This is the latest Google Adsense notice.

Its one thing to look at my blog and say “Oh hey, there are references to yarn, so we’ll serve up yarn ads” I’m cool with that– sometimes I consider it an enhancement. It offsets the cost of hosting, domain names, and extra strength Aleve necessary to keep my blogs going. Every once in a while I can afford to splurge on some extra roving, a few knitting needles, or a tall non-fat mocha with extra foam and hold the whipped cream please.

But when Adsense wants to collect data on where someone’s been, how long, and how frequently: I want nothing to do with that. That is completely and utterly invasive. It is scummy. It reminds me of another ad network, you know the evil one: Doubleclick

Ah, but when the buzzards at Doubleclick do it, it’s spyware– so when Google does it that’s what?

It’s spyware.

I’m still trying to curb my cussing, but if you’d like to weigh in on your opinion of DART, Adsense, or Google’s hypocrosity feel free to use as much profanity as you like in the comments section of this post. I’d consider it a favor, profanity-by-proxy.

You can opt out by installing a plugin for your  browser.

I’m safe now. Blog updated to the latest version, bad posts cleaned or kills and nasty files deleted. So now I need to check over my other blogs.

Fortunately all it did was was insert code to link to a bunch of stupid German casino sites and alter a few posts to talk about my phallus (how embarrassing for me– my tiny penis is a constant source of shame– those cruel bastards!)

Please go to Tips tricks tools & techniques to learn more about this attack, especially if you have a WordPress blog. And if you notice a blog that is running particularly slow or see the IP address 61.155.8.157 transferring information email the blog owner so they can clear the nasties.

There are days when I’m unspeakably annoyed with myself.

This is one of those days.

I don’t write with a plan, I plan pretty much everything else about my life– meals, schoolwork, housework, crafts and art work. But I don’t really sit down to blog with a plan. I just sit and write, what doesn’t fit ends up being deleted and what isn’t deleted turns into a blog post if I can think of a good title that’s a bonus.

One thing about blogging is that it does prompt me to actually finish projects so that I can post them. Although, on days such as today I’m tempted not to write because I didn’t really accomplish anything.

Yup. “Cricket!”

It’s the nicest way to say “Hey I’m reading your blog, don’t have anything to say or can’t add anything to the conversation at this point, but here I am.”

Cricket!

Genius.

I know we’ve been together for a long time. I bought my first llama fibers with you. I found “IT” on with you. But… well this is hard for me to say. Lately you’ve sucked eggs, I find myself giving more and you giving less. I’ve tried to go with your recommendations for a better auction, but– you take so much and I have nothing left to give.

Once you were noble, letting the little people, little people like me stand tall with the power sellers and most fabulous deals at the same time. You saved people from paying retail and others from selling at whole sale. You were good.

Now, you suck the life from us along with ridiculous listing fees. I don’t know how I can ever get over this betrayal.
Goodbye,

Wendy

www.lov.li

Dear Lov.li,

I love you. You are everything to me. Let me kiss you. Let me mount your widgets on my websites for always and forever. Let me fondle your servers.
Yours Always,

Wendy

I noticed while listening to Lime and Violet that while they raved over yarns that the word “cheap” came up again and again. This is in no way a criticism against them, it just stuck out in my mind and makes a good example– that they didn’t really mean cheap as in inferior, they meant cheap as in inexpensive.

But the word association is there. Cheap really means both inexpensive and inferior doesn’t it?

Value doesn’t really reflect the cost. Nor does it always refer to the usefulness or even the investment of materials and time. Value is subjective most of the time.

Value is affected by the world around it. Which should cost more: A gallon of gas that gets you around town or a gallon of milk? It really depends on which you need more at the moment.

Is a handspun yarn less valuable than an equal yarn from machine manufacture? Some would say yes, because the machine manufactured yarn is more consistent. Some would say no because the handspun yarn is unique in having a human touch.

Is a sweater more special from a handknitter than from a machine? Should it cost more if it is knit from an original pattern? Or should it cost more because the pattern is from a world famous designer?

These things are hard to quantify. It’s also hard to decide if crafters selling their goods cheaply are undermining the value of artisans goods which are priced based on fair labor. On one hand I’m not offended by the hobby spinner that just loves to spin selling her yarn at just above material costs, on the other hand I’m also trying to make a living and find that cheap (inexpensive and inferior) does do some damage. Not just to the pricing structure of handspun yarn, but also to the reputation of handspinners.

It’s funny in a sad way. I have several yarns I felt great about making. And when they were finished I loved them. It was hard for me to get them ready to sell because I could just see all the potentially wonderful things they could make. Measure, weigh, quantify and value– plus photograph and write descriptions. The whole time I was very optimistic.

