Good for you, Carrie! I was certainly disappointed to see all that mudslinging going on over there. Just know that all of us love to read about you, your blog, and your schmoos!! :)

YAY Carrie!!! YAY Knitting!!! Yay Purling PUPS! It makes me want to go out and get a dog JUST TO JOIN YOUR WEBRING!

I've never understood people's need to cannibalize their own village...

I found several things disturbing about the whole thing. First off, and this goes for her and her wannabes, if you have to go out of your way to label yourself as a curmudgeon (or whatever word you prefer), so everyone will know you're a bitch and proud of it-you're a poser. Second, how can she bitch about animals in place of knitting content while posting a flame in place of knitting content? Sounds hard up for material. Third, the whole "rare and handy" thing applies to that post how? She doesn't even know how to implement her own mantra. Fourth, I got no memo when I signed up with blogger telling me all my knitting posts should be of interest to Marilyn. Love how she rants about how SHE will write what she damn well pleases but all she can find to write about is how others should write what she wants to read. What a hypocrite. I hope nobody buys her lame ass book. Yay bitter old ladies reaping what they sow!

YAY for knitting!!!

I have gotten bashed alot in the past because I never spell check my responces on message boards and blogs. I have been hit many times by people being mean just because. Those people don't know happyness, they just know how to blow candles out, not light them. My mom taught me long ago there are mean people in this world and nice people. I just ignore the mean and pitty them because they are just going to make themselves sick.

Hi, Carrie, Yay Girl Extraordinaire! I'm a newby to knitting and blogging and just want you to know I truly enjoy reading your blog. YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY! And YAY some more!!!!
It took me a while to find out what started this whole blogudrama because I actually had deleted that person's blog from my "favorites" list precisely for that very negative post! Who would've thunk that in the time since, it's created so much controversy!
Anyway, good for you! It's your blog and you can do with it what you will! Those who like to visit can do so. And those who don't can just remove it from their list of blogs they like to visit....just like I did.
YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!
Knit on!
AND YAY SOME MORE!!!! =)

I know a lot of this echoes sentiments already expressed here, but I wanted to add my support as well. You keep on blogging about your schmoos along with your knitting, and American Idol and anything else on your mind! If we all did as your critics suggested (separate blogs for separate subjects), we'd each have at least 50 blogs to cover all aspects of our lives! And most of those 50 wouldn't make for very interesting reading. What makes a blog interesting to me is variety, to make a "big picture" of someone's life. Even if I did find the "dog" part of your blog boring (which I certainly don't), I'd skip over it, but wouldn't put you down for it. I'd support your right to write it, and respect that others might want to read it.

One last thing. I'd be interested to know how if you get an increase of Purling Puppies applicants in the next week or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the Knitting Curmudgeon has some lurkers who read her post, and thought to themselves, "Hmm! I knit. I love my dog(s). I gotta check this out!"

Hang in there.

I'm a member of the Purling Puppies web ring. I was a little surprised to see Mar slam it on her blog, but it's just her opinion. I was a less happy to see the nasty comments on both sides in the comments though.
I'm almost the same age as the Knitting Curmudgeon, but I've decided to be one of those Sweet Little Old Ladies rather than a grumpy one. I could have gone the other way (curmudgeonly), but it makes me happier to be more like Nanny Og than Granny Weatherwax.
Yay knitting! Yay dogs! (age is not a barrier to yay-ing.)

yay you! yay your blog! yay your blog ring! yay puppies! yay my cat! :)

and geez. the second i start acting someone else's idea of my age, please slap me.

Hmmm, someone should remind her that this "hallowed" generation who marched against the Vietnam War also gave us George H.W. Bush, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz and the rest of that lot who have done such a fine job these past 3-1/2 years. One can't just pick and choose one's legacy in order to satisfy one's immediate needs.

Just do your thing, Carrie, and ignore her. It seems she needs a little excitement in her life, and this is how she gets it.

P.S. I and many others have marched against the Iraq war plenty of times -- too bad the baby boomers who control the mass media hardly cover it.

Well...Let me say that of course I agree with all your fans. :) A pox on her and her website! Hang in there...goodies are en route to you to make you smile! Yay for positive people! Boo for mean people! Life's to short and it just makes you sick to be angry and nasty all the time. Did this woman NAME herself a curmudgeon? Hellooooo! Knitting rocks..and schmoos rock...and sisters rock! ;)

Maybe you should change the name of your blog to "Yay, Knitting!" :)

Carrie...My friends and I just love your blog...It is one of my most favorite reads and it sounds like the Knitting Curmudgeon is only 14 with such comments. Meany, meany is all I have to say about her. Just keep up what your doing. So many people love it as you can tell from the 40+ comments about how great you and your blog are.

