Would anyone be interested in doing something like a secret stash swap? or round robin?

Christmas is on it's way and I thought it might be a lovely way to say merry christmas to one another, without it costing the earth. I'm sure i'm not the only one with a 'bit' of stash :suspect: :lol:

I've edited your post to remove the reference to the knitalong, now the subject has a thread of its own :) - Hecate.

Would anyone be interested in doing something like a secret stash swap? or round robin?

Christmas is on it's way and I thought it might be a lovely way to say merry christmas to one another, without it costing the earth. I'm sure i'm not the only one with a 'bit' of stash :suspect: :lol:
I'm definitely interested. I like the idea of the stash swap, but I'd love to give the round robin a go. Maybe we could do both? The stash swap would involve very little effort, while the round robin would give us a chance to share each other's creativity, even if it's just on a small scale. (if that doesn't sound too pseud's corner :hihi:) .

Beans, I'm going to move this to a new thread of its own. I don't want it to get lost in the knitalong thread.

Is a round robin like a secret santa type thing but we all knit something? I'd love to do this but would worry about having something done in time (someone might get 1 sock or something :hihi:). I'd give it a good go though :)

Well my idea of a round robin is that we agree on a project and everyone does a bit, and then sends it off to the next person so they can add to it.

I don't know if that's what beans had in mind though. I'm happy either way, but if we have to knit something in its entirity on our own to send to someone, it'd have to be something small and simple.

Oh cool, what happens to it at the end? What sort of things are knitted (sorry i don't read blogs very often so haven't heard about these sort of things - if this is where people know about these sort of things) I'd do that but i'd need an easy bit :P

Edit: Just googled 'round robin knitting' and it brought a blog up, i think i get it now :)

Oh cool, what happens to it at the end? What sort of things are knitted (sorry i don't read blogs very often so haven't heard about these sort of things - if this is where people know about these sort of things) I'd do that but i'd need an easy bit :P
LOL you can do the stocking stitch bits :P .

To be honest, I haven't seen a round robin done on a blog before, though I've seen the secret pal exchanges and the like.

Just as I submitted my last post, I wondered what would happen to the finished item. Any ideas greatfully received :) .

My idea for a round robin would be something simple but interesting, maybe a scarf using really nice/unusual yarn.

I think beansforyou should make the ultimate decision, though, once we have a few suggestions, as it was her idea :) .

*feels under pressure* :lol: only kidding.

If any of this doesn't sound right please let me know as it's the first time i've done anything of the sorts, and i'd hate to get it wrong/upset anyone

ok, well for the Secret Stash Swap (SSS - I'm lazy) I know Hecate has alot on with College etc. So I don't mind doing any organising it might require, same goes for a Round Robin (RR).

So for the SSS, if people interested in joining in could let me know, once we know how many people want to join in, then:

I make a list of names, and randomly pair people up, give the senders the recievers details via PM, and then we all send our partners some stash. This could be more of a christmas thing, and we must not let our respective partners know who they are recieving from! - thats the secret bit :lol: until they have posted that they have recieved their items, and they can have a guess at who it's from.


Another Idea, but to run continnously if enough people were interested:


I make a list of everyone joining in.

I'd put together a parcel of stash goodies, and send it to the next persons name on the list.

They in turn have a good rummage, take out what they want, and replace it with some of their stash, to a similar value.

They then send the parcel on to the next person....etc...

Once it has got round to me again, we just continue on with it, it can be an ongoing thing.

The Round Robin, I too thought of someone starting a project, scarf being a good one, we choose a size of square (oblong) we each knit, and are then free to knit our piece how we choose. As long as we stick to the same width it shouldn't be a problem.

What to do with it after: I don't know how much interest their would be, but I thought about auctioning it off on Sheffield Forum and the proceeds going to a charity of our choosing?


I'm more than happy to work on doing these things, in my spare time. It might get more people to pick up their needles and join in :)

What do you think?

I would also worry about the Round Robin...maybe not having enough time to contribute etc. I like the Secret Stash Swap idea, but I would feel soooo awful if the person I sent stuff to hated it! So personally I like the second secret stash idea where it runs continuously and you can just take out what you want and replace it with other stuff....plus it would be something to look forward to every few months when it came round to be your turn to receive!

The stash swap wouldn't really work for me as i have no stash, im fairly new to knitting and being a poor student (;) ) haven't ever brought yarn or anything without a project in mind. But it doesn't matter if im not involved, i don't mind :)

I would take part in the round robin. Anyway we do it i'd imagine.

The round robin i read about on a blog when i went googling was done so everyone got an end project. So say for example there was me, hecate, beans for you, turra21, gempud taking part (i'll leave it at that because you'll get what i mean in a second) it would go:

Rooty's Present- Hecate-Beansforyou-Turra-Gempud > Rooty
Hecates Present- Beansforyou-Turra-Gempud-Rooty > Hecate
Beansforyou's Present- Turra-Gempud-Rooty-Hecate > Beansforyou
Turra's Present- Gempud-Rooty-Hecate-Beansforyou > Turra
Gempud's Present- Rooty-Hecate-Beansforyou-Turra > Gempud

(This is only an example of what i saw on a blog, just using peoples names that came to mind!!)

