The problem here is the reason it looks like it is from an old pattern book or magazine is because it IS from an old pattern book or magazine. Betty McKnit did NOT create this pattern. She copied it from an old pattern book or magazine and is passing it off as her own work. This particular pattern is one of the old ubiquitous ones as well. Betty might as well have published "How to make a Granny Square" and said that because she published it on her blog she owns granny squares for all the more that she owns the star blanket.
This literally isn’t true. The ripple stitch is taken from a dictionary of ripple stitches by Jan Eaton, credited in the pattern. Betty does not claim to have invented the ripple stitch. She does not claim to own star blankets. She owns this pattern - the six day star blanket. Stop spreading gossip and slander about someone in a livelihood-threatening way just because you’ve decided you don’t like them - there’s no need for it and it’s incredibly toxic. There also seems to be confusion here between stitches, types of object, and patterns. When I write a sweater pattern, for a drop shoulder wide rib sweater, I do not claim to have invented wide rib, or drop shoulder construction, or sweaters. I just own the pattern for *that particular sweater*, that I designed. JFC. Pinning bc I am tired of this particular rumour and it needs to stop.
@CinemaKnits OMIGOSH! Thank you! I think I found my "trademark" blanket pattern somewhere in that book (200 Ripple Stitch Patterns)... I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I'm going to go look for it at my local library and see if I'm right, and credit Ms. Eaton properly. 💕
I absolutely did not copy the 6-Day Star from any old pattern book or magazine. On my own, I worked out how to adapt a chevron stitch in the round and make it lie flat and make it repeatable. If you’re going to say I copied it from something else, produce the thing I supposedly copied. You can’t. Because it doesn’t exist. There are many versions of crochet star blankets. This one is unique, and I made it.
I can’t handle the assertion that you stole a pattern from people who don’t know the difference between stitches, types of object and patterns. Currently writing my first garment pattern and I use a 6 by 8 rib (inspired by a Scandinavian camisole design), a drop shoulder construction and the dimensions of an 80s adidas sweatshirt. It’s my pattern, I designed it and did all the maths and figured out how to create decreases in pattern so the rib looks neat and how to switch between back and forth and in the round whilst also increasing and decreasing and shaping the sweater, and figured out how to grade it from XS to 5XL smoothly. But with this argument being made about the star blanket, someone could just copy and paste my pattern then tell me it’s derivative because I didn’t invent sweaters or 6x8 rib? It’s just fundamentally not understanding what design is.
If I did copy it from a magazine, which I didn’t, does that then make it okay for Brie to copy it from me? Or is she also a scammer for copying someone else’s work? Is copying okay or not?
I’m someone with intellectual disabilities who tried using the 6 day star pattern and struggled. I just found a different star blanket pattern. It was that simple.
Can I ask what specifically was a problem for you? Genuinely, Im just really curious. I write patterns too and im interested in what might be a problem (outside of a pattern not being for beginners).
@ generally I prefer crochet diagrams over written patterns for long projects or complex stitch patterns. I can see exactly where everything is supposed to be and don’t have to strain over reading. I don’t mind abbreviated written instructions for simpler/shorter projects.
@roanoke7551 without being the original commenter. Personally I struggle sometimes when the pattern just suddenly includes the new stitch as short term - so a "now this stitch starts to be included" is nice But also when there are increases and decreases and the pattern is not mentioning the sum of stitches after the row. Due to my ADHD struggles i sometimes end with having to count all the stitches in a rowand have to do Math beforehand to know the sum of stitches
@@KaliqueClawthorne I struggle with the stitch count not being included as well. The second-guessing is insane. And I don't even have any ADHD struggles when I crochet/knit (when I struggle with whatever it is that causes my focus and patience issues, I just don't crochet)
Same, I'm not great with written patterns so I had some trouble following the pattern, but simply watching the tutorial cleared up all confusion. It's super accessible.
I also struggle with it but that's why I bought a book so I can learn. If a pattern is still too complicated even with my book or a video, I would just move on and find a different project.