I have no puppy but I still love to come and visit and read about your schoos!! I call them schnuffies though. I want to be able to knit as beautifully as you do some day. Keep up the good work. I love to read about you and your man. I love your joi de vivre (spelling?)

Consider that maturity is a balance between courage and consideration for others. We should all striveto express our feelings with courage balanced with consideration for others. Sadly, this person doesn't sound very mature now does she???

Sign me,
A faithful fan from far far away!

<><

Ok, wanna hear something else to make you feel better? "Yay *insert word*" has become a phrase in my everyday e-mail life solely due to reading your blog. Feel better, chica! Be happy that you're not miserable like some other bloggers out there.
*hugs*

Dear Carrie:

I'm sorry you didn't get the part -- it feels like a rip-off not to get cast!

Negotiating that whole work-money-sanity thing is often a fine balance too.

I have my fingers crossed for you for your next audition!

Miranda II

I cannot believe that knitting curmudgeon actually has sunk so low as to rip on someone else's blog and call them shallow. She needs to get a life. By the way, I love your blog.

I just want you to know that there are tons (possibly millions) of normal, well-adjusted people that LOVE to read your blog and know what's going on with your schmoos (and your knitting)!!! If I had a puppy, I'd be a part of your ring. :) As it is, I only have 2 cats right now. I'm working on the puppy. :) That blogger (who shall not be named) obviously drinks from the toilet and it's affecting her brain.

You know, I always appreciate the knit blog sites when I feel like I get to know the person through their site. Wow, has that ever been proven more than between your site and The KC. You are a wonderful happy person and she is obviously a bitter, rude, disrespectful person.

I've never thought that ANY knitting blog is there for the SERVICE of us readers. It is an open way for a person to write about THEIR interests and express themselves, and communicate with other knitters. If you don't like the content, don't read their PERSONAL site.

What is sad is when a fellow blogger from the knitting community makes a blatent personal attack on another knitters character for no reason. She's entitled to her opinion, she doesn't think knitting and dogs mix, she thinks knitting blogs should be knitting only...fine... but to stoop to the level to insult you and your character is just plain shameful and disrespectful. She's so way out of line. She must be a real dream in person!

Carrie, I love your site and seeing your schmoos puts a smile on my face. I read a zillion knit blogs and you are one of just a few that I actally communicate and leave comments on. The reason being, your site reflects what a wonderful, friendly, happy person you are and we have a lot in common, and you knit. If we were to ever meet in person, I know we would have a blast!

So yay schmoos, yay Carrie, yay knitting...and if anyone can't handle that a 35 year old woman said that...they can go sit on a knitting needle!

by the way, i write about my car all of the time. because it is fabulous. should i have a mini web-ring? heh heh.

clearly the knitting curmudgeon has issues. you write about whatever you want, without feeling bad about any of it.

i had to add just one more thing -- i took a look at her site and noticed that she said you should be concerned about sounding 14. but did anyone else notice all her talk about knitting female sexual organs? now *that* sounds rather adolescent to me. plus, she derides politicizing knitting blogs, then prattles on incoherently about protesting vietnam. issues ...

Yikes. Are there really bloggers in such need of blog fodder that they spout off in a self-righteous manner about someone who writes "yay knitting" and maintains a ring of bloggers who own dogs? Man, oh man. If THAT isn't shallow...

I'm just sorry that you had to contend with that kind of yuckiness, but I'm glad that you're not second-guessing yourself. There are a lot of knitters, highly-skilled and otherwise (I'm otherwise, for example), who appreciate your blog and your schmoos for what they are - sweet and fun and interesting.

Yay Carrie!

Ok, ditto to all that has been said. Her rant really is sophomoric behavior... I LOVE seeing pics of your pups, and I'm not even a dog person! I love my fluffies (I have 2 persian cats), and from time to time they appear on my blog, and I'm a member of the Knitting Kitties ring. So, her insult to you is an insult to all of us who love our animals a bunch. So I say, "YAY knitting, YAY puppies, YAY schmoos, YAY kitties!!!!!

i haven't read that witch's site in well over a year. it was like a train wreck. i have no room in my life for people who spew negativity like she does- and i don't understand what the point of her dragging your name and ring through the mud was. for crying out loud- it is the internet, right? we pay to maintain our spaces- we can write whatever the heck we want on them. yay dogs, yay kitties, yay knitting, yay you.

and i'm sorry you didn't get the part, but there will be other plays, yes?

