For those who don’t know, there’s this viral video of a girl wearing an earwarmer over a baseball cap (much like the picture) and people are treating it as some groundbreaking invention (yet another microtrend, yay!).

The band is made by the brand Cloimh and it costs 65 FUCKING EUROS ($73). 65 euros for a garment you cant easily make in one evening with whatever yarn you find in your stash. And I guess if you don’t knit then it’s not a bad price to pay at all, it’s a small brand and they use good quality materials. That’s not my problem at all.

Since it’s so simple and has been done a million times before people started reverse engineering the pattern, some creators are already selling patterns or at least sneakpeaking them. Hell, you can open ravelry and find a dozen of similar patterns released years ago.

And here come the weird ass comments under instagram posts accusing the pattern creators of STEALING. BITCH WHO THE FUCK IS STEALING, YOUR NEW FAVORITE SMALL BRAND DIDN’T INVENT EARWARMERS!!! Not even this particular model!! Can we please stop policing pattern creators and telling them what they can and cannot release argHHH. It’s so disrespectful and feels like those people lack the understanding of inherent characteristics of a CRAFT. Sharing knowledge instead of gatekeeping is what keeps our community going, for starters.

I ain’t paying 70€ for a band while I can make it myself. Even if I pay for a pattern to save myself the trouble of doing math it’ll cost me 15€ and a cozy evening at most.

Also the brand owner is under every single one of these pattern posts kinda passive-aggresively thanking the creators for taking inspiration from her product. Shut up, I’m waiting to hear which indigenous culture SHE „stole” it from because I have a feeling the allegations are cominggg

Okay so long story short I run a discord in the crochet community. Chronicallycraftywithjulz used to be part of it. I had to ban her for her harassment of other members yesterday and she has flown off the handle. She is messaging people saying she’s going to steal and release my patterns for free, she’s left me one star reviews on my platforms she’s messaging me on Etsy to just be mean, she has told other designers she will be getting and releasing their patterns for free as well. It’s just constant harassment to anyone who did not take her side over the fact that a stitch count was 47 and not what she thought it was and she was asked not to be rude in a test. Within minutes there was a slew of cursing, c-words and harassment to several people. These are not all my screenshots. The last two are from her to other people within the past one day over what was literally a non issue. She also made a post here that was removed where she used mine and other peoples full names and completely misrepresented her participation in the situation. A lot of her harassment was in the form of voice memos so I don’t think I can post them on here but some of them can be heard here

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dee_nHrFntE/?psln=MXcwZDdrbGE1cThkdA==

And here

https://www.instagram.com/p/DefYLknDM2V/?dlrf=MWhraXN5eGFsajRvbA==

(I did originally post this to craftsnark but I was so angry when I did I forgot to go over their rules and it was removed because she is not a monetized account )

I know art is subjective but oh my god it is so ugly and a waste of time, money and materials. Everyone who knits tHe GaRmEnT thinks they are sooo quirky.
(It’s okay to downvote me I know I’m being a bitch idk why I hate it so much).

Let me report this! Let me report the pattern that couldn't be assed to make their own crochet phone-case, or the TEMU-tier ghost hairclips. I don't care that I haven't seen the pattern itself. If they haven't even made one of the project they're trying to make us test, how can I believe it's a real pattern at all??

No, actually, I've never accidentally felted my handwash-only sweater in the washing machine, because if I can spend dozens of hours knitting a sweater I can sure as hell spend a few minutes making sure I don't accidentally throw it in the washing machine.

Oh your cat peed on your WIP? You have a cat, they get into stuff, put your stuff where they can't get at it. Your dog chewed on your expensive yarn? My sympathy for the dog, they are relying on your dumb ass to make sure they can't eat anything that could kill them. Your idiot husband threw your delicate lace shawl in the washing machine? You're the one who married an inconsiderate manchild who has so little respect for things that are important to you that he'll destroy them "by accident" to get out of ever doing laundry again.

You're why you can't have nice things. No, I can't relate. I can have nice things, because I fucking take care of them like a fucking adult.

"Try knitting a scarf first!" isn't bad advice. It's code for "You have zero clue what you're doing, Please try to get an even and flat rectangle worked up before you spend $150 on yarn, get overwhelmed, and quit in 3 weeks."

It's easier to call it a scarf because it feels more real than "swatch," and it at least gives you something to work towards.

I do not care if your "scarf" is 3 inches across. I don't care if you quit at 8 inches long because you've got the hang of garter stitch (wooo!). I don't care if you make something that doesn't at all resemble a scarf because you were practicing color changes or increases or decreases! What I care about is that you take the time to get confident with the basics because it will:

1. make you happier working on more advanced projects
2. help you to make something you'll keep and use for years, instead of a tangled WIP, and
3. it will SPARE US from your r/knittinghelp post in which you are attempting a brioche cardigan and are somehow making 6 different errors simultaneously, which someone will then list off to you in an attempt to be helpful, which will then come across as mean and overwhelming, and you will quit forever.

to experienced knitters who scold others for recommending scarf-shaped objects as a first "project": CUT IT OUT! Just because YOUUUUU were smart enough to figure out a steeked fair isle cardigan on your own first time knitting doesn't mean that that rest of us want to spend our time on the internet cleaning up the mess from it.