I agree, it's basically a language that takes time to fully understand and comes with experience in the craft (knit/crochet). When I started with crochet I 100 % preferred video tutorials with lengthy explanations. Now I find them quite annoying to follow because they are very slow but I am still glad that some people with less experience in the craft can follow the pattern with less frustration. However, if the artist prefers to make written patterns (which are accessible for experienced crafters and don't slow them down) I see no problem with that. There are plenty of resources for both groups.
Yea, no. That pattern is written just fine. She even had a special stitches section. I want the people complaining to follow a 2004 free DROPS pattern 😂
I think new crocheters forget that they are emersing themselves not only in a new hobby, but a new culture that comes with its own language, social norms, etc. Your personal journey always on a continuum. Challenging your skills is how you learn. Not everything needs to cater to newer crocheters and can actually be detering to more advanced crocheter. Can the community as a whole improve accessibility? Absolutely, but not everything needs to cater to everyone .
I self taught through RUclips videos only less than 3 years ago. I love to crochet , but I HATE the drama😮. It's utterly bizarre to me that people do this and it's so unhealthy. I see this in all sorts of 'communities', such as animal rescue, DIY, etc. I just don't get it🙄.
As someone with multiple complex disabilities that impact me neurologically, cognitively and physically - I am SO exhausted by people misusing ableism/inaccessibility. It actually does more harm than good for disabled people when every small inconvenience is treated as a malicious act. Accessibility is a multiple layered thing - there is nothing wrong with rewriting a pattern for yourself (I would actually say if you can do that, the pattern isn’t actually inaccessible to you, it was just difficult for you to follow). There is something wrong with distributing that without permission.
I think, tho, that it’s worth remembering that accessibility isn’t a binary yes/no thing. The reason a pattern was difficult to follow could be an accessibility issue, whether it’s the size or color of the font or the fact that the numerous advertisements cover the pattern text. Like you say, accessibility is a multiple layered thing - and just because it’s possible to force your way through something doesn’t mean that thing is inherently accessible. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes! Many of us have been doing these things ourselves. I use Reader view on busy websites, or I print (or purchase a pdf and then print) and then highlight only what is needed and zoom in etc.
Also between you and me- if ads were such a huge issue, there are browsers with ad block that lets you have a private ad free view without actively spreading around another copy and making it easier and preferable to the version that supports the work put in. yeah maybe its not ideal for the creator, but at least its a decent middle ground where imo, if you already know you want to do something thats infringing on someone else's property and wishes- why are you doing it so loudly and proudly?
Ya I was gonna say. The kid complains it’s inaccessible, then reproduces it. I guess someone else pointed out accessibility can have to do with the struggle of getting through something too.. but then the kid should have just kept her notes and used them herself. Weird to me cause like first thing I learned almost was that you can’t reproduce patterns. Says please don’t do it right there on every one. Idk, maybe wasn’t specified on this one? Or she missed it more likely. I haven’t seen it. Anyway.
I'm 53 and listening to you list all the ways people have now to get help with a pattern - I just want to invite people to think about the fact that it used to be just you and a written pattern and a photo of the finished garment. that's it. no ravelry, no you tube videos, no facebook group, no blog post, no contacting the creator, no internet. your options were, figure it out yourself or ask another knitter/crocheter or someone working at a local yarn store. that's it. it's great that we have all these things now, along with a better awareness of disability issues and access but there comes a point where it's just you learning how to do it, with the yarn and the needles/hook and a lot of frustration. that is part of it. the reality is ripping back your work, abandoning projects, coming back and trying again over and over. and that's where a lot of the satisfaction comes in. no one can take all that away for you and make everything smooth and easy.
I too learned how to knit before the internet was prevalent. All I had was one book to reference and I accidentally knit through the back of every stitch for YEARS before I realized the mistake. Was that anyone's fault? Absolutely not. After 22 years of knitting I'm finally taking the time to learn crochet and it feels so luxurious to have video tutorials for anything I need! Very frustrating to see people dogpile on a designer when really learning the craft is more accessible than ever.
