In 2017 I participated in the Ravelry Birthday Swap. This was my first ever swap. A lot of my friends from the knitting shop all participate in various different swaps and it always sounds like fun. While I am not always the best at keeping with deadlines, I thought this would be a good way to make a new friend. So I signed up. I was paired up with someone who shares the same birthday as me! This is a special day for me not only because it is my birthday but also because I share it with my grandmother Erma. So now I have another birthday mate. I have met a few other Aquarius’ and I have always got along really well with them, so I figured this would be a perfect fit.

My new swap partner is known as Owlz on Ravelry:

She is into so many of the same things that I am into! Nerdiness, the color purple, rainbows, fingering weight yarn…ya know…the good stuff!

We began communicating and stalking each other on social media(in a non-creepy way.) We chatted about our likes and preferences. Owlz stated that she was really into the television program Supernatural. I myself am a big fan. SO… I thought that maybe a Supernatural theme might be good. I then also considered making it a Portland Themed package. Since I am here, I thought I may send some things that are local. In the end I chose both.

The rules of the swap are that you have to include one or more hand-made items, at least 100g of yarn as well as some other treats to celebrate your swap partner’s birthday! Everyone fills out an in-depth questionnaire so that you can craft the package to the likes of your swap partner.

100g Skein:

I decided to make the skein something really special and unique. I asked my friend Simi, who dyes yarn, if she could help me dye some fingering weight yarn in colors that represent characters from Supernatural. She could then also sell them as a Boss Kitty special colorway.  So we decided on colors and then had a dye party!

The end result was a skein that we called “Dean”

This colorway is a representation of my favorite character from Supernatural. Dean Winchester. He is always wearing jeans with a brown coat and often either a red t-shirt… or he is just covered in blood. This was the skein I decided to send.

The Hand-made Item:

I wanted to continue the Supernatural theme. At the time I had little experience knitting socks. However, I was in the middle of the Heros of Yarnia RPG MKAL Yarn Quest 2017 so I was really getting into color-work. I went to Startlight to get some help picking out yarn for a basic sock pattern. I also got a pattern off Ravelry for the Supernatural anti-possession symbol. It came with a pattern for some Supernatural mittens. I chose Manos del Uruguya Alegria yarn in black and royal blue. I just knitted up a basic sock pattern and then when I got past the heel I started the colorwork.

I also tried using the ChiaoGoo circulars for socks in size 0. I really loved working with these tiny needles.

Because it was my first pair of socks with fingering weight yarn, I was still learning my gauge. These knitted up really tight, but thankfully my swap partner has smaller feet. I was quite thrilled with how they turned out. As you can see, I needed some work with my toes, but they still came together nicely.

To finish off the package I went to Uwajimaya Japanese Market to get some cute stickers. Got some Stumptown Coffee from the store. Owlz said that she loved coffee and since Portland, OR is the coffee capital of the US (shut up Seattle)… I figured that would be relevant. I also got her some of my favorite dark chocolate from NibMor. I found the best little notions bag for her with the Portland Stag on it. I also made a small scrap brooklet explaining everything that was in the package.

Although we weren’t able to send the packages right on our birthday we kept up the communication, so that we both knew what was going on. I was travelling to visit my grandmother for our birthday that year, so sending the package was a difficulty. Eventually, we got the gifts in the mail.

When I got my package I opened it with happy abandon. I was so excited to see what she got for me.

She made me Totoro dice bag! I put the dice that I was using for the Heros of Yarnia RPG MKAL in it immediately. She also got me some yarn from Critical Knits! I loved the colors, and the name. I also got a Doctor Who knitting bag. It was an absolutely perfect package.

I didn’t participate in the swap again in 2018, although I did have a great time with this one. I also missed some of the rules by not paying attention to all the directions. I was supposed to share a Thank you and a photo of my gift. I didn’t find this out until this year. So the greatest lesson here for me is: Read all the instructions carefully!

So I will say thanks to my 2017 swap partner Owlz in this blog post.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful and thoughtful gift. I truly hope you enjoyed your package as well. I still haven’t used the skein yet, but I have a few projects on the horizon for 2019 that it might be perfect for! I will make sure to let you know when I do.