Craft Yarn Council Survey

I'll keep this short and sweet - do this survey!

It's US focused, so sorry to the international knitters and crocheters reading this. If you are in the US, you can win a $25 gift card for filling it out. This is the annual survey that determines how popular knitting and crocheting are that the Craft Yarn Council does every year.

Its suddenly hip to be a cheap knitter or crocheter

No, I don't mean every project is going to be made out of acrylic $2.29 yarn from the big box stores. What I mean is that people are rebelling against the majority of the hand dyed/hand spun yarns being over $40 a skein. I was at the crochet guild over the weekend and one of the attendees was particularly drawn up about it, but definitely got some agreement in the crowd.

Then this Buzzfeed article got passed around again on social media. And the Loving the Freebies group on Ravelry broke out "Crafting Gadgets that aren't" with folks using everything from plumbing o-rings to paper towel holders to make due without $20+ gadgets on the knitting and crocheting market. And there's even an entire board on Pinterest devoted to DIY Yarn Swifts (again, $40+).

Maybe its just me, but it seems okay right now to let your frugal flag fly! Vendors who take notice are going to pick up business from these folks that are going to flash by the businesses that don't pay attention to the swings of the crafting market.

Perhaps it is the summer season of yarn discounting that has got everyone in this frugal mood? I'm not sure! What are your thoughts?

Is an artistic workforce being misconstrued as selfish?

This lovely picture of the Louvre's famous lions is brought to you by dynamosquito on Flickr.

Before the thread got shut down on Ravelry for discussing non-knitting or crocheting, there was a fascinating post by Izzie1356 that has had me thinking all day today. We were discussing the Millennial generation and the interesting in knitting, crocheting, and other visual hobbies. One of the things that always comes up is that Millennials are supposed to be lazy, selfish, narcissistic and quite frankly, annoying. Yet no one I know in the age range is THAT bad. In fact, most of the people in my age range seem pretty darn selfless most of the time - they freely give their time, money, and advocacy to causes that they believe in, large and small. 

Back to the post that Izzie1356 made - one of the things that she said was that the view of the "selfish" generation didn't start until after the Baby Boomers. When those Boomers, well, "boomed", the number of people "boomed" and so we lost our need for a solely "technical" labor force and create more "service" and "artistic" driven people. I'm paraphasing along the way because the post was quite long. But the most interesting part of her post was this:

"...since there isn’t much call for art (as a visual something in a museum) it creates a class of individuals that may be very talented artistically, but useless to produce needed products. Not many in our generation would be willing to work in a factory to produce things that others are using.

Having talented people without jobs creates resentment towards those who produce or supply a needed service..."

If I were to explain this to someone small, I'd tell them that this means "The people doing the chores don't like the people who don't do their chores". Yet is that true? I don't know. I think an awful lot of people are being construed as selfish when they think differently, think at a different pace, and think about consumerism, the environment, and their technology in a different way. And the reason I say different is important - no viewpoint is better or worse - we need artists and we need service workers and technical workers - and that the focus should be on working together and not conflicting with one another. 

There was a good example of this the other day that I saw - I'm anonymizing the story because I feel its important to protect people in a fixable situation. I was in a meeting, and a young lady made a suggestion about trying a different format for the meeting, breaking the large group into small groups and having each of them work on the same problem at once. She was scolded by the much older leader of the organization for making the suggestion because the older leader did not believe that they would achieve the same result if they did not all slog through the problem as a part of the large group and that this young lady should "know her place in the meeting". 

She was devastated. I could see in her face how taken aback she was that she was scolded for speaking up and that the message was clear for her to take her seat and not say another thing. And she likely would never have spoken up again. But then some other people in the meeting started to pipe up that she had a good idea. And some other people piped up. Finally, the older leader of the group thought for a second and decided to relent and try her idea. The group was done with their assignment in half the time scheduled for the meeting, so much that they all had the opportunity to report on the results and time to discuss the project as a whole.

At the end of the meeting, when I was in the hallway, I chatted for a bit with the older leader of the meeting and she admitted that she had not thought of what the design of the meeting should be and that she thought the young lady was criticizing her ability to plan a meeting, when in reality, the young lady was trying to practice collaborative design - a bit of artwork meant to help achieve efficiency in the work product. 

What does this mean? It means some of us artists are trying to make it in the corporate world. We're trying to make it work in a world that doesn't think the same way we do and we're trying to provide something of value to the corporate world in the best way that we can. All we need in return are people who are willing to try and meet halfway - hear the thoughts and try out the ones that the older folks think might be valuable. Do I think all my ideas are brilliant? No, but I'm going to try and argue for them as if they are if I come upon resistance because that's what artists do - they defend their artistry, whether it be a stroke of a brush or an elegant new payments system or a nicely formatted report. Are these people selfish because they defend their artistry? I don't think so (well, some are, but most...) In fact, I think most of them are very self-realized because they understand what they want to fight for versus what they don't. Importantly, they are not ALL Millennials. They are of every age range, willing to work together but at the same time, defending what they think is important. That's collaborative design in action, and I hope someday it will be commonplace rather than a nice thing that I see in around half of the people around me. 

