Mijn eerste SWAP

Dit is een artikel dat werd gekopieerd uit mijn oude blog. Toen schreef ik nog uitsluitend in het Engels

On the Dutch Amigurumi forum they sometimes organise swaps. When they do, I watch those fora as a hawk, because I’m always very curious what people would send/receive 🙂

This month they organised a new swap and when I saw they would divide the Dutch and the Belgian swappers by country I decided to make the plunge and participate.
The reason why I wanted my swap to remain in Belgium is because postal costs in Belgium are completely insane 😕 . To send a package weighing less than 2 kg in Belgium to a Belgian address, you pay €5,70 and an extra Euro if you want the person to sign off on the package and to have insurance. That makes €6,70 for a teeny package within Belgium 😯 . To send the same package to the Netherlands, you have to double that amount. Absolutely crazy, if you ask me 😡 .

Anywho, I decided to not think about the costs for this once. I wanted to feel the real excitement of a swap, so I signed up 😀 .
Requirements for the swap-package were:

• One self-made amigurumi (7cm minimum)
• One or two skeins of yarn to make an amigurumi with (look at what your partner likes to use, make sure the yarn is useful!!)
• Some nice embellishments to decorate an amigurumi (ribbons, eyes, buttons)
• One amigurumi-pattern you think your partner will like
• Send your package before September 15th

The person who organised the swap decided on the swap partners, but the person you make a package for isn’t necessarily the person who will make a package for you! So your swap-partner remains a mystery until you receive your package :D.

I haven’t received my package yet, but I just got word that my swap-partner received my package :D. I’m so curious about what she will think :D.
I went a little over-board with the contents, I think. Here’s what I made and gave in my swap-package.

The box with all the little presents, wrapped up and ready to go!

The whole, unwrapped picture of the contents.

As a pattern, I gave my partner a print-out of Beth Doherty’s Fawn 2.0. The embellishments were chosen mostly in line with this pattern: two small pieces of felt (enough for eyes and ears), assortment of sequins and beads, a pair of 15mm safety eyes and embroidery thread. The ribbons were added because I liked the colour so much 🙂

I added 3 skeins of yarn. Yes, I know, more than required, but my partner had said she was open to new stuff. So I bought her two skeins of her usual yarn and added an extra skein of yarn I like to make amigurumi with.

For my Amigurumi, I made 靴下にゃんこ or Kutsushitanyanko [link] from the book I bought a while ago.
I decided to make this ami in Catania mercerized cotton, the first time I worked with this type of yarn to make amigurumi. I usually make my ami in softer, acrylic yarns.
This cotton was easy to work with. I now understand why people like making ami’s with this. It glides really well, so there’s little pushing and pulling involved. But I must say I still prefer the acrylic for the end result. Ami’s are softer and more cuddly with the acrylic, while with the cotton they’re firmer and more solid. I guess it’s for each his/her own 🙂

This cat, 靴下にゃんこ or Kutsushitanyanko, is a cute character by San-X. 靴下 or kutsushita is Japanese for socks and this cat really likes his socks :D. I made him two pair to go.

But it turned out that this ami measured a little under 7 cm, so I decided to add another extra: Another Hello Kitty keychain. This time I used my usual acrylic yarn. This way my partner can also immediatly feel the difference between the two types of yarn 😀

Well, I know I’ve probably given too much, based on the price reference given by the organizer, but I really wanted to give my partner something useful and nice. So I really hope she’s happy with everything she got :D.

And now I’m eagerly awaiting my package… 8)