Suddenly it just stopped. No one bought anything. Dead. Nothing.

Damn.

So over time those yarns became a source of guilt for me. Why did I bother to put so much time and effort into something so lovely and carefully made only to have nothing come from it? And then to hear compliments over it just started grating on my nerves. Compliments are awesome and I really do need the recognition sometimes, but they don’t buy food or pay the mortgage.

So I listed one of my favorites on eBay for less than half of what it is worth. And it didn’t sell. I reduced the price again. Still didn’t sell.

Now the yarn is on etsy for even less. I just want to move out the old stuff to make room for the new. It might seem like a good time to be a little bitter, but bitter isn’t my best shade so I’m hopeful; even though this is pretty difficult for me to sort out.

I’m not into cut-throat business models or giving myself slave wages, and pricing down so much does make me feel like I have to justify my decision. However, I need at least the materials costs in my stock back in order to pay for new materials and keep going on.

I have to change something.

I also ordered more of the Moorit Shetland and some white Shetland. I can’t say enough about their processing, it’s a special treat to order clean roving that is still lively and hasn’t been processed to death. I like my wool with the character of wool in it.

I still have half a bobbin of cashmere that I haven’t the patience to put back on the wheel yet, it’s lovely stuff and I’m looking forward to the resulting yarn, but it just takes forever and a day to spin.

I swear it grows.

When the cashmere came with the first order it was in a plastic zip type bag, I’ve spun about half of it, and yet the bag is still full of cloud. Stuffed full.

Christmas was good, we did the big family party Christmas Eve at my mom’s house. The more dramatic of my two stepsisters didn’t show so it was actually very nice and calm. We had a quiet Christmas dinner with a few gifts exchanged at home. No drama, no traumatic craziness, just love, Peace on Earth and ham.

Today is Josey’s big 10th birthday, so this year he wants to help make and decorate his own cake (German chocolate) and he gets to pick what we have for dinner tonight. He’s also thinking that he’s old enough for a blog of his own, so– we’ll talk about it.

I trust my child, I just don’t trust the rest of the world.

Opal is having a contest on her blog, guess what her project is and score some yarn.

It’s an omen.

Fortunately I figured it out and it seems to be working again. If figuring it out means deleting and uploading files and extracting things and swearing a lot.I’m so proud of myself for fixing something. If I hadn’t already had a shot of Robitussin, I’d be cracking open a beer to celebrate this.

I might be tempted to chastise others but I’m guilty of not backing up things as much as I ought. So there.

Sorry folks, I love you but after timing out and waiting until the cows come home, I just don’t want to comment that badly– besides, the one out of the three that the comments did load– I forgot what I was going to say.

Sadly, I have DSL so if your blog takes over three minutes to load, you might want to consider the options– think of those poor folks missing out on your brilliance because they are limited to dial up.

Speaking of brilliance, I’m cleaning the house today and spinning more of the Shetland. I know, you haven’t even seen the yak yarn I was spinning, because I’m not finished with it, I promise I’ll take update pictures soon.

Actually cleaning is not quite accurate. It started as cleaning, and then mutated into full blown purging. I can’t believe how much stuff there is here that is just simply in the way, taking up real estate, and crowding everyone out. Part of it was that when my Dad was staying with us he brought his whole house full of stuff, and when he left, he left most of his stuff. It’s brutal because I don’t really know what he wants to keep and what he wants to toss, and getting him to come back out here to pick anything up has not been terribly successful. I have to consider the possibility that Dad just doesn’t want to deal with it; so I considered the possibility and after careful consideration concluded that it’s a high probability he simply doesn’t want to deal with it.

Also on the high probability scale is that all this crap will drive me over the edge into some psychotic episode that will end badly for everyone. Well fine, I’ll deal with it then. If he doesn’t like the way I deal with it, I don’t really care at the moment: I don’t really like the way I can’t put my stuff where it belongs because his stuff is in the way. I do however like the calm peaceful feeling of my home when it’s tidy and organized.

Greta thinks all this cleaning is awesome. Especially we start with the fridge, this is where she really shines. So far today her favorites have been slightly dried out hot dogs, left over french fries, and a bit of ham and savory. Freezer burn on the chicken? No problem for Greta, just a little ketsup and cook that baby right in the microwave. Frankly, Greta makes cleaning the fridge completely worthwhile– how did I ever manage before her?

Not that it needed to be disposed of immediately, but we also broke into a jar of pickled hot cherry peppers. I had mine over water crackers, Greta prefers gently tossed in the air. I’ve never seen a dog that likes such spicy food, it must have it’s benefits for her though, because she doesn’t ever have flea or worm problems even when the other dogs in the neighborhood do, so maybe it makes her too spicy for parasites.