I posted a while back about entering a competition for miniatures in a local agricultural show, last year. I didn't place, and the winner was one of the judges, most of you were in solitude with my annoyance.

Well I entered another show a few weeks ago and won! There were some other amazing entries and I was happy to compete against people who were highly talented. It was the people's choice award and people had to vote, so done fairly in my opinion.

Anyways, when they announced the winner, this guy started to angrily take away his entries, glaring at me and scoffing at my work. His entries were ro life kits. A few people had asked me how I made my piece and I was honest. The building was a kit. But the stones, paint, stained glass, furniture and food was all made by hand. This man complained to the organisers that I had used a kit after he overheard me. But the dude only entered Ro life kits, that weren't custom either.

I'm just so confused how he could be that visibly angry over my winning, complaining that it was a kit, when all he entered was a kit.

I understand they take some form of assembly. But they're so easy now, just clicking pieces together and using stickers.

I’m sick of people using online crafting communities as a place to play out their mental instabilities. 10 posts a day about not being able to accomplish this or that and feeling “useless as a person” or that they’ll never accomplish their most deeply held dream of making a festival top and now their psyches have been deeply damaged by failure. Can we, a community of strangers, please pop in with some kind words so they dont have to dramatically…not craft anymore?

There’s 1000 ways to be creative and not a single one is mandatory folks. If that keychain is pushing you to the end of your rope, you can just stop and take a break, you don’t have to suck all the air out of the room wanting a sub to become your personal army of therapists.

Idk if this is just youthful hyperbole that I’m too old to understand or if legions of beginners are really out there having fits about not picking up an art form immediately.

I love that crochet is getting attention again. And I genuinely respect anyone trying to help their mom earn from her skills.

But can we be honest for a second?

Just because you saw many people go viral with the "my mom crochets please support her" story, doesn't mean you have to copy the exact same format.

Crochet was known by every granny of that generation. It was a life skill, not automatically a business. They did it for decades without ever selling a single piece.

And that's the point - just because you know crochet, doesn't mean you have to immediately start selling it.

If you're going to sell, respect the craft. Price it right, learn finishing, learn what actually takes skill and time. Don't just post a basic piece with an emotional caption and expect people to pay because it's your mom.

I'm saying this as an artist myself because this trend of quick emotional marketing is actually making it harder for people to value handmade properly. It turns a craft that takes years to master into a sympathy purchase.

Support your mom, absolutely. But let her craft speak for itself too.

Yeah, I'm probably unreasonable but I've had three glasses of wine so fuck it.

I am a fat person. I acknowledge that. It is one of the many, *many* reasons I choose to create my own clothes.

Many of the trousers for fat people incorporates some kind of waistband elastic, either full waistband or partial waistband. I fucking hate waistband elastics. They gather the fabric and make my already corpulent waist look, if possible, even wider and directly erases any whispers of a hourglass figure.

But, I'm not an impossible woman. Oh no. If so many popular pattern has it, and som many people swear by it, I atleast should give it a chance, right? RIGHT? So, I settle on waistband with elastics in the back. Jones trousers by Goldfinch. I sew them. I'm about to add the elastic part, when the pattern states:

"Cut an elastic about the half width of your waist plus 2,5 cm"

I'm sorry, what? Do you guys know what happens with elastic that are exactly so long it needs to be in a relaxed state? It *drumrolls* STRETCHES TOO LONG.

Which means, there are no way in hell it will keep my pants up. BUT, since I'm not an impossible woman, I try. Lo and behold, whos pants does not stay up? You wanna guess??

I rip up the aggravating waistband, shorten the elastic by 25% and tries again. There, better. Now they don't fall of when standing still, atleast.

But after a day at work, the back still falls and looks like a kindergardeners jogging pants from the back.

So I go through my patterns. Pattern after pattern states to CUT THE ELASTIC THE EXACT LENGTH AS THE WAIST (or half the waist in case of back elastic waistbands). What am I doing wrong? Or what are pattern writers explanation for this? Is this a plus size thing? Like, plus size patterns need a different amount of ease, and different length of elastic kinda thing?

Anyhow, I'm now furious with elastic, who should be my best friend but turnes out to be a backstabbing bitch.

Peace!

90% of the time people who ask you to make something for them or say you should sell your work are trying to be polite, not stiff you or take advantage. I see hobbyists / artists of all kinds complain about like, an aunt saying they would love to get some socks or something and they’re like “well i would price myself at £40 an hour + materials + whatever other numbers I can think of, so you can’t afford it”. Do you guys not know what flattery is? I don’t understand how the kneejerk reaction is to go on some screed about how nobody understands the value of your labour instead of recognising the implicit compliment.