Similar age here, and this reminds me of something that I feel was better known not too long ago, by which I mean "less than 20 years ago". Anyone who knits/crochets or does similar crafts in public, or even just in front of friends who haven't seen us doing it yet, is used to the inevitable "Oh, I could never have the patience to learn that!" My answer was always that learning it was where I got the patience from in the first place. I didn't sit down and learn to knit because I was already an inherently patient person! I wonder now how much of this stems from trying to fit three motivations into two types of crafter. For example, I'm a process knitter. I don't much care what happens to something once it's not on my needles any more, and I even experience a little grief for the project once it's completed, instead of feeling accomplished, because once it's a scarf or a sweater, its primary purpose for me is over. It was there mainly to be knitting I was in the middle of. Product knitters, my opposite kindred, have the opposite mindset, and while I don't understand them, I hope they complete every project they begin. But we're talking now about three distinctly separate motivations once virality and social media enter the conversation: the desire to have the thing, the desire to make the thing, and the desire to be someone who made the thing. If you want the thing and don't have it, but don't have the skill to make it, you can buy it. If you want to make the thing, but don't have the skill, you can learn the skill (and if you're a process crafter, you get the bonus goodness of all the process involved in learning). But if you want to have made it, and don't have the skill to make it, what then? You have to settle for something unsatisfying either way; buy it (and not be able to truthfully say you made it) or go through the slow and frustrating process of learning a new skill first. That second dissatisfaction seems like it would be increased by virality, with its narrow time frame for relevance, the pressure to have made the thing while everybody else is still talking about it. It completely removes the option for the learning of a craft to teach you the patience you're going to need to practice that craft.
I am only 31, but I was taught by my great grandmother as a kid and really got into crochet as a teenager. At that point it was very much the same, I bought patterns at the craft store or just had to wing it and use what I knew to to make what I was trying to acheive. Now I use all of the resources out there and I often think "wow, I had such a specific issue and found a Reddit post, RUclips video, and blog post all helping me solve it!" It's truly incredible, but I think that if I'd learned entirely by doing that, I wouldn't have the problem solving skills I have now!
Nor should anyone actually want all the obstacles taken out of their way! Challenges and figuring out things on our own is a growth opportunity. We can't teach a baby to crawl. They have to figure it out on their own. And we need to keep figuring things out for our entire lives.
Im also 53 and have never been able to follow a written crochet pattern. The long form detailed explainations make it worse. I can understand the drawing scematics much better, but get lost when everything is written out. I'm much better at freeform types of crochet and enjoy looking at a picture and trying to make it. I learn so much from my mistakes. I feel like the detailed explainations derail my ADHD and make the process so much harder. Never has it crossed my mind to bad mouth or rewrite the patterns people put out because everyone has their own way of doing things and dont need to cater to me. I enjoy puzzling it out or move on to something else.
“The pattern was called out for its inaccessibility” and then you read it and it’s written like every single pattern you’ve ever read in your entire life
For real. I hadn't seen the pattern, but had vaguely heard about the drama. I went to look at it assuming that the blog would be a pop-up ad nightmare with super sparse instructions or weird abbreviations based on the complaints. But it's just a normal pattern...
@@NicotineAndSilence Yeah and if the ads were a problem, couldn’t people just like, copy and paste the text? Or save as a PDF? There are so many extensions that let you omit certain web elements before printing
Also it comes in 3 ways, 2 of which are free(!!) and has community support?! really the only one thing she could add was the accessibility profiles on the website. and those are nice wherever we can find them but what are people expecting from designers nowadays? just find another star blanket pattern if this one doesnt work for you. there are hundrets!
I will say, as someone who does not knit or crochet, (but do other crafts) I found it confusing. Because I have not learned the shortcuts and how to parse that type of pattern, which may be a contributing factor here. Maybe it is beginners, or people who have only ever read long form prose style patterns who just don't have the required skill to parse the short form, and what really needs to be done is some education on how to read patterns like this. I'm guessing it would only take a page or two to explain.