Bro almost always NO. Your project is one giant piece if string folded in on itself THOUSANDS OF TIMES. That spot where you messed up is attached to your yarn on both ends. You HAVE to undo all your knots/stitches to get to it. Your options are literally undo it, ignore it, or MAYBE stitch surgery, but thats gonna be 1000x harder and more annoying than just frogging, especially if youre still at the "ask reddit everything" skill level. ​

Im so tired of seeing these posts. Theyre EVERYWHERE.

I make very detailed tapestry portraits , and recently I got two enquiries and what they said was it was out of their budget. And the most frustrating part was, a woman asked me to make her tapestry patterns, like 2 of them and when I said the price , she said "oh its too expensive " ,on other hand cousins , families expecting me to do for FREE AND NOT PAYING ME

do these people think I do some sort of magic!!!

I'm soo done....

Why in the crafting community, particularly sewing, do people always feel the need to 1-up??

“Oh you alter wedding gowns? Well I’ve made hundreds of king size quilts.” Okay??? Do you want an award??

Dealing with people’s fragile ego around their craft is something I hate having to do but always find myself encountering. I will diminish my accomplishments and skills just to appease people like this and get them to shut up.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t as experienced as anyone else. Everyone’s practice is their own. Stop putting yourself in pissing contest with others cause truly, no one cares.

Just saw someone’s post saying they want to make amigurumi and are going to teach themselves to crochet and were looking for tutorials.

And OFC the second comment was “start with the basics, first…make a granny square”

I loathe that sort of discouragement.

I started with amigurumi.
My first technique I learned was a magic circle.
Did it take me three weeks to make a pair of legs? Yes!
Did those legs get re-made once I figured things out? YES!

If I was forced to do a granny square, I probably would not have picked up my hook at all.

Let people do what excites them! That encourages them to stick with it and overcome obstacles, and/or hone their skills.

At the very least the person should have answered the question (my teacher was Crochet Guru on YouTube; she goes straight to the stitch without a lot of talking. Easy to replay.)
But they didn’t even answer they just said, “don’t do that”. One of my biggest pet peeves. 😤

First, if you are paying money for the pattern, you are getting ripped off.

Second, sleeves are a separate pattern piece for a reason.

I understand that it is historic and low waste, which are both great things, but the fit looks awful on every person I have seen it on. If you are going to take the time/effort to make a garment, there are so many better options at all skill levels.

Knit/crochet versions get a pass because I do not have enough experience with either to have an opinion.

not something that you feel is completely valid, something that pisses you off for absolutely no good reason.

mine is when people throw the yarn when they're crocheting. I know most people do this because they learned to knit first. I know it does not affect garment quality or time spent - it actually affects nothing at all, except my rage level when I'm watching your crochet vlog. it's a hook! the hook is there to hook things! please use it 🙏

a kinda more valid one I feel, is that 99% of crochet jumpers (and a goooood number of knit ones) I see people make, have the sleeves way too short. cuffing off just before the wrists. it peeves me to no end. please, why do you think this looks good? did you just get bored? is it not uncomfortable? are your wrists not cold? i fear my wrists start to shiver in protest whenever I see one

I went to check which size needles were in my hang with a gauge ruler and got 3.25... but my 3.25 needles are still in their place and I don't keep extra. Strange.

So I test my 3.25 needles and they measure as 3.0. Well, silly me must have put them in the wrong pocket! Only I keep measuring and everything is shifting by one place... But I still have two sets of needles measuring 3.25.

I am only missing my 2.5 needles.

What has happened.

I bet the gauge ruler is just wrong in which case what the fuck is the point in it. Why bother making a product that doesn't even function as intended. That's like making a ruler where the centimeters and inches are too small. Useless.

I'll have to guess which size I'm using from now on, don't trust that crap.

So, I’m a knitter-crocheter combo. And every time I get the chance to talk about my hobby, I’m immediately asked if I sell my stuff. Like what???

Just because I enjoy it, can do it fast and well doesn’t mean I have to fucking sell it. I make things for myself and others, no strings attached. I enjoy what I do and know that if I were to do this as a job, I’d absolutely start hating it.

Just the thought of having to hit deadlines, interact with people and constantly hear the saying “Oh, I can make that” would drive me nuts. Not to mention dealing with markets, numbers and the prep before them…

Yeah no. I’ll continue with my grandma habits of watching soap operas with a cup of tea while knitting at my own pace. Thank you very much.

Just need to vent as I've seen wayyyyyy too many posts by beginners showing a shitty craft and asking for price advice and it's driving me UP THE WALL. I've seen it in pretty much every craft sub in existence.

Why are you expecting national minimum hourly wage for a hobby? Why, especially as a beginner, are you expecting to sell the first thing you make? ESPECIALLY wanting prices that high quality pieces go for? And they almost never seem to care about the actual quality of the item, just that it's big and it took them a few hours to make.

