YRSTS #3: Phoncible Hat
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| Corrugated ribbing is a staple in Stranded knitting... and a bit of a pain to work, but it looks awesome! |
Oh no.
5.5 smackeroos.
Read it and weep, colorwork amateurs.
Alternatives
It's so disappointing that such a simple hat should cost $5.50. All it is is corrugated ribbing and stripes.
Well, at first I was going to attempt to reverse engineer it (because its cool) but I haz the Lazies (the L from this point forward) and decided to search on Ravelry for something similar.
I found one... Portable Rainbow Hat - almost exactly the same... but free. Just reduce the length of the ribbing, do it all in stockinette, and make it slouchier than the pattern calls for. It even uses a bigger needle so you'll finish it faster! I plan on making one myself :)
Alternatively, if you want to play around and made something that looks like a more exact facsimile, Here's a good guide on corrugated ribbing for the uninitiated. Play around with needle sizes and # of stitches CO, work two rows of stripes per color, and pick a nice crown decrease.
UPDATE 5/12: apparently it wasn't corrugated ribbing... on closer inspection, it's just alternating 2x2 stockinette with the two colorways. [This also more than ever makes it not worth paying for IMO]. But I think this hat would be fabulous with the addition of corrugated ribbing, so do either one.
You're welcome.
Happy Knitting!
(That is a picture of one of my WIPs btw)
I'm sorry that you feel that designers should work for free :-( It's actually not corrugated ribbing, though.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it disappointing that designers want to get paid for their work? Five dollars isn't even that much if you consider the hours that go into designing, knitting, formatting, photographing, and providing help when you asking questions.
ReplyDeleteA pattern more than just some typed up instructions. It's an idea that the designer had, made, and decided to share. The least you could do is pay them for their time instead of trying to knock it off.
Typos galore up there! Should be "ask" instead of "asking", and "A pattern is more than just some typed up instructions".
DeleteThat was my bad. But you really should think about why patterns have value. You obviously want the product. Why is it so offensive of a notion to pay for it?
It's truly rich that you expect work that you're too lazy to do should be given to you for free by someone who actually did the work. Do you expect grocers to give you fruit that you're too lazy to pick yourself?
ReplyDeletePosts like this nearly do make me want to weep, as a designer - not because people reverse engineer patterns; if you can, more power to you - but because of the attitude that someone who has taken the time to do all of that work shouldn't get paid for it. Many (not all, certainly) designers spend hours coming up with a design (which clearly you found inspiring), working all the numbers on a spreadsheet, and translating those numbers into a well-written pattern. Then they spend their own money on a tech editor and/or test knitters to ensure it is a quality pattern.
ReplyDeleteThe work, especially for an independent designer, doesn't end there. Once the pattern is purchased, most designers make themselves available for pattern support, spending more of their time answering questions and helping knitters. And for that, they ask just a couple dollars per pattern. If that's not money you want to pay, that's certainly your choice. But it would be nice if you could make that choice without disrespecting the designers who believe their time, effort, and creativity are worth something.
You may think the pattern is easy to reproduce - but then again it was going to take you time to do, time you could be bothered to spend. So there is clearly value in this pattern. People will pay because they don't have the skills to work it our for themselves or the design savvy to come up with the idea themselves (you didn't, did you?), or they will pay because $5.5o is a small amount if they put a value on the time it would take to work out the pattern for themselves. It is a lot less that the hourly rate for someone on minimum wage in the UK and I believe in most of the USA as well.
ReplyDeleteOoops lots of typos from me too ... something about emotional levels perhaps
ReplyDeleteI love your "if you like my patterns, please donate and save me from my job" button. Irony is alive and well...
ReplyDeleteI kind of get your schtick. You're infuriated that someone thought of something you could have thought up, and therefore they shouldn't profit from it. I feel that same way about the toaster oven. It's so simple: it's like a normal, electric oven, but it's small! I could have thought of that, but someone's making millions sitting on that patent.
ReplyDeleteSarcasm aside, I think it's admirable that you strive to reverse-engineer things rather than pay for the pattern. That shows a real promise for writing your own patterns. Go with that; you may find it's much more rewarding than complaining about someone else's designs.
I know a few things about Alex's patterns. First, she has many patterns for free. Second, her page design template is impeccable. She puts in the hours. She takes amazing photographs. What you pay for is work, care, and a succinct explanation of how to create a product. I would recommend buying one of her patterns, if only for inspiration for when you start writing and laying out your own patterns for sale!