Swap Analysis

Ever get tired of looking at the yarn in your stash and thinking, "What the hell was I thinking?" Or maybe, "What will I ever do with that?" If so, consider organizing a yarn swap. Some of my regular group of knitters got together last weekend and did just that. We had a potluck, did a little drinking, and brought our yarny trash, in hopes that we might snag someone else's fiber-y treasures. It's the third time we've done it over the years, and it was a blast.

Here's how we handle the process: we draw numbers in rounds. So, if there were 8 participants, we'd draw the numbers 1-8 out of a hat for round one. Then we'd draw numbers 9 through 16 for the second round, etc. You can base the number of rounds on the numbers of "lots" of yarn, or just decide how many up front. Then we dump all the yarn that everyone brought onto a big table. Usually, if you have multiple balls of the same yarn, it's bagged together into a lot. Then person 1 gets the first choice, and on through all the numbers. It's fun to paw through as people "shop," trying to hide things under the pile until their turn comes up. After we're all sated, what's left gets donated to a charity.

I usually go thinking of it as an opportunity to declutter, but I always come back with cool stuff. This time I got 7 hanks of Cascade 220 -- 6 in dark green heather and one in a light grey/green heather. Not sure if it's enough for an adult sweater -- but maybe for a nephew? I also got to thinking about crochet lately after reading a recent essay by Franklin Habit, and a Twitter conversation that followed. This pile of red Pima cotton yarn should be good for that. And then I got 6 skeins of a weird wool/mohair/acrylic blend from Dalegarn that I have no idea what I'll do with -- but I like the olive tweed color. If creativity fails me, I can always contribute it to the next swap!

Tomorrow, Jeff and I are headed for Big Bend National Park for a few days of hiking and relaxation under those big west Texas skies. This will be the first time we've visited during a new moon, so I'm really looking forward to seeing a beautiful night sky. "The stars at night, are big and bright..." -- you know the rest. We will try to find some wifi and share a bit of our adventures while we're there.