Full moon on the 7th, I believe.

The only opinion I can offer publicly is that when something gets as popular as knitting has in the last few years you're going to see all kinds of people joining in and not necessarily like all of them. Just like any other huge group of people, I guess.

Happy Friday!

OK, I'm coming out of the closet. I'm afraid to, because I have to admit that I started reading your blog only about 2 months ago, and I have read every single entry. Am I the worst stalker in the world? I feel that way. Your blog has made me happy, laugh aloud, and so sad that I sit here wiping tears as I read. (I do this in the privacy of my home, so no one sees) My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I always tell him what my friend in Washington is doing. I even started my own square foot garden when I saw yours. Scarry, huh? Please don't try for a restraining order, I will ignore it. Your entry today worries me. I don't like it when your vewwy, vewwy sad. I also agree, it's 'just knitting'! People need to get over themselves and a have a dose of reality. Or maybe they all just need more wine, without the whine! Please keep up the blogging, I really enjoy your antics!

Ryan, I am so glad I didn't know about that Ravelry mess before. In the dark distant reaches of on-line knitting history, at least once a year these pitched battles would develop on the knitlist over what's really, in the larger scale of reality, nothing. I would just advise everyone to find wool and needles, cast on and make a hat for their favorite cause, and then decide if the issue that had exploded really mattered. I don't know what gets into people! Mob psychology, I guess. Most of us are still really nice, and tend to hurt only ourselves with pointy sticks (be careful of what falls on the floor, especially if you're fond of US 1 metal needles -- I will say no more).

Ignore the creeps. They're everywhere, but you don't have to give them the power to bring you down. They'll go away if we don't let them make it fun.

"not a cure for cancer."

Whaaaaaaaaaattttttttt??? It's not??? I'm sure that can't be correct. :)
MaryB

I chuckled and shook my head over BunkerGate when I ran across it back at the time. Such tempers people have! But really, it's simply another manifestation of John Gabriel's Greater Internet F**kwad Theory:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/

On the cats - I think you should lean on Norma for the June-August run! 4 days in DC could be tricky, and it occurs to me that it might be better to find a good boarding kennel for that period of time. I'm sure you would have little problem raising funds for a 4-day kennel stay, with a quick PayPal drive.

Cuzzin Tom would probably object and/or feel weird about you holding a mini-fund drive for his cats, but do you really care? No.

I have to say I guess I am glad I haven't been online lately and/or that I don't read whatever section of Rav. that happened on - can I just say YIKES

Aww, Ryan. It's times like this that lets you know who your REAL friends are. Even if we are only cyber buddies. I, too, was saddened by the reaction to Sock Summit, and the nastiness that one can find at Ravelry. I have to admit that I find my time over there shrinking by the day; there are other on-line knit groups that play nicely, all the time. And re. the Merely Tolerable Gansey? It is a natural occurrence to be nervous as things go well. Hooman nature, or something like that. Hugs, girl; this, too, shall pass.

I've been feeling less than enchanted with the big universe of knitters online lately, for many of the reasons you state. There are definitely some people who forget their manners, for sure.

But knitters (aggregate) and knitting are two different things.

I saw the thread that was started on Ravelry about the Sock Summit and wanted to vomit after having read only two entries. I stopped reading... Then I heard about the personal abuse... {sigh} I understand you! I had not known about the DOS. Unfortunatelyl it just proved to me that there are jerks everywhere. :( Just gotta keep trying to swim past them!

(I can finally read it again, yay!!!)

I've been feeling the same sense of disillusionment over SS. Honestly I was shocked! I mean I guess I understand when it's a nameless faceless company trying to put together something for knitters and failing (though threats are NEVER ok), but when it's one of our own? One of our own just trying to get a bunch of us together to learn and have fun? I just don't get it.

I've seen this kind of behaviour over at the Phat Fiber blog too. People screaming about not being able to get a box. I've never understood that level of anger over things like that though...and it just makes me sad.

And the Rav thing...again, boggles. I just stay out of all but the groups I'm a member of. I don't even go to the Big 6 unless someone suggests a thread.

I just hope all of this negativity and anger doesn't cause either Stephanie or Casey and Jess to say "screw it all" and walk away. I really hope there's a lot more positivity out there...

I, naively, perhaps, tend to assume that knitters are nice people. But given the number of knitters in the world, it follows, statistically speaking, that some of them aren't particularly nice, that some of them are mean, and some of them are downright criminal. Knitters are just people. And people come in all varieties.

Hey Ryan- still reading -sorry I don't comment more often-sorry for all the unpleasantness- I guess I am not much of a joiner so while I sorta understand what Ravelry is -i have never ventured into its world! Thanks so much for some info you gave me some time ago-concerning your Maisie doll I'm finally getting around to making one for my little person-its a fun knit and I'm almost ready for the hair which was my favorite part of yours. Take care

This is why I stay away from those things. And you know what else? I don't even know what Sock Summit is. Should I? Bad me, I guess. I'm busy -- what can I say?

