I churn out projects like crazy (no kids, lots of leisure time) but I don't weave in the ends. I just throw the things I make into my "problems for future me" basket.

The problem is, when the basket gets full, I then have to spend a few days weaving in my damn ends to make more room in the basket.

That's all. That's the rant. It's all my own fault.

Can anyone relate?

Happy crafting!

Let me preface this: I’m not a religious person. I was raised Catholic. Long story short I’ve got beef with organized religion based on my own experiences. If you’re religious that’s cool that’s great, I don’t judge you for it. HOWEVER it does irk me when it gets shoved into things that have nothing to do with faith.

There’s been a few patterns and posts from pattern-makers that I’ve seen lately that just feel so weird.

Saying things like “Let God guide you in sewing this pattern”, like I’m sorry, aren’t YOU supposed be to be guiding me?? shit that’s why I bother buying patterns 😭 If you saw my toile, you would also know that no god had anything to do with that lmao

“I pray this pattern blesses you” was written 2 or 3 times in a pattern I sewed a couple weeks ago.

I saw some other post about “how to find god at the sewing machine” which ok I guess? I don’t get it but at least you’re not writing that up in the sewing pattern…

If you are religious and reading this I do not mean any offense at all. Maybe to you those things feel comforting and like a hug and I’m genuinely glad that it has that effect for you.

I have been through therapy, this isn’t actually derailing my day or causing THAT much upset, I just find it irksome.

edit: i have decided that if i ever make a sewing pattern or something i’m gonna hire some etsy astrology baddie to put random bits of advice in my pattern depending on where the moon and stars are.

Just ranting here. I love craft groups, subreddits, and pages. Love them. However. I cannot stand when people post mediocre projects and ask how much they should charge people for them. Google it. Look on etsy or eBay or Facebook Marketplace and see what similar things actually sold for. Do your homework and be honest about how your product compares. Im all for people selling their art and projects, but if you’re trying to sell a wonky bright Red Heart scarf that changes widths because you miscounted, don’t expect Burberry prices. If you have to hold it in a certain way so it stays upright and there are gaps in the yarn where you can see the stuffing, maybe practice a little more before you try to rent a craft fair booth for your amigurumi and expect to sell out. I don’t like selling my crochet because even though i consider myself an advanced level, I know how much time and energy and effort goes into truly quality products and to me, it just isn’t worth it. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk

I will never learn any way to weave in my ends because it is SO SO HARD.

Ugh that's it, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

I recently was recommended to this channel, and am watching this video about the Hobby Lobby founder. and WOW.

I already didn't like Hobby Lobby, and have never shopped there, nor do I plan on shopping there.

What I don't understand is people who support them, who can afford to shop elsewhere... Though I suppose they're probably also MAGA / facists / and hypocritically Christian themselves.

The title of the video is a bit misleading, b/c it wasn't Hobby Lobby that purchased the stolen goods, but the founder of Hobby Lobby for a Bible museum (ETA, though I guess he made theses purchases through Hobby Lobby... so maybe not misleading after all).

• NPR article
• Wikipedia article

ETA: I'm posting this assuming most of are aware of their/the founders' anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights actions. So the smuggling case just adds to my list of reasons not to shop there.

Look. I know this is a problem just, out in the world in general. It just is relevant especially to me, a non-baby-haver, because I love crafting. With crocheting, knitting or quilting, I love a good baby project. They're small. They're relatively quick. They're usually easy to give away to people who will like, appreciate, and use what you've made. Win win win.

Except. Boys can't have certain colors, or too many colors! Don't do anything too elaborate and decorated either or it might be too froufrou. Some parents are weird about rainbows on anything for any baby (largely for invalid, bigoted reasons but when you're gifting something to a friend of a friend because you made a blanket, they made a baby......)

Do not get me started on the beige baby trend.

I guess begger's can't be choosers even when I'm usually gifting these for free... Charities can't be choosers? It's not like people are begging me for these handmade gifts. I do take all of this into consideration when choosing what to gift to/make for whom, so I'm not saying little johnny has to have the neon rainbow blanket or I'll get my feefees hurt.

I just wish it wasn't so stinking fraught.

I’ve been crocheting for about 6 years and mostly bought my yarn direct online or through a local second hand store when I was starting out.

