I think I may have shot myself in the foot with my Christmas Tree hat. (Sounds like I’ve got a splinter of tinsel in my foot, doesn’t it?) I was reading Knitty’s submission guidelines today and it says, “Submissions must be new — not previously shown in any form in another mag or on your website, blog or livejournal. Once your pattern is published in Knitty, you may include a picture of your design on your website with a link to the Knitty website.” Why didn’t someone tell me! (grin) If I remove the pictures from my blog, can I still submit the pattern? Would they know? (Maybe, maybe not) Would they care?? (Probably) Well . . . darn! If I’d read the guidelines before, I would never have posted the pictures, but now that I have, I can’t go back in time . . .

You know, I’ve noticed I’m getting a lot more hits on my blog from people doing internet searches for the various charities or blogs I’ve mentioned this week, which I think is pretty interesting. I wonder how surprised they are when they find themselves at a knitting blog? And–this I thought was interesting–apparently there’s a restaurant called Chappy’s Seafood in Mississippi, and people looking for it have found their way here (which, considering the name of the blog is really quite understandable). But, now that Chappy knows there’s a restaurant out there with his name, he’s very concerned about how well they weathered the storm . . . and wants to know if they do doggie-bags.

For Katrina, read this harrowing account of this man’s escape from the city.

Or how about this article from the BBC, with lots of comments varying from “why should we help them?” to “of course we’ll help; they’ve helped us.” That just disturbs me on so many levels. Yes, we’re the richest country in the world; yes, we should have the resources needed without the help of poorer countries (which, of course, by definition is everyone else) . . . except that, as one commenter points out, nobody has enough rations on hand for this many people, in one place, all at once. And anyway, my understanding is that we haven’t actually asked for help (or, so far as I know, officially accepted any, either)–but isn’t it the neighborly thing to do? Even Fidel Castro offered some help. Besides, the American Red Cross asking for aid is not the same thing as the U.S. government asking–it’s technically a private organization, but one which tries to do good all over the world.

Today’s link for Katrina Aid: The Network for Good–because it gives you lots of options!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning // 7 Comments »