.

Lyndsey B sent to Melissa who sent to Grace who sent to Carrie who sent to Caroline, who sent a very early parcel to CeCe.

You can see where this is going can't you? One big happy hand-holding circle! I'll wait until I'm sure some parcels have arrived before I reveal the whole whole chain, but not too long now I'd say.

Now it's really happening!

2006-09-09T10:23:00.000+10:00

Seems nearly everyone left their swap parcels until the last minute, just to keep their partners in suspense!
Jae sent Julie some gorgeous Zephyr and some other odds and ends including Post It tape. Brilliant idea, why haven't I heard of this before??
Adele sent some yummy goodies Shirley, who is sadly blogless, but Adele has put a picture of the swap goodies on her blog for us to admire.
Dorothee recieved some nice Knitpicks yarn and a lovely pattern from Kellie. Christina got some gorgeous goodies from Rebecca in Belgium, including cashmere in the most beautiful shade of blue.
There are lots more out there, but I'm waiting on blogs to be updated so I can send you all off to admire the goodies.
This swap is disastrous for my stash. I just keep seeing things I must have!

More swap goodies!

2006-09-07T20:40:00.000+10:00

Laura received a great swap parcel from Yvonne. Gorgeous patterns, and beautiful yarn! ZhiWen's parcel from Cat arrived, with plain yarn and kool aid! Lynda's swap partner Lorinda sent a great package, too.
I have to mention how impressed we've been with the wonderful parcels we've been seeing, good work everyone!

Updates

2006-09-04T08:33:00.000+10:00

Only a couple today, but I know there's parcels winging their way all over the world right now.
Lorinda received a lovely parcel full of blue/green things from ZhiWen, you can see it on her blog, and April got her excellent swap package from blogless Suzette, go have a look!

All this yarn is making me drooly!

2006-09-02T19:55:00.000+10:00

Wouldn't it be great if our significant others or other family members were looking at these parcels and thinking "Wow, that's what I could get her for her birthday/christmas/other significant occasion"?
Kate received a beautiful parcel from Corrie, and Kimberly got her swap from Helen, who doesn't yet have a blog. The postman also delivered a lovely parcel to Maylin from Rox.
I'm sure there are many parcels out there that we haven't heard about yet, so let us know.
If you haven't yet sent out your parcel, please let your hostess know. The deadline for mailing has passed, and there is a few people we haven't heard from yet.

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

2006-08-31T20:17:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-29T20:58:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-28T22:39:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-27T18:50:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-23T10:50:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-19T19:21:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-18T18:54:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-16T22:27:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-12T10:35:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-10T18:00:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-09T21:55:00.002+10:00

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

2006-08-09T11:49:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-06T11:43:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-05T08:33:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-03T23:49:00.000+10:00

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!

2006-08-01T23:30:00.000+10:00

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

2006-08-01T12:22:00.000+10:00

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!!

Just a reminder!

2006-07-31T10:05:00.000+10:00

Just a reminder to everyone to get your questionnaires back to us before August 1.
As most of you are aware, Ailsa and I are organising this swap from Australia, so I'm closing the swap at midnight August 1, Los Angeles time. (Which is 5pm Wednesday aest for the aussies).

If you haven't returned your questionnaire, you won't get matched up!

Many Thanks

2006-07-29T11:44:00.000+10:00

And many thanks to the twisted knitster for the great buttons. We love them.

Hi Swingers!

2006-07-29T11:19:00.000+10:00

Hot off the press .....

MIRIAM - ICARUS SHAWL DESIGNER - SUPPORTS THE LACE SWAP.

I'm sure most of you have seen the beautiful Icarus shawl in the current Interweave Knits magazine. Well the designer herself has contacted us and is more than happy to email her gorgeous designs in pdf format directly to your lace swap partner.

In addition, she's having a 15%off sale on her patterns for a short while.

Pay Miriam a visit at Mimsknittingfrenzy and tell her we sent you.

SWAP UPDATE

We've certainly got an international bunch of joiners and we've had a fantastic response. Aound 70 so far, and there's knitters from South Africa, Malaysia, Denmark, Sweden, UK, USA, Australia, Saudi Arabia and more.

Isn't it amazing how the internet and knitting can take you places you've hardly heard of?

So go visiting in the sidebar, it'll be like a round the world trip.

Stay tuned for other lacey links coming up.

Partners announced next week!

Knitters Lace Swap - The Rules

2006-07-26T18:10:00.000+10:00

We've had a few questions about the interpretation of the guidelines for this swap. Personally, I prefer anarchy, but since we don't want this event to run feral we've come up with some general rules.

WHAT IS LACEWEIGHT YARN?

The term laceweight is quite discretionary, and it ranges from fingering weight right through to the gossamer cobweb yarns. Experienced lace knitters may want to try some cobweb weight yarn, which would probably be not the best choice for a newbie lace knitter. Fingering weight yarn can make lovely lace projects and could be an ideal choice for a beginner.

So, rather than get bogged down in the semantics - let's firstly say that your judgement and common sense should prevail. Ask your match questions, and try to match your gift to your recipient.

If you feel good about what you're sending and you think your match would like to recieve it, then you can't do any better than that, can you?

NOTE -YOU'RE THE MYSTERY, NOT THE YARN

Many laceweight yarns come on cones which have miles of yardage on them. Jaggerspun Zephyr, for example, is a ubiquitous and wonderful 50/50 wool silk laceweight yarn sold predominantly on cones.

It is perfectly all right to wind 1200 yards or so off a cone of yarn and send it to your match, as long as you can identify what you're sending.

We do ask the following; as a courtesy to the recipient as much as anything else. Please weigh/measure your wound-off yarn and provide a written information card which states

APPROX WEIGHT/YARDAGE
FIBRE CONTENT/BRAND
NEEDLE SIZE/GUAGE INDICATION

PATTERN CHOICE

Once again this is up to you. Bear in mind the skill level of your recipient, or send them something to aspire to - it really is up to you.

Some patterns are sold only as pdf files, by all means you can send these to matches if you have purchased them for the purposes of this swap and you're not violating any copyright laws.

IMPORTANT POINT - COPYRIGHT
Please take the time to make yourself aware of copyright laws and the reasons behind them. As knitters, and particularly as knit bloggers, we often see how much effort goes into designing knitting patterns, it really is not good form to do the wrong thing in this area.

FINALLY

I DEMAND THAT YOU HAVE FUN.

This is a great opportunity to get the impetus something you may not have thought yourself capable of doing before.

Enter into the spirit of the swap, be friendly with your match.

And most importantly, remember the fundamental law of karma: What goes around, comes around.

Happy days everone!

COMING SOON .......

A list of lace resources on this site later this week (pattern source, yarn sources, free pattern links etc etc)

Matches sent out next week

Participants list in the sidebar

Share the lacey love baybee!

2006-07-24T14:23:00.000+10:00

Hi racey laceys.

As a co-host of this shindig, not only can I bring the gift of inexperience to the project, but I also have an unlimited stash of terrible lace puns at my disposal!

Sign up, sign up, your dream lace awaits you!