late last night i received this comment from sunshine:
I have started reading your blog and am wodering where I can see how much YOU matched for this amount that your readers are donating. In other words, I donate $5, you say that you match this correct? If this is the scenario, where can I see documentation that you yourself matched it. Also,where is the documentation that states it is being matched indeed by you and not by monies sent to you from your readers (in thoughts that you will send it in under the actual donators name).I attempted to search your blog to see if there may be a link to this information but am unable to see one.
and then today, after being out all day and away from the computer i received another:
As I commented on a previous blog posting of yours, I would be more then thrilled to donate for M.S. but I find it a bit unsettling that you give the appearance that your site is making rather large donations matching others. If you can show somewhere that you indeed ARE donating, then I will be happy to follow suit. I would like to add that your attitude that reveals through your blog postings appears to be quite pompous and a smidge smug. I am sure you are not that way IRL, but you do your readers such an unjustice by portraying that. Bloggers/designers with far more experience and following don’t portray anything close to that and I am sure they wil never do so.
I am hoping you will take this as contructive critisim and not anything more. It would also be helpful to not hav your patterns all be clained as your designs when they really are just stitch patterns that anyone can do. If you designed the stitch that is entirely different, but you did not correct? I will wait patiently for fundraising documentation, I am sure you have it correct?
i find it odd that in attempting to reply cordially to you sunshine, i cannot get my emails to go through; apparently you are using an email address in your comments that yahoo tells me does not exist. you are also using the IP address of another reader, so that no one can identify you (yet you insist that i be very public about my donations, which strikes me as being just a little odd).
so, i will try to satisfy you with an answer here as best i can, though i wonder from your note if indeed you want to be satisfied.
in the 18 days that i have been running the matching fund challenge, i have linked back frequently to the original post (click HERE to read it) about my booster drive to help claudia raise funds for knitters against MS.
in that post, i was very publicly clear about the goal: i put up a $500 matching fund to be distributed to the national MS society as follows: for every reader who left a comment telling me that they gave i would give $5 to knitters against MS (readers did NOT need to disclose amounts, and the donation could take place any time during this year’s fund drive).
why “sunshine” chose NOT to read that information, or to ask for clarification of it, is a mystery.
if we used up the whole $500 i would add a bonus amount.
everyone was on the honor system; if anyone emailed or left a comment for me, i would believe that they gave, and add $5 to my total donation. for people who let me know they gave more than once, i added $5 for EACH time they gave.
to be very clear, i did NOT promise to match reader donations dollar for dollar; rather, i promised to simply to tally up the total number of givers who let me know they gave, and multiply by $5 to calculate my own gift.
also, i do NOT accept or collect monies directly from readers EVER to forward to any fundraising venture. in fact, i do not accept donations at all from readers, or for any reason whatsoever. readers are always asked to make their own donations directly to the organization concerned, and donations are completely voluntary and discretionary.
any gift i give comes from my own pocket alone.
as for publicly proving what i gave, i don’t know that it is possible. by yesterday, i really wanted to send at least part of my gift in so that claudia could get a number toward her goal. we had nearly reached the original goal of using $500 with 98 total matching gifts (98 x $5 = $490.00)
figuring (and hoping!) that some more would come in over the weekend i sent in a $600 contribution. as of this minute to the best of my knowledge, we have achieved a total of about 110 matching gifts, so i think my contribution will cover everything.
while knitspot does appear on the rolling list of contributors here, i did not ask to have my amount listed next to the name (maybe i should have . . .). i do however have a receipt for the amount in hand (but since “sunshine” uses a fake email address, i can’t show it to them).
since it is our goal every month to forward donations to organizations in need, i feel a little funny about defending myself in this situation. it never occurred to me that anyone would question that we actually do follow through on that goal. i don’t think publishing the particulars about donations is prudent or necessary, even though i felt it important to do so today. any thoughts? do you as readers generally feel uncomfortable with the sort of fundraising challenge we do here every june?
i really try not to beg readers to give money for every little thing. once in a while i mention that another blogger is doing some fundraising to raise awareness that it’s happening. the june booster event is one of the very few that i directly ask readers to help me fight for a cause.
last year someone took issue with the fact that we had a raffle to help get interest in this event, saying that the raffle came across as a bribe. so this year i went for pure begging instead. it’s hard to strike the right balance between keeping things fun and having serious goals, but my hope is that somehow we are doing it.
as for the other constructive criticism in “sunshine’s” note—you always have every right, sunshine, to voice your opinion. you also have every right not to read blogs that offend your sensibilities.
179 thoughts on “i can answer that”
wow. i understand someone wanting to “get the facts” but i don’t understand the high-handed smug superior tone some people adopt.
you? smug? i never saw it. you are very approachable and i would just love to meet you in person some day… wearing one of your designs, of course 🙂
Oh, jeez, I completely forgot to tell you I donated (hell, I barely remembered to donate in time anyway), so add another one to your list.
