Welcome back! And congrats on being part of the blog tour. It's a cool kinda "I'm with the band" thing :-)

Welcome back! For the time being anyway. I knit very little for charity (a couple i had personal experience with) and feel I'm giving a little back for what i got out of it. It's as personal a choice as religion or politics. We shouldn't be judging here anyway. I don't knit or crochet for my family or friends any more either. They're just not the kind of folks who appreciate that stuff. (Except my teen who loves the cool hats)
Congrats on the tour! When you go famous on us, we're NEVER gonna see ya.

I'm glad you're home. Good luck with the laundry and the cleaning and crap.
As for the charity knitting, is someone trying to make you feel bad? You want me to beat them up for you?

What? Not feel guilty about making a highly personal decision about what to do with your time and resources?!? How dare you! ;-)

Yea for being home and blogging again!
Yea for blog tours! :)

xoxo

How could I forget?

YEA FOR SOCKTOBERFEST!

I don't knit for charity, either, and I rarely make gifts . . . well, okay, SMALL gifts like socks or hats. But the big things like sweaters? No. Not since the ones I made 17 years ago languished, completely unworn. And therefore, I don't feel guilty at all--I tried. The recipients failed me. That's life.

Although, I will admit, I'm thinking of making a Ribby for my niece in her new school colors when she heads off to college next year . . . that, I think she'd wear!

I haven't been anywhere and I swear my laundry has reproduced...it's everywhere. Anxiously awaiting all the news you have to print. It all sounds great!

i am so out of underwear that it's either going "commando" or doing at least one load of laundry tonight for me! and god, dishes in the sink? they call it 30 minute meals but they never tell you about the 60 min. dishes! glad you're back safe and sound! :-)

I'm glad you're home. Socks (and sock knitters) are like chocolate - you can never have too much of a good thing.

HELLO?? do these people not remember the almost TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS that you helped raise with the spin out? are these people crazy? i am SURE they would rather have 20K than some stupid scarf! that 20k would have never been raised without you... never! what gall!

Don't feel guilty. I don't knit for charity. I work full time and my knitting time is precious. If I had the time, I would knit for charity but I don't have the time.

I cannot spare a square.

we should embroider that on handtowels or something ..... oooo, do I sense another craft project coming on?!

Yay! Welcome home! The great thing about doing laundry is that you can throw it in and then knit for an hour, dry, fold, and repeat! ; )

But the jet lag is awesome going the other way!

Oh my. Did someone give you guff for not knitting for charity? That's just not right if they did. I mean, look at how much you spearheaded the Heifer drive. Anyway, looking forward to reading the entries on the various subject matters you listed!

AND it's your money, Cara. You shouldn't feel bad about it. There are many ways to help charities. It doesn't have to be in the form of knitted objects. Some of us (me!) don't have the money, nor the energy to donate to charities. But I donate my heart, and my prayers. Heck, I can't even afford to join the Lupus Foundation of America (I have lupus). You do what you can, when you can, IF you want to. There is no mandate saying you must, and anyone who tries to make you feel bad needs to go stick their head in the toilet and flush!

Hey Cara, did you see the Spin Off Mag? Full page article on the June Spin Out!

You are a horrible horrible person for not knitting for charity - me too! Great minds think alike. We should start a "Horrible Horrible People Who Don't Knit For Charity" support group. All we would do is grumble about grumpy givers and knit more socks for ourselves.

I do actually knit gifts - I live on a boat so space for FOs is very limited so I have to give them away to be able to keep knitting - but only for people who will really really appreciate it. But I do vow that I will never knit a sweater for someone else. NEVER!

Although there are not nearly enough hours in my day - especially considering how terribly inefficient and lazy I truly am! - I am a firm believer in "me" time, whether it's reading, knitting, or blog surfing. If that means knitting for yourself, more power to you. It's so much easier for me to knit for my son, because he's four years old, therefore SMALL, that I have yet to knit myself anything in my four years of knitting. I have 1/2 a Jaywalker waiting in the wings! And more beautiful sock yarn... I WANT to knit myself so much. I even buy the books, the online patterns, and the yarn! Clapotis, Ella, Leaf Lace, Flower Basket, Shetland Triangle, Swallowtail, and now Seraphim. Not one knit for myself.