I think another element here is the overlap of crafts community and disability community. In disability communities I've experienced, it is normal to offer each other free resources & assistance on parts of the world that haven't been made accessible to us. A 'they don't look out for us, so we have to look out for each other' attitude. I think this is important when it comes to the big institutions and powers of the world. The 'accessible bootleg' of the pattern fits right into this spirit. But the complicating issue here is that the original pattern designer is not a big institution, but a small crafter in an already devalued industry. Distributing a bootleg pattern is clearly a bad call here (especially if there is already a youtube pattern explanation video out there by the original creator, which is such a great accessibility option it itself!). I don't think there was malicious intent involved to start with, but calling the original creator 'abelist' shows a lack of nuanced view of the situation. And then the internet outrage grinder went and did its thing.... I applaude the original pattern creator for staying professional through this, and even making her page more accessible.
She was obviously able to follow the original pattern with accompanying video, to be able to write a pattern for it. It’s more likely she wanted the attention/clicks from giving it away under the auspices of "making it more accessible" and not one time did she ask for permission or offer her own instructions for the original designer to add to her own "to make it accessible" to those people who actually paid for the pattern or visited her site/social media.
It is worth noting that just because there’s a video doesn’t mean it’s accessible. The video in this case is very chatty, so not necessarily great for folks with some forms of executive dysfunction. And while someone took the time to close caption the video, it has no punctuation - and that can actually be really hard to read! So there are definitely still really legit reasons folks could want a simple pattern to read, even with the existence of the RUclips video.
@khills You really seem to have a chip on your shoulder to be constantly making excuses for someone plagiarizing material. There is no excuse for the behavior of the individual or demonization or the pattern writer.
@@khills I personally think there's a difference between something being accessible, and something being immediately actionable. If you genuinely want to make a pattern, watching a video a few times over to take notes & figure out which parts are actually usefull isn't a discrimatory ask. I think the point where, for me, this turns into reasonable accessibility is where you have *both* the pattern & the video. So you can sit down with the pattern and the video and work through it. The close captions being suboptimal sucks, I wish youtube would bring community captions back.
Whoever posted the bootleg and whined about the creator being ableist is clearly the type of person to directly run into a stranger on the street and cry, "OH my God, you just ran into me with malicious intent, and it's because YOU'RE fat-phobic!" Nothing could ever be their fault, and it is their world. Their delusion must know no bounds.
I’m an educator and I can tell you that “instant gratification” is an issue with learning in general. Not being comfortable with the uncomfortable feeling of learning something new causes learners to throw their hands up too quickly. Technical advances have smoothed out so many sticky points, that any sort of struggle or friction in the learning process feels like something must be broken. It feels too clunky compared to the rest of our lives. Only seeing the highlight reels of others learning process doesn’t make this any easier. You hit the nail on the head! Thanks for the great video!
It really sucks because reading and making a standard knit or crochet pattern is incredibly similar to how a simple computer reads code, and writing those patterns is like coding, which is being heavily emphasized for kids I feel. What if we could get them into coding by doing crafts??? But if nobody teaches or learns problem solving, how are they gonna do it?
As an elementary teacher in Germany: Absolutely yes! My 3rd graders think they have to be perfect in new skills immediately and else wish to give up. Also they often use "But it's no fun/But I don' t wanna do it" as an argument for not putting in effort. Guess what, little dude! You didnt learn how to walk or talk in a day so give yourself time! I think it might be partly caused by the immediate gratification and dopamine availability provided by a lot of the Games they play. I noticed that my own patience reading or listening to a Podcast isn't the same it was before I got used to my Smartphone.
I also worry about social medias pressure of perfection. People who are just starting out or trying are swarmed by images of people doing it perfectly (and not all the failures beforehand) and comments ranging from genuine help to nasty hate. Learning things and not getting it right the first time is often seen as this “all or nothing” point of success. People are not allowed to learn through trial and error. There’s a pressure to get it passable the first time or hide it from the world.
