Knitting and Recipe Swaps... EVERYTHING SWAPS!

Let me be perfectly clear: I do not knit. I don't know how to knit. I can crochet - long ropes that do nothing (and I have not done that since I was 4 or 5.) I would love to learn to knit, but there are no knitting circles in my area.

I have found a lot of knitting blogs while poking around online. Many knitters participate in some of the same of the weekly writer's forums as I do. When I peek at their blogs, I find myself gazing in amazement at the pictures of handcrafted goods that they are proudly showing off. Socks, scarves, sweaters, blankets - to someone who does not knit, those goods appear to be testimonies of countless months of knitting by true professionals. They happily trade yarn (and yarns), and often recipes. It truly looks to be a peaceful existence, one that seems to allude me every time I pass the knitting aisle in the local crafts store. What must it be like, to turn a bundle of yarn into something as comforting as a sweater for your child or husband.

I enjoy swapping recipes, as well as goods between the US and other countries. A dear friend in the UK once sent me a box of teas, a tea strainer and some other delights - and just breathing in the deep smells of that box transported me across the Big Pond. We have a collections of art and brickabrack from Japan, the Ukraine, and the Republic of Georgia - given to us by our exchange students a few years back. Better Half has bits of ocean artifacts from his days of travel, and a few military-themed trinkets. Most of my overseas souvenirs are packed away, in a box in a shed somewhere in Colorado (Better Half, I really would like to get those boxes one of these years!)

Better Half participates in a Battle Tech website where members trade mechs (little futuristic robot things made of plastic or metal), and usually he can find a missing part or a rare find just by asking if anyone would be interesting in swapping parts for other mechs.

And so, I got to thinking: If knitters and gamers worldwide can unite and send each other traded yarn and mechs, why can't the rest of us start an exchange program? We could place a section in our links for others who are interested in the exchange program, and perhaps have a themed blog set up with sections for people to list what they wish to trade. Quilt swaps, tea swaps, cookie swaps, menu swaps, button swaps, tapestry swaps, sari swaps, toy car swaps, book swaps, doll swaps... the possibilities seem endless.

It has my mind working (I feel a bout of insomnia coming on!)