I envy you, but wait, is that Halloween and Christmas right around the corner? I better get started on Jacob's knight costume and my Christmas presents. Bah humbug.

I'm as monstrous as you as well as several of the above commenters in that I just have inclination to knit for charity. I will donate clothes and I will donate cash but knitting is a very personal and time-consuming activity that it's better left for giftings.

And I have only ever knit one thing for my niece and I feel badly that I haven't done more for her and my new nephew and soon to be other niece/nephew. Poor darlings, that will soon be remedied.

I so agree about the nephew thing. I have nine from my 3 sisters. I have knit lots for my husband's family, but I need to knit something for each of them before I die. The nephew project is starting soon: one sweater for each, starting with the oldest. They're all men now. Finding good mens' sweaters has been a challenge. Not one a week or month, just one at a time.

I agree about the charity knitting. It's all about why you knit. Taking the time and effort to make items for persons that really don't understand the time and effort it takes feels fruitless. I'd rather go to the store and buy 10-12 hats then spend a few hours on 1 hat. I do however feel the guilt of knitting for family members. When they know I love knitting so much and ask for something, it's like sharing a part of myself with them. They definitely appreciate it more.

more winners? yay!! who so ever said you should
feel odd about not knitting for charity was not correct. i,also would rather just give money or some store bought and embellished by me hats. rest yourself, you're a good egg.

knitting for charity? I have a hard time giving away my knitted things, even though I knit very little for myself or my family. Charity? I'm too busy knititng for friends and relatives. Next in line are DD and DH. Then me. Then charity. Gotta put yourself in there somewhere.

Looking forward to the updates.

BTW, thanks for the suggestions on my sock (during the PA to NY train ride). It turned out really nicely, though I hate the toe (I did the no-donkey-ears switch stitches move). But the heel is really nice. Thanks for the lesson.

Your blog itself makes the world a better place. Schmaltzy, yes, but you're "sharing" (sickening 70s word) information and inspiration with other knitters. Some of THEM might knit for charity, some don't. Who cares? Charity knitting shouldn't be something you feel pressured to do--and it's not the end all and be all. It's important to respect others' privacy and preferences. As for me? I LOVE knitting socks. I LOVE knitting for myself. I love knitting and spinning, period. Selfish? I don't think so. It's called "doing what you love," and THAT is an act of generosity.

I snuck over and brought some laundry. Sorry I didn't stay long enough to have a good visit.

you don't need to knit for charity - you BLOG for charity - we all BENEFIT greatly from your art and your words - dammm you got so many people "living" vicariously through you WE should be doing YOUR LAUNDRY!! glad you're back - I miss my daily fix!

I don't knit for charity, either. For me, it's because I think that giving either (or both) the raw time or money otherwise spent on knitting a hat is more useful for the charity. Or you using the money that would have been used for yarn for the hat to buy more than one perfectly good (but not hand-knitted) hat. Because if people REALLY need hats, they don't care whether or not they're handknitted. They just want them to keep out the cold. I don't deny that there's something comforting about knowing that an item is hand-knitted, but I think that the priority should be reducing the suffering as quickly as possible.

Anyway, that's my rant. The point, really, is that you should feel bad about not knitting for charity.

Not that I want to discourage you or anything, but if you think you have mutant laundry now, wait till you have kids. (Yes, I have kids, and no, I am not doing your laundry.)

I once (before I knit much) commented to DH that I felt guilty about not doing more for charity -- that is actually physically walking for hunger or ladling out soup or whatever. He pointed out to me that all the time we spend working to earn the money we give to charity (quite a bit) counts as actually physically doing something. Not to mention that I seem to recall a certain person's raising a whole pantload of money for charity last spring, not by knitting, but by causing visions of stash to dance in our heads. I don't know what to tell you about your tiny relatives, though.

I wish I'd entered your haiku contest. Since I didn't, may the best poet win.

Welcome back! Oh I don't ever feel guilty for not knitting for Charity - I hardly have time to knit for myself. I think a check to charity is easier and probably needed more.

I started a group to knit for charity. And immediately handed it over to the second in command. Simply because there are those who knit for a good cause so they can tell everyone how they knit for a good cause. THEN complain about the other members in the group because they DONT knit as much for a good cause.
I knit for me then give the yarn I dont use to the group I started (who BTW are still knitting for charity!
I applaud your decision.