I finally got around to checking out Betty's pattern and was shocked pikachu face that people think this is a badly written pattern??? I'm saying this as a fellow designer, but the pattern is actually TOO wordy for me and could use tightening up in some places. I am absolutely baffled by the helplnessness of TikTok crocheters.... I've actually had to go to absurd lengths in my own patterns now with so many roadblocks to prevent them from blowing up my Etsy DM's because they don't know how to read basic shorthand. Listing description with a sample row/round, an entire "Pattern Support" page at the start of the PDF outlining what I will and will not provide support for, which basically boils down to me saying "No I will not walk you through this pattern" in several different ways. So many of them think they're Intermediate crocheters when they don't even now simple abbreviations... I really and truly feel for Betty here and my blood is boiling on her behalf. Oh and the ageism is just the icing on the cake, pisses me off so badly! Like you say, Betty's not your mom! She's not your friend! She's not going to go on a sprawling text conversation with you like you're elementary school besties catching up, she's a business woman who needs to communicate succinctly to get on with her day! A lot of this just comes down to pure entitlement and disrespect from younger crocheters, and I'm saying this as a a Gen Z-er....
I'm a pretty young crocheter as in I'm approaching 1.5 yrs crocheting (but am a Millennial) and it's weird how folks on YT and TikTok are so helpless or just decide to not follow the pattern and then wonder why their stuff doesn't look right. Her pattern looks well written to me. When Cinema Knits said old style, I thought it was a diagram pattern which I'm only just starting to be able to read.
I started crochet this year and even I don't get how people think its badly written? it's straightforward to me not confusing at all and even her videos are helpful to me as well and well made I've been so ???? seeing everyone complain 😭
@@grayrainbow100 hi thanks for this, I’ve actually added so much to the pattern over the years due to questions and the rants I’ve received from people. So I agree with you about the tightening up. I’ve included everything I’ve had to answer repeatedly in my groups and elsewhere. It is easier just to put it in the pattern. Thanks for your take. ❤️
As a Gen X who has been knitting and crocheting since the mid 1970s you had to use your brain and try several ideas if you were stuck on a pattern (or ask your mum's friend next door). I find this really strange to be harassing the pattern designer.
there is SO MUCH helplessness when it comes to crafting, sewing, diy etc.. i work at. afabric shop and the amount of people who come in asking me to walk them through how to construct a garment, but they’ve never even touched a needle and thread in their life is baffling. or like they come in asking me what bobbin their machine needs and i’ve never even seen their machine… google is free!!! there is such a lack of curiosity around all ages (but especially with younger people too)
the instant gratification in the crafting community is absolutely bleeding in. I run the fiber arts club at the school I teach it - I've had so many students coming to me, absolutely DISTRAUGHT because they couldn't make a pattern in an hour, or were struggling with a stitch type, or dealing with yarn tangles. "but the tiktok said it was easy!" "but the tiktok said a baby could do it!" "but so-and-so said it would only take 20 minutes!" and not wanting to work through the problems. They just want the ease and speed promised to them
Yes I’ve been crocheting for over 15 years now. It took me a much longer time to figure out how to do certain stitches than most TikTok tutorials indicate now… it’s kind of like a form of false advertisement…
Also present in the expectation from the people who receive our makes or see them and go "Can you make me one?" thinking it takes us like 5 seconds, they just see the finished project I post after spending several months hand knitting a sweater for myself.
The best example I can think of relating to this was when I first started learning I saw a video 'crochet a bucket hat in an hour'. I never did, because even at absolute beginner level I could see that I didn't want a bucket hat crocheted with chunky acrylic yarn! Chunky is tempting when you want quick results, but it's rarely beautiful, or even that functional.
1. I agree on your instant gratification points. Wholeheartedly. When anyone begins school, they must begin with grade 1 reading before reading Shakespeare. It takes time to graduate levels of pattern reading for any craft. 2. As a retired teacher I can say that providing instruction for learning styles, especially with disabled students is far beyond the scope of a pattern designer. Teachers often work long hours learning to customize a method to teach individual students. Its not a one size fits all even for learners with the same challenges. 3. as someone who's crocheted 60 years, and am not afraid of any advanced pattern, some are still challenging. The concept of completing projects does include attempting trial an error. You make an attempt, look at it, if not working rip it out and work differently. 4. Thank you for sticking up for us aging. It's hard when we try and share knowledge only to be brushed off due to age.
