They Say a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...
So here's 1,000 off the bat:
"My aim in doing this is to let y'all know that there are people who will not stand for being charged for something that can be easily reverse engineered. I am not saying designers shouldn't be compensated for their hard work. (extra emphasis added) Quite the contrary, actually. There are many designs (i.e sweaters, lace, and colorwork) that have to be extensively tested, charted, etc.-----I don't mind paying for these things. As a matter of fact, I am proud to support these amazing designers and am happy they decided to share these things with us at reasonable cost."
As an addendum to my original statement I am adding the following: any paid pattern which requires nothing beyond basic knitting/crochet fundamentals will be featured in YRSTS. No exceptions. As I find offending patterns, and as my loyal readers send them to me, I will post them. Ohhh yes. With much gusto.
Your hat doesn't deserve to be $5.50. It's too simple. Anyone armed with the basic fundamentals of knitting in the round can do this without a pattern. One of your pals asked me why didn't/don't I reverse engineer it.... It wasn't interesting enough for me to have done so when I posted the original entry, but challenge accepted! Look forward to a stripey awesome FREE "knockoff" hat pattern from yours truly after the new year <3
To quote someone who finds this whole situation as ridiculous as I do (we knitters on Google + had a good laugh about this....), "there ain't no way in hell I'm ever going to pay $5.50 for a HAT pattern where the self-striping yarn is doing all the heavy lifting. Pffft!"
AND a good evening to you, madam! *bows*
There's nothing like a disgruntled "designer" sending her henchmen to bombard your humble little corner of cyberspace. Really.
I stand by my segment, and I stand by featuring Ms. Tinsley's hat (for the back story and all the drama llama, you can read the original post here). If any of her henchmen friends bothered to read my original mission statement, there wouldn't have been such a backlash from so called (woebegone! Pearl clutching!!) "designers".
Speaking of, I must say thanks Ms. Tinsley, or shall we call you Anonymous? I do appreciate all the extra views I've gotten in the past week or so! :D
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| Note the number of views for the post featuring her hat, and also the first shortened URL on the right... which leads to said post. Coincidence? |
But I digress. I'll say it again.
To quote my above linked mission statement:
"My aim in doing this is to let y'all know that there are people who will not stand for being charged for something that can be easily reverse engineered. I am not saying designers shouldn't be compensated for their hard work. (extra emphasis added) Quite the contrary, actually. There are many designs (i.e sweaters, lace, and colorwork) that have to be extensively tested, charted, etc.-----I don't mind paying for these things. As a matter of fact, I am proud to support these amazing designers and am happy they decided to share these things with us at reasonable cost."
As an addendum to my original statement I am adding the following: any paid pattern which requires nothing beyond basic knitting/crochet fundamentals will be featured in YRSTS. No exceptions. As I find offending patterns, and as my loyal readers send them to me, I will post them. Ohhh yes. With much gusto.
Your hat doesn't deserve to be $5.50. It's too simple. Anyone armed with the basic fundamentals of knitting in the round can do this without a pattern. One of your pals asked me why didn't/don't I reverse engineer it.... It wasn't interesting enough for me to have done so when I posted the original entry, but challenge accepted! Look forward to a stripey awesome FREE "knockoff" hat pattern from yours truly after the new year <3
To quote someone who finds this whole situation as ridiculous as I do (we knitters on Google + had a good laugh about this....), "there ain't no way in hell I'm ever going to pay $5.50 for a HAT pattern where the self-striping yarn is doing all the heavy lifting. Pffft!"
AND a good evening to you, madam! *bows*
Why would I comment anonymously? You know what I think. I tweeted your blog post so that others could see and weigh in on this "series" that you're doing, and many of them were just as disgusted as me and chose to comment. If you want to be a shitty person and make a name for yourself by tearing down and blatantly copying others, that's your decision, but you should know that the knitting community tends to by each other (one of the many wonderful things about it) and that sort of behavior won't win much respect.
