I love when I can participate in swaps that let me meet new people as well as learn about new fibers/yarns. I found Wool Swap at the beginning of the year and signed up for the woolswap March 2019. I happen to love what I’ve received and given.
Woolswap March 2019: Details of Swapping
Like many swaps, you pay a small fee to be a part of the swap. The biggest reason to pay is to help cover costs if someone flakes out on sending their partner a gift. Wool Swap is a little different as you can pay separately for each swap or you can join every swap for one year. It is $8 a swap or 6 swaps for $35. For my first swap I did just a single swap. I wanted to see how it would be run and how things went. When sign ups opened for the next round, I signed up for a year! With Woolswap, your partner is the person you are sending to as well as receiving from.
Woolswap March 2019: Sending
I got to know my partner some and stalked her on Ravelry. I found that she really wanted to make a sweater. I picked out three of the patterns she wanted to do from her Ravelry queue and then picked out yarn to fit those patterns. I chose colors that I knew she loved and would enjoy working with.
I also picked out a needle set, crochet hook and bag that would work well for her patterns. I added in some items I had grabbed at Carolina FiberFest including stitch markers and stitch marker necklace from CottontailFarmVA.
Woolswap March 2019: Receiving
I received a tote bag, skein of fingering weight yarn, a bar of handmade soap and several books.
WoolSwap March 2019: My Dislikes
Like I’ve said with other swaps, there is a minimum you are supposed to send. For Woolswap the minimum is 100 grams of yarn. While I like my package, I don’t feel like my swap partner really took time to get to know me so it wasn’t exactly great for me. I am an avid book reader but on my kindle. I don’t have the ability to carry a book with me all the time. I also feel like the yarn that was sent was pretty but not exactly something that fits what I had said I liked. The WoolSwap team has a pretty detailed questionnaire that you fill out when you sign up. I had specifically said that I like jewel tone colors and stay away from blacks and grays. The biggest reason I said that was that I was looking for some variety to my stash.