secretpal_lj3 - Profile (original) (raw)

Do not join this community until you have completed the application for the swap!

We are based on the series of knitting/crocheting Secret Pals on Blogspot. Consequently, we are borrowing a lot of things from them, like the Rules and Questionnaire, namely from SP7. Normally, members are assigned a Secret Pal to spoil for three months at a time. Gifts can be anything and everything including (but especially) knitting or crocheting tools and paraphernalia and yarn/fiber. Members will send at least one package a month for each of the three months of each session to the member they are spoiling, and in turn will receive at least one package each month from their own Pal. This go around due to the various holidays in December, we will actually exchange 3 gifts over four months. The December package will be due by the end of January.

Please take the time to read the rest of the userinfo and this post before requesting to join and submitting an application comment in the application post.

This is a fun swap, and most of us enjoyed it enough to keep it going after the original creator and mod, Heather, had to step down. We want to keep it going strong and in the same positive spirit. The first swap had 30 members, the last one was closer to 40. That’s a lot of people and packages to watch over. With that in mind:

The rules in a Nutshell

1. Knitters/Crocheters only, please.

2. Be sure you can keep the commitment. Yes, things do happen unexpectedly, and we’re more than willing to work with you if something requires you pull out. However, if you feel like you may not be able to keep the full commitment at this time, please don’t sign up. It’s not fair to other Secret Pals who are keeping their commitment. Please consider signing on as a replacement or even an angel instead.

3. The commitment is 3 gifts & 3 messages in 4 months, spending no less than 30bucksonyourpal,and1postamonthtoacknowledgeyourSP’sgenerosity.Andyes,keepingthesecret!∗∗Howyoudothat,orifyoudomorethan30 bucks on your pal, and 1 post a month to acknowledge your SP’s generosity. And yes, keeping the secret! How you do that, or if you do more than 30bucksonyourpal,and1postamonthtoacknowledgeyourSP’sgenerosity.Andyes,keepingthesecret!∗∗Howyoudothat,orifyoudomorethan30, is up to you. If you intend to do one large $30 package, please do something small for your pal during the other two months. Please remember that shipping is an expense on top of the gifts based on a poll back in SPLJ_1. We do have international participants who need pals, and that may cost more. Please be sure you’re willing to pay for shipping to Australia before we assign you an Australian Pal. Because of the complexity of assigning pals out, we won’t be able to change pals after we start unless there is a very good reason to do so, and at the mod’s discretion. The messages can be email, postcard, whatever you choose, but also are in addition to your gifts.

4. Communicate with your pal yourself! The better you know them, the more spot on your secret pal gifts will be. Part of the beauty of this is that you get to lavish attention on a fellow knitter and have attention lavished on yourself! If there are problems, let us know, and we’ll step in. Otherwise, you should let your SP know that you’re running late this month, will be out of town incommunicado, or have received the package.  Just follow the rules of common courtesy in life.

5. You have a whole month to send a gift. Two for December/January. There’s no reason why 30 days isn’t enough, and you will probably hear from a mod 1 week into the new month if your pal hasn’t received anything yet and hasn’t heard anything about it. If you get 2 weeks out, with no communication from you as to what’s going on, you will be removed from the swap, banned from future participation in the SPLJ community and a replacement will be asked to step in. However, if you let your SP or your mod know what’s going on, we’ll extend the deadline to the 15th of the next month. At that point if the package has not been received, we will contact you about it. If you are unable to send a package within the next 7 days, you will be removed from the community immediately. If you are removed from this swap due to a late package, you may be allowed to participate conditionally in the next SP exchange. Communication is key to creating a positive SP experience for everyone. You will not be publicly named in either instance, though there are other means to see who’s been ban set by a community.

Participation
There are three levels of participants, and one “open enrollment” period.

To become a regular SP, please read all the rules and comment in the application post by October 31. You’re agreeing to the rules above, and are making the full commitment for the next 4 months. You will be assigned a group and SP shortly after the enrollment period closes.

To become a replacement before open enrollment ends, please read the rules and use a standard application. This means you are committing to stepping in and taking over wherever the dropee left off in the swap. It is a lower level of commitment, and if you’d like to take part, but don’t feel comfortable committing over the holidays, this is a great way to do it. It’s also a good way to join if you’re reading this Nov. 8th. Keep in mind, you could conceivably send more packages than you receive. However, you will gain my thanks, your SP’s, and a shout out at the end of the exchange. If the enrollment period has closed, please email crazykimmy(at)livejournal(dot)com to add yourself to this list.

To become an angel, please email me at the above address, or indicate so in your application. Angels step in and send replacement packages when there is no chance it will be reciprocated. Angels get the community’s love and thanks, and a shout out on the info page as soon as that puppy is received. You can be angel, even if you’re already participating in some other capacity.

Both replacements and angels who help out in the swap will receive a small token of gratitude at the end of swap from me, crazykimmy.

Mods
The mods for this swap are Kim, Miki, Amanda, Tricia, Karen, and Meaghan. That would be crazykimmy, paranee, lothlorienlover, vector, pfarfigknittin, and mainefan1 in that order. Kim is heading up the swap this go around. Expect to see a couple more mods added, in the next weeks.

Please contact Kim, aka crazykimmy, if you are in Group K at crazykimmy(at)livejournal(dot)com.

Please contact Miki, aka paranee, if you are in Group M at mi.yuck(at)gmail(dot)com.

Please contact Amanda, aka lothlorienlover, if you are in Group A at ladyeowynofnj(at)gmail(dot)com.

Please contact Tricia, aka vector, if you are in Group T at

Please contact Karen, aka pfarfigknittin, if you are in Group P at pfarfigknittin(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Please contact Meaghan, aka mainefan1, if you are in Group H at meaghan.edna(at)gmail(dot)com.

Banners and Buttons
Check out our button contest here. Please participate, make lots of buttons, and send them to Amanda at ladyeowynofnj(at)gmail(dot)com! The contest ends October 23, but if you want to make buttons to use after that, feel free. If you’d like to promote but don’t want to make a button, feel free to use this one that I made:

The winning button will be displayed here after the contest is over.

Thanks!

PS: If you're willing to be on standby to help mod the exchange, please contact me at crazykimmy (at) livejournal (dot)com. If the numbers go up we will need more help! Thanks!