You do good work, dear, on all fronts – thanks!
I was very surprised to learn that someone was taking such an issue with your attempt to raise money for a good cause. I’m very sorry you had to go through this, and also that the writer made a negative comment about your wonderful patterns. I have bought many of your patterns and find them extremely well presented and easy to knit even though each row within a pattern repeat always seems to be different. It keeps them challenging, but still fairly easy.
After reading the complaint and your answer, the one thing that does concern me, and please don’t take this in a negative way, is that I wonder if our blogs are the proper place to be attempting fundraising efforts? It seems that everywhere I look nowadays someone is asking for donations from bloggeres for one good cause or another. Sometimes there are prizes for people who donate on their own, or for people who make the largest donation toward that particular blogger’s charity campaign.
I find nothing wrong with occasionally mentioning a charity when the charity is having a special event, or if it’s a special recognition week. I also see nothing wrong with providing an address and asking one’s blogging friends to take the time to donate to a particular cause. But, I can’t help but wonder if we should do any more than that, no matter how well meaning we are.
I have a link on my blog for two of my favorites: Heifer International and Special Love (a Virginia organization that provides camp experiences for children with cancer and their families). I may sometime in the future write something about them and gently suggest that they are great charities if one had some extra funds to donate. But, beyond that, I think it would be placing an imposition on my blogging friends to be more specific and direct in a request for a donation.
Some people may already donate on their own to that charity, others may not have the money to do so, and still others may have charities of their own that they choose to support in lieu of the one mentioned on a blog. It makes these people feel guilty not to donate when a blogger has made such a detailed request, or has a contest, or asks the people who donate to leave a comment. If they are regular contributors to the blog, they know that the blogger will notice that they have not donated.
I just don’t think we should put our blogging friends in that position, no matter how wonderful the charity is.
Just wanted to present this as something to think about and I’m sorry you had to deal with the rather nasty comments left by the other blogger.
Good Morning,
My first reaction was ‘No good deed goes unpunished’. Your grace under fire is inspiring. I have loved to see your ideas and yarn choices come to life, lots of vibrance..dancing, living knits.
I don’t knit lace and I am scared to knit socks but your confident manner has made me decide to try socks. If my life settles down where I can concentrate I WILL try your sock pattern for my husband as a Christmas gift. Your kind response to my request for advice was appreciated.
I love the garden photos as well. Smug is not the word that comes to mind when I enter your blog. Welcoming, teaching, inspiring…nope not smug.
Warm regards,
Katrina
Dear Anne, What a horrible e-mail that woman sent you. I can call myself hardly a knitter, but I love your blog, not only for the knitting, but also for the gardening and cooking. I must confess to some jealousy for so many talents, but at least I can enjoy them vicariously! Even my husband enjoys them because I ask him regularly `Do you know what Anne Knitspot made this time?’ So put it out of your mind. and stay who you are. Leonie from Holland
Just my two cents…it’s your blog, post whatever fund raising causes you feel are worthy of a post. We readers can then choose whether or not to donate. End of story. FYI, an unrelated topic: was motivated to thin out my lettuce bed after your post of a week or so ago…keep up the good work!
Just when I think we’ve heard it all!! Envy is getting the best of “Sunshine”. How sad that anyone spends her/his(?) days thinking about things like this. You do so much for so many, and we love you for it.
Oh wtf, “Sunshine”?
Seriously??
Does it really matter whether or not you see documentation on what others (Anne or anyone else) choose to donate…or not?
I think anyone who has read your blog for any amount of time would have no questions about the MS fundraising or your integrity. *hugs* and thanks for contributing so much again this year.
Dearest, you handled this far better than I could. And I hope if I have to face something like this in the future that I can do it with half the grace you have shown here.
Had I been in your shoes I would be doing only one more thing with this situation…making two patterns and calling them “Pompous” and “Smug”.
Hugs, and thanks for being bold and standing up for what you believe in.
Ah, well, bless their heart, eh? Don’t let it get you down.
It pleases me slightly that you attempted to answer my questions, only attempted. You danced around and did some fancy fast talk but did nothing more then beg your readers to defend you.
I will answer as much as I can here. My email address does indeed work. I am not sure why your having such a time using it. Could it be that you are just trying to publicly cry for people to come to your defense? I originally was directed to your blog from Ravelry and two groups from Ravelry
I thought long after reading all of the responses on your blog,and your answers as well,trying to conclude whether or not I should have been silent on questioning your MS funding. I feel I had a right to ask.
