Lucy Swap

Lucy Swap

As I am sure you are all aware of the great site known as Ravelry, it will be of no surprise to know that it is dedicated to the talents of knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers and a great many designers, and, for someone like me who loves to craft and especially crochet, why I spend a lot of time perusing this site to bring myself inspiration and look on in wonder at the amazing people out there and what incredible skills and imagination they have to produce all of the work they do. 

Ravelry has a great many groups that can be followed and I am a member of a few that I have a keen interest in. I'm still quite new to all this and when an opportunity arose to swap our own creations with others, on a group called 'We Love Lucy' a group inspired by people's love of the lovely blog Attic24, I jumped at the chance. It was entitled 'small pleasures' and the rules of the 'swap' was that once you had signed up, you agreed to include in your swap:

• Yarn - This can be from your stash or bought. If from stash it should be as new with the ball band intact.
• A handmade item in keeping with the swap theme - This can be crocheted, knitted, or something else.
• A handwritten note, card, or postcard from you.
• Other small items appropriate to the theme and your partner, including something small that you enjoy and would like to share with your partner. This could be your favourite nail varnish colour, your favourite drink or snack, your favourite hook type, etc.

To help the person you would be partnered up with, we each completed a short questionnaire about ourselves, our likes & dislikes etc & any other information that might be of interest. Lastly, the cost of putting together the swap was not to exceed £10! 

I was partnered with a lovely lady called 'Craftymizz', a very talented and much accomplished crafty person. I knew I had to up my game to make sure my package I put together to swap with her past muster! But on top of the worry of thinking of what to make for Craftymizz, I also was so giddy excited at the thought of receiving my own package of gifts all for me, made with my likes and interests in mind - it is possibly the best idea ever & it wasn't even my birthday, it would be just a collection of offerings someone I had never met before had assembled ALL FOR ME!!!

Well, after a few short weeks, we were ready to package our swap and post, all we had to do was wait for the postman & after a few tentative days waiting, I took delivery of a very well packaged box of delights and here is what I found inside.......

Firstly, an incredible, handmade by Craftymizz's fair hands, baby toy, complete with internal jangly rattle made in beautiful soft pastel colours....

A bag of sweet little assorted Hello Kitty buttons which I can use to embellish lots of my own handmade projects - lots of which my daughter has now asked for!!

A crocheted handbag all for my daughters own use, the lucky little madam!!

A selection of seeds to grow on my allotment, the Gold Rush Courgettes are a favourite of mine and I grow only yellow courgettes now as I strongly favour them to their green cousins, my own personal choice and besides, I love growing and eating vegetables that are hard to find in the shops and supermarkets.

Some beautiful soft Merino wool, and it's machine washable, which is brilliant as I do detest hand washing!

And finally a beautiful shawl, the colour and design is truly amazing, I was utterly blown away by it!!

Craftymizz also included a small selection of flavoured tea's, but I have already drank them as I am a massive tea drinker of any and all kinds of tea!

And lastly was a note-let written by Crafymizz explaining all about her choices and why she chose what she did. I loved all of it and am very thankful I was partnered with her, I hope we continue to stay in touch through the wonders of Ravelry. 

I hope in return she was just as excited at receiving my small collection of gifts I had put together for her. 

Here is a photo of my 'swap' to her, a couple of handmade crocheted mug cosy's. 2 balls of beautiful sock yarn, some dinky cute daisy buttons and some Cath Kidston inspired craft pegs. I think, for a first timer, I did reasonably well enough and fulfilled the brief well

. 

I even found a note-let that contained a recipe of my all time favourite treat, Strawberry Shortbread, 

The whole experience has been a joyous one and I hope to get involved in the next swap whenever that might be. For now though, I have the small challenge of thinking what to use my new wool for and as soon as I do, I'll be sure to share. 

Hope to be back soon.