So drawing this to a close - why are so many people starting to go back into the visual arts and hand arts? Its because they see more of the stereotypical "older leader" in the workplace than the more open risk takers who are willing to appreciate a bit of new art in the workplace. They are going back to the arts because there's less of a chance that people are going to reject their artistic thinking there (and for the most part, they're right...though I draw the line at vaginal knitting). There's more to art than just "Art" and an artistic workforce needs to put their art and creativity somewhere people will appreciate it, even if it costs more and takes longer and drives them to drink copious amounts of wine.  

Say NO to Cheap and YES to fabulous Art

I had a conversation with a friend about it getting harder and harder for people to charge what their work is worth in the world. A Facebook friend actually posted a writer's article in the New York Times about being frustrated with how many times they are asked to give away their work for free this week.

And yet, my friend told me that she was dismayed to find more people posting work on Etsy that's under $2 with as little as $2 for shipping. Let's say that your average dishcloth takes about 50 yards of yarn. Using the typical pricing for a commercial crocheter, 10 cents per yard is $5.00 per item [Note: this was the last figure I heard kicked around, it may even be lower now.]. Add in 50 cents for US shipping and you're at $5.50 per item. Several of the entries I noticed said they ship USPS priority mail for all items, which means you're at $10.50 per item. At $2 (plus $2 shipping), you're underpricing your costs by as much as $6.50.

 "But...but I do this for fun! It's a hobby! I do it for yarn money!"

Here's the thing. People have a tendency to remember those prices that they see. Every sock knitter I think I've ever met has said someone will go up to them and say "You know you can get those for $1.67 a pair a Walmart, right?" So when someone does something like a set of dishcloths and charges $27.00 for them (likely the "true" cost of making and selling them), there's outrage! Oh my gosh! $27.00! I could get those for $2 at Walmart.

'Tis true. The Walmart effect is huge. But when people start to say "this seller on Etsy says they're only $4.00!" that's when the effect starts to put a real chill on the market. People can no longer sell at the true cost of things, only what people will give them, and the market goes into a downhill slope.

If you search for the word cheap on Pinterest, an alarming number of items show up that are crochet or knit. Cheap gifts. Cheap clothes. Cheap, Cheap, Cheap.

Cheap cowls. Cheap hats. Cheap crafts. Cheap skill. Cheap People. Cheap Life.

So what am I grateful for today? People are fighting back.

There are more artists today using fiber as a medium than there have ever been before. People are elevating the craft from the household item to a dizzying array of mediums, methods, and techniques. People are pushing boundaries...and they're being respected.

Center for Knit and Crochet

Fine Art of Crochet

Fine Art of Fiber

Do yourself a favor and hit up the last link. If you're in the Chicago area, go to the show November 8-10. See how much people actually RESPECT knitters and crocheters and fiberers. Buy Gwen's book and see the wonder that is art in our chosen craft.

[Side note: Really, go to this show. I wrote this post 11/6/13 at 8:00 pm.]

Théière au crochet (Crocheted Tiny Teapots)

I started doing translation of knitting and crocheting patterns awhile back when the Internet was more of a Wild West and resources like Babelfish and Google Translate weren't available. That way I could share fiber arts fever with the rest of the world, or at least to my non-English speaking neighbors.

Once in awhile, an opportunity develops to help out once again. Yes, you can translate patterns with Google Translate, but you end up with a text that sounds like its talking about swords, mesh, and air stitches. Its just not set up to do the specialized language of translating knitting and crocheting language. Tsitsa Tsitsa on Ravelry has a wonderful blog called Bulle de tut'Oz where she shares patterns with the French speaking world. Seriously, check out her adorable dog crown! A Ravelry user asked her permission to get one of her patterns translated, and so I am posting the translation here.

Never used a translation before? Here's what to do. Load up the original pattern in one window. Put that on the side of your monitor. You'll need it to see the copyrighted illustrations and photos from the original. On the other side of the window, keep this screen open. You'll then be able to follow both, side by side.

Please go see her adorable teapots when you get a chance. They are so tiny and lovely! I have intentions to get to them after my class is over - my mother would love a teapot chain decoration like them. If you like them and intend to do a project, go to her page on Ravelry and enter the project.

All terms are translated into American crochet terminology.

The Micro-Teapot by Tsitsa Tsitsa

Abbreviations:
sc = single crochet
sc2tog = single crochet two together (decrease)
sl st = slip stitch
ch = chain
sts = stitches


The body of the teapot (to start at the top of the pot)
Row 1: Chain 3 stitches and close round with 1 sl st.
Row 2: Ch 1, 6 sc, with 1 sl st.
Row 3: Ch 1, 2 sc in each sc from previous row, close with 1 sl st (= 12 sc).
Row 4: ch 1, * sc in 2 sc from previous row, 1 sc *, repeat from * to * until end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 18 sc).
Rows 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: Ch 1, 18 sc, with 1 sl st.
Row 10: ch 1, * sc2tog, 1 sc *, repeat from * to end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 12 sc). Put the stuffing in.
Row 11: Ch 1, sc2tog until the end of the row and then close with 1 sl st (= 6 sc). Cut the thread and pull to tighten in the stitches at the base of the teapot.

