Let’s talk about swaps, baby

Just came home from a very long day to discover a swap package from the amazing @valdara1 that includes a fab pair of hand knit socks! All crummy days should be redeemed with socks and chocolate. #knitting #sockaddict #nerdyswapgrouponravelry

A photo posted by Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@doctor_llama) on Aug 10, 2015 at 5:22pm PDT

I was kind of late to the swap train. If you’ve never done it, swapping is when you are matched with another crafter and you mail them a box full of fun stuff, including handmade gifts like knitted socks, crocheted notions bags, or whatever you’re best at crafting. Then you get awesome goodies in return! I like the ones were your partner is a secret and you have to internet stalk whoever you get assigned too. I suppose that says more about my love of stalking than my love of swapping though. 

For a really long time, I thought it sounded weird. Like, I’m gonna give a stranger my address and then make presents for someone I don’t know? What if they hate what I made? What if I hate what I’m sent? What if my swap partner is an ax murderer and comes to my house and kills me and then steals my whole stash?! I think we can agree these are reasonable concerns. But then Jac started swapping and she got really good stuff. In her first swap, she got this amazing hand drawn gnome artwork. It came with new exciting yarn, tasty treats, and some gorgeous stitch markers. It would be putting it really mildly to say I was jealous. By the time she was signing up for her second swap, I was willing to risk an ax murderer to get in on the goodies.

Flash forward a few years, and I’m addicted to swapping. I just can’t stop giving my address to strangers. I joined Geek Swaps and Nerdy Swaps on Ravelry, and for a little while I joined every swap I could. Towards the end of my pregnancy it was the only thing keeping me sane. Occasionally, I use swaps as an excuse to cheat on my knitting and spend some time with another craft. 

I’m cheating on my knitting today to do some needlepoint. I haven’t used waste canvas before now, but I love that it gives me the freedom to stitch on anything (here I’m embellishing a purse with one of the #geekalong squares). But I was not prepared for how much stitching through the canvas on this bag would hurt my fingers! #crossstitch #crafting

A photo posted by Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@doctor_llama) on Aug 3, 2015 at 6:28am PDT

Most of the time though, I use it as an opportunity to design. Before the Shersocks were Shersocks they were the Sherbag. (We do not have plans to release the Sherbag. It wound up being much more complicated than I wanted it to be.) The inspiration for the bag came from the swap I was doing, and the one and only Sherbag went to my swap partner.

A few months later another swap inspired us to turn the bag into socks, which made their way to another swap partner.

I honestly can’t remember if it was the Sherbag swap or the Shersock swap, but I got a pretty sweet package of stuff.

I was making a package based on the movie Ever After when I designed the Yellow Stone slouch and made the prototype for my swap partner. I was going for sort of a snood look.

Super excited to finally be showing off the finished pattern for my Yellowstone Slouch beaded hat made with gorgeous @bijoubasinranch Lhasa Wilderness yarn :D get the details and pattern at the link in my profile. #knitting #knitstagram #colorwork

A photo posted by Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@doctor_llama) on Jul 30, 2015 at 6:03pm PDT

I’m binge watching #MarriedAtFirstSight and making a beaded hat with @bijoubasinranch Lhasa Wilderness yarn. I’m going nuts for how much I’m loving this yarn and design…it’s gonna be really hard to send it away to its recipient at the end. I designed it for her, but I think I need it for me. I suppose I’ll just have to make a second one ;) #YakYarn #knitting #knitsagram #KnittingAfterMidnight

A photo posted by Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@doctor_llama) on May 13, 2015 at 10:09pm PDT

I think my favorite swap design though is the Cunning Sock.

I want to go to the crappy town where I’m a sock…;) #FindMeAtLattesAndLlamas #socks #ValleyYarns #firefly #knitting #serenity

A photo posted by Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@doctor_llama) on Apr 2, 2015 at 2:34pm PDT

I just signed up for another swap and am juicing my mind grapes for some sweet Star Trek designs. My swap partner on this one likes things that take me out of my fiber comfort zone and I’m enjoying playing with some new non-animal based fiber. I’m not ready to show off what I’ve got in store for her, but I’ll be posting sneak peeks on Instagram soon.

Do you guys swap? What is the coolest thing you received or the handmade that made you the proudest to send?

~Megan-Anne
A few weeks ago my husband was hassling me about forgetting to turn off the feature in Instagram that shows where you posted from since most of my posts are from our house. And I didn’t have the heart to tell him that half of Ravelry already has my address.