But of course that means you knit something all together in its entirety in a way (if you know what i mean) but the thing is it would definitley be more time consuming (so something small would be a must, on the blog they picked http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbubby.html). But in the end everyone recieves something knitted by everyone else which is quite nice.

Beans, I'm happy for you to do the organising of the SSS and the roundrobin/s. If you don't mind volunteering your time, that would be great. Thanks :) .

So, to summarize so far, we appear to have two ideas in each of the categories:

Stash Swaps:
1) A Christmas secret stash swap where we're paired with one other person and we send them a little stash parcel, sort of like a Christmas present, only you don't know until after who the sender is. In our case though, the post marks might give it away :lol: .

If you don't have stash, it could also work a bit like the secret santa gift exchanges. We agree on a price (say £5) and buy something to that price (maybe stitch markers, a pair of DPNs, a ball of yarn, a magazine or something.

2) A continuously running stash swap, where a stash parcel is sent to the next person on the list who removes something and replaces it with something of similar value and then sends the parcel to the next person on the list. This could run on say a monthly basis, with the parcel getting sent on once a month.


I like both these ideas, and would be happy to participate in both.



Round Robins:
1) A round robin where we all worked a section of a common project, say a scarf. The completed item would be auctioned at the end and the proceeds donated to charity.

2) A round robin where all the participants end up with a completed item.


Of these two ideas, I like the second one best, where we'd all end up with a knitted item. I know it would be denying a charity of some money, but I could always donate something to them anyway. It also means we don't have the added hassle of arranging to sell the item.

Please correct me if I've misunderstood how any of these work :) .

I'm more than happy to do whatever anyone else wants to do, they are only ideas after all :) and there's no rush to do anything, as we all have 'real' lives as well as our own hobbies/knitting to be doing as well.

I look forward to hearing some other peoples suggestions :)

Me and Hecate must have posted at the same time :lol:

I was thinking about the way I had talked about the RR last night, and the difficulties it could bring, ie:

1. We all probably knit at different tensions, so it might end up looking a bit poor.
2. After all our hard work, it would be nice to have something made by the other members.

So I prefer option 2 as well.

As for the SSS, the main concern alot of other forums seem to bring up, is that its not to become some sort of competition to see who can put in the best/most expensive items :lol: (although this does tend to be more of an issue on Spinning/dying forums) thats why I mentioned at the beginning to exchange the item you pick for something of an equal value, either financially or time wise.

Would anyone have a problem with me putting in some handspun yarn, as well as other things? It would be nice to get peoples opinions :)

I too prefer the round robin where everyone recieves something...i like pressies :D and it would be really nice to recieve something that everyone had collectively made.

I will take part in a secret stash swap if one happens but i will donate something brought like a secret santa swap as suggested as i have nothing lying around :(

Btw heres a link (http://sticknits.typepad.com/stick_knits/2006/08/round_robin_kni.html) to that blog where i read about the round robin as she explains the whole process quite well i thought

>>
>>Edit (to answer beansforyou's question) i don't mind recieving any handspun yarn, your yarn always looks lovely, but you'll have to advise what i can knit with it :)

Well if we do the continous stahs swap, when you get the parcel, if you see something you like, pick it, then just have a look around for something to put back in the 'kitty' :)

If theres nothing that takes your fancy, just leave it as it is and send it to the next person. The only thing you'll pay for if you join is the postage.

Charity shops are good sources of bargain yarn ;) unless i've been in earlier :lol:

It doesn't have to just be Yarn either, anything knitting/yarn related.

It isn't about spending loads of money, quite the opposite, I just thought it would be a nice little suprise to wake up to on these bleary wintery mornings.

As for the RR: Might it be a little difficult to come to a choice of item to knit as a group, as we all have different skill levels and tension?

Maybe we should concentrate on getting the SSS off the ground first, as this is the easiest, and then once thats making it's way around, come back to the RR?

I've got quite a bit of stash, so I don't mind making up the first package of items, i'll make sure theres enough to go around everyone once, so that theres the same amount of selection for everyone :)

I think something like a log cabin blanket is ideal for an RR - the way it's constructed means the vagueries of tension would be evened out. It's also an easier item to donate to charity than a scarf, as a blanket is useful anywhere in the world.

I'm deffinately interested in the secret stash thing, with a partner. Cos we dont have to take from our own stash, we can buy ot specifically for the person we're partnered up with.

I am not so keen on the knitted round robin, because of my own time limits with my degree, and also theres the issue of knitting to different tensions.

The continuous stash send along is also not for me, becasue I tend to buy for the projects I'm knitting, and I only end up with little bits left, no good to anyone.

But I deffinately like the secret santa thingumy.