The lid
Make a chain of 3, close with 1 sl st.
Crochet in the circle 4 sc, with 1 sl st at the end of the round.
Sew the small lid on top of the teapot.

The handle
Make a chain of 12 sts + 1 ch to turn the work and crochet back to 12 sc

The spout
Row 1: Chain 4 stitches + 1 turning ch
Rank 2: 4 sc, ch 1
Rank 3: 4 sc, ch 1

Assembly and decoration
Assemble the various small parts, bringing the ends to the base of the teapot.
Tie them together and then bring down the ends in the body of the teapot, and pull them a little flush before cutting so they are hidden in the teapot.

Photo caption
Insert the needle from side to side to make decorative French knots. Finish by directing your ends to the base of the teapot.

Saucer
Row 1: Chain 3 sts, end with 1 sl st
Row 2: Ch 1, 6 sc in ring base with 1 sl st
Row 3: Ch 1, 2 sc in each sc from previous row (= 12 sc)
Row 4: ch 1, * 2 sc in the previous row, 1 sc *, repeat from * to end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 18 sc)
Row 5: ch 1, * 2 sc in the previous row, 2 sc *, repeat from * to * until end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 24 sc)
Sew the saucer at the base

To turn the teapot into a ring, as seen in the photos at her blog:
Chain 3 stitches + 1 ch to turn and crochet go to the desired size. Sew the two ends discreetly in the saucer.

If you want to do the even smaller teapot, here's the directions for it as well:


The Mini-Micro Teapot

The body of the teapot (to start at the top of the pot)
Rows 1-4: Proceed in the same way as for the micro-teapot
Row 5: ch 1, * 2 sc in the previous row, 2 sc *, repeat from * to * until end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 24 sc).
Rows 6-11: Ch 1, 24 sc, with 1 sl st.
Row 12: ch 1, * sc2tog, 1 sc *, repeat from * to end of row and end with sc2tog with 1 sl st. Put the stuffing in.
Row 13: Ch 1, * sc2tog, 1 sc *, repeat from * to * until end of row and end with sc2tog with 1 sl st.
Row 14: Ch 1, sc2tog until the end of row with 1 sl st.
Cut the thread and pull in to tighten in the stitches and bring down through base of the teapot

The lid
Chain 3 with 1 sl st.
Crochet 6 sc in ring with 1 sl st and sew the lid on the top of the pot (see explanations from micro-teapot above)

The handle
Proceed in the same way as for the micro-teapot on a chain of 14 stitches

The spout
Proceed in the same way as for the micro-teapot. Assembly and decoration: see explanation in pictures micro-teapot

Saucer
Rows 1-5: The same procedure as for the micro-teapot
Row 6: ch 1, * 2 sc in the previous row (for 1 increase), 3 sc *, repeat from * to * until end of row and end with 1 sl st (= 30 sc)
Sew the saucer at the base.

Pinterest: Image and the Crafting Pattern

This gorgeous flower is from the cotinis stream on Flickr.
The original, along with his other gorgeous photos, can be found here. 

I've been doing a lot of reading lately of the business journals and it has me thinking about the power of the image. There's a lot of talk on the Internet now about Pinterest, and I've been following the phenomenon with some interest, as its changing the design community. Patterns that used to be sold in a book with no picture are now full of splashy photography in order to make the sale.

Take easy knit baby hats, for example. Most are the same instructions - cast on a certain number of stitches, knit for 5-7 inches, then start a set system of decreases until the hat is bound off, or from the other direction, cast on just a couple stitches, increase until a set size, and then knit until long enough. Most designers now are adding a few more flourishes, such as lace, animal ears, colorwork, etc.

Pretty easy instructions, right? It can be on a handout, a notepad, anything. Back in the day, we were happy to get some photos at all, and it was hoped that they showed key details. I did a search on Ravelry for paid knit baby hats with most projects and least projects.

Least

Most

Look at the difference between the two. Both have action and flat shots, and both look like they would make serviceable hat patterns that would be well loved by their recipients. Yet the teddy bear hat has 190 projects, and the other has 1. The difference: look at the quality. The teddy bear hat has professional looking prhotography, lots of of photos with variety, including detail shots. The other hat has worse lighting, less detail in the shots, and overall, looks like a amateur photo. The ideal search item via image, rather than via pattern instruction.

Would this have made a difference ten years ago? Not really. The designer of the teddy bear hat might have garnered some attention via her blog, but the other hat could have easily been posted on craftster or other craft forums and had tons of projects.

Pinterest really brings this issue home. Check out the results of a search there. You'd think there were only a few producers because of the amount of repins of certain images. Yet in reality, there are thousands of patterns out there for a baby hat. But the ones with the best images rise to the top.

We are at the forefront of the digital catalog taking photography to the forefront of crafting businesses. Are you getting ready for it?