ReplyDeleteNotice I never disrespected you in any sort of way when responding to you; please refrain from cussing at me :)
DeleteSarcasm is an accepted medium, however. :)
BTW, you're right, it IS an easy hat. I would never expect an intermediate knitter to want to buy it, and I don't mind people reverse-engineering it for themselves. But there are a lot of beginning knitters out there, and they appreciate having a pattern that has been edited and tested. Many people don't want to reverse engineer- they'd rather relax and knit without doing the math, and there's not a thing wrong with that. You're pretty much shitting on anyone who doesn't want to do their own designing (and not even just simple designing, at that- Sidewinder is hardly an easy one! http://pancraftuality.blogspot.com/2012/01/yrsts-4-sidewinder-hat.html) I think that you need to step back and realize that just because something is easy for you doesn't mean it's easy for everyone, and just because you'd rather spend your time "messing with the decreases to get it to look similar" than shell out $5 to find out how to do it doesn't mean that's how everyone feels. There's quite a big market for beginner patterns, or they wouldn't exist, haha (Not that Sidewinder even falls in that category.)
ReplyDeleteSo you're basically admitting that you know it's an easy hat and fuck all the beginners who don't know any better? Wow.
DeleteShocking.
You should be ashamed of yourself for selling that pattern at ALL, let alone for almost $6. There are plenty of colorwork hats for FREE on Rav that are perfectly edited and easy to follow. What makes your hat so special?
THIS is a hat worth $5: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/karin-kurbits-hat Which I plan to buy after the holidays... intricate colorwork is so time consuming!
I cannot begin to imagine how long that must have taken to chart and test. Your hat....? Hurm.
I'm not hating on anyone who wants to design (as a matter of fact, I am enabling people to design--- reverse engineering is a great way to start; they learn new skills and will be more confident about trying new things); I'm hating on greedy monsters who prey on ignorance to line their pockets. I am all about the free flow of information; greedy designers ruin the fun for everyone.
I don't hold a gun to anyone's head (re: buying vs. free alternatives or reverse engineering); at the end of the day people will do what they like.... I'm just an opinionated girl with a blog. If I can help a few people out and save them some money, then I'm happy :)
You're hilarious. Try not to take yourself so seriously hon. Learn to take constructive criticism and roll with it.
This is the last word I'll say in regards to you and your posse. I responded to all (or most) of the comments on this post so I think I've given you enough attention... too much for my liking, as it were.
Take care and good luck designing! :)
You're very much missing the point. Some beginners like using free patterns, and that's fine. Some beginners prefer to have patterns that have been test knit, tech edited, and professionally presented (and in many cases printed- this pattern sells well in yarn shops because many beginning knitters are drawn to Noro and this gives them something to tackle when they're ready to learn basic colorwork, knitting in the round, and shaping.) Those benefits take time and money for the designer to provide, even for a simple pattern. Honestly it takes me just as much time and money to knit, photograph, type up, format, test and have edited a simple pattern as a harder one (unless there's a chart, that takes a little longer.) And some people don't mind paying for those benefits. Who are you to say that they're foolish for doing so?
DeleteAnd don't pretend that people pattern shopping on Ravelry aren't aware that there are free patterns out there - they can find them just as easily as they can find the for-pay ones (and probably a lot more easily than they can find this blog.) There's no need for you to single out patterns and make rude comments about them, and that's what I called you out on.
(And as a matter of interest- my just-above-the-basics patterns like Phoncible? They sell the PANTS off my patterns involving more advanced techniques. Other designers have told me the same thing. I don't know why that is, but it's true.)
I know this is all fun and games and internet drama-whoring for you, but for a lot of us, it's our careers, and yeah, we do take it pretty seriously. Grow up.
Also, to clarify - personally I find nothing about colorwork "simple," so if I were so inclined to start colorwork, I would be happy to shell out $5.50 for that lovely hat pattern. Everyone has different skills and strengths. Colorwork is NOT one of mine.
ReplyDeleteThe particular hat isn't as difficult as fair isle, so even a beginner who has made a few hats can tackle the pattern with relative ease...
DeleteI did read your statement and that left me baffled as to why you link to free alternative patterns if the patterns that cost money are too easy to need patterns to knit. That makes no sense unless you're just angry about having to spend money on your craft and actually agree that the design isn't too simple to knit without a pattern if you're not experiences. If the patterns were truly too simple to be worth using or buying, you wouldn't need free alternatives because you should be able to knit the designs without a pattern.
ReplyDeleteAs someone said so succinctly, it may be easy for *me*, but for people who don't know any better they may not know there are alternatives to paying for things that do not require anything beyond basic knitting or crocheting skills.
DeleteIf a pattern is popular, why not let it lie? Why not post some links to free patterns if you are concerned about your readers' needs?
ReplyDeleteI'm a little fascinated by the idea that your own skill set, or what you consider "easy" is a standard for what people should buy and at what price point.
