Things that will cause me to unsubscribe from a blog are pretty much what others have mentioned: post after post of complaints (bad things happen to all of us, and we need support from our knitting friends when they do, but I’m talking about those who complain all the time about everything). People who constantly post “no new knitting to show” and then lots of meme/quiz results as filler (the knitting memes are fine, but the ‘what harry potter character are you?’ ones don’t tell me anything about that person or their knitting), and finally, people who use their knitting blog as a political platform. I don’t feel it’s the place to post personal opinions as someone is bound to be offended or disagree. That is best left to private emails.

I enjoy your blog as you have a good balance of knitting projects and personal stories. We can get to know you a little and also learn a lot!

Great post for thought and discussion – My blogroll is a work in progress, and started out with some of the more popular bloggers that I enjoy… Over time I’ve tried to morph it into something more personal – bloggers that I’ve “met” or converse with; those where I comment on a regular basis; and those that I think are talented knitters and/or writers – there are a couple locals on there too. Now I almost actively try to keep it to “mere mortals”. Honestly, there is so much talent out there, it’s overwhelming and I love to be inspired. I also love to watch knitters grow (myself included) – very fun.

My subscriptions are another matter entirely – I have FAR too many. Mostly because I’m afraid of missing any amazing knitting. They are organized however – the ones I admire, “superstars” and non, but rarely if ever comment because although I know that they appreciate it, I do tend to feel that if I’m the 150th or 500th commenter that it’s a moot point. I also really enjoy the conversation aspect of the blogs – even though I was a lurker for a long time, and even though I started my own blog without really any intent in that area – but then I started enjoying other blogs more and letting them know when I appreciated their work, and recieving comments in return. There’s also a “friends/contacts” folder of those that I comment on & converse with. There’s the farm blogs that I love that have their own separate category, and the locals with theirs as well. And then there is everything else in one big folder – a couple hundred I bet, but these I check on a random basis when I have the time. Some migrate into my other folders over time and some drop out. I’m a big fan of feeds, though I usually click through to the actual blog anyway, that way I can keep some of the rarely updated blogs out there, and not lose any time actually checking them for new content. I won’t tell you how recently I learned that you could do this

I like being a “mere mortal” I get a few comments, but not so many that I can’t keep up with them. It’s manageable and I can answer them all – I’ve met some pretty amazing people this way and finally really started to see what this online community is all about. I think that I have learned more about knitting in the time that I’ve been reading and blogging than I did in the previous time, I’ve enjoyed writing about my knitting and non-knitting adventures and documenting what I’m up to. Although I think promotion is good from the designing standpoint, I don’t have any ambitions to be a “superstar” knitblogger – too much pressure, I think

I like learning about the personalities (which is not to say personal lives, necessarily) behind the blogs, though sometimes after I read one for a long time I discover personality differences that make me decide to disengage. I read the Yarn Harlot, for example, because I like Stephanie’s blogging voice. I don’t usually comment or read the comments on her posts because I don’t see anything to gain from doing so. I’m not going to name names about who I don’t like, but I’ve certainly decided that some bloggers were too persnickety for me, or too caught up in swooning over their uncontrollable need to buy yarn, or too much with the cat or baby pictures.

As far as content goes, like you, I also like good pictures and fantastic finished objects. The two go together for me — if I can’t see what it looks like in the picture, there’s not much point to the picture. And since I am particularly interested in sweaters, I like to see people knitting great sweaters, particularly when they design their own.

I like to surf around the rings every now and then to find new (or new to me) blogs that interest me. I look for good writing and photos mostly, but I also like to learn a little about the person behind the blog. I do read some blogs that seem to be strictly knitting content, but most that I read include a lot of personal content as well. For example, if you look at mine today, you’ll see a sentimental post about my pets, but most of the time it’s all about my knitting.

I’ve started commenting more on the blogs that I read because I’m looking to be a part of things and to have friendly interactions that I don’t get in my day to day life since I work at home. However, I don’t normally comment on the popular blogs who have 100s of comments – it just doesn’t seem necessary (unless it’s a Happy BD or congratulations) because I usually don’t have anything new to add. It does bug me when I comment on blogs and don’t get responses, especially when the blog gets very few comments anyway (I don’t expect people with more than even 20 comments to respond to me all the time – I am understanding of the fact that it takes time). I think that most of us are out here for discussions and interactions and if someone isn’t responding to my comments, then I don’t continue commenting and sometimes stop reading their blog.

Finally (whew! are you still with me?), when someone takes the time to comment on my blog, I normally add them to my list of blogs to read even if it’s one that I wouldn’t usually read. It just seems right.