While I am not part of the ring, I wanted to share with you that my dogs do take part in my knitting, or rather take apart my knitting :) So I dont see why they shouldn't be included.
Don't let her get you down! Love your blog!

I can not believe the audacity of this woman. I take your "Yah Knitting, Yah dogs", as enthusiasm, not immaturity. She is a jealous bitter old woman, or maybe she's not, and just wants to appear that way? She obviously craves/needs the attention anyway she can get it!

I feel like posting pictures and comments on my blog of my pets and kids (see, I've got two things that piss her off) all the time - and send her updates when I do!

Love your knitting, and your blog!

Yah enthusiasm! Boo Bitter Old Women!

She linked to you because she wanted you to KNOW she was spewing venom about you and your ring. My guess is she was bored out of her skull and thought she'd drum up something to do. My favourite thing is when people in her defence say things like, "If you don't like what you read here, get lost." Too bad they can't apply that advice to Mar as well...if she didn't like your ring, she could just not join.

She's just plain mean.

What does marching against Vietnam have to do with anything? Perhaps she doesn't feel properly appreciated after getting those wee blisters that she needs to wave it around.

People always talk about how they are older and have earned the right to be curmudgeonly. Sure, I agree with being a bit cynical and often I can be pretty negative, too. But no amount of age and wrinkles earns you the right to treat other people like shit. That's just an excuse.

Hey Carrie! That lady's blog is borrrrring!!! You are so awesome and I love your schmoos and want to hear about them! She's picking on you because you are young and energetic and absolutely awesome?!

1) I love your blog.
2) I love knitting.
3) I love my dogs.
4) Some people are just mean. (Did she really have to post your button?!?!?)

Yay Carrie! Yay knitting! Yay puppies!

dang i forgot to leave a good email address with that one. and one more thing: that whole "respect for the elderly" that only applies when they're actually people worthy of your respect. that does not apply in this case. and never when the only way you know someone is old is that they mention 50 times how young YOU are!!! :)

i think you can be assured of one thing at least: people who write nasty posts get flamed more than people who are the victims of nasty posts. that's a.

and b. hello girl if i ever saw i was getting hits from a site like that, i would not in my life be following up to see why because i have read that site in the past and know exactly what type of vitriol is spouted there. . frankly i'd rather not know. hate me, don't read my site. simple as that. and if they're wasting your time reading sites they don't like, and putting up bitchy posts about us, well damn they just wasted a shitload of their time didn't they. bummer for them.

ugggh i couldn't resist leaving a comment on her blog (i was polite though!) i've read plenty of blogs that annoy the crap out of me but i keep it to myself or vent to a friend. when you cross the line into making an effort to publically disparage another blogger, well that's just weird and sad!
yours is one of my favorite blogs and my only complaint is that you don't update every day! ;)

p.s. keep an eye on your snail mail next week!

As the wonderful Eleanor Roosevelt said, "What other people think of me is none of my business". Your blog brightens my day, so don't take any notice, and for heaven's sake, don't change a thing!

Not only do I say YAY knitting and YAY dogs (my Heidi is a total schmoo, too), but YAY you for your fabulous blog that I love to read. And for that matter, I'll throw in a "You go, girl!" too. :-) Keep up the good work!

pffffft....if they don't like it..they don't have to look at it!

I don't have a dog...at this time (have had several in the past) but I do have two kitties and one is usually in my lap when I'm knitting. They aren't just "animals" to me, they are part of my family...I have three kids and two fur kids. You keep up the good work!!

She's an OLD bitter woman, apparently, with some wack superiority complex. :)

The glorious thing about the internet, is we don't have to read the spew she types!

YAY internet!

Here's my two cents:

This knitting curmudgeon is obviously the one who is 14 since she takes pleasure in being mean to other people. That's exactly what 9th grade girls do.

You are amazing and wonderful, and don't need to worry about her. Yay Carrie! Yay purling puppies!

I'll third that! Yay Knitting!! Yay Dogs!! Funny you should mention that (I had no idea you were owner of that list!) I have the ring bookmarked so that if I ever start a blog I can join in. Ever notice how many knitters have kitties? Well we have DOGS too! (and angora bunnies :)

I don't have much to add that your fabulous supporters here haven't said... just a couple quick thoughts:

1: It is sad when people feel like they need to pick on others in order to make themselves feel cool. (is this 7th grade?)

2: If it makes you feel any better, I wrote "yay" 14 times in my first month of blogging.... haha. oops! At least you have company! :)

Don't let the bitch bother you- you are AWESOME and I am so glad that we met.

(Teresa, above, made me tear up!! sniff. sniff.)

