I know it’s been an age since I blogged over here, but I somehow managed to find the time to write up a little post on technology and crafting for my buddy Stephanie’s blog, Evolved Mommy.
The site is all about technology, being a mom, food, crafts and more. It’s worth a visit, not just to read my post!
One of the awesome things about Twitter is that there’s the amazing community of crafty people who are so generous and smart and funny and wise. I guess there are communities like that for a lot of things, but it’s really wonderful to read about people who are helping each other and building each other up. We people who make stuff know that it’s not really a competition; we’re all part of a movement to get people to appreciate the handmade (and either make our stuff or buy our stuff, or both).
Occasionally a group of crafty folks gets “together” on Twitter for a big discussion about crafty stuff, which can be found under the hashtag #craftsocial. I don’t always get in on these discussions, but I did catch the tail end of one a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to respond to some of the issues that were being talked about in more than 140 characters.
I had at least part of a well-thought-out reply written down somewhere, but in the meantime I’ve lost track of it. I’m sure to find it as soon as I’m finished, right?
One of the topics, which is a perennial problem for people who offer patterns and finished objects, for free and for sale online, is the issue of people copying your work, whether they outright steal your instructions and post the pattern as their own on their website or take your instructions and make something to sell without your permission.
Stealing, of course, is always a bad idea, no matter the source or the circumstances. Things get fuzzier when people ask permission to use your projects, either as part of something they’re working on or to sell.
When people ask me to use my materials or to make objects to sell from my patterns, I say yes. I figure there are plenty of people out there who are doing the same thing and didn’t ask, so I shouldn’t say no to the ones who are nice enough to ask.
Also, a lot of the patterns on my site are really, really basic. I don’t feel like I should restrict access to my interpretation of relatively basic knitting patterns (my site is geared to beginners, so there are a lot of things like Garter Stitch scarves, plain Stockinette tank tops and basic socks that no one can claim are original ideas).
Of course, a lot of designers are a lot more creative in their approaches than I get to be focusing on newbies. And I can certainly understand how frustrating it would be to work so hard on an original design and put it up for sale only to see something that’s clearly a knock-off soon after.
There’s no good answer for that. Legal action is always an option, but issues of creativity and where ideas come from are hard to prove. As creative people we know it’s sometimes difficult to pin down where our inspiration came from, and sometimes similar ideas do come from different places (though of course outright copying happens, too).
What I try to do, and I think it would be great if other people did, too, is to be really honest about where my inspiration comes from. I’m about to start knitting a bodice that will be attached to a fabric skirt, for example. When I write up the pattern I’ll be sure to give props to the Mason-Dixon knitters and to Debbie Bliss, both of whom have patterns for such things in their books.
I might have thought to make such a dress without seeing this in their books, but I might not have, so I think it’s fine to give credit where it might be due. And of course my interpretation of that idea will be different from theirs.
As I mentioned, it’s not always clear or known where inspiration comes from, but I think most creative folks would be thrilled to see someone inspired enough by their work to try it in a different way. That’s a much better idea than trying to pass off the idea as completely original when some people are bound to know better.
There are lots of things I’ve been meaning to write about lately, but I couldn’t resist sharing this picture of my kitty, Mr. Bean, helping me out when I was trying to take pictures on the kitchen floor:
The project is Swifty (Ravelry link) from Mason-Dixon’s Knitting Outside the Lines. Thus taking the picture on the kitchen floor.
I know that part of the charm of yarnbombing is that it is often anonymous, but I’ve just got to share a bit of the fun of a bombing I just sort of participated in.
I say sort of because I wasn’t really involved at all until the very last minute. A local knitting group had taken on the task of decorating the town square for a monthly art event, and they’d been working on swatches for more than a month. Given the baby, I hadn’t made it to a meeting but I wanted to contribute something.
Still, we made it down to the wire and it was yesterday before I even knit anything.
The results went up this morning.
Here’s mine:
It’s the piece at the very bottom, which is made of three colors of Lion Brand Homespun, two strands held together, worked on size 15 needles. One stripe is Stockinette, one is Garter and one is Reverse Stockinette. And I sewed it on sideways because it fit the lamp post better that way.