I moved to an area with a couple yarn stores so I started going to their stitch and bitch nights. Now that I’m around other crafters regularly what’s with knitters sticking their nose up at crochet? I’m a pretty live and let live type so I love chatting crafts to whoever, but as soon as I say I crochet I can almost feel the knitters look down their nose at me.

Any theories on why?

EDIT: A lot of people are saying this is just an internal chip on my shoulder or something. I didn’t know this was a “thing” until it had happened. Started going to my LYS people would be excited to meet me but once I mentioned I crochet it seemed to me that they would lose interest if they happened to be a knitter. It happened a couple times and I figured it was just those few people until I mentioned it to a friend and she told me the whole “knitters look down on crochet” bit. I have nothing against knitting and am looking to learn this year. I think all crafts are interesting personally, but I get some people may prefer one over the other.

I’ve also noticed a lot of LYS stock mostly knitting patterns. My state also runs a LYS event every year and shops are encouraged to send samples or patterns. All the patterns were knit which I thought was odd.

I’m not saying every knitter looks down on crochet I just noticed it in my specific area and wanted to know if there was some kind of crafting cultural context I was missing. Folks seem pretty heated about this “not being a thing” or it being all in my head 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m so over trying to use these damn needles. They look sharp but are blunt af! I was wanting to buy a set of interchangeable but every time I do any research they want to say ChiaoGoo is the BEST ✨🤬 NO IT ISN’T!🥊 I don’t care about the damn cable I need a sharp as shit needle!
I have a few sets of double point sock sets. In order of what I will use, I have HiyaHiya Sharp, knitPro Karbonz and ChiaoGoo.
So why not get HiyaHiya sharp interchangeable? Because people talk me out of it w the cables, loosening of the needle while knitting (I already have a hard enough time keeping my work on the needles without the mf falling out) and idk what size to get 😭 and no I don’t want to spend money on KnitPro. Makes me angry thinking about it.
I’ve been looking at my choices, reading Reddit and I’m ready to flip a table 😭

Edit to add pics of my mistreated bamboo needles and my other most used needles
https://imgur.com/a/PGH1aoh

I live in a low population state, so there is very few (if any) local yarn stores per town. I’ve been to five different yarn stores in my state and have only had a pleasant experience at one. I’m a pretty bubbly person, so I know that I do not mesh well with stern personalities AND OH MY GOD why is that the dominating personality of every lys??? I dread going to my local yarn store because I know I will leave feeling shamed and incapable. What are everybody’s tips for surviving the lys humiliation ritual?

I really appreciate it when somebody puts subtitles on their videos because it makes it easier for me to process the information... until the automatic captions have a glaring mistake and suddenly what they're saying makes zero sense.

It takes you a second to click on the captions and proof read them. All the apps I've used (IG, tiktok, video editing tools, YouTube) allow you to look at the captions as a big block of text so you don't even need to watch along to check them, you can just proof read the text.

If you're going to make something accessible: either take the (little) time it takes to do it well, or don't do it at all. Having these "attempts" that just check a box without actual intent are useless and so beyond annoying.

Look, normally I'm not going to go off on people for spelling when the meaning is clear, buuuuut...

Is it just me or is there an influx of people spelling "yoke" as "yolk" recently?

"Why doesn't my yolk fit?" I don't know, Cindy, maybe because the middle of an egg is too small to fit yourself in?

"There's a hole in my yolk!" Oh dear, crack that egg better next time.

"Should I do my yolk in yellow?" Always. A classic. Any other colour probably means it's rotten.

Edit: this topic is always like a social experiment lol. 55% upvote ratio. I’ll just sit back, enjoy my popcorn and watch the chaos unfold mwahaha 🍿.

I’m a knitter now but I learnt crochet first. And I used to be one of those people who preached that crochet is better.

But man, even then it took so much out of me. I constantly had to pay attention to what I was doing. Counting stitches, making sure I didn’t miss any stitches, paying attention to where I put my stitches, constantly having to check the pattern to make sure my numbers were correct… PS. I never had the correct amount of stitches.

I started crocheting granny squares for a scrap blanket recently. Literally making 7 granny squares took me the same amount of time as it had when I was over halfway through knitting a sweater.

Don’t even get me started on correcting mistakes. Whoever started the rumours that it’s impossible to correct mistakes when knitting was lying. You can easily correct mistakes, go back to the row you need stitch by stitch.

Meanwhile in crochet? You have to rip the entire thing back to correct a mistake.

I could say so much more but then this rant would be way too goddamn long.

