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The TechKnit FAQ
This is an on-line copy of the Welcome message that all subscribers receive when they first join the TechKnit mailing list. It was last revised 10/13/05 to reflect the lists's move to a new server, and supercedes all previous versions of this Welcome message.
TechKnit is a mailing list for people interested in knitting and spinning. Message content includes questions and discussions of problems and solutions for general and specific knitting and spinning projects, critiques and review of related publications (magazines, books, videos, etc.) and other similar topics. The list owner (sometimes referred to below as "ListMom") is Lois Baker, email lois@fibergypsy.com.
PLEASE READ and keep a copy of this message -- maybe print one out and stash it in a safe place -- for future reference. This is a LONG message, but it contains important information that you may need now and in the future. It includes the rules for posts sent to this list; failure to comply with these rules may mean you will be unsubscribed from the list.
Information you'll find in this document includes:
What Types of Posts Are (and Are Not) Acceptable on this List
Several rules and guidelines are outlined below. Please read and understand them before you send any post to TechKnit. All are intended to keep the discussion on this list focused and of interest to as many subscribers as possible. A good rule of thumb: before you send a post to TechKnit, ask yourself whether it's likely that the information will be helpful and/or interesting to a significant number of people.
Posts that do not follow these rules may be rejected without explanation and/or you may receive a warning from the ListMom. Persistent failure to comply with one or more of these rules may mean you'll be unsubscribed from the list.
This is NOT a chat list -- please use private e-mail or one of the other knit-related mailing lists (there are several; email the owner of this list for more information) for personal chat. Discussion of Works in Progress (WIPs), Unfinished Objects (UFOs), stash enrichment, KIP (knitting in public), travels, etc. should be confined to technical questions or solutions.
Please do not send any post to the list that does not include knitting or spinning information (or questions). This includes personal replies, reminders about list rules, affirmations of list rules, or "I've lost your email address" -- as well as public apologies for inadvertent infractions.
Please be VERY careful to check the address you to which you are sending a post or server command.
If you're sending a server command (subscribe, unsubscribe, whatever), be sure you are sending it to majordomo@lists.spunge.org (not to techknit (at) lists (dot) spunge (dot) org).
If you are quoting the original message in a reply you are sending to TechKnit, please keep it brief! If at all possible merely summarize what another person has posted or quote briefly from a previous post and make sure your follow-up adds substance to the subject under discussion.
Please be careful to send posts to the list only from an email address that is subscribed to the list. If you have two email addresses, you will need to subscribe both in order to be able to post from both. And if you don't want to get techknit mail at work, you have two choices: either don't post from work, or, if you must post from there, subscribe that address, wait until you receive the "welcome to techknit" message, send your post, then unsubscribe that address.
Please be sure to put a meaningful subject line on your message. If you send a message in reply to the digest, please remember to change the subject line; if your post comes through with "Techknit v2005 #2xx" as the subject, it will bounce to the ListMom, who may or may not forward it to the list. If you want your post to be read, it only makes sense to title it properly -- many subscribers skim subject lines and read or delete depending on what they find there. If they can't tell the subject of your post, chances are it will be ignored.
Please don't send any post to this list that you are also sending to another fiber or knitting list. It's tempting to tap as many sources as possible when you have a question, but many, many people subscribe to more than one of these lists and are seeing the same posts (whether identical or edited) more than once. Chances are they will not react favorably to the repetition.
Please don't send messages to the list asking where to get something that's been mentioned on the list. Requests in response to a public announcement and offer (of clip art, shareware, whatever) should be sent privately to the individual who made the offer.
Please do not post swap items or requests for specific yarns needed to complete a project. There are other lists and Web sites whose sole purpose is to collect and disseminate swap information, and the "big knitlist" welcomes the "looking for yarn" request -- and reaches about twice as many people. Please DO feel free to post a "looking for XYZ" request if the answer is likely to be of interest to a large group of people. For example, "where can I mail order those hard-to-find casein needles" is fine; but "does anyone have an extra skein of XYZ yarn in color #123 and dye lot #456" is not.
Please do not post entire knitting patterns on this list.
Even if the pattern is your own design (meaning you own the copyright), please don't post it; too many patterns have been publicly offered as "my own design" when in fact they are almost identical to a published pattern -- and that's something the ListMom is not about to try to police!
Please do not send any file as an attachment to a post you send to the list. They don't come through properly and instead appear at the end of your message as huge amounts of garbage characters. These file attachments create problems for the 60% of TechKnit subscribers who receive the list in digest form. If you have a file you would like to share, please feel free to post a message saying "I have this file available and will send it to you via private email if you contact me. If you use Outlook Express or MSExchange through Windows, please see How to Avoid File Attachments, below.
