Don’t ya just hate when life gets in the way of doing what you really want to do? That’s what has happened to me lately. I’m a freelance publishing-type person, and I have spent the last 10 days or so editing what is most likely the worst manuscript ever written. It was not written in English, and the author’s idea of translation was to run it through Google Translate. That was so much a fail. No, it was a FAIL.

Anyway, it’s finished, and though I have 2 more assignments due this week, I feel I can take some time to get caught up on empire-building type things. Oh, and maybe some sleep, too.

Thank you, Thank you

It’s been said time and again, and it’s true: knitters are a generous group of people. When I checked about 30 minutes ago, knitters had donated more than $800,000 to MSF/Doctors Without Borders as part of the Yarn Harlot’s Knitters Without Borders. We even got a shout-out on Twitter from the MSF.

And designers, thank you for being so generous. There are now 70 pages of patterns on Ravelry for which some or all of the proceeds will go to help Haiti. Check it out. It’s a great way to build your pattern stash and contribute to a wonderful cause.

There are many organizations doing wonderful work in Haiti and would do wonderful and admirable things with whatever amount you can donate. But sadly, there are also scammers, trying to take advantage of the generous natures of individuals who truly want to help. The best way to help make sure you’re contributing to a charity that will use contributions efficiently is to deal with well-known, established ones. Some news organizations, such as CNN, have posted a list of charities on their websites. You can check out a charity on Charity Navigator. Among other things, you’ll find out how the organization uses its contributions. And why is this important? A charity that spends 60% of its donations on administrative costs is likely not being run efficiently, meaning help is probably not going where the donors want it to go.

What am I going to do with all this sock yarn; I don’t have that many feet

So, are you like me? Do you have bins and bins of sock yarn? Have you seldom met a sock yarn you didn’t like. Do you cringe when the theme music to Hoarders comes on? (OK, sock yarn doesn’t count as stash, so you can’t hoard it–right?)

Several people in my Knitting Purls group on Ravelry love the KALs. So, we’ve started another one: What am I going to do with all this sock yarn, I don’t have that many feet. Basically, it’s a KAL for any project using sock yarn–except socks. You can find the details here. I hope you’ll join us.

Designer Discovery

That whole life thing delayed my update of the KnittingQ(tm) Designer Discovery contest page. I have now posted the answer to Week 2 and the clues for Week 3.