I gaze longingly at the Secret Pal swaps at Crochetville. They sound very interesting. But I’m restrained by a couple of things….
-> Just to mail a package from here to the US (for example) requires at least $11 (if it is to arrive in my lifetime). And that is just for envelopes. I haven’t enquired yet about boxes. So even if I sent just empty boxes twice, I’d be at the spending limit (if I understand it correctly). A lot of the supplies I buy costs much less than that…unless it is in bulk, then I shudder to think what the postage would be…You might remember the green unholy mess that I bought back in June:
-> Most (if not all) SP packages seem to include yarn and/or other crochet accessories. I can’t think that what we get here will actually be worth sending out to anyone…Not yarn or hooks, definitely. That only leaves endless amounts of my own handmade stuff, which would get boring after a time, I should think! Has anyone been in a Secret Pal swap which didn’t involve yarn/hook items?
-> Given Crochetville has about 3 and a half participants from India, how “secret” a Secret Pal would I be, anyway?
If you are still reading this and haven’t rushed off to to strike me from your blogroll subscriptions, maybe you could tell me what you think….I should stick to RAOKs and Christmas in July and the occasional doily swap, I think.
Update:
I’m hugely gratified by the number of comments I’ve got on this post. So many of you have taken the time to write in, and with so much thought behind your comments, I love reading all of them.
Most people seem to agree that swaps are great fun, and I think so, too. To reply to one point raised by Veronica, although I needn’t give my return address on the packages, I’d still have to stick Indian stamps on my stuff and that would be a dead give-away! It would be fun to play the guessing game, but only if there was more choice in the guessees (new word alert!!!)
Hmm.
I think for now I’ll stick to RAOKing and swapping things I could actually use (NOT afghan squares!) RAOKs and wishlists seem to be a bit more flexible for my purposes at this time. I should have great fun building up stacks of bookmarks, doilies (now I have an excuse to make more. YAY!) scrubbies, dishcloths (maybe not, they seem to use cotton yarn….How about socks? I know exactly who can tell me more about these…)
**goes off mumbling**
12 comments
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July 14, 2005 at 6:10 pm
Deneen
I’m sure this comment may draw ire from some readers, but stick with the RAOK, Wish List and occasional doily swap. The expense of postage does not count towards the total and if you get a SP who ignores you, you are disappointed anyway. My last round was good, this one not so. Even the person I send to doesn’t post much and doesn’t thank me, etc. It’s disappointing. Yarn swap can be the same, I had good swaps and not so good swaps.
July 14, 2005 at 6:43 pm
Kari
Umm… I really am torn as to what to tell you… I love giving to secret pals… I really do. But my experiences of having someone be my secret pal are well…
I think honestly, you have the right idea: stick with the ROAKs and other swaps for now, maybe you can do a one on one swap with someone at sometime? You know like “adopt” someone for so long lol…
And I am in no way trying to offend or hurt or anything like that. I love the Secret Pal swap.
July 14, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Andrea
I haven’t done secret pals either, due to the cost. I do have fun with RAOK, though. 😉
July 14, 2005 at 9:12 pm
Jessica
While secret pals are fun, and I’m having a good time with my first one, it’s almost as much fun to find someone who has a wishlist with something you can grant, then add stuff to it that you think they’d like (after reading their posts and visiting their blog or website). Kind of a mini-secret-pal thing.
On the other hand, only one item in each SP package has to be crochet-related, so you could probably come up with one thing, if you sent one package. 😉
Funny, I was thinking of you yesterday when I was looking at some beautiful cotton yarn and seeing that it was made in India. I thought, “Then KEEP some of it there!” 🙂
July 14, 2005 at 11:58 pm
CraftyCritter
Swapna… I think it’s best to stick to RAOK or swap which are one item or a couple…Being overly practical it’s not really logical to participate. Not to worry, swaps will always be going on and RAOK!
July 15, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Karla
Misfit [what is your name anyway? :-)], yes, it does sound like postage can get expensive from India. But to answer your question about being in a SP Exchange where crocheted items were received, yes, I was in one where I received crocheted items, and I loved it! If you wanted to participate with that in mind, I don’t see why not! It’s not a “Yarn Swap” so if you didn’t want to send yarn, you wouldn’t have to. I think crocheted items are lovely, too, and I don’t think someone would get “bored”! Perhaps sometimes some of us just get into a habit of sending yarn and accessories, but it hasn’t been stated that that’s what you have to send, only that you have to send at least one package in the 3 month period with at least one crochet-related item in it – that could be a doily you made. You can fill the rest of the time with e-cards and notes to your SP. I hope you’ll have fun and enjoy some of the swaps, but that is just something you’ll have to decide. Don’t let the fact that you could only send hand-made items deter you. Those are wonderful gifts!
July 15, 2005 at 12:43 pm
Veronica
Well.. the postage can´t be changed.. but as far as how secret pal you can be… I tell you.. I´m in Spain, and I´m the ONLY one there! LOL!! but you can always put your pal address in the “from part of the envelope”… But in the end… it´s all about having fun.. so that wouldn´t matter really..
RAOKs and Swaps are cool 😀
July 15, 2005 at 7:04 pm
Andrea
Um, I do make quite a few socks… 😉 If you have questions, ask away!
July 16, 2005 at 9:02 am
Karla
You know, I gotta apologize, Misfit. In my previous comment, I asked “what is your name anyway?” and I am under the impression that “Misfit” IS your name! Some bloggers don’t put their real name on their blogs and just use a word they like as their “name”, and I thought that’s what you were doing. I’m really sorry if I sounded rude asking what your name was. Misfit IS your name, right? It is a unique name, hence my confused state of mind. 😉
July 16, 2005 at 9:41 am
Misfit
Karla, my real name is Swapna, but my blogger name is misfit. Because I feel like one, being addicted to crochet here and having more friends on the other side of the world than at home. 😀
July 16, 2005 at 5:03 pm
KateCrochet
Love your blog, really enjoyed reading it! See u at c’ville 🙂
July 16, 2005 at 5:39 pm
Karla
Ok, Ok, NOW I’m totally confused! (LOL) Thank you for setting me straight…so your name is Swapna, but you feel like a Misfit…Ok, I got it now. 🙂