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I think one of the greatest things about the internet is its ability to connect people with things they don’t want or need anymore with people that do want/need those things. Christmas of 2010 I started knitting, and sometime in the beginning of 2011 I connected on Ravelry with someone that was doing a major destash – getting rid of yarn she didn’t want anymore. I said I’d take whatever is left after other people had taken their picks, and she sent me a huge box full of yarn that I still haven’t managed to make a dent in! If I wanted I would have been able to knit and crochet for a year and a half so far, and still going, for completely free (though admittedly I’ve bought some knitting and crocheting doodads and specific colors of yarn that were not at all necessary).
When I decided I wanted to get started with polymer clay, I made a wishlist a mile long. But I wondered if I really wanted to spend money before I knew if I actually liked doing it. So when I found reddit’s craft exchange, I made a post asking if anyone had some spare/scrap clay to trade for some yarn or a perler creation. I didn’t really expect anyone to reply, but I quickly was connected with someone that had gotten clay and tools and then realized they didn’t really like it. And they wanted to trade for some yarn! Even better, they wanted some pink yarn! I’ve got a fuckton of pink, but I hate the color, and it’s going to take me years to make enough stuff for Yuji to use that all up.
A few days later – less than a week! – she had the yarn and I had the clay and clay tools. All I needed was a work surface, which I acquired by taking one of the glass panes out of our broken back screen door. Surely we’ll replace that before the glass needs to be shut again. Probably. Hopefully.
Things couldn’t be more perfect. I’m got rid of something I didn’t need, she got rid of something she didn’t need, and we both got something we wanted. I was able to start working with polymer clay for free. The internet is amazing that way.
So here’s the first thing I made! I made it on May 23rd (and I’m typing that so I can know exactly when I started, lol). It was suppose to be a penguin, but I think it looks more like if Kirby swallowed a green owl. Chance immediately recognized it as a penguin though, so I don’t know…