Please don't ask for a back issue of a digest to be sent to you. All back issues of the digests of this list are available on the Web.
Before sending a post to TechKnit, please check your email program to be sure no files are attached automatically. If you send email using Outlook Express or MS Exchange (through Windows 95 or Windows 98), you will need to reconfigure your email program so that it does not attach the winmail.dat file, and so that messages are *not* sent in rich text format. This will solve the problem not only for messages you sent to TechKnit (and other mailing lists), but also for messages you send to anyone who uses a slightly older email program.
There are (at least) two places on the Web that explain how to change this setting in your program:
Yes, TechKnit could be changed to send replies to the individual poster rather than to the list. However, there has been a conscious decision to keep replies going to the list for several reasons, the most important of which is that it encourages public answers to technical questions -- which is, after all, what the list is about. That decision was made when the list was started (10/96), and has been reaffirmed several times since then, after much thought and discussion with other mailing list owners -- and also after reviewing the policies and practices of other mailing lists. -All- of the mailing list owners surveyed, and -all- of the other mailing lists reviewed use the same system as TechKnit -- and for the same reason.
It seems each fiber-related list on the 'net has adopted a symbol to be worn as a lapel pin at gatherings such as Stitches, TKGA conferences, Convergence, etc. The "big KnitList" uses a tiny blue knitted sock, spinners use a skein of blue yarn and weavers a blue woven swatch.
Based strictly on ease of knitting (which is all relative at that size) and, more importantly, ease of recognition, the TechKnit symbol is some form of tiny needles with a swatch of knitting attached. The knitting can be any pattern, any gauge; the needles can be toothpicks, hairpins, piano wire, whatever. If knitting at a tiny gauge is something you're not fond of, it's ok to cheat -- make it in larger yarn and slide the "needles" through it somewhere (I won't tell anyone!).
And since there's at least one group on the 'net (the weavers) who use a tiny blue square, the TechKnit swatch is green so that it's easy to spot. (Besides, that's the ListMom favorite color.)
Please limit your signature to 5 lines or less!
Please do not type in ALL CAPS -- not only is it difficult to read, it gives the impression that you're shouting.
hile there is no limit on the number or frequency of posts you may send to the list, please be considerate of others. If you are asking several questions -- or providing several answers -- in one day, please try to combine them into a single message rather than sending several short posts.
iscussion and differences of opinion contribute to healthy growth of the list and our individual knowledge; personal attacks do not. Feel free to disagree with others, but do so politely and without flaming. Condescending language and behavior is especially to be avoided. Failure to heed this guideline is grounds for being removed from the list.
Please do not forward to the list a private email you have received from another individual unless you have that individual's permission. Failure to heed this guideline is grounds for being removed from the list.
Please remember that individuals from all over the world, and from many different cultures and walks of life take part in this list. For some, English is not their native language; for others, it is the means of their livelihood. The goal of this list is to support and enhance our knowledge and enjoyment of knitting and spinning; please keep this in mind if and when you take issue with another's opinions or information.
Navigating the List -- List commands etc.
This list is run by Majordomo software, which, like any software, requires that you follow certain rules. This software allows you to receive the list in the form of individual e-mail messages, or in a single daily e-mail message ("Digest") that includes all individual messages sent that day. You can even receive both if you like.
The volume of mail on this list is somewhat sporadic. If more than three or four days go by and you do not receive any mail from techknit, it's possible that your address was unsubscribed because mail sent to you from the list bounced for some reason (your mailbox was full, a server was down -- not necessarily yours, could be any one in the chain that connects you to lists.spunge.org) or your email address has changed.
If you think you may have been unsubscribed, try subscribing again (at the TechKnit Web Site) -- if you are already subscribed, it won't create a second subscription,and if you have somehow been bounced, it will correct the problem.
And if you -still- don't get any techknit mail, contact the list owner (lois@fibergypsy.com)
To post a message to the list (whether you subscribe in the form of individual messages or digest), send your message to techknit (at) lists (dot) spunge (dot) org
To communicate with the list owner send e-mail to Lois Baker, lois@fibergypsy.com
All other commands (subscribe, unsubscribe, change to/from digest/individual messages) are best accomplished using an online form at the TechKnit Web Site
And, finally, if you'd like to read any back issues of the TechKnit digest, all digests (beginning with the start of this list in September, 1996) are available on the Web. This digest archive is searchable by date or by text string; follow the instructions to conduct your search. If you don't have access to the Web, please email the list owner privately for help.