The holiday season has come and gone, but at Elfster, we love to celebrate the joy of gift giving any time. And so do many of the groups that use Elfster, including a bunch of busy knitters participating in the MBOY (Mystery Ball of Yarn) exchange this winter.
According to organizer Megan Hasley, “The group started as a spin-off from another group that began as a group for babywearing mothers. From the initial members, people have added their knitting friends and family members. We now have 168 members. It’s a mix of people who know each other well in person, people who know each other well online, but have never met in person and people who don’t know each other well yet at all.”
The MBOY group is made up of knitters from all over the United States and Canada who exchange boxes of high quality yarn with the minimum value of the entire box being $25 and the maximum being up to each individual person. Everyone also includes other small items such as knitting notions (cable needles, stitch markers, row counters, pattern books, cute printed labels), fun treats such as coffee, chocolate, tea, etc., handmade items (sewn, knitted, crocheted) –anything and everything that seems like it would be a good fit for their swap partner!
“It’s a great way to enjoy shopping for someone else, as well as looking forward to a surprise arriving in the mail,” Megan said. “It also provides ways to get to better know someone else in the group.”
This is the first time the MBOY group has used Elfster for any of its exchanges, but since Megan has been a part of several other exchanges on Elfster, she “knew that the organizer tools were phenomenal and would save everyone the trouble of last minute concerns and double-checking.” Megan said the knitters especially like the anonymous message system, which is wonderful for keeping the mystery alive, as well as offering a quick way to share information and have questions answered.
“We are all able to easily see who is a member of the exchange, what they’re wishing for, as well as having the information for shipping easily found,” she explained. “The format is user friendly, and most people have already done one or several exchanges on the platform, so there are few surprises.”
And Elfster makes organizing easy! “I love the ease of finding information on the manage participants page. I can easily see and answer any questions people may have, and the fact that all of it is also available while mobile, is hugely helpful,” noted Megan. “The functionality of the site, makes my job so much easier, and ensures that everyone ends up happy, with gift in hand.”
The group is hoping to continue the fun of the Mystery Ball of Yarn exchange. Thus far, they’ve been held every 6 months, and hope to continue with the same schedule. Elfster would love to hear how your group is using the site. You can visit us on Facebook here or tweet us @elfster.
photo credit: ohsohappytogether, Grace and Alice Schnebly