When i was a tween I’d make these shitty anime drawings and my family would be like “woah you’re so talented can you paint my portrait :)” “wow have you considered selling that” and even then I had the sense to know that’s just their way of encouraging me. Can’t imagine somehow getting offended by that especially as a grown adult

In general people who knit are super antagonist to anyone who tries to engage with them. I saw people complain about being asked what they’re working on because they “don’t follow patterns and it’s all free form” Why are you acting all brooding and tortured over knitting lmfao

Probably a frequent topic but

What is it with beginners that
1) in the first place choose bouclé or some other stupid-ass novelty yarn
2) probably haven't learned how to read their knitting with any other yarn either
3) ASK OTHERS "wHaT wEnT wRoNg HeRe??" - like bitch, I can't see shit from that pile of something that might be a knitted garment, and if you're referring to something with the stitches, you need to go back a few steps to actually answer the question of what went wrong

Doing stupid mistakes is a continuous part of learning, but to think others would have the ability to look into a crystal ball with something that is not visible at all is just… stupid.

Although don’t get me started with obvious mistakes that account for not being able to spot the difference even with a simple knit and purl stitch :D

Anyone else? I've been knitting for years and years and years and years and years. I am VHS years old. I am eight track years old.

I remember the first time knitting became really popular in my lifetime. And everyone lost their minds and started knitting. And we all knit the same shit. At the same time. We all read the same blogs. And then Ravelry started and we all loved it. Hell I even have lifelong friends that I made on Ravelry 17 years ago. And we have met in real life and travel to see each other.

And now it's becoming popular again, but this time in the age of this social media, where it's not new and fresh and exciting, instead it's full of ads and everyone is trying to sell something.

I miss Knitty. And I miss the community around it. I miss when everyone was learning things and just excited to share it, and not trying to profit off it. I miss when the most fiber art drama was the Ravelry rubbernecker group. I miss when the community was so small that if you friended a famous designer on Ravelry, they would friend you back, and you guys would send messages and next thing you know you're just sort of buddies. You see each other around the forums and say hi.

I wish I could get it back.

ETA: I just want to clarify that I know Knitty exists still. I'm just feeling sad for when I was young and everything was exciting and I felt like I was part of a knitting community still. You know. Being old and stuff.

Okay I'm going to go kick a Rock in a sad fashion.kthxbai

Let me preface this by saying finding mistakes in patterns happens. We are all people and even those who sell patterns often just do it on the side. Finding a few mistakes is not what I'm talking about here. This was actually incomprehensible.

I bought a pattern for a sweater where any two pieces of instructions will actually contradict each other. The graphs are wrong (it says: this graph is for sizes 2, 4 and 6, but it won't actually work for size 4!). There are sizes but no measurements or size specific info (it only gives the starting stitch count, then you have to wing it).

There is no gauge swatch!!

Since it's relatively simple, I managed to draft some instructions myself anyway. But isn't the point of buying patterns just not having to do that?

Also, it's clear that not only it wasn't tested, but the author didn't even make all sizes to verify they worked. Lastly, while some images of the steps are real, some others are AI.

Yes, I did email this person. No, they were not very helpful. They just said the missing information wasn't actually needed (??).

I can't tell if they are not very familiar with fiber arts (though they wrote they have been doing it for years) or what. If I didn't have to gift this item, I would already have thrown the pattern away.

I feel bad bitching about this because it seems to be a small creator, but seriously, make sure your work it's at least understandable before selling. And if you don't, be kind when I ask for your help😭😭

Looking at you well-known indie sewing company with popular patterns. I get protecting your IP but if I’m spending $27 on your pattern then another $18 to have it printed - I want to have your instructions on my iPad, delete the first 15 pages of cutting layouts and write all my adjustments on the pattern because you know for that price I’m making it multiple times and hacking parts and reminding future me what shortcuts I took.

And thanks, but your tip to print the instructions is not useful because who owns a printer anymore and I don’t want to invest more in a pattern I haven’t even made yet.

Edit to add - based on the comments I girded my loins and went back through the ‘print to pdf’ options I’d already tried and this time Google drive came up a winner. Why this didn’t work previously is a mystery. Why I also need to go through this faff is also a mystery. But thank you for listening.