I'm 53, and I appreciate what you said as an educator. It isn't the responsibility of the designer to make the pattern accessible in every way it may need to be for everyone. I'm a good crocheter, not a great one. If I don't understand a pattern, I try, I Google, I RUclips, and if I can't get it right, I may set that project aside for someone else and come back to it. Some patterns are beyond my skill set and THAT IS OKAY. Whether you're talking about crochet or cooking or pipe -fitting or car maintenance.... There's levels of complexity and comprehension. It feels like a more respectful approach would have been too contact the designer and ask for a more accessible version of the pattern, maybe with an offer to collaborate, benefiting both crocheters.
To me, complaining about someone writing an extremely standard-style pattern makes about as much sense as yelling at a music composer because you cannot read standard music notation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes - I think there’s a lot to be said and done re: making patterns more accessible including having more standardisation across patterns and having official forms of guidance on how patterns should be written (I think Toni Lipsey speaks about this but would need to look it up!) It’s important to continue to campaign for accessibility and to continue to strive for increased inclusivity. However, none of that is Betty Mcknit’s personal responsibility - she wrote a pattern in an extremely standard style & also provides extensive help and support. Don’t hate the player hate the game!
It seems to me that people saw a standard free pattern and wanted it to be a full tutorial. I think the more modern designers do tutorial style, but I learned to crochet in middle school in the ‘80s so I learned on standard pattern notation. I went to other crocheters and books to fill in the blanks. For context - I’m autistic level 2 and ADHD
I am honestly glad, that you pointed out the ageism. The crochet community prouds itself with being very nice and supportive and positive, but this is not the first time I have seen hostility against older crafters that is kind of hidden behind calling them out for some kind of moral failure (like being "mean") that made me go "Hm, am I imagining things?" And I think there is definitely a generational conflict burried somewhere in this whole drama. Another thing I have noticed is that after there is finally conversation about mental health struggles and invisible disablities (which is absolutely great) especially younger people tend to almost pathologize their very normal beginner struggles. "I don't understand this pattern, must be because I am a visual learner". Which might be the case. Or not. Nobody looks at a shorthand pattern and is like: "I understand everything!" We all had to slowly work through the first ones at some point. The problem is that some people will decide there in the first moment of their struggles, that this must be not for them and that they can't work with such a pattern ever. And from that perspective I can see why many see it as an accessablity issue, when for the most part it's an experience issue. And in a way that is harmful for the whole accessability conversation. Because it muddies everything. Where do the actual accessibilty concerns start and what is just impatient beginners throwing a fit? It is easy to only see the latter and decide that it's a non issue, when there might be actual things that can be done better.
It seems to me that people getting started don’t understand that patters are literally a second language. No native English speaker could pick up and understand the original version on Don Quixote on their first attempt to read Spanish. It takes years to learn the different aspects of pattern language and have quick recall for stitch abbreviations. I’ve been knitting for more than 10 years and it took me probably 8 years to feel confident enough to learn hardcore patterns. You’ve gotta crawl before you can walk no matter what.
@@denslc I myself am an advanced crocheter capable of doing difficult patterns, and I still have to look up how to do uncommon stitches like bobbles and waffles every time they come up because they just aren't that commonly used in most amigurumi, which is what I prefer to make. It's crazy that so many beginners in this day seem to expect to pick up a hook for the first time and already have the skill to crochet a cozy for their entire car.
A LOT of the accessibility in crochet patterns like this is the ability to find a different pattern. But people want the viral pattern now, especially new crocheters and they are doing it rushed so they can get it in 6 days so of course it's going to be harder (missing stitches etc). I have disabilities that affect how I read patterns and such so the whole drama really bothered me, especially when people were crying ableist. SO MANY TIMES people will bring up "it's ableist against this!" and they mainly do it to join in on some drama. Most people with these disabilities like me will look for a different pattern or use tools like screen dimmers, screenshots, taking notes, stitch markers, etc. ///(controversial alert) My own pet peeve is how often conversations about my disabilities only get big because people want something to be easier for themselves as abled people. "It will also be easier for disabled people!" Well they mainly care when it benefits them too.
