- The Odd Duck Blog -

I know.  I am a way neglectful duck.  I’m trying to balance everything right now.  I’m so sorry.

I did corner my lovely Lindsey aka PixieThief.  I grilled her about her, her knitting, and if she really is a thief!  And let me tell you, a modest thief.  It was hard to get her to talk about herself!!

Christine: So, why do you knit?
Lindsey: I knit to try to control my twitchiness. If I keep my hands busy, it gets the nervous energy out…keeps panic attacks and general fretting away
Christine:  What about what you like to do besides knit?
Lindsey: Hm…I love videogames, but I rarely ever finish them. When I still lived in Michigan, I sang and played drums for a folk band, and went swing dancing once a week.
Christine: Oooh!  Where’d you get your username?
Lindsey: It was a “title” from high school marching band. One of my friends came up with it since I’d steal his baritone pieces if he didn’t pay enough attention.  I made off with the whole horn once

I e-mailed our dear bittlerelly a simple question: Tell me about yourself.  I wanted a nice and unguided look at what she thinks of herself and who she is.  This is what I received:

My name is Jennifer [bittlerelly on ravelry] and I’m, oh my god, going to be 40 freaking years old in June. I live in this ridiculously plain suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area called Fremont. Within this plain suburb, I live in a township/neighborhood/area known as Niles. People who live in Niles don’t even say they live in Fremont, most of the time, because Niles is very cute and old-timey. I say I live in Fremont though because the part of Niles in which I live is a big ass apartment complex that the real Niles residents (the ones who live in the cute old houses and big new houses) consider the ghetto. And it kind of is, because people throw out their mattresses and sofas in the dumpster as if no one is going to notice; plus many people don’t recycle properly.
Okay, so I live with my husband Anthony, who is kind of a dork and our daughter Esme, who EVERYONE loves. No really, ask Puggerhugger, she’ll tell you.
I have had seriously like, 50 jobs. I have done everything from managing a record store (the best job ever,) to managing a seriously crazy junk store (the worst job ever,) to being a veterinary technician, to helping new parents buy breast pumps and expensive chairs.
Right now I only have three jobs which is not really as crazy as it sounds.
I am a personal assistant to this fantastic knitwear designer/pattern writer/fashion professor/knitting retreat leader person who hired me through Ravelry of all things and I work with her usually a couple of days a week while we listen to NPR and really good music. This is what I refer to as my main job.
Also, I am the operations manager of a professional organizing company, a job I got through the job I got through Ravelry of all things. I do this job from home while Esme watches endless episodes of Wow Wow Wubbzy. So this is my second job.
Also, I work at a fantastic LYS on Sundays, and though I didn’t get the job through Ravelry, my credentials from my main job helped me get the LYS job, so basically, if it weren’t for Ravelry, I’d be just sitting at home watching Wow Wow Wubbzy.
I am 1/2 Japanese and 1/2 Russian and as Ben Lee says, that’s the way I like it.
I love BBC/Masterpiece Theatre period dramas based on British Literature, and have a crush on Jad Abumrad from Radio Lab.
Should I tell you about knitting?
I like making small things because they get done faster, and I have finally learned that good yarn makes good projects.
I love swaps but have a swap hiatus coming up for one month because I am making this lace sample for the LYS and I really have to finish it before I get all swap crazy again.
I don’t really like lace knitting that much because it takes so LONG, but I felt bad for Prism Lace, the yarn, because it was sitting in the “yarns that need to be made into samples” queue for months and months and no one had picked it.
That’s the kind of person I am, you see, I love the underdog. (Also, because of the yardage, I will have a fat trade amount when I’m done)
That’s also the kind of person I am, you see, totally self-serving.
My boss (main job) tells everyone that I am an extrovert.
My mother in law thinks I’m a tyrant.
My daughter calls me “mommy jammy duck.”

And that is our bittlerelly in a peanut shell!

P.S. Half Asians for the win!

So, we found out about me, what about you guys?

Nominate someone on our ravelry group you’d love to find out about by replying to this thread with his/her ravelry username.  If you are nominated, you don’t have to participate– this is all just fun!

