Mystery Sock KAL

The super talented Ruth Garcia (aka Rock and Purl) is running a 'Mystery Sock KAL' at the moment, and I was thrilled to be asked to sponsor a prize :)

I also get to judge the category 'Most Outrageous Colourway' sock ... she knows me so well!!!
Her Ravelry forum is here and all you need to do is buy the pattern... and post photos when prompted... obviously NO spoilers though, as it's a mystery *WiNKS*

I know a lot of you are a huge fan of sock knitting, and I urge you to support Ruth, as she's both an awesome peep, and a very talented designer.

And who can sniff at winning stuff for knitting something you love?? And supporting small independant businesses at the same time?

NicsKnots is sponsoring a prize category .... as is Debbie Bamford (aka The Mulberry Dyer)

So, there it is, you have no reason NOT to...

Community... and other ramblings

Sorry for the long blog silence... *sighs*
I have had a KA~raaaAAaaazy couple of months, culminating in some remodelling work here at Casa Longlegs.

But, hopefully (fingers/toes/everything crossed) normality will resume in the non-too-distant future ... whatever normality is :)

A few things have happened within my online community too ...
I have wanted to write about a few of the issues that concern me, as I feel really strongly about them. I don't always like to express a hugely biased opinion, publically, about stuff either, as more often than not, there are ALWAYS more complicated factors involved, which are hidden and may colour the situation.

I am not referring to any incident in particular either, as much more has been said, in a way more eloquent fashion, by people more closely involved.

But, I can share how I feel in general, I mean this is my space ... if you don't like what I say you can always close the tab and stop reading !!

Because of the way things work in the Woolly World, a lot of business relies on the internet, particularly marketing through social networking, eg. Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter etc... and it also relies very heavily on reputation. There are only so many shows one business can attend, so the majority of buying and selling has to occur electronically...
One wrong word on the right page can cause devastation for a small independent business, and this damage can take a long time to recover from, if at all.
I pride myself on my communication and customer service... you may not see a lot of me in the public eye, but should you deal with me directly, via email or whatever... I will always do my best to help you and give you what you want, in a timely fashion.
If I cannot be timely, I will tell you directly about it.

All of my Woolly friends are the same as me, in this respect. We value our community and our supporters enormously, because if it were not for that... we would have nothing.
We also value each other, and if someone is having a hard time, or has problems... we try our best to help, even if it's just a quick email/Tweet or Facebook comment.
*whispers* I have even sometimes been known to pick up the telephone *shocked face* ...

I switch on my computer when I get up in the morning, and it's then that I begin 'work', and when I turn it off before I go to bed, that's when I stop 'work'... so you see, 9 to 5 doesn't even come close!!

I love my job, and I love my peeps ... but it is sometimes very hard to stand by and watch the bandwagon when it starts rolling by ... and the carnage it causes in its wake.