I've seen some posts here complaining about popular crochet patterns, (the same fluffy yarn bumblebees etc etc) and while I agree that crocheters should branch out and that seeing the same 2 patterns over and over again in markets can be annoying, I really don't like when people compare it to ai or 3d print slop. It's just a completely unfair comparison, even the most basic amigurumi pattern takes WAY more effort to create than any ai creation. That person with a stall full of fluffy bumblebees spent a lot of their time hand-making those, even if they're unoriginal, it seems extremely unfair to equate them to ai especially when ai has harmful environmental and social impacts

Maybe it's because every craft show has the same stupid dragon fidgets that my 5 year old is obsessed with. Maybe it's because they're asking $2 for an animal fidget literally smaller than my thumb. Maybe it's because half of the products aren't even made properly (I know that goddamn dragons mouth is supposed to open and yet half the ones I pick up the mouth doesn't open)

I have no idea how 3D printing works but im really tired of seeing them at craft fairs. And flea markets. And county fairs. And even the damn farmers market.

Also please feel free to put me in my place, this is my opinion as someone who literally has no idea how this shit works I'm just tired of seeing all the same exact art everywhere I go

A few years ago I set up a knitting and crochet group in my local area. It is pretty successful and we have a core group of regulars and some people who who pop in and out sporadically. We have a very active whatsapp group and a not so active FB group. The FB group is private and has almost 200 members. Although most have never come to our meetups.

Another local person is setting up a new group in the same location but a different night. It is advertised as a sewing group but all needlecrafts are welcome. The woman who started it requested to join our FB group and I accepted her and she immeadiately posted advertising the new group. She has never attended our weekly meetings. I didnt want to delete it and create drama between two potentially "competing" groups. But am I right that it is a bit of a shitty move on her part? If she asked permission I think I wouldnt be as annoyed. There are two admins on the group and neither of us were contacted.

I learned to crochet just about two eyars before it blew up and became extremely popular. I am so tired of the community that I honestly hate interacting with other crocheters. Everyone makes the same patterns (which to me is no different than the 3D printers two market-stalls down the street), obsesses over the same things, does the little influencer laugh when someone figures out YET ANOTHER 'hilarious' and skanky yarn joke about being a hooker. I. am. sick of it.

As an artist with multiple hobbies, I have put down this particular hobby for now. It's nice to be in a community with things in common, but it is NOT nice to be in a community where everyone is the same. Catch my drift? One pattern after another goes viral; the supid looking ball with a squishy inside, the coaster that sticks its head up and screams when you put a mug on it, the plant car hangs (mostly bought from temu btw), the emotional support potato (Also temu popular), the bees, the chickens, the loaf cats. I want to rip my hair out!!!!

When did art become something where we all replicate one another? When did it become a commune of hive-minded men and women forcing themselves to 'create' the next viral pattern just so they make more than five bucks at a market?? And since when did we ALL have to sell our work?? Can we just make things for the sake of the process, make what we want, and be happy? Heaven forbid we have any traits unique to us, even as 'alternative' people with creative hobbies or art skills.

If i see another art piece of art "inspired" by Jimothy the raccoon I'm actually going to go on a rampage. I hope I'm not alone in feeling this way.

Edit: Sorry about not being clear, but my complaints mostly come from real human people in my real-life physical community, not social media. Any social media is not my choice, i literally have a flip-phone

Edit 2: "Get those frustrations off your chest, no matter how petty they may be." -the description of this subreddit ;)

Two examples, one old and ongoing, the other a new and exciting flavor:

I do beadwork, and occasionally that beadwork is earrings. The earrings occasionally get stuck onto playing cards instead of cardstock with my logo or whatever. I thought it was cute, and so does every fucking body else. It's become a thing at fairs where, alongside my list of sales, I will also keep a running tally of how many times someone says "omg what a cute idea!" about the playing cards and then walks away.

It's nice to hear but there are only so many ways to say thank you for something I put no effort into. Oh well.

The new example is that I made some biiiig bunting with my shop name on it because I didn't want to shell out for some generic printed banner. It took hours and I love it to death. Unfortunately, so does everyone else, to the point that they will overlook the beadwork clearly staged on the table, tell me how much they love the bunting, and then try to hit me up for a commission. I do not sell bunting. I barely do commissions for beads. Again, it's nice to hear, but my reflex response is, "Absolutely not," with a big smile. Most people are understanding.

(I tried to post this similar thread in a similar subreddit but the only response I got before it was deleted was someone complaining that I was complaining. That kind of shit gives me whiplash lol if that's you, respectfully, please go away)

If I'm buying an online sewing pattern that I have to print and cut out, it needs one of those inch squares to make sure my printer is at the right settings. Just saying "oh use this specific printer setting" isn't enough because that specific setting isn't always right

First things first, all knitting techniques are valid and have their place in the craft, and all people can have their preference. I get it. Duplicate stitch is indeed superior for small, intricate colorwork elements.

