Local Swap

Are you the type of person who travels to a new place and always wants to pick up a little something (yarn!) to take home as a memento of your visit?  It doesn't matter if I'm a couple hours from home or have traveled half a day by plane....my suitcase is always heavier on the way home than it was when I arrived at my destination!

Every year, when I hang the seashell ornament that my husband and I bought on our honeymoon in Hawaii up on the Christmas tree, I get to remember the excitement of being a very young adult off on our first vacation together (and being too young to rent a car from most of the dealers!)  I have a magnet on our fridge from our trip to Coronado Island that I see all the time, and it still brings back memories of the wonderful trip we had when our kids were a great age for traveling.  (That means "too old to need naps, but still young enough that they were easily impressed by new things!")  There's a small sculpture on our fireplace mantel that my husband I and bought at an outdoor market in Willimstaad, the capital city of Curaçao, where we spent our 10th wedding anniversary.  But these days, more often than not, I like to check out the local yarn shops at my destination and pick something up from there....and then make my own souvenir!

Inspired by a recent surprise yarn package from a friend (he visited Iceland and sent me a couple lovely skeins of natural-colored Lettlopi), I decided to organize a "local swap".  Each participant would get to share a favorite "local" yarn and one other local product with a swap buddy, and their partner would get to do the same for them.  "Local" can mean whatever you want it to.  Maybe there is an indie dyer in your county, or you have a favorite somewhere else in your state/country.  Maybe there is a farm somewhere in your vicinity that sells handspun that you can get your hands on.  Maybe you have a favorite commercially-produced yarn that is made somewhere in your neck of the woods.  Same thing with your other "local gift"....maybe you know a local with an Etsy shop full of adorable treasures, or there's a superb candy maker nearby, or your area is famous for producing something specific.  Whatever you want to send, that's great!  And it'll be even better if you include a little note telling your swap partner where you live and how it is that these things are representative of your locale.  Share your home with someone far away, and learn a little about theirs, too.  The world keeps getting smaller, and this is one small way you can take a little trip without ever leaving home.

This is the last day for sign-ups though, so if you're interested, make sure to post in the swap thread today!  You can find it here.