Last year Nadine Haarich, a long-time supporter and good friend of Team Wovember, wrote about knitting with the wool of the Coburger Fuchsschaf sheep – a local to her breed in Germany. Nadine is such an enthusiast for Wovember, wool and knitting local that she is hosting a swap for us, over in our Raverly group.
The swap is a means of connecting us as crafters, as wool lovers and connecting us across the miles with wool. These connections are really important to so many of us and here Nadine talks about the importance to her.
When I started knitting again in 2003, knitting blogs and online magazines, like Knitty , were what made me turn from an occasional scarf knitter into someone with a serious knitting and wool affliction.
Seeing other people knit, reading about their projects and finding like-minded people online was eye-opening. I followed knitting blogs in both German and English and talked to and swapped with other knitters though the Knitty Board, Knitty‘s online forum. This sense of connection translated into real life – our local knitting group was formed through the Knitty board and my first stop in any city I travel to is a local knitting group meet up if I can find one through Ravelry.
This sense of connection, of having shared interests, a shared culture, if you like, is what makes working with wool something more than just another hobby for me.
When Felix asked me if I‘d like to run a swap during Wovember, celebrating that connection and the friendships lots of us found through wool and knitting I instantly said yes!
Thanks so very much to Nadine, for her enthusiasm and for hosting the first ever Wovember swap. Read on to find out how to take part.
| The swap
We will be swapping patterns from our Ravelry wishlists. No mailing, no worrying about parcel sizes or costs!
Everyone on Ravelry has a queue. You can add any patterns to you queue by clicking the button on the pattern page.
When you add a pattern to your queue, you can choose to include in on your wishlist, making it visible to other Ravelry users.
How does it work?
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If you want to take part, you need to first be a member of the Wovember Ravelry group
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Sign up by posting in the swap thread. You need to sign up by November 8th at 4 pm CET
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You will be paired up with another knitter, if possible, from a different country. You will receive a Ravelry message from Nadine by November 10th, with the name of your partner.
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You‘ll need to prep your Ravelry wishlist and put patterns you‘d like on there. Make sure you don’t have any patterns on there that you no longer want. Your swap partner may choose anything in your wishlist (not necessarily the one at the top of the list).
As it is Wovember, it would be great if you‘d choose patterns using 100% wool in the design or those that would work for the 100% wool yarns.
I am paired up, now what?
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Go to your partner‘s Ravelry queue, view their wishlist and gift them a pattern.
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Contact your swap partner to say hello. This swap is all about connections, remember! Tell them something about yourself, about your love of wool. It would be great to talk about the local wool or breeds in your country. You could also share your favourite recipe for baked goods to enjoy with your favourite hot drink. (As we all know, a love of wool and craft can go hand-in-hand with a love of cake!)
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Both the pattern and the message should have reached your partner by November 16th.
Then what?
- CAST ON!
- You can go stash-diving, or seek out just the right wool for your new pattern.
- If you can, knit local. Try and find a wool yarn that is grown, spun or dyed in your area or country.
- We would love to see what you are knitting over in the Wovember Ravelry group and we will open up a swap chat thread so that you can post about your pattern, the wool you are going to be using (even if you can’t cast on right away) and you can even share your baked goods too!
- If you are casting on, take a picture of your WIP for the #wovemberwal or for the IG photo contest, by using #wovember2016
- Mostly just enjoy – enjoy a wool project, gifted from a like-minded person and making wool and craft connections over the miles.
Thanks again to Nadine and we really hope you enjoy the Wovember Swap. It may be a small act to send a pattern to someone – but small actions can have big impacts. Celebrate wool in anyway you can this Wovember.
Don’t forget you can also use our hashtags #bethechange and #wovember2016 to share your own blog posts, podcasts, images and projects which spread the good word about wool.