This is a great example of using skills and strategies to make things accessible to your situation! You recognized what you needed and were able to find the necessary resources. That's the entire goal of supporting students with disabilities in education. (This is done better in some areas than in others, but hopefully we will still be able to provide these services moving forward or misunderstandings like this will become an increasingly common problem.) Unfortunately, the world is not accessible to everyone and it never will be. Barriers like money, location, age, disability, etc. will always exist. If you see a sweater that you like, but can't afford it, then you might have to find another sweater (or save up your money or buy it second-hand or find a way to earn some extra money or find some other way to buy the sweater). The point that sticks out to me is the comment where Betty McKnit states that "she didn't offer it to me". If the goal of this other crocheter was to make the pattern more accessible to others, it could have been a private conversation where this person reached out to Betty and said that they made a document that helped them make sense of the pattern. They could have asked if Betty would post the document on her original blog post or add it to the community forum where others could benefit while also giving Betty the credit and website traffic.
Right? Like I have dyslexia and sequencing disorder- this didn't seem ablest to me (but we didn't see the dms or anything). I do a lot of cross stitch and I go back and forth from colored patterns and b&w depending on how bad my issues are on a given day. I also use counting pins in a bunch of colors. I'm not saying that ableism isn't in the crafting world. There is. And there is ableism in the design of so many social media platforms. (Particularly Tumblr, in my experience)
thisss! Just because you don't want to use your brain does not mean everyone has to cater to that! I feel like so often people on the internet start using accessibility issues without reason and thus often devauling actual real accessibility concerns and discussions.
Betty Mcknits has an extremely accessable video which you can rewatch for each row every time you have to make that row, what's more accessible than that. Additionally if you are unable to concentrate due to adverts buy the pattern, or write it down yourself the way you understand it and don't distribute it
@AlexSoffman-i6n if I try to play guitar and can't read sheet music, or follow a tutorial it doesn't mean the video is inaccessible it means that I have not yet acquired the skill set needed to play that song. I should instead learn the skills I need to then follow the instructions. Yes I have a learning disability and yes I do find things hard to read. None of that should give me the right to steal someone's pattern and distribute it.
I didn’t hear about this drama until now, and I completely agree with every point you made. I am a beginner knitter myself and I do find the old fashioned patterns intimidating. The more I learn, the easier they are for me to understand, and the long winded explanations become more frustrating! Being a member of Facebook groups and subreddits, I noticed that so many people cannot do their own research anymore, and instead ask the most trivial questions on forums, expecting to be handheld through every step. Sure there is a place for asking questions, troubleshooting, etc, but part of learning a skill or craft is being able to identify a problem and find a solution to it. Instead we expect someone else to give us the solution without putting in any effort.
People ask so many questions that could be solved with a simple internet search, and that's what I've started telling people. "You might want to try looking it up first before asking others to look it up for you."
lol I have been on both sides in a way. I love to research things myself so I often don’t ask questions on craft forums. But I also like to keep reptiles and sometimes the lack of information out there is frustrating as only a handful of people have kept a specific species alive for a time and can speak to their care requirements in a manner I trust or can verify with multiple sources. So in those cases I understand asking “stupid” questions. But for a craft like crochet/knit that has been around almost forever, almost every question has been asked and answered and is easily available with some searching. It can be frustrating to answer that question a hundred times when google exists.
lol I have been on both sides in a way. I love to research things myself so I often don’t ask questions on craft forums. But I also like to keep reptiles and sometimes the lack of information out there is frustrating as only a handful of people have kept a specific species alive for a time and can speak to their care requirements in a manner I trust or can verify with multiple sources. So in those cases I understand asking “stupid” questions. But for a craft like crochet/knit that has been around almost forever, almost every question has been asked and answered and is easily available with some searching. It can be frustrating to answer that question a hundred times when google exists.
