Excuse my ranting!

I've decided not to start yet another post apologising for my prolonged absences so you're not getting an apology ......... (although I am sorry!)

Having been under the weather for a while now, my knitting time has increased, due to being off work for a couple of days, but my mojo has obviously felt unwell too because it seems to have taken itself to it's own sick bed.

When I have been bothered to pick up those pointy sticks, all my time has been spent on a secret project for my Secret Pal that I started back in September. With each of the two parcels I've sent so far I've apologised profusely and promised that the project would be finished for the next parcel. And as the end of SP11 is fast approaching, I am now knitting to a deadline. I only have about 20% to do, having done about 70% in the last 10 days, but now I'm not only worrying that I won't get it finished but also that Lou won't like it! We shall see.

So, Sp11 finishes on 3oth November. It's been my first SP and, whilst both my pals are fab, I'm not sure if I'll do it again. I have adored spoiling Lou, spending hours trawling sites looking for stuff that she might like and buying her bits that I would love to buy for myself. And my upstream pal, Cheryl, has brightened many of my days. Not only with a great parcel but with her kindness and intuition, and understanding of how difficult being part of a 'step-family' can be. I've a feeling that we may continue to be friends for quite some time.

So, you'd think I'd be raring to go for SP12? Nope!

There are a number of reasons:

1. I expected the blog to be updated regularly and for it to be a sort of 'meeting place' for the pals. In actual fact the blog has only had 7 posts since August, 2 of them in the last couple of days. I guess Ravelry has been the 'meeting place' but not all the secret pals are on Ravelry so they will have missed out on alot.
2. I had hoped for a vendors page with discounts for pals but this seems to have fallen by the wayside. The blog page for that says that 2 vendors will be showcased each week but that hasn't happened, as far as I can see.
3. Early on, I noticed on quite a few peoples blogs, that their hostesses were holding 'mini contests' in an attempt to get all the participants posting regularly on their blogs in an effort to win yarn prizes. I hadn't received any such info so I asked a simple question on the Ravelry forums, asking if I'd missed something or an email from my hostess. I hadn't realised that not all hostesses run these contests and that the prizes came from their own stash. When a couple of people told me, I just thought oh well, never mind. Anyway, the forum discussion became quite heated with a few pals saying it was unfair that some pals got a chance of winning yarny goodies whilst others do not. At this point, a moderator, one of the hostesses ploughed in and deleted all posts telling us all that these mini contests are not the point of SP and that we were all being selfish, 'expecting' stuff from our hostesses. I really don't appreciate being spoken to like I'm a naughty child. And I don't appreciate an open discussion being censored because a moderator doesn't like what's being said.
4. Take a look at this recent entry on the blog. I don't really think I need to say anything more...read the comments too. Again, people are being admonishing for expressing their opinions and we are being told to stop moaning and that the hostesses have lives to consider. Whilst I appreciate that it is a massive job to do, and my hostess has been great, I do wonder why people take such a huge commitment on if they know that their life is going through one of those hectic periods that we all have? All people were doing is saying that as pals, we are expected to communicate twice a month and blog at least 4 times a month, therefore shouldn't the hostesses have to follow that same commitment?

Anyway, my rant is over. I haven't posted this on the Ravelry forum as I don't want to get flamed but I desperately wanted to express my opinion!

I have had a great time overall with SP11 but all this griping has left a rather bitter taste in my mouth. As I said to Jomps, I have better things to do with my life than get involved with playground fights. So if anyone knows of any other smaller swaps, please let me know!