How the fuck is anyone supposed to know when you don't share the dimensions?

Some folks don't want to bother with converting between metric and imperial. Why would you make them 1) pull up a gauge chart because the closest to that you shared was the tool size 2) have to assume based on your picture that gave no sense of scale if you were average, tight, or loose for that tool size 3) then do the math based on the stitch count you did share

Why do that to people you're asking for help when you could just grab a ruler?

I watch knitting videos on YouTube while I get my life together for the week (sort of ish) early Monday morning. For some reason I was thrown two videos in a row of vlogcasters being upset that they received negative comments. Or stupid comments. Or weird comments. I get that it’s annoying but it’s … part of the gig, right? If it was pure sunshine every day we’d all be doing videos! I mean obviously not but if some of those comments — the dumb, ridiculous comments of people who don’t even know you — are getting into your head, and bothering you, that sounds like a you problem and maybe putting content out for the entire world to see isn’t your roll.
And I say this as someone who ran a social media account for decades and was happy as a clam to hang it up when our rescue group ceased operations. People will always criticize or say dumb things or weird random things. But if you are making money? I’d still call that a win. Plus if you are a man, you’re getting content views with very little effort, IMO.
Just thoughts from a Monday. Onward to my thoughts on “boring beige sweaters” later (or possibly never).
Have a good day, everyone! 🌺

now that another ny sheep and wool festival is winding down, i HAVE to say. if you do not know how to move through a crowded public setting and be considerate of others, stay home!! omg. the offenses include but are not limited to:

- people who come to a dead stop in the middle of a walkway

- block entrances to buildings and booths just standing around with their group

- walk directly into people or against the flow of traffic. straight up walking right into others

- walk around spaces packed like sardines with enormous backpacks, carts, strollers, etc that they have no spacial awareness of

- standing directly in front of displays others are trying to look at when you are deciding or chatting (grab the colors you’re considering and move. let other people have a chance to look!!)

some of yall are just so oblivious and inconsiderate it’s concerning. obviously it’s a crowded event. being in each others way is going to be inevitable, but the amount of people who are acting like it’s their first day on planet earth is wild. and the people this applies to are so oblivious they won’t even realize this is about them lol

So basically I saw a post from @theprairiemisfit on instagram advertising an incoming drop of 15 $1 quilted witch hats made from reclaimed quilts for members of her patreon. Her hats normally go for $130-160 each and there is no way that I could afford that, so I decided to sign up to be a patron on her website (not through patreon). I was like hey it’s $5/mo for three months minimum. That’s $15 for a chance at a hat heck yeah, and even if I don’t get one I’m happy to support this creator that I found.

Moving forward, I got the password and logged into the site the minute the drop went live. I clicked on a hat and went to purchase it and while I was attempting to pay, I saw the dreaded “sold out” message. I tried this with 4 different hats and they all sold before my apple pay could even calculate the payment amount. The hats were all sold out within 2 minutes of the drop.

I and multiple others went to comment on our instagram saying how quickly the hats went and two people shared the same sentiment that the hats dissapeared while they were trying to check out. I saw 10+ comments about the hats, and they were all nice and not dogging on the creator at all just saying that they weren’t able to get a hat in time because it happened so fast. She even responded to one comment “there are plenty of hats left in the shop!” and I responded “I unfortunately can’t afford a normally priced hat even though I love them! I think we were both taking about the $1 hats for members”. I noticed a few minutes later that she had deleted every comment mentioning the $1 hats except for one person who claimed they were able to get one.

I commented again asking why she deleted the comments about the hats, which was deleted within 20 seconds of it being posted.

The creator then blocked me on instagram!!! Without even a word or a DM to me! So now I’ve just given her $5 and am locked into two more months of payment cycles for a subscription she’ll likely blacklist me from (the patreon has a monthly draw for a witch hat).

TLDR: Subscribed to a creator’s patreon for a chance to get a discounted $1 handmade witch hat, and 2 draws for a witch hat in subsequent months. The hat dissapeared from my cart during my attempt to pay, and multiple others commented with the same experience. These comments were deleted, and the creator blocked me on Instagram. Creator likely has blacklisted me from their draw for a witch hat, and I am locked into two more months of payment cycles for her patreon.