Buying a pattern for a design you admire for any reason, even if it appears easy, is a valid thing to do. Selling an original pattern for any skill-level of knitted item is a valid thing to sell. Out of the world of tens of thousands of patterns, targeting specific designs like this seems unnecessary and not nice.
If you've read any of my YRSTS posts, you'd see that I *do* post links to free patterns, or a Rav search for things similar :)
DeleteAwww, THE Alex T has her preshus widdle nose bent out of shape? It must be a day ending in a "y"! She is so magnificent, nobody dare speak against her and her little tiny crew of self-loving so-called designers.... gimme a break. The entire knitting community does :not: have their noses planted up your arse, dahling. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteWow. I don't know Alex personally but I agree with her stance on this issue. Frankly, I think the tone of this comment makes it all the more evident that YOU are the one who needs to grow up.
Delete*golf clap*
DeleteIt sounds like you are the one with the case of butthurt. You make some pissy LiveJournal-esque rant about not wanting to pay money for a particular pattern, and then get even pissier when fans of the designer stick up for it.
ReplyDeleteI am by no means a designer, but Alex Tinsley is. Your petty little quotation marks around the word designer just make you seem childish. She has over 70 designs, most of which are quite a bit more complicated than the one you chose to piss and moan over. She's a designer. Get over it.
It's my blog and I can write what I want... you're not obligated to read. I'm entitled to my opinions. I haven't looked at any of her other designs, and really have no want to do so.
DeleteThis particular pattern can be made by anyone who knows how to knit in the round. It's not worth $5.50. Plain and simple. Alex has all but admitted this in an earlier comment.
I'm not pissed at the comments, a mild amusement would be a better descriptor ;)
Allow me to quote your "mission statement" for a moment: "I am not saying designers shouldn't be compensated for their hard work. (extra emphasis added) Quite the contrary, actually. There are many designs (i.e sweaters, lace, and colorwork) that have to be extensively tested, charted, etc.-----I don't mind paying for these things."
ReplyDeleteIf I follow your logic here, a composer should not be compensated for time spent orchestrating a simple tune. A poet who writes haikus rather than epics should be satisfied with publishing their work for free. A writer who produces short stories should not even bother if they find it a better medium of expression than a novel.
I am not a designer, but I value good work. Often very simple creations take a great deal of time and effort to pull together. I would recommend looking one of Ms Tinsley's patterns before you denegrade it as "so-called" work, and I am outraged that you would attack anyone's work as the product of "designers." There is a reason that our craft, and anything considered "women's work", is often so disrespected. It is because we disrespect ourselves.
Ms Tinsley does not need us to come to her defense. Her work stands on its own. But many fledgling designers and more inexperienced knitters do. The right for proper compensation and the need for quality are two things that you as a self-proclaimed "crafty designer" should value, lest you find your occupation and the craft you claim to love an area in which creativity, no matter its forms -- simple or complex, stale and uninspiring.
I value good work too. I do believe in supporting designers who make patterns worth paying for; things unique and complicated should be paid for. Stockinette hats with stripes? Not so much.
DeleteI especially value the many designers who actually bust their asses to make wonderful patterns and have them available for free because they have a sense of community.
I think it's grossly unfair to be charged for something so basic. Not everyone can afford to buy patterns, and no one should be fleeced (lovin' the pun haha) into buying so simple a pattern, especially when there are free alternatives available, or if they just need a gentle nudge to make something all their own. That is my whole point of YRSTS: To enable people to not be satisfied with being ripped off, and to encourage people to be a little more inventive in their knitting :)
Actually, I learned how to knit from watching FREE videos online :)
ReplyDeleteAnd see? even you admit her hat is simple. That's the point I'm making here... it's not fair to consumers who don't know any better to shell out money for something so simple, especially when there are plenty of free alternatives around.
I *do* buy patterns.... from people who put real time and effort into their patterns and don't just make a regular ass hat, add stripes, and try to justify the exorbitant pricetag :)
Thanks for reading! <3
The last time I checked this was the USA and people had the right to say whatever they please. So what the writer of this blog thinks that your pattern is simple and not worth paying $5 for. At least she is "saying it to your face" and not just writing about it.
ReplyDeleteDeena KEEP this segment of your blog up. I think this is comical. Just because I think this is funny/interesting doesn't mean that I will not by some of these patterns. Because this is the USA I have the right to spend my hard earned money on useless bullshit too.