Nowadays it seems like there's only a small handful of craft sellers that do it organically because they either love the craft enough to do it full time or they're naturally very talented at it. Everyone else seems to see these people doing well and wants to cash in.

Also, while I'm here - YOU DON'T AUTOMATICALLY DESERVE AN HOURLY WAGE FOR HOBBY SELLING.

Pricing your crafts mainly by time taken to make it is INSANE. Beginners can take 5+ hours to make something that an expert in the craft would only take 2 hours to make. It doesn't mean the beginner should charge more.

Crafts for things like markets should be charged ONLY by material cost and skill level. The time it takes to make is between you and the wall. People shouldn't pay to subsidise your hobby time, they should pay for the quality of the finished product.

The only way "time" should factor into your price is if you've been commissioned specifically for something you wouldn't make otherwise.

seems like I have the unpopular opinion here, but seeing the reactions to this post very much annoyed me.

op claims the pattern has insane testing requirements and the pattern is not size inclusive. [it comes in size S to 2XL, a broader size range than most stores today]

the comments are a mix of being outraged that the creator does not supply the materials to craft this [mulberry silk mohair yarn double stranded, £7-£13 per skien 🙃], that the timeframe is 6 weeks long [only valid unreasonable thing], and that they're expected to help promote the pattern when finished.

I regularly test crochet & amigurumi patterns for creators, all of them have these requirements if not more. these are some of the most basic requirements I've seen.

so let me get this straight, you're receiving the creators pattern completely for free (hours upon hours of work, not even considering the years of experience they've built up), and you also expect the materials to just be handed out to you while you complain you have to help support them by making one whole Instagram post and a wip on your story?

am I missing something here? because no one is forcing you to sign up? the entitlement is absolutely crazy.

if you want your favourite creators to keep on creating, you kinda have to support them lmao? the internet is horrible today especially with the ai slop, trying to grow is horrible, trying to start your own business is horrible with big businesses taking over everything. life is hard, but making one post is not.

I really don't get the reactions. everyone's acting like they're asking you to submit a 3-5 minute video explaining why you'd be the perfect fit to help test the pattern with 3 rounds of interviews.

I frequent three LYS and two of them have been overrun by AI. One has AI images all over their website and advertising and merch. Another one sells bags made with super ugly AI fabric panels.

I’m so frustrated!! I love my LYS and I want them to succeed but this nonsense is so off-putting. And for the former shop, it really cheapens the “yarn boutique” brand they’re trying to sell. I want to bring it up with them but I also don’t know how to go about that lol.

Is this a problem everywhere now? :/

I’ve been watching lots of knitting podcasts recently as I’m recovering from surgery and find that my list of pet peeves is growing.
Top of the list is podcasters that eat while podcasting and invariably talk with food in their mouths- so gross! Seems like an easy fix - have a snack beforehand!
Coming in at #2 is not knowing the names of the patterns and yarns of what they’re showing. Another easy fix - make some notes.
I’d love to hear other people’s!

I have to read the same line a thousand times and post on Reddit before I understand what it says. It's likely me since I'm not an expert and I'm not so versed in knitting that I know what is the right way to do something, but I feel such an idiot.

I'm knitting the snowpine sweater by wool and pine and I am trying to understand that goddamned colour chart and I can't make heads or tails of it, and this happens with every pattern I read. I swear I'm not dyslexic but wtf

"Denim is expensive? Well, I can always find high quality denim for $3.99 a yard. And I can make a pair of well fitting jeans with only 1 1/2 yards."

"You can't afford to knit a sweater out of handspun wool? Well, I can always find pure BFL handspun for about $1 a skein."

Nope; you're lying and you're not fooling anyone. Show me the links. I want to see some of this mythical denim and cheap handspun. (They never share the links) And if you did find something like this, you're leaving out so much context it still counts as lying.

Denim for $3.99 a yard? At a yard sale? Did you buy it wholesale? Who are these jeans for; a 12 year old girl? $1 a skein for homespun? Was it spun by you? From your own sheep?

Like, I can say I got a vintage Pfaff 1122 hobby for free. That's technically true. That statement leaves out the fact that I got it for free because my grandmother died and left it to me.

There's cross stitch, embroidery, yarn, crochet, and a crochet-along. Wtf is going on? I saw a post here yesterday about a different yarn company doing a HP collab too. I'm sure it's just cause of the tv show but this is so fucking annoying.

It’s time for a barrage of Sheep and Wool posts and posts complaining about Sheep and Wool and posts complaining about posts complaining about Sheep and Wool and…

Well, just keep your head down and your comment fingers ready, that’s all. God (or whatever) bless.

got some yarn and made a pink flower blanket with it with four different color variations and each color had a different roughness. the lightest pink was silky smooth and the darkest pink was like working with sandpaper! its the same brand same label same type of yarn! why is it different? and why can't we figure out how to make it the same softness? we have all this technology and science and this is something we can't do?

the blanket is beautiful but I just want the same softness