Not to be outdone, here’s my mom’s contribution:
Hers, too, is at the bottom. It’s a checkerboard pattern, and I think she knit it in Caron Simply Soft, but I couldn’t tell you for sure.
Anyway, if you happen to be in Northwest Arkansas, it’s worth a look in person. If not, check out all the yarny glory in my Flickr set.
I’ve long wanted to do a website or write a column for a publication that’s all about 30 minute crafts: things you can do when you have almost no time, like I have right now.
It occurs to me that that’s a fine addition to this site, so here is the first installment in the 30 minute craft genre: a simple shaker box for a baby or toddler.
Because my little one (who just turned eight months this week!) is in the stick-everything-in-your-mouth phase, she doesn’t get to play with this one herself right now, or I’d be replacing the paper on a daily basis, but she loves to listen to the shaking and I’m sure will enjoy playing with it when she’s a little less orally fixated.
I should note that this project doesn’t take anywhere near 30 minutes, except it does need to dry overnight.
This morning I wanted to put a button on that cute little pink sweater I made for my baby girl so maybe she could wear it once before she outgrew it. She was sitting beside me happily on the bed and I was thinking “well, it’ll just take a couple of minutes, so why don’t I do it now?”
I hurried off to my office (across the hall), grabbed a needle out of the pincushion on my bookshelf, the sweater off the filing cabinet, and opened a drawer to get my grandma’s stash of plain white buttons. There happened to be a spool of thread in there, too, so I picked that up as well. The scissors were on my desk. I was in and out in less than a minute.
As I sat there sewing on the button, it occurred to me that this was a rare chore that I could quickly and easily pick up everything I needed for. I know that for a fact because I actually lost all of my interchangeable knitting needle sets in my office earlier this month.
There’s yarn everywhere, and I know that there are certain yarns available somewhere that I might want to use for particular projects, but I don’t know where they are. There are finished projects, and unfinished projects, all over the place, not to mention books, fabric, the remnants of the holiday decorations, magazines from months ago, a huge pile of those pillows of air that come in shipping boxes these days and can be recycled if you mail them back to the manufacturer but I’ve never gotten around to mailing them back…
Something needs to be done.
I’ve known this for a long time. My office has never been the haven I imagined it would be when I moved in, what, almost two and a half years ago.
There have been times when it’s been relatively tidy, by which I mean I managed to stuff everything that was messy into the closet and closed the door. But the first time I needed something it would all get strewn out again.
This time it really needs to happen because there’s not even room for my baby girl to play in here. I couldn’t lay out a blanket and let her kick around on the floor if I wanted to (and I do). Let’s not even think about the fact that in a few short months she’ll be crawling, grabbing things and putting everything in her mouth, and this room is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
I’ve vowed I’d get this place fixed up for a long time, and I hope it really takes this time. Maybe because it has to. I could somehow find five or 10 minutes a day to work on this until it’s done, couldn’t I?
Maybe I should get off the computer and find out.
The end of one year and the beginning of the next seems like a good time for finishing projects and starting others, so that’s what I’ve been up to lately. Mostly I was feeling guilty about the baby things I’d started before the little one (who is four months old today!) was born that hadn’t been finished yet.
I started by finishing up the duplicate stitching on the Zodiac sleeper (Ravelry) that the knitting had been finished on for ages:
Instead of the zodiac sign the pattern called for, I used a maple leaf motif from Picture Perfect Knits. It’s a good thing, too, since she was born in a different sign than I expected.
Next, on Christmas, I finished up a little pink sweater from Debbie Bliss’ Essential Baby (Ravelry). This one was all knit up before she was born, but I hadn’t done any of the finishing. It turned out super cute, and thankfully blocked out bigger than it look initially, since I knit the newborn size:
To celebrate getting that done (well, admittedly it still needs a button) I knit a carrot:
This is from Amigirumi Knits. I plan on knitting the whole bunch of vegetables, and probably some of the other patterns from this one (Ravelry). Clearly it still needs its green tops, which are almost finished (I’m actually on the last one but misplaced the book so I’m not sure how to finish it.
