Chickenlips Knitting

and after:

I used a great felting yarn, Patons Classic Wool, and since this came out so well, I'll definitely be making a few more!

Don't Pollute the Blogosphere

I spend a lot of time reading knitting blogs, so maybe I take what's said on them a bit too seriously. However, there's been a huge to-do this week over knitbloggers-turned-successful authors being trashed on certain knitting blogs. There's one in particular which has a substantial readership, has been around longer than most, and whose owner has a particularly nasty way of writing. I've been reading her for several years and was linking to her blog. I took down the link some months ago when she wrote something that hacked me off, then forgave her and put the link back up. Well, I've taken the link down permanently, (and replaced it with a link to a blog umpteen times more popular,) and will no longer visit her blog. What essentially happened was that she took aim at the recent wave of knitbloggers who've secured book deals and are now blogging about their success, and a huge number of people thought she was gunning for the Yarn Harlot. Whether she was or not, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was her gracious self, and addressed the issue both in the offender's comments and on her own blog indirectly by stating an unassailable truth: we don't have to always be nice, but we can't assume anonymity! We may think nobody reads our blogs, but the truth is that this is a public medium and we shouldn't put out there anything we don't want someone to see. And especially, we can't assume that the person we're writing negative things about will never see our words, because it can and does happen, and friendships have ended and jobs lost because of it. That truth hit home for me. Not only have I made thoughtless wisecracks on my blog about well-known designers, but I've kvetched about co-workers and even members of my extended family. It's true what they say about the Internet being "forever," and I've learned some valuable lessons. I could elaborate further, but this paragraph is already way too long.

And perhaps my learning something was what was supposed to happen, because it's my blogiversary! Chickenlips Knitting is one year old. Amazing--the year went by in a flash. What a ride it's been--and check it: I've got loyal readers, regular commenters, and friends who knit, crochet and blog! I love this blogging thing, I've gotta tell ya. Makes no sense to me why any knitting blogger would want to use this fantastic contraption to sit around and take pot shots at people, when there's endless fascination to be had surfing blogs, seeing what other knitters are up to, and getting inspired.

One Last Thing

A commenter mentioned that she liked my banner. I can't take credit for it--it was created for me by the fabulous Flutter, who isn't just a writer--she is an artist who paints with words.

Black Sheep Gathering in less than 36 hours! I'll post again sometime over the weekend, and "show you the money," if you will.

# posted by Sharon @ 7:30 PM