Well, I forgot to get some submissions about Work in Progress Wednesday.  These are for our upcoming swaps, or maybe you made something similar, or maybe you are just knitting along with us!  Submit them to me!  If it’s a secret from you partner, we won’t post your name!

ALso, I wanted to show off something pretty cute!

Received from Jani, aka mokijan, this is a little odd duck with a corsage (because I’m Mama Duck, isn’t that cute!?)  I love it, and I hope she writes up the pattern and sends it to us!

What have you made that is Odd Duck related?

Hello swapfaces,

It’s a new year and despite my best efforts, everything has recently slipped from my mind and I need to catch myself up again.  The holidays are quickly coming to a close and after a short mentality break, I am sure everyone will get rip-roaring to go.  Let’s all collectively have a great big inhale/exhale session.

Feel better?  Well, we have many topics to cover and very little time, so hold on to your britches.

New Things in 2009 for Odd Ducks:

1. Starting next week, our blog will have daily updates.  Each day will be dedicated to a different theme:
Monday Member: We find out a little more about one of our members.
Tuesday Talk & Trivia: Trivia for our swaps and our Podcast (currently in the works) is launched.
Wednesday WIPs: Submit ideas and what you are working on for your swap.
Thursday Tips, Tricks, and Treats: We showcase inspirations, how-tos and tips for projects, and other goodies we find on the web. (Some may be pug related!)
Fun Finds Friday: Reviews of our favorite etsy stores, products, and yarns.

As you may have also noticed, we now have a communication requirement.  It’s pretty simple and it’s a preventitive measure.  We don’t want to have to depend on finding Swap Angels for EVERY swap.  So here is our rule:

1.  You must post in the swap thread once a week.  (Even if it’s just a, “Hi, checking in!  Things going swimmingly.” or answering the trivia question.)
2.  If you do not post for two weeks, we will send one warning via rav mail.
3.  If we do not hear from you for three consecutive weeks, you will be removed from all swaps you are participating in (in the Odd Ducks swap group).

If a package has been sent to someone who has dropped off Odd Duck Swap Land (is there another one?), he/she will be banned until the package is made up (i.e. swap angel).  If a package has not been sent to someone who dropped off Odd Duck Swap Land, he/she will be banned for two swap cycles (two months) from signing up for any swaps.

*NOTE: This is ONLY for people who do not SEND packages.  If you do not RECEIVE a package, you will not be punished in any way, shape, or form.  Unless you’ve eaten the package . . .*

When I feel a little better, I hope to write a whole post on how you can help us out!  A lot of you have volunteered your time, and that is definitely something we appreciate and can use!

Also, it was suggested to us that we move back the Fantasy Creature Swap, so we’re pushing that one to May and replacing Fantasy Creature Swap with REtro 50’s/Kitch!  We’ll still be pulling from the grab bag etc.  Don’t worry about that!
Love to my ducks,

Christine/springsteena/Mama Duck

Okay, so I totally slacked and read the entire graphic novel “Local” today instead of working on my blog post, but regardless, we are still ironing out kinks in the upcoming change of rules.

If you haven’t noticed, we have a couple fantastic additions to our moderators: tr3n1ty and hiddentohru.  Thank you girls!

Swaps Closing:

Glam Rock
Princess Bride
Six Wives of Henry VIII
Little House on the Prairie

Swaps Opening:

Odd Ducks Swaps I – All About Me!
Lego Swap
Dinosaurs
Marie Antoinette II

I reached into our grab bag and pulled out: OLD SCHOOL GAME CONSOLES!

Okay, since we don’t have our new rules up, just keep in mind that we do have these swaps, we’ll post sign ups soon.

Much love,
Christine

So, the mods and I are formulating some new changes to the Odd Duck Swap Group.  More like, more rules.  Yeah, rules that aren’t made to be broken.  Just wanted to let everyone know, I haven’t forgotten about this month’s usual blog and I’ll be back in full force in a couple days!

*Yawn*

Oh man, is it November already?  Since the last time I wrote, there have been several changes in my life.  I moved literally across the country, quit my old stupid job, and have been bumming around the city of brotherly love– Philadelphia.  I even took my cat on a plane.  FYI, to walk through security, your animal cannot go through the X-Ray machine.  Which means regardless of what kind of animal it is, you must carry it through.  And if the device goes off, they will search the cat (in my case) for drugs– seriously.

