Karin (Ravelry: knittypitty) of the blog Shouting Quietly is doing a great raffle for the animals of the Chicagoland area. Seriously - how cute is this?
Just one of the adorable items available!
All of the money helps the AARS pay their veterinarian bills and open a shelter at some point. Its a great cause and I like their philosopy - there's no discrimination against breeds, ages, or disabilities.
Drool, oogle, and otherwise envy the awesome stuff for raffle.
See at the bottom the brown box labeled "AARSociety Spring 2010" and "ChipIn!" at the bottom? That's what you have to do - and she's posted the rules of the raffle just under that.
Good luck! That spindle lot is seriously calling my name - I may have to donate for a ticket or two!
To start, I'm extremely happy that my latest project is blocking and drying right now. I'm hoping to take it to the knitting group tonight and show it off before I have to mail it as the swap package. Sorry for the lack of pictures of it but I do want her to have some surprise!
I've been catching up on emails. Its hard to believe in 3 years I'd accumulate 6000 emails, even if they are all neatly labeled and sorted.
Amber Naslund is a great writer. Rarely do I find blogs that make me think as much as hers. Her insight is valuable to me and yet I am certainly not a "social media expert" of any kind. LOL - I have a micro-business but that's as close as it gets.
Crafting in Yoohooville is a great micro-company for me. I build it when I can, and it rewards me by keeping my brain active. It also feeds my need for control of at least a small part of my own destiny. What does the company do? Well, not much yet, but its slowly but surely building. I'd rather not release a product until I know its of a quality that I value, and I know my work isn't there yet. I've given myself a deadline to get this product out into the marketplace, and so far, my development schedule is being met.
Anyway, check out the post that I linked to of Amber's. Its awesome. I cracked up when I read #5, because so many of the knitting and designer blogs I see have that exact problem - if you read the same thing 6 times, and that pattern is repeated over and over, you're certainly not going to want to come back for more. My blog's not a moneymaker, it doesn't do much, but I'd like to think that I'm pointing out something different than the pack each time I write something.
So here's what I have.
#1 - if you want to write your own knitting or design blog, keep the ideas in your designer notebook. Start posting your mood boards. Start posting your inspirational photos. Do whatever it takes, but make it yours. Don't make your blog the same as the Yarn Harlot. I really don't think anyone cares about any interpretation of what she writes outside her blog. I'm sure I'll get some hate mail for that, but its what I think.
#2 - I would love it if I saw more sketches in a blog. Come on, if we're knitting and crochet designers (even amateurs), we should be able to show off some sort of design skill to the public. How many sketches do people have that will never see the light of day because the idea just won't work in real life? I know I have notebooks full.
#3 - Just because I said it, doesn't mean you have to do it. ::grins:: I know that sounds contradictory, but its true. Follow your own ideas for your blog and don't worry about whether its perfect, boring, or nonsensical to anyone but yourself. As long as you write with feeling and knowledge, people *will* keep coming back for more.
Creative Commons Licensed Image by SusanG2 on Flickr.
I saw this in my inbox today and just had to share.
The Animal Rescue Site, that normally just gives bowls of food to needy animals is running a special for Easter. Anything purchased from their store gives help to needy bunnies in addition to the normal food funding. Or you can send a free e-card to help the bunnies.
I'm not normally a bunny lover - the darn things are killers for pretty flowers, get run over all the time, and in general, multiply way too fast. However, I know this time of year people get it in their heads that a bunny would be a fabulous gift for their kids for Easter, and when the kids don't take care of it, thousands of bunnies end up being "set free" or dropped off at the nearest shelter. So the shelters are going to need all the help they can get.
And seriously - you need to check out SusanG2's photostream on Flickr. She has a great eye for photos! Her pictures of the Canadian Geese even made me ooh and aah over the close view and great shots and I have a serious problem with most of those animals - hissing, biting sky rats that they are.
Anyway, I hope you all have a happy Easter, if you're inclined that way, and a good weekend if you're not.