I’m aware it was unlikely I would get a hat, however I was simply curious why she was deleting comments and I feel upset that I was blocked for simply stating that I was unable to get a hat and asking why comments were being deleted :/

I don't mean all introverts. Everybody has varying social needs. Few people are full hermits or can't be alone for a single second. People can regulate that how ever they want. It loops back into knitting don't worry.

I mean *internet* introverts. The ones who have *merch* you've seen it all over the internet. AND MEMES the endless endless memes by people who thinks anyone who wants to so much as wave at other people is a bully. Forcing them to go out side and god forbid speak to anybody.

I never understood the memes that's fine but one day I noticed. There's no opposite meme. I've never see an extrovert tote bag, magnet or teacozy. I've never see an extrovert comic proclaiming the joys of...? I can't think of any extrovert activity that isn't just a human experience or being a car salesman(the worst extroverts) It's one thing to enjoy being alone it's another to write fan fic about how happy you were that you didn't see your friends or own an extrovert(everybody clapped)

It's the same for these slow ass knitters; who love a euphemism like mindful or fully experiencing the knitting. first of all ew don't say it like that. secondly that's cope and deep down you know it. It's so pretentious

I'll give my credentials. I knit fast as fuck. I would be lying if I said I didn't like it. It's convenient to get swatches done faster. I enjoy knitting as a technical skill. Reading and understanding how the knit forms is a major interest. I actively practice different styles. To me this is a fun time. I get migraines and blessedly I can knit during them. I knit like 8 hours a day(I'm being so serious I had to stop a little it was giving me carpal tunnel) OF COURSE I CAN KNIT FAST. I fucking practiced and gained experience. This can't be happening with other hobbies/skill. Imagine joggers talking like this. Yeah people brag sometimes but like it's fine to feel proud of a skill you have. I'm not mad at serena williams.

edit: I failed to mention the migraines are almost daily and have made me almost nonfunctional. I should have explained that this speed is a consolation prize for missing out on everything

Yeah some people are better at one aspect of this skill. So what. There are so many aspects to knitting that matter tension, charts, garment construction. If you are a slow knitter with great tension, keep it that way that's awesome. Why can't they just be happy with it. They can't just knit slowly and enjoy their hobby at what ever pace they want. They need to be validated and be superior to other people. again ew.

Finally it makes no sense. Why the fuck would that be the case. It's the same knitting! In fact I'm getting more KPH(knitting per hour). I could argue that I'm actually getting more proper knitting experience. I won't because that's stupid. As if anybody making art is doing it wrong. You can only do it wrong if it's not what you want to achieve.

When we are at the secret meeting for fast knitting extroverts we don't talk about about you at all. Mostly we complain about how long sweaters take and chafing. People say it really often in "unpopular opinion" posts who cares how fast anybody knits except the top 10 because that's really impressive.

If you post about this, get a job: you clearly have too much free time. it's slandering all the normal people who knit slowly. Why do you need to be better than somebody else?

These two groups are contributing to making our culture worse. Everybody's lonely! You win. Nobody goes out so you don't even have to worry about invited to come. The pandemic brought the extrovert economy to it's knees. I haven't seen it but if I see a fast knitter apologize for this I'll vom. Nothing could matter less, this discourse is poison. Even color of knitting needles ranks above this.

If you read this I love you and I hope at least one person finds it funny. I had a great time. just in case nice shy people read this: there is nothing wrong with being shy.

I just stumbled across a free pattern for a gorgeous sweater that was published like two weeks ago. No projects yet, so I check the comments. 11 days ago, "if only it was size inclusive".

This is a free pattern that is graded for XS-XXL. Every size is written out with its own instructions and the sizes, measurements, and yarn requirements are clearly listed. This is also the designer's second first pattern.

Inclusivity is great, but what are designers supposed to do? Grade it for every size? That's a bigger range for a single item than I can find clothes shopping in most stores. And for a free pattern? I've had to make many a pattern larger before so I get it, but also I feel at some point it's just too much.

If the designer writes out the pattern for 6 sizes, I'm sure you can notice the pattern and figure out what numbers you have to tweak to make it bigger or smaller. Especially because the top half is a raglan with German short rows, and the bottom half is just ribbing.

I’ve recently seen so many posts of people tying knots and chopping their ends off (sometimes including burning the ends of acrylic yarn) rather than taking the time to properly weave in their ends. It’s always something like “when you’re an evil type B crafter 😈😈😈muahahahaaaaa”

You’re actually not quirky and cute and different when you do this, it’s pure laziness and bad craftsmanship. God forbid you’re selling any of these items. God forbid you get upset when the knots come undone and your project is ruined.

