Good Swaps, Bad Swaps

Swaps.  Most of us have participated in them.  Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad.  I haven't received a really bad swap package ...

... one that makes you wonder if your partner bothered to read your likes/dislikes list at all

 ... one where your partner digs through a bag of things she doesn't want anymore (a bag of coasters she was given back in 1978 for example) & uses the swap as an excuse to pass them on to you even though you never said anything about liking or wanting coasters

 ... one where your partner is supposed to make something for you & she makes it "just to get it done" without any thought of even seam allowances, grain of fabric, hiding threads, correct sizing, cleanliness, etc

... since last December I think it was, unless you count the swap package I was supposed to receive from someone in January but never did (unless you count all the excuses as to why it was late & then all the promises about when it would be sent).

Over the past 20 years or so I have participated in innumerable swaps & have hostessed many myself.  They are always fun if everyone follows the rules & your partner gives a care about what kind of things she sends you ... but if people don't play by the rules & if your partner couldn't care less what she sends you (assuming she sends anything at all) then it can be a sad experience.

I don't want to blow my own horn but I'm a wonderful swap partner.  My husband can't understand why I take such delight in putting a swap package together for someone I have never met ... sometimes for someone I have never had any interaction with at all.  I must admit that the bad swapping experiences have often made me think twice about ever swapping again but thankfully those experiences, although quite horrible at times, are not the norm of all swap experiences.

I've received some really great swap packages this year (with the exception of the one that was never sent to me of course). Without fail my swap partners have paid attention to my likes/dislikes list & they have gone out of their way to send me wonderful things!  I received a swap package earlier this week & once again I am absolutely floored at the contents inside.  This package came from my partner in the Tea Shop Swap on Ravelry.  I posted a photo the other day of the cross stitch cupboard tuck I made (Would You Like A Cup Of Tea?) to include with a few other things in her package. When I opened the package she sent to me I was overwhelmed!  She sent a lovely tea towel with a buffalo design woven into it (she lives near Buffalo, NY), a tin of green tea (yum!), a tea bag patterned tissue holder, a tea bag container filled with 6 tea bags which I can take along in my purse wherever I go, a bag of knitting stitch markers decorated with little silver teapots (they are the cutest things!), a knitted scarf kit, & she knitted a pair of lacy fingerless gloves for me "because every lady needs lacy gloves when enjoying a cup of tea!" When the shop where she purchased the knitting kit heard that she was buying it for someone in a swap, they gave her a 6" ruler to send along with it   : )

Thank you again Ann Marie!  I love everything   : )

I have one more swap package to mail to someone & then I can sit back & relax for a while.  Swapping can be fun but it can also take your time away from other things.  I need this little break   : )