Saturday, May 26, 2007

On the Outside Looking In

My mother inlaw is awesome, especially when it comes to supporting my knitting habit. She's a bit puzzled by this "swapping thing" though. She gets that Mary won a prize, but while she sat and watched me prepare my pal's first package for the Spring Felted Bag Exchange, she had more questions than I had answers.

Why are you sending stuff to someone you don't know? Couldn't she already have one of these? What if she doesn't like this pattern? (Followed by, "I don't, but I do like these colors..." Note to self: remember those colors for a bag at some point for MIL.)

Now, my mother inlaw is nothing if not kind and generous, so it's not that she thinks it's silly to send care packages. It's that we knitters have this whole "swap thing" going, and we seem to enjoy the whole secret pal part a lot. Why is that?

For me, I swap because I tend to get in ruts, and I love that someone else will likely buy something for me I wouldn't consider on my own. That, and I wanted to know someone else who knits besides The Yarn Family. Not that Anne isn't the best friend a girl could have, and Tina is so like her little sister with her kind support and willingness to help a novice out, but once I realized from just reading Anne's blog that there was a whole, vast, international community of cool knitters out there, I wanted to be a part! So, I began blogging, signed up for the most recent Knitters Treat Exchange, and the rest is history.

Now, I must return to cleaning, and making room in the study for my ever-growing stash.

4 comments:

Devonshire said...

I love meeting new knitters and don't worry not many people outside the knitting community get the whole swap thing. My husband thinks it is a bit odd too! LOL

Yeah to the KTE that started it all.....

Hope the cleaning goes well.

Sue J. said...

Woohoo! So glad you decided to join the whole knitting, blogging community. I, too, hesitated, until I realized I was missing out on so much. It's all about making friends. Hope you are having a terrific weekend.

Sharon said...

What is amazing about swap boxes is for some reason they JUST know to arrive when you need them. They show up at your door on a day you need a pick me up and a special surprise from a friend you have been speaking to through the internet that you know, although not IRL, but you know through knitting and friendship, just when you need it most. THAT is what it is all about and why we keep doing these swaps. To send smiles through the mail to on another and keep these friendships alive. Plus the chocolate isn't bad either ;-)

Virtuous said...

Yeah my friends and co-workers think I am strange too when I mention about swap exchanges/secret pals!

But I agree to have someone who shares the same hobby interest as you that is a complete stranger to think of you enough to pick out thought gifts is just bliss!

I love mail that is not bills!! :op