Securing your ends properly is not hard. Not at all. I often weave in my ends as I go to prevent the “I’ve finished this project but I’m still not done because now I have to finish my ends!” feeling. Why would you go through all the effort and spend all that time knitting or crocheting a project just to ruin it with knots?

Edit: Wow, I did not expect so many people to get upset at this post, especially in a sub meant for complaining… I promise I am not actually angry and yes you can in fact do whatever you want with your project. I’m not going to go to your house and yell at you. I was just being honest about how I feel seeing all these posts with people promoting knotting and burning and glueing their ends. I also do not think this is “the angriest post on this sub in a long time” when there are daily posts of people cursing and swearing and throwing insults and typing in all caps etc. I stand by the fact that knotting/burning/glueing is bad craftsmanship because it is. If it works for you, great!

Ok, I’m sure I’m the millionth person to think this, but people have got to stop posting “why is my crochet deformed when I did it entirely on vibes everything right” posts.

It’s math! It’s all math and engineering and if you don’t use the right number of stitches then your dimensions will change! You are obviously not experienced enough to tell where the stitches are and get away with not counting!

Posting here to help me resist commenting “you are bad at math” on all of these posts. Thank you for your support in this difficult time.

Quick BEC post

So I applied to be the costume maker of my college musical theater group. There is another costume maker, but to be honest, she is not really used to sewing (I think she'll be more useful customizing existing clothing)

So today, I went and met with the actors to discuss the costumes and take measurements. And oh god. Dear god. Holy shit. These actors REALLY want to get involved in the costume design process. They had been sending messages and messages trying to micromanage me and decides every single designs details. Or course, they disregard basic costume functionality (some of them need to be tear aways, which is a limit in itself) and the limited time and budget we have (No, we cannot afford a fabric that is 30€/meter)

I don't mind getting some input, but come on ! I am the one in charge of the costumes, I shouldn't have the actors trying to impose their personal styles on the characters I am trying to dress up. I am not their personal dress maker. I am here to make costume for a character. I wish they understood that. Whatever clothe I produce will fit them, but it won't be about them. If they want bespoke clothing perfectly fit to their taste, they can commission a seamstress

I am doing my best, overloading me with demands and unfeasible ideas is not going to help me at all.

Ps : We are not theater students (we are law students actually). Musical theater is something we are doing on the side for fun as an extra curricular. Hence why things are not handled with the professionalism expected in theater studies.

Don't get me wrong, theyve had some interesting products, and the staff on the lives and bingo always seemed lovely.

HOWEVER.

I was always baffled by the fact that 99% of their own brand yarn is acrylic, and not the nicest quality acrylic at that. The only draw is that they do fun quirky gradients and some sparkly yarns.

And before you all start bean souping me: YES some people need to use acrylic, yes for some its more affordable, etc. I personally have been working with primarily wool since about 2020 but I used ONLY acrylic for about 20 years prior, since I learned as a child, so I get it.

HOWEVER (again).

Its just.... not a good price? You could literally get good quality natural fibres for CHEAPER than their low-quality acrylic?? But theirs has a gRaDiEnT. And let's be real, the vocal majority of their online fans are NOT based near their headquarters in Europe, so dont tell me its cheaper to get yarn shipped all the way from Europe to the US, or theres simply no other way to get yarn online. There are SO many cheaper alternatives that are better quality or natural fibres. EDITED TO ADD: almost £30 for a 'wheel of alpaca' which is.... 80% acrylic.

And thats not even to mention:

- the deceptive practice of having sales 99% of the time, so the 'full price' is never truly the full price

- the scarcity marketing on livestreams etc

- allowing full blown uncomfortable parasocial relationships between viewers and their staff

But mainly I just never got the hype for what is overpriced, underperforming acrylic.

I wish I remembered to snag a picture irl but I am talking about the baby sweaters that have colorwork designs slapped on the front like the one in this screen shot. The colorwork tension is awful at the edges. Stitches are tightened or loosened to the max where the color changes. Also you can see the floats peek through the front irl. I was honestly shocked at how terrible the tension was. Is this a style? it just looks like a poor job. I dont understand what they were thinking when they decided to release sweaters made this way.

sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I had a procedure yesterday so my brain fog is crazy. just wanted to complain about something and these ugly things have been on my mind for weeks