You answered in a smug and snide way. You attempted to plead the poor helpless “woa-is-me” scheme. It amuzes me that you think you are “famous” and you chide your readers/fans but of course no IRL friends (which is very amusing) to act as such. I hope they,more importantly you, come to terms with what being famous means, and that you are not it! Really, I am in fits of laughter with the mere toying of that phrase. Mainly because I think YOU actually believe you ARE famous.
I have read through almost all of your blog posts as of today and I am not trying to start any fighting, I was only questioning how does one know that you are REALLY donating monies you state you are. I also merely commented on your patterns, which are not a fantastic invention. Anyone can do them if so inclined. The littlest nothings are nothing more then a particular stitch that was found in a book and you swatched it to a scarf size.Not a fabulous feat if you ask me. They are pretty but not rocket science as you may think.
You are the one who responded back to me telling me I have no email address and that I amm a troll. All through your blog you make ill fun of your so called “friends” and you brag about how great of a designer you are and how much yarn people send you just because you are famous and they desperately want you to design for their yarn. I just really got a fun chuckle out of how much pleasure you get out of poking fun of your readers. I wonder how much they enjoy how you empose to them that you are so much better then they are. You have implied that so many times it is comical, incuding but not limited to how you perceive yourself as flawless. This is quite the gaggle I find, especially if that is indeed you posing your finished knits on your blog. I understand that many people have said and think terribly petty things regarding you and your posing as stated on Ravelry posts. I am just referring to the smugness of each photo and how you imply your the only person who is small and needs to have certain small sizes in clothing. It truly is comical, but I will reiterate, I am not including my statements in with the very hateful ones from Ravelry regarding your picture posing.
From what I have read on your blog, not only are you not famous, but you really are,as I said previously, smug and very arrogant,intentional or not. I have read entirely about how great you think you are, how much you can do whether it be faster,smoother, and well, just better then anyone else. I half expect to see a new garden blog appear talkling about how you solely developed gardening all on your own and how you do it so much better then anyone else. You even begged for garden plants from your “so-called” friends. Saddly, doing nothing in return for them.
From the blogging of yours that I read, the people you refer to and call “friends”, you are very disrespectful when referring to them on your posts and sometimes, just down-right nasty.You poke repeated fun of the very individuals you call friends. You seem to be a “taker” in so many avenues of the word. I felt saddened for many of them that you just seemed to make fun of. I will hope they know you are just someone who takes energy from their misery and they will stop letting you and they will stop giving you energy. WHat do YOU do for your friends, it does’t seem like much from reading your posts. I am not the only person who has apparently noticed this without knowing you personally, again, a notation on many message boards.
This comment took on a comletely different avenue then what I originally started this,after I read all of your blog, I had disgust beyond belief and felt justified in being able to say this. Just as you said I am not forced to read your blog, I hope these people realize they can look for a new “famous” person to follow and purchase patterns from. I for one will not give you one penny, I have a very sneaky suspicion that you will always find a way to get your money and take advantage of people and their hard earned money. I am sure you will delete this comment because it doesn’t fawn all over you and that is ok but if you post it, your little groupie’s will pump your ego up all the more. That’s ok too, you know exactly what your doing with either way. In my area, they have a name for people like you and your behavior, it’s called a bloodsucker.
it’s always been obvious to me that you’re just encouraging us to support a good cause, and i haven’t ever felt pressured to do so. i appreciate that you’re willing to donate, and don’t mind you bringing different causes to my attention.
I would like to add my two cents – I like your blog and I like your designs. I really wish that the Negative Nellys of the world would just appreciate a good deed instead of trying to tear other people down.
Keep up the good work!
See, Sunshine really IS a troll.
Anne, I think you handled both years fund raising efforts quite nicely. You were in support of this fund raising effort by another knit blogger. And I think nothing wrong with that. This is your blog… your PERSONAL blog. It’s not here to simply sell stuff. You blog about many things and people that are happening around you, or that you care about. And that is what a blog is. Including your support to something that someone else in the knit blogging community is trying to achieve is not in any way out of line IMO.
And we’ll just not get started on someone’s naive take on designing… my reply for that is “try it yourself sometime”.
Keep up the good work. I think you have handled things very nicely.
After reading the comments my only response is shock. Such a personal attack is uncalled for and quite rude. I just want to give you a hug now. Yuck.
I generally don’t read or post to the comments of any blog, but I couldn’t pass up on this discussion. Anne – I don’t know you at all, but I find your blog entertaining, your garden scrumptious, and your knitting patterns a delight to make and wear. I have knit up a few of your socks and thought “this is easy, why didn’t I think of that?”, but the answer is, I didn’t – I’m not a designer, and I really enjoy having the patterns written/charted out for me to knit without having to think about math and design details. Thanks!
“Sunshine” must be ill — mentally unbalanced. How anyone can spew such venom at another person is hard to understand. She or he needs professional help. Time to bury this and move on.