BUT! I hate it so so much when I see a beautiful preview of a colorwork piece on Instagram (or elsewhere) only to find out that the whole gigantic ass picture there was done with duplicate stitch. Like, I opened it out of curiosity for the pattern, I'm interested in seeing technical solutions other people opted for (even if it's stranded colorwork for a small item in front of the sweater... anyway). What I see instead is not even knitting, FFS, it's embroidery meant to look like knitting!

And yeah, the finished fabric won't have the same drape, and you'll still have to weave in the ends, so it's not even a good shortcut for proper colorwork techniques.

I was just at a card convention and there was someone selling a 3 inch tall egg-shaped chenille "frog" for $25 USD. I'm sorry, but no. That took you 15 minutes tops and a very very beginner could have done it. Also chenille ew.

My personal experience is mostly with crochet, but this can apply to any craft.
While it is unlikely that an absolute beginner will create a well-written and original pattern, I really don’t understand the sort of immediate indignancy towards beginners trying to sell patterns. This does NOT apply to people reselling or stealing patterns (and I mean actually stealing the original pdf/text) and I am not referring to generic amigurumi patterns.

Ive only been crocheting for ~2 years. Over the past few months, I have done many many reattempts at crocheting a sweater for my cousin’s whippet. First following a pattern online, then modifying the pattern, and then giving up and essentially drafting a new pattern. I felt pretty good about the fit and finessed the pattern + measurements when making another sweater for a friend’s Iggy. I’m a member of a local crochet club (managed by a LYS) which publishes a newsletter every few months with a handful of patterns and I was offered a spot for the “sighthound sweater”. This requires rewriting the pattern to fit their style guidelines and taking a few progress photos and professional-ish final photos which is a lot of work. Usually, the pattern writer is paid a small flat rate for the pattern (~18.50$) and supplied with yarn. It’s not a great rate but it’s a small LYS with a tight community. I received the yarn but was told by one of the owners of the LYS that they felt uncomfortable putting my pattern at “the level of the other professionals” who write for them which uh… idk about that tbh. I’ve encountered many a typo and random shifts between UK and US crochet terms in the newsletters.

The edited pattern was approved this morning and I thought maybeeeee I’d get paid but nope. Ive spoken to some other crochet acquaintances and got a bit of weird response. I should be “honored” to even get credit and I need to pay my dues to the community before I start expecting the community to pay me back? Huhhh?? What dues do I owe??

I love scrolling through Instagram hashtags to get inspiration on sewing and knitting patterns. Seeing different fabrics, colors, body types, etc.

I’m also big on Ravelry, always scouring hot right now patterns and reading through peoples notes on the changes/sizes they made. Knitters give so much information on their finished garments and I gobble that shit up.

This rant is brought to you by my voracious scrolling on Instagram trying to figure out what size pants I need to make based on the European sizes and conversions.

Why is there such a gap in the information people present their finished garments on Instagram vs Ravelry? I find it incredibly frustrating that sewn projects rarely provide the details on their finished pieces. I want to know what size you made! How tall are you? What mods you did! Share the changes you would do for the next round! Give me all of the details so I can get a better grasp of how I want to approach my version of that pattern. If I have to read one more basic “I loved this pattern” description, I’m throwing my phone away.

Hot take: If you’re not sharing the post to provide your full experience and guidance so others can be as successful as you in your make, then you shouldn’t be posting. You’re gate keeping.

Ok, ok, not that serious. I just want to look through hashtags and see what sizes people made so when I’m between sizes, I can get a better idea of what changes to make for myself. Make a toile you say? Who has the time! (Everyone).

If I am crocheting and clearly have headphones in, why are you trying to talk to me?? Does me clearly just paying attention to my project scream I want to talk about it? The only time I don’t get angry is if it’s an old lady who is honestly just excited to see someone young doing it. The young people tho! No, I’m not making a crop top or a stuffed animal. It’s just a boring blanket for a baby. I know how lame of me. 🙄

Does anyone else just report everything that is blatantly AI on Etsy? I've started browsing patterns just for things I can submit. "Crochet animals" with a ball floating in MID AIR between them? Report!

I feel like it's not much, but it's honest work. It's more satisfying than scrolling memes on Instagram.

I was looking for a pattern on Etsy and came across a listing for a crochet "sophie hood" for $800. It said it was made from luxurious acrylic wool and it was artisan quality, having taken 30 hrs to complete. There were a lot of uneven bulges and didn't appear to have a finished edge. Am I possibly not understanding a satirical listing or is this how out of touch it has become?

It’s time for patterns that use complicated techniques like a bingo card, colour choices that test the very boundaries of colour theory, and structural elements that need to be sense-checked beforehand.

Hey, maybe you can even use yarn from that advent calendar you bought 5 years ago that doesn’t have a single mini skein that pairs well in the collection!