Promotional Philosophy

A number of folks have asked me to promote their products or web sites or stores or books, and historically, there hasn't been much rhyme or reason to whether I mentioned these requested promotions or not.

My General Thinking
First of all, I definitely don't want my blog to be a vehicle for advertising, and would never accept paid advertising or pop-ups or banner ads.

I figure it cost me less than $100 a year to maintain this site, and the benefit I personally get from maintaining a blog is definitely worth more than that to me.

On the other hand, folks let me know about various knitting sites, products or books that I find extremely interesting, and I want to share those with readers. Here are some examples of items I have opted to promote on my site:

The Knitting Vault - I have designs I personally sell there, and I love this idea.
Blogs I read regularly - I keep links more as a convenience for me than to promote.
Maran Illustrated Knitting & Crochet Book - The publishers sent me a free book, and I thought it was an excellent beginners' book.
The new book, Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent - Written by the more and more famous lover of a friend and blog reader.

I have also supported a couple of charitable causes on other blogs that I thought were very worthwhile.

What I typically don't promote are requests from folks who I don't know very well, who are only hoping to profit from being mentioned.

Latest Promotion
Reader Doug, made an incredibly generous offer during the end of the Knit Blog Awards. While I couldn't accept his offer, I wanted to let readers know about his work.

Doug makes some incredibly beautiful handmade wooden knitting needles.

You can check out his work here

At one point, I will take Doug up on his offer to use a set of his needles as an award gift for some contest.

Current Knitting
None

Currently Interfering With My Knitting
Since I've been integrating reading back into my schedule, I have just finished The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer.



This was a very compelling read, and I loved how the author brought the insight of a young boy into his memoir. His characters are animated very successfully by his writing style and the story is very rich with feelings and an intimate view of his life. While sometimes I felt his story became unfocused or scattered, overall, I would highly recommend this book.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Marilyn comments, "So was WEBS fucking incredible or what? Obviously you made it into the warehouse. What's the weight of that tweed coned yarn you bought?"

Yes, WEBS is fucking incredible. I went there last year during their post-Christmas sale which was sheer chaos. The coned tweed is a lightweight DK which is exactly what I used to make the Aran zipped cardigan in dark olive a little while ago. I'll have to check to see whether either or both yarns was plied for weaving or not. Thanks for that tip.

Regarding the Post Office increase in postage, I find it difficult to believe that folks missed the point. The point is that Congress approved what equates to a tax increase, and did it by hiding it in the cost of postage. I've never been one who appreciates "me too" comments, but I also don't appreciate when the point of what I write about is diverted to something entirely different.

Not one person I've spoken with about this or corresponded with has been aware that all those two cent charges will add up to a $3 Billion pool that Congress has appropriated. I'm still amazed that the media lets this spendaholic government get away with such shit.

And that is the point.