As you may be aware, I write and sell crochet patterns on Etsy, like a lot of other people do. Being that I spend a lot of time working on my own crochet patterns, I don't often get the time to crochet other things. Add this to the fact that I'm hard-core trained in the art of being poor, the likelihood of me shelling out for a crochet pattern is pretty low. So, I saw a pattern for a pair of fingerless gloves on Etsy that just stole my heart away, these
I hearted this pattern. I looked at it over and over, and eventually I figured out how it worked, in basic terms, and I took a shot at crocheting it myself, patternless. I used a beautiful purple merino wool (so soft!) and I probably spent about
four hours getting to this point:
Not bad, right? But not good. It's alright, and I think I prefer the smaller stitches on the straight hand covering part, but I just look at it and see where it falls short of the original. The trouble is, there are so many unknowns, like the size of hook, or the weight of the yarn, or where the pattern even starts that would be revealed if I had the pattern but would take me weeks of playing around with every possible
permutation before I'd be happy with it.
Since I sell my crochet work, I tend to measure the hours I spend crocheting in the money I would earn if I were at work. If I've spent four hours on this so far, that's about 24 quid at minimum wage, and this pattern costs three pounds twenty. That's five measly dollars. I can't remember how long ago I first saw these gloves, but it's taken me this long, and writing this blog post for me to realise that I should just pay the nice lady for her hard work and stop wasting more time. I'm going to do it. And I'll post them up for FO Friday when I eventually get them finished. I'm hoping that'll be before winter. Exciting!
Good for you. You know what it takes to come up with a pattern, not to mention an original one and you decided to support someone else who's doing it, too.
ReplyDeleteYou did a pretty good job but like you when I design for sale then I don't get to enjoy the art so much anymore.
ReplyDeleteI just buy the pattern if I especially like a technique of artist. Sometimes if it is someone I admire and I think I could figure it out I still buy it because it is sometimes easier that way.
A mere $5.00 for a pattern really isn't going to make the artist rich but it will support her effort and honor her copyright to the pattern.
I think buying the pattern was the right thing to do in this case. And what a beautiful pattern it is!
ReplyDeleteHarmony - Thanks Harmony, that's very kind of you to say so, glad you like my work.
ReplyDeleteSara - It's funny, isn't it, I do still love to crochet, but I love it in a different way than I used to, in that I love what I can make with it, rather than loving the process. It can often really feel like 'work' which isn't what I expected.
CB - We all must stand together in this! Five bucks ain't gonna quite break my bank, thankfully.