Designers and Drama – Straight From the HeART

You may (or may not) be surprised to hear that I'm not going to point out any drama.

Today is about camaraderie, but you still get to read the juicy story that ensued!

Designers have deep supporters. I mean DEEP. We have people that support us so deeply that they tell us when they see people using our images to sell our work or they see our patterns being distributed like toilet paper. I will be the first to say, “Thank You” from the deepest parts of my HeART. These beautiful people are helping homogenize the community by shining a light on copyright infringement. THAT is a huge deal. Designing is our livelihood and copyright infringement is against the law.

Another thing that hits closer to home is the designs themselves. This is a difficult one to explain, but I'll try. Allow me to preface.

About 4 years ago, I designed some dumbbells for my son to play. He was 4 then and I used to be a personal trainer so I thought it was hysterical. I didn't go looking to see if anyone had made them yet and I wasn't interested because I was going to make them my own stubborn way anyway. Some time later, I saw there were already some different patterns out for dumbbells. Nonetheless, I knew these were definitely my design and I was happy and proud!

Rewind to last week:  I've noticed a rise in pins for my dumbbells on Pinterest, but nobody is actually purchasing it. It's just sitting there! (The money goes to pay for my son's education and therapies. It will not hurt my feelings if you want to purchase a pattern from me. My son is the one that benefits.)

Side Note: I'm growing as a designer and I'll be release some of my simpler patterns as free patterns. More on that later.

So my dumbbells are cute, yeah? People are pinning them, but nobody is buying, so I'm thinking… it's time to let these go as a Thank You, because I truly appreciate you all and your support!

Are you ready for the drama that never was?

I was going to post my dumbbells pattern yesterday (Monday), but I needed a break from the laptop. Building my blog has been a challenge for me so I took the day away. Well, designers talk, just like crocheters talk and dentists talk and musicians talk. I go to my favorite group to see what they are up to and what encouragement I can find. There is always, always encouragement there.
I go to the page and LO AND BEHOLD…!
Stop the presses! My FRIEND, Corina Gray from Stitch 11 has posted a FREE pattern for Dumbbells! And they are adorable!

Did I get mad? No.

Did I curse myself for taking the day off? I thought about it, but no.

Would it be worth it to get bent out of shape? Never. She's my friend.

Then I thought, what if designers got bent out of shape with every turn? ‘No way! She designed a granny square blanket?! The nerve.'
Most of us don't have time to go around shopping for ideas to copy. We see a need for ourselves and we fill it, sharing with the community.

So, I mentioned my design out of my surprise and after it posted I prayed I had not upset her. (I'm not so good with my words sometimes.) Fortunately, she had not gotten upset and we laughed and laughed and rode off into the sunset together. Here is a little of our insight with permission.

Corina Gray:  I didn't know you had any! I didn't search for them either. I try not to when I get new ideas- lol- unless I don't want to write a pattern. But if I do, I will search for the real thing to look at instead of crochet. Also, if you look, then it will change the unique ideas in your head without you even realizing it.

Amanda Nicole Evanson:  I never look either. lol It's depressing when you do, I think.

Celina Lane:  Lol- seriously! What are we going to do? ‘Ah, man! Somebody made a scarf!'

Amanda Nicole Evanson:  Haha I know right? ‘Ugh… someone did that hat with a flower on it already…!'

So, it's all good!

Go see the Stitch 11 pattern.

Go see Amanda's MNE Crafts pattern (with flowers!)

Make sure to sign up for my blog posts so you can come back and see mine.

Make up your own!

Enjoy crochet.

Enjoy design.

Enjoy life and friendship.