But I just caught up on your last few entries -- sorry I've been AWOL, but I repeat: I'm busy. :D

Love that you are growing a tomato, and laughed like Mel probably did (and you might have after) about the sweet way you took care of your little mater plant. Even in the 40s, though, tomatoes are not too happy, so you did the right thing -- but you really crossed the line when you fixed the holes. LOL In addition to the fact that not THAT MUCH cold can get in (especially when you put a hot water bottle in) (I could die!) but plants need to breathe, too. But anyway, how is that little guy doing?

Aren't people amazing? It's just amazing to me how rude and terrible they can be.

BTW -- We haven't seen each other lately because I've been MIA (and busy with work) but I'd love to see you soon. When can I?

See, I had the (I suppose) fortunate experience that the very first internet knitting group I joined had a confluence of perhaps the most clinically insane knitters I have ever run across, so I was initiated early into the fact that there are horrible people even among the knitters. I was never 'illusioned' so I have not been disillusioned. (I find myself wondering whether any of the crazy people I knew then were involved in the DOS thing...) I am resisting the temptation right now to find the Rav thread about Sock Summit and tell some people to get a damn life, but I don't want to be banned. The thing I like about Ravelry is it is so large, that if I stay out of the forums I can feel like it is my own private pool filled with just the work of the people who are my friends.

I knew better than to look at the SS thread on Rav. I was a rubbernecker when the Bunker went down, and can say I haven't been on Rav for more than a few times since then, due to the dirty feeling I get just thinking about all that garbage. Unfortunately, we can't chlorine the knitting gene pool any more than we can the gene pool at large. (Can you imagine? "Sorry, you didn't pass the personality exam, I can't teach you to knit and you'll need to hand over your wool to me. Maybe you should take up plastic canvas embroidery with that Red Heart over there...") It's why I hate people, really.
And also, I think I love MaryB. Yes RLY.

If people understood the concept of 'appropriate response' we wouldn't have wars. The trick is to learn to use it in one-on-one relationships and then spread out. The depersonalization of email somehow, in some minds, gives carte blanche to 'vent without consequences' ~ as if no one will remember your name, your email address or recoil upon being introduced to you at a later date. How can these women not be embarrassed by their behavior? Some are not. You never met my former mother-in-law. We used to call her 'Lawful Evil' ~ she knew exactly what she was doing when she pounded the stake through your heart and relished every minute of it. One of the biggest gifts the eX gave me was never having to see her again. (I smile every time I think of it.) Perhaps Stephanie/Karen/The Ravelry Folks will never have to deal with those particular women again. Thankfully such people are the minority. Hugs! Ar

Ryan, have been reading you for years--still am reading you. Still amazed at your tender, joyful heart wrapped up in such wicked wit. I didn't comment a lot during your painful days because, well, you don't know me. I live a continent away. Nonetheless, the next time I come see my in-laws in Tacoma, by golly, I'm going to email you!

I think sadder than the fracas on the interwebs are people who conclude that they will stay away or that they hate people. We are messes, every one of us. But I've gotten way more out of Ravelry than some uglies can take away. I couldn't be a hermit even if wanted to. I would miss out on the ugliness, but I would miss the wild, amazing beauty of people in all their weakness and imperfections supporting, sharing, giving, laughing. All this with people we've never met, most of whom we never will. I try to keep the sense of proportion. Thousands and thousands of people on Ravelry every day and only a few really ugly incidents, most of which I never see. Enough of that sermon! I'm glad every time I see you've posted. I'm one loyal reader.

You'll never be able to overestimate the depths to which some people will sink. I'm with you - I simply cannot understand imagine what's going on in some people's heads to think that they, or knitting, are so "important" that they can give themselves permission to behave so badly. I suspect these are very unhappy people IRL and I avoid them.

Honestly. People drive me crazy. I teach college and sometimes have to deal with folks who think I should be able to move the moon into a different orbit just to suit them. And even saying, very loudly and slowly, "It. Is. Beyond. My. Control." fails to placate them.

I try to delude myself that knitters are different - nicer - have less of a sense of overblown entitlement, but I guess that's not true.

I have a hypothesis that 5% of the population is just dysfunctional in a bad way - I mean, dysfunctional in the way that they get off on making everyone else miserable. If you have a group of 20 people, that's likely to be only one person, and you can probably ignore them. But when you get 10,000 people together, then you get, what? 500 jerks? And that's hard to ignore, even in a large group.

I tend to avoid what's known as the "big 6" on Ravelry because there seem to be too many bad-attitude people - the people who lecture at you, the people who snap back, the people who think the entire universe should revolve around THEM and THEIR WANTS, the people who send rude PMs when they disagree with someone. It seems to happen to every large social gathering and as long as the couple of groups I'm active in stay sane, I'll be happy.

But I will say some days hermitage looks like a good career choice.