Well, I must say that I probably would not have posted that comment but I am one that falls on the non fan side. I do find KnitSpot to be a mediocre design site where the designer is a bit of a show off. I too find that she is a bit smug and self-centered, but to each his/her own. I wouldn’t surround myself with someone like her as a friend in general but that’s just me. I think her patterns are ok I guess. I wouldn’t buy any but that is my perogative, as should be your perogative Sunshine. I find that when you dislike someone and post it as you did, your only doing exactly what you complain about, you boost the persons ego by drawing attention such as this. So if you feel she is being dishonest with fundraising, then just don’t donate via her site. If you think she is smug and finds herself “famous” then don’t read her blog. If you think she treats her friends poorly, then just make sure you aren’t one of them.If you find her patterns less then appealing, then don’t purchase them. See, there are many ways to avoid this type of annoyance instead of posting an hour long comment.
Sunshine – you are obviously reading all these post comments and are gleeful about the attention, albeit negative, that you are getting. Your latest is an indictment of your character. Truly you need help. Seek out a good therapist. Get some help. Double your dose even!!!! There is one thing that was truthful in your small-minded comment above: you don’t know Anne personally. That’s obvious. It is also obvious that you have serious mental and emotional health issues. I’m sure one day you’ll come to be embarrassed by your comments, after you’ve received help. Good luck to you in your life. Hope you find some happiness somewhere, since it is obvious you are not a happy person.
Wow. I`ve just read through Sunshine’s reply, and I don’t quite know what to say, but I want to say SOMETHING, you know? I think I’m like most of your readers: I don’t know you personally, we’ll probably never meet, I appreciate your patterns but don’t necessarily buy them (I’ve bought 2). I enjoy your enthusiasm for knitting and gardening, and David, but really, you don’t have much of an impact on my day to day life (and vice versa).
Yet, I can’t help but feel sad when I read venomous comments like that. I have such respect for knitter’s as a group, I’ve had so many positive experiences, I just can’t believe someone could be so, well, mean! So I’m sorry you’Ve had to go through this, and in such a public forum. And I can’t help but pity someone who feels it’s necessary to put someone else down just to make themselves feel important. Where are YOUR patterns, Sunshine? Where’s YOUR blog?
Take care, and keep those posts coming. 🙂
I would simply delete Sunshine’s comment — it’s your blog, and you can censor it any way you want. It’s negative and hurtful verbiage that just leaves a bitter taste in everybody’s mouth. There’s no point in even answering it; it just gives it an importance it should not have. Let her find another outlet for her negativity.
I don’t understand why someone would spend their time being such a jerk when you can simply choose not to read a blog you don’t like. Sunshine must have nothing better to do than put other people down. Hello?!?!?! How simple is it to just not read a blog you don’t like and find one you do???? I really don’t understand at all. What a pathetic, sad little life this “Sunshine” must lead. Go do us a favor and see a therapist and leave us alone. Jerk.
I have been a knitter for almost 40 years and have looked at patterns, designs and stitch dictionaries from other knitters for about that same length of time. I have never complained about what I may have seen in magazines or books and now on line that may be a reinvention from the past. Every pattern is basically a combination of one or the other stitch–knit or purl. When you use someone’s combination of knit and purl, it is a testament to their talent. Some combinations of stitches throughout the years are forgotten and a talented knitter somewhere picks up the pattern or stitches and puts their twist on it for others to see. I rather enjoy seeing others reinvent something from the past. I think knitters past and present should take it as a compliment to see how others have expanded on their own talent. If we weren’t meant to use the stitches in the knitting dictionaries, why are they published? They are there to stimulate design possibilities. Knitspot, you keep on knitting and sharing your designs. As far as donations to causes, I do my own donations by knitting for children. Occasionally, I will support causes that I believe in such as Alzheimers and breast cancer. This is an individual choice. I am so glad we have individual choices and I think your readers will agree.
Some people would rather win than be happy. But I think I’d like to define being happy as winning. Knitspot is one of the things that makes me happy.
One word of caution – perhaps S isn’t really the sad personality that it seems and is in actuality trying to scam someone by getting some financial info. Just a thought.
Hi Anne. What came to my mind (and I am certainly not as polite and charming as you) was the line from “Jagged Edge” “F**K him, he’s trash!” Keep doing the great things you are doing. The people who count, appreciate your talent and efforts.
I’ve been on vacation and am having a hell of a time catching up over here! So I’m desperately behind, and even though this post is old news by now, I thought I’d just let you know that you are one of the least pompous and smug designers I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing!
Wow. I never understood why people choose to be so mean spirited and ugly. It’s sad.
You’re a class act and your enthusiasm for knitting and life is infectious. Knit on!
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