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| Spindle And Wheel Fiber Frenzy Swap Extravaganza |
| Written by Allena Jackson | |
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What better way to celebrate our first issue than to host a swap? I tend to go a little overboard with things, and this swap is no exception. We couldn't possibly just do a plain secret swap, where's the fun in that? We had to make it BIG! So we tried to design the swap of all swaps, and we hope you will enjoy participating. We shook things up a little, (ok a lot) and changed all the rules around crazy to make this a really FUN and exciting swap. First off, you will have two secret pals, you can talk to them, email or whatever you want. Just don't talk about your items you are sending, or give away who you are. So you can discuss what you like to do, that sort of thing. Get to know each other, but don't tell thing like your full name, your exact location or anything too revealing. So I for example could say that I live in Missouri, and talk about my family, favorite colors, techniques and my kids, but I wouldn't mention that I own an online spinning magazine, or anything else like that. You need to have a blog, and post a link button on your site in a place where it will be seen. So try not to bury it at the very bottom. We want to let as many people know as possible, so we can have a large participation of spinners, knitters, weavers, felters and other fiber artists worldwide. If you don't have a blog, there are many free places to get one, do go sign up and get started! You need to make at least a few posts about the swap as well, again to help spread the word. You also need an anonymous email address (yahoo, gmail, etc.) to correspond with your pals. You must be registered with us, so we can collect the sign up information we need without having to worry about the sign up form getting spammed. You have three choices of swapping options, and each option has three categories. We will try to match people up by their preferences as best we can. The fiber category is divided into groups of amounts you want to send. Small 4-6 oz, medium 6-8 oz, or large over 8 oz. We hope this will allow more people to participate, even if they don't have a huge fiber stash to exchange. The fiber should all be very nice stuff! Don't send something you don't like, or think isn't super nice. You want to send something they will love, not just get rid of something you don't like. The Handspun category is by skill level, or type of yarn you want to send/receive. Beginner is lumpy bumpy, and should be at least 45 yards for each packet. Medium weight to fine will be intermediate, and should be at least 75 yards per packet. Advanced will be spinners who can do it all, lace weight to bulky, and will send a minimum of 125 yards each packet. More is always welcome, but you should send at least this much in both of your packages to your pals. Goodies will be really fun, and a great way to get some neat stuff from somewhere else. Goodies can be commercial yarns, dye kits, spindles, stitch markers, or anything unique and special (cough chocolate) that your pal may not be able to get, or wouldn't buy for themselves. Lastly, you can choose which price range you want to be in. You can go into the group that fits your budget and yet still have lots of fun. The groups are $20, $40 and $60 (USD) for each package. You may enter more than one swap - just sign up again, and choose another swap option. This will get you entered in the database multiple times, once for each swap. Now the other way we have strayed from the norm, is that you will have two pals - one pal that you know about (pal A), and one pal that knows about you (pal B). You will send your first packet to pal A, and recieve your first packet from pal B. Then pal A will send you a thank-you packet and you will send a thank-you packet to pal B. That way, you can spoil (and be spoiled by!) BOTH of your pals. We will also open up a new place in the forum for pals involved in the swap to get to know each other and talk about what they got, and how beautiful it is. This is a way for ALL the pals to get to know each other. This was all pretty complicated, but fortunately for me, I married a software developer, and he's done his magic and automated the process quite a bit. So his little technical wonder will sort you all out into groups according to your likes and dislikes, budget and choices as best as possible. We can't promise a perfect match but all your answers will be considered to match you to pals you have something in common with. We hope to have a big participation, so tell all your friends and be sure to post your link in a prominent place where it can be displayed for the duration of the swap. We will take names for the swap until July 20, 2007, but you will be able to connect with other swappers in the forum during this time. After the sign up time is done, you will be sent an e-mail with your pal's e-mail address and their questionnaire answers (this is the pal you will know about). You need to contact them saying hello. Then you will have one month to send a package to them. You should be contacted by your other pal at this time and you should receive a package from them within one month. After the first round of gifts has been swapped it's time to send a thank-you gift back. Again, you have one month to do this. Have fun and enjoy swapping! |
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