So, what's all the fuss about a sock yarn mini swap anyway?

If you are a member of the Everyday Knitter Facebook group you may have seen that we had so much fun with our last mini swap that we are doing it again. Many of us are knitting sock yarn blankets or scrap yarn projects and as much as we love our own stashed yarn it can be a real bonus to have an injection of colour from someone else's stash.

So, the sock yarn mini swap idea was born. For minimum hassle and maximum knitting time we use an app called Elfster which is an automated gift exchange service. You register and then after the sign-up deadline has passed you will automatically matched up to a swap partner. The swap is reciprocal - ie you both exchange gifts with each other.

If your swap partner has any particular preferences it's good to take these into account when choosing which yarns to send. You can set up your preferences by using the 'wish list' function in Elfster.

You then just need to wind off your chosen yarns into 5g mini balls or skeins. It isn't necessary at all to skein them but if you would like to there is a great tutorial here on how to do it. It's also nice to label the skeins - dyer and colourway - so that your partner knows what they are. It's a great way to discover new-to-you dyers or to get your mitts on something that you haven't had a chance to try out before.

Then just write a little note, pop everything in a Jiffy bag and post it by the deadline. It's a good idea to register on Elfster that you have sent your parcel. As an admin - that makes my job so much easier.

Then, when your parcel arrives please take a little picture and let us know about it on the Facebook Group. You can also record it as received on Elfster. This shows your swappee that their parcel has arrived safely and hopefully that you are happy with the contents.

All that remains to be done is to grab your sock yarn blanket and add your new mini skeins, along with some happy memories of a new knitty friend you've made.