Carrie - I ran across Purling Puppies and your blog yesterday and thought, How cool! I love the idea of dogs and knitting (my two favorite things) combined. As soon as I figure out the whole "buttons" thing, I will request to joing your webring. I agree with the poster who commented that you have arrived! I look forward to keeping you on my favorites list.

OMG! I was feeling badly about my rather mean-spirited comment about the knitting curmudgeon, but then I flipped over to her site, read your sweet comment to her that was extremely well-worded, concise, and ADULT, and then read her pissy comment BACK to you. Ooooh. Grrrr. I seldom (read: once a year or less) get so ticked off. Ooooh. I don't take a word of my comment back! I don't even pity her anymore. She's just so ridiculously bitter! Honey, I'm SO glad you're in my life. I'm so proud of you!

Dude! I'm totally jealous!

Seriously. I am. Getting flamed, especially by the miserable, is a sign you're the coolest kid on the block. I totally dig it when an unhappy person gets mean on someone happy. It's something about my own kinda sick passive-aggressiveness coming out, thinking it's so flippin' funny that someone lies in bed alone thinking about how unhappy they are BECAUSE someone else is happy and cheerful and sweet and beeyooteeful! But actually, I haven't read her in almost two years because she makes me feel sad for her..... Hey, maybe she HAS flamed me in the past? One can only hope....

Chin up girl. We ADORE you, bandage and all.
Yay dogs! Yay knitting! Yay cats!

HATER!!!!! what is up with that??? straight up BITCH. she clearly drinks way too much hatorade. carrie, i meant to tell you this a long time ago. i've been catching myself calling my dogs "scmoos" when i come home at the end of the day. one time i stopped and thought, "where did i get schmoos from?" why miss carrioke of course!!!

yay schmoos, yay knitting, yay carrie, yay being 25 and seeming 14, boo to that curmudgeon hater lady.

whatever. can't we all just get along?????

I thought we all had the right to write whatever we wanted on our blogs, and if we don't like someone's blog, we don't have to read it. If knitting blogs were about nothing but knitting, how boring would they be?! My favorite blogs are those that tell me all kinds of things about life, not just knitting. I am 47 years old, and find you to be a mature, beautiful, happy, and very likeable young person. I enjoy your blog very much. Everyone knows that people only put other people down when they are insecure and unhappy. You do exactly what you want to do, and don't let anyone else stop you from being exactly who you want to be.

Congratulations, Carrie! You've been flamed! I know, you think that it's nothing more than a mean-spirited curmudgeonly jab. But, in fact, it is SO MUCH MORE - it is a SIGN. People are reading your blog. LOTS of people are reading your blog. So many in fact that you have expanded beyond the 500 or so friendly faces who know and love you and out into the world of people who DON'T like you. Even more impressive, you've found one person who is so embittered that she bothered to spend several paragraphs writing about you and POST A LINK TO YOUR SITE. (Not everyone has that kind of great fortune. You have to reach a lot of people before you find one of those.) You have arrived. All of the well-known (and well-loved) bloggers have been flamed. Becky has been flamed. Bonne Marie has been flamed. The Great Wendy has been flamed (and web-stalked, too!). It is your turn to join their hallowed ranks. So sit back and make some lemonade out of those curmudgeonly lemons, and enjoy the thought that no press is bad press. Rock on puppy purler! xox

P.S. I have been flamed, too, and I can only hope that it was not a mere passing unkindness but instead a real, lasting sign of my newfound blogging popularity.... One can only hope! :)

i think your enthusiasm is great. there's no need for her brand of hatin'.

I actually stopped reading the Knitting Curmudgeon because I found her just too cynical and negative, but I didn't blog about it...

Dogs are great, but knitting and dogs RULE!

Some people just need to lighten up. Isn't blogging supposed to be fun? Puppies are fun. Kitties are fun. Iguanas are fun (for some people!) Knitting is also fun. Lots of fun things in one place is good. Yay!

Taken from the Knitting Curmudgeon's blog: "Knitting alone makes for a dull girl. Combined with everything else, it makes me happy"

maybe the knitting curmudgeon is grumpy today too? dunno.

I say yay knitting! yay shmoos! yay whatever makes you say yay! (and I say 'yay' ALL the time)

Yay knitting ! Yay dogs! When I read why people were linking over from Knitting Curmudgeon's site, I laughed out loud. I mean, it is totally insulting, but it's kind of funny, don't you think? She's just JEALOUS because she doesn't have the unbridled enthusiasm as you do (plus she probably wishes she were still 14, like you. Heh heh heh).
Hope your nose feels better soon, and eat some chocolate--that should help get you out of the grumps!

Puppy power!