My goal for New Year’s day was to finish one more project; it actually took until the next day:
These are my Faux Fair Isle socks, which have been on my website for ages, but it took me this long to finish the last two inches or so of the second foot and the toe. That’s the way it goes some months. I need to get this one up on Ravelry…
As for beginnings, this year I’m doing a crazy thing: trying to knit all the patterns in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac. I’m doing it as a knitalong, which you can read all about and join in if you like! I’m also thinking about joining the Facebook group devoted to finishing unfinished objects. Except then I might have to admit how many I have!
The other day I mentioned on Twitter that I was looking for a technical editor to help me with some knitting patterns. I got a few questions that aren’t answerable in 140 characters, so I thought I’d make a full-blown post that will serve as a help wanted ad.
What’s a tech editor?
For those not in the fiber crafts business, you might not know that a tech editor is someone who looks over patterns, usually before they are published, to ensure that everything makes sense, no steps are left out of the instructions and that the math works out right.
In my case, I’m looking for someone in particular to help with the math part. I usually write my patterns as I’m knitting, so I have stitch counts and measurements for whatever size I knit, but I don’t know, say, how many stitches someone would need to cast on to make a size larger or smaller garment.
That’s where a tech editor can be a big help. These are people who know how to resize a pattern to standard sizes and ensure that the pattern as written will give the results that are expected.
Why I Need the Help
It’s a great idea to have all patterns tech edited to ensure that they make sense, but it’s particularly important when patterns cover multiple sizes to make sure that the math works on all the sizes.
I could do this myself, of course, but it’s really time consuming for me, and time is one thing I don’t really have right now. So I’m looking for someone who would be able to go over a few patterns already published at About.com, as well as new patterns as they’re written, to add multiple size information and perform other tech editing duties.
The job doesn’t involve any actual knitting of garments, just dealing with the patterns. The workload could vary widely but would probably average out to one or two patterns a week that would need attention.
Interested?
If this sounds like something you’re able to do, send me an e-mail (sewwriter @ gmail) and let me know your experience and your rates. Thanks for your interest!
I’ve been meaning to get back here for almost a month to mention that my favorite local author and one of my favorite authors from anywhere, Donald Harington, died early last month.
He’s been called the greatest unknown writer in America, and I’d agree with that sentiment. His books, many of which chronicle the happenings in the fictional central Arkansas town of Stay More, are funny, heartwarming, well-written, creative, the kind of stuff writers want to read, and that readers want to read, too.
He just had a new book out that I haven’t read yet, and it will be bittersweet knowing that’s the last one there will be.
My husband introduced me to Harington long before he was my husband. He had me read The Cockroaches of Stay More, a painfully funny book from the point of view of cockroaches who see the people around them as their gods. It doesn’t sound as brilliant as it is.
I saw him once at the library, or a bookstore, or some other appropriately literary place I don’t quite remember. I wished I could have gone up to him and told him what his books have meant to me, how they showed me that you don’t have to live in New York or even be famous to be a great and well-respected writer (yes, I could have gone up to him, but he was deaf, so it wouldn’t have worked out well).
Thank you, Donald Harington, for all you did to put Arkansas on the literary map, and for the stories that will endure. Stay More forever.
So, this has pretty much been my life for the past six weeks or so:
My little girl, Anna Catherine, was born September 5, a full six weeks early. So, actually, this has been my life for the past five weeks or so, because we spent the first week of her life in the NICU.
Everything’s fine, she’s gained two pounds since she’s been home, and she seems perfectly healthy, mostly happy, very insistent on food and attention when she wants them (and she’s gearing up for wanting food soon, as I can hear from the next room).
Suffice it to say I haven’t had a lot of time for crafting these days. I did knit her a tiny hat:
which already doesn’t fit her, but I wanted to have something to remember how small she was when she first came home. I’ve also knit one leg warmer, which actually still fits even though it took me about two weeks to get through it. I’m hoping to have the other one done soon and will show them off as soon as they’re available.
I’m excited to see how and when I learn how to balance everything in this new and exciting life: caring for my little one and my husband, keeping up with work and home responsibilities and fitting in crafting that’s not done for my job. I’ll keep you posted on how it all turns out.
