For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.

--Carl Sagan

I certainly do not intend on flaking, but knock-on-wood should I find myself in a flaming-toilet-seat-from-space accident on my way to the post box, please forgive me. If you do not receive your swap from me, let me know. I will either resend or check the tracking number if it's a larger swap.

Also, my free time for swaps has been drastically cut back. So if it's been a few days since I logged on, I'm just in a particularly bad week. I do my damnest to send out swaps early so they won't be sent late, but I do apologise if I'm a day late on a send.

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Hearts: Generally, if you hand-write something or make your swap a little heart-felt (Slap some washi tape on, doodle a smiley face) I'll give you a heart. Don't feel you have to put in extras to get a heart!

Also, I do not check postmarks. I really only check that "It's been two weeks since mailing deadline" email that's sent by Swap-Bot, and even then, I don't rate down if something is late. Life happens. I know that too well.

I love postcards! Please send naked (~oohlala~) (Not in an envelope). If it is not listed on your profile, please include your city name! I will be eternally grateful. I have a fondness for:

• Unique
• Humor
• Location/Tourist
• Please no advertisements

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If you don't know what to write, or it isn't specified in the swap, I like to hear about:

• Quotes. Anything that is currently inspiring to you or helps to keep you going.
• Food. Recipes are always nice to receive, it doesn't have to be fancy!
• Pets. I have two weird dogs, and weird animal stories are the best.
• Hobbies. Tell me about what you're working on, what you just completed, or what your favorite project was.
• Puns and Clever Jokes. Please nothing blatantly offensive, but it doesn't have to be clean.
• Books, TV, and Music I have Hulu, Netflix, Spotify, and a nearby bookstore, if you have any recommendations!

Alternatively: Pick a postcard you like, and tell me why you love it. :)

Honestly I am not picky about swaps. Please do not worry about sending something I will not like, it's not possible!

I do have a few small requests.

• If you send me food, please include a note if it has gluten. I will not be able to eat it since I am intolerant, but my spouse will, so he can enjoy it for me. If you send a recipe that calls for wheat, don't worry, I'm a pro at substitutions.

• If you send me something large and made of cloth, let me know if you have a cat. This is just so I can wash it when it arrives, and so I won't start sneezing without knowing why! I'm not super sensitive.

I won't be upset or rate down if you send these items and they are not labeled, but it will greatly improve my health and happiness if you label them!

I appreciate receiving materials I can use in hobbies and for swaps, like stickers and washi tape samples.

Phew, now that all those details are done, here is some information about me.

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Hello! My name is Sara. I live in Ypsilanti, Michigan with two dogs that I love very dearly and a husband that I kinda love as much as the dogs ahahah. I love puzzles, and enjoy playing with my Rubiks Cube, jigsaw puzzles, and taking on complex knitting patterns. I love art, and my favorite artist is Alphonse Mucha, but I appreciate all artists.

As you might guess, I love to knit! I have been knitting since 2006. I am also an independent teacher, and have been teaching since 2012. My favorite thing to make is lacework, such as the gossamer Shetland you-can-see-through-it lacework. I also knit everything else too, including sweaters, scarves, and hats. Otherwise I am a Jack of All Trades, and I enjoy crochet, sewing, mail art, and doodling in my bullet journal. But I always circle back to knitting without fail.

I'm a big couch potato. I love to sit and knit and watch new TV series. My all-time favorites include Steven Universe, Parks and Rec, Avatar the Last Airbender, Bob's Burgers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Amazing Race. Anything witty and humorous I'm sure to enjoy. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross is a lot of fun, and very enjoyable to have in the background while I'm working.

I also enjoy podcasts. I try to keep up with Welcome to Night Vale, which is all kinds of creepy and hilarious. Think: If Stephen King and Neil Gaiman wrote a city in the Sims and let it run for a few years.

I also try to keep up with The TED Radio Hour on NPR. I love to listen to TED Talks (Lectures on Technology, Entertainment, Design). It's Ideas Worth Spreading. They always spark great conversations with my friends, and get me thinking about the world and how we view it.

My favorite TED Radio Hour so far is Beyond Tolerance. It has opened my eyes to how much I enjoy Swap-Bot. That it is such an enriching thing to be able to meet new people and share in experiences and hear from everyone here, if I agree with them or, more importantly, if I don't.

• We talk about tolerance because we have low standards. It's not enough to tolerate people. It's not even enough to help people. We need to need people who are not like us. And only when we do that can we have a kind of unity that we really crave. So today on the show: Beyond Tolerance. Ideas not just for co-existing, but really about respecting each other, about working together, really about thriving together.

I spotted this in a few other profiles, and it's a great idea! Here's some quick-log things, which will be added to and expanded (Last update: 4/2/16).

• A- Alpacas, affirmations, amythest
• B- Books, buddha, birds, baking, bullet journal
• C- Crochet, cooking, cats (even if I'm allergic, they're still cute), candles, coffee
• D- Dogs!!
• E- Elephants, Etsy
• F- Flowers, Fall
• G- Goats, geodes
• H- Hot sauce, house plants
• I- Incense
• J- (clever, not offensive) Jokes
• K- Knitting, kindness
• L- Llamas, leaves
• M- Mucha
• N- Nature
• O- October, orchards
• P- Puppies, which of course, applies to all dogs. Puns
• Q- Quilts
• R- Rats, recipes
• S- Sheep
• T- Tea, TED Talks
• U-
• V-
• W- Woods
• X-
• Y-
• Z- Nothing starts with Z :(

Knitting & Crafts

Pumpkin Ale Sweater by Ysolda Teague, 4mm and worsted weight Shepherd's Wool, 2014

Rose of England by Marianne Kinzel, 2.5mm and lace weight wool, 2008

Tia the Rabbit, improv sweater pattern, 5mm and worsted weight Shepherd's Wool, 2015

My second Senbazuru, 1,000 origami cranes. There is a spool of thread in the corner.

Dogs

Bodie and Maggie. So fluffy!

Thank you for reading!! You're amazing!!!