Well, Josephine and I have settled in, and despite the fact I am still getting used to many things like how disgusting city water is and 75% of the time I do have to walk by Edgar Allen Poe’s house at night (which I find scarier than walking alone down the street anyway?), I’m loving it here.  There’s so much to do!

By far my favorite thing about moving out here is my roommate– Elizabeth (geeyouknit).  She’s a really active knitter and proud of it.  I mean, she wore four hand knits the other day (six if you separate pairs), which I challenge everyone to do.  Anywho, one day, we got to talking about swaps.  After all, I happen to run a blossoming swap group, full of fun themes and even more fun people!  E mentioned that she used to swap all the time, but her desire to swap has severely diminished.  She would go the extra mile for her swap partners, while they would return something generic.  The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion, “That sucks.”  I think since we do have many swappers and many of those swappers are new to swapping and even knitting/crocheting, it’s important to talk about these issues.  Swapping can be so much fun, but not if people are on a different page.  So a week or so ago I posed this question:

“What makes a good swapper? Aside from not sending a package or being late without telling you, what makes a bad swap package?”

(Editor’s Note: I promised that these answers, good and bad, would remain anonymous.  Additionally, I read every single word of everyone’s responses and we all agree on a lot of things– yaay.  Thank you to all who responded.)

Now, I think everyone agrees that there is no “bad” package.  One of our members put it best when she said, ” If someone is taking the time to mail me something, I can’t imagine it being all that bad.”  And I am by no means posting this to make anyone feel bad or encourage all of us to go out and spend $500 on every package– not at all.  This is more of, when you open that swap package, what do you love to see?

Thank you to everyone who responded, I gathered your answers and I came up with a list that can really help set your package apart:

• Read the survey carefully.  Refer to it often.  Ask questions.
• Put items in the package your partner likes, not just what you like.
• Follow the rules.  It’s okay to throw in a couple extra “smalls” but keep in mind the dollar limit.
• Unless it is an appropriate theme, don’t use a swap to clean out your gross yarn or yarn remnants.
• Every item should reflect the theme in some way.
• Respect sensitivities, if someone specifically asks not to put something in.  Don’t throw in a couple with a note that says, ” A few won’t hurt.”

I hope that this brief list helps everyone.  If you have anything to add, please leave us a comment.  Again, I’m in no way singling anyone out, every package I’ve seen sent out has been fabulous!  If you have questions, be sure to ask a moderator!  Thank you for everyone who responded– really helped SO much.  Keep an eye out for the next topic on the Blog Topic thread.

My lovely assistant, Elizabeth, reached into the grab bag and pulled out: Little House on the Prairie

Swaps Ending November 5: Bill Murray, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pixar, and John Hughes
Swaps Opening: Glam Rock, Princess Bride, Six Wives of Henry VIII, and Little House on the Prairie (Grab Bag!)

So, happy swapping, I have some swaps I have to get on and keep your eyes peeled for the next blog topic.

Quack quack,
Christine

My October resolution (along with getting a job and stop eating brownies for breakfast) is to use the Odd Duck Blog a little bit more.  It’s most definitely a useful source of information that we could use.  I’m sitting in my parents house (six days before I leave for Philadelphia!) shivering out of my britches which tells me 1) my father will never bring the house above 65 regardless of weather and 2) fall is here!

I love fall.  It’s the perfect time for knitwear, eh?

Once I got myself together enough to put on a nice sweater and snuggle with myself, I sifted through my to-do list which is somewhat short, but filled with passive aggressive notes to myself like, “Pack, damn it.” and “Seriously, brownies again?”  I then promptly dodged it with a magical thing called Google Reader.  While reading through the usual schpeal from my pals, I came across this totally relevant link to next month’s swap:

Knitted Henry VIII and His Wives.

Yeah, that was a long way of getting to a short point, but I find myself pretty funny. . .

We also had our 300th member sign up!  Shenanigans!  Who is also in Colorado, I just realized.  So yaay for our growth and hopefully the next time I post we’ll have 305 members!  I’m off to finish my to-do list which also has, “Transfer suggested swaps to voting post.”

Much love, Duckies!
- Quacksteena