I think ultimately this came down to not differentiating between disability accessibility and newbie accessibility. Is the pattern truly inaccessible to those with autism or dyslexia, or are you just a noob? Sometimes you're just a noob and that's fine! I think people forget that yarn work and pattern reading are skills that need to be honed. No one (save for some lucky ass savants) will pick up a skill that quick.
@@yangyangknits yes, that’s a really succinct way of putting it that I wish I had thought of in the video! I could not actually find (anywhere!) an explanation from anyone on exactly why this pattern in particular poses access issues, nor could I get hold of the revised bootleg pattern to see what had been done to make it more accessible. The most common complaints I could find online were about the stitch counts being wrong and about the shorthand, use of asterisks and brackets, and lack of descriptive language. The first one would pose at least an inconvenience to any crocheter, the other two seem to me to be about experience reading patterns - we all have our way of parsing and making sense of patterns but it takes practice! I also don’t understand how the detailed video didn’t just circumvent these issues - surely it would??
I took up crochet partly to help with focus and attention. I still haven't made a really complex/ large project yet because I still have problems with focus and attention! That's my problem, being spoon-fed instructions isn't the responsibility of any creator 😅
I thought the exact same thing! I didn't understand the pattern either, not because I'm autistic and she's ableist, but because that would have been my third crochet project ever and I'm still not quite sure what a double crochet is😅
I fully agree with this, as someone with autism and SEVERE dyscalculia (some people describe it as numbers or math dyslexia), I think you are 100% right. You have to start from the beginning with all things, and be able to recognize when you're not ready for a certain pattern right now. I was one of the folks who tried to jump into amigurumi first thing, but I went back to basics. I still haven't been able to figure out granny squares, which to some crocheters are one of the first things they learn. But I can make a beautiful shawl and crochet c2c. Some things we just aren't ready for. I'll admit I had a hard time with reading patterns at first, due to dyscalculia, but with enough time, I learned how to translate it. If I don't understand something I dedicate my time to watching tutorials. Betty's pattern is not any different from any other written pattern, so I call bullcrap on these ableism claims, especially when she made a free RUclips tutorial to be more accessible. And how did they deal with this? By stealing her paid pattern and distributing it and encouraging others to steal it, out of apparent pettiness... I really can't believe this whole situation.
literally yes to everything that you've said, particularly about the age gap and style of pattern writing. It took me a whole decade longer to figure out crochet than knitting because I couldn't "click" with the instructions available to me at the time. Instructions written in shorthand and assumed the crafter had baseline knowledge of certain stitches i.e. were taught by family members as was the norm. I'd also wager a guess that the "rudeness" perceived was actually Betty being a very direct communicator and not having a placative tone that young millennials and gen z default to (calling myself out with that).
I agree on all fronts!! & I also think there’s an (increasingly ignored) gap between an honest expression of frustration and actual meanness. It’s totally reasonable to be frustrated and blunt with someone who is basically plagiarising you. The idea that even when our boundaries are being crossed we still owe a stranger friendliness and warmth is sooo tied up with gender and age for me…
I'm 36 and I'm just starting to learn crochet, I just couldn't get it before - and then somehow, finally, I got the chain thing, and it clicked - a lot of RUclips videos helped with that. I'm still slow and a beginner - I'm really greatful so many creators have put things out there for free! At a certain point, everyone needs to learn that not everything is about them. There is the option of a free pattern, a paid pattern, and a RUclips video - plus so many other free videos! How much more does one think they are entitled to?
I remember having a discussion in a knitting group almost a decade ago about how none of us could pick up crochet because we couldn't understand the pattern... but I picked up a crochet pattern a few weeks ago and had no problem figuring it out. Its the same for knitting patterns from around pre-2005, though. They're either filled with just abbreviations or amalgamations of charts. I have a few pattern books from that era, and I genuinely struggle to make sense of them despite 20 years of knitting... and these are still better than vintage patterns from the 40s and 50s (which people rewrite professionally because they're so different from the modern standard). There's definitely been a general shift in both crafts to assume you're learning from the pattern to some degree and don't have a network of more experienced people to call on, but it's also a bit ridiculous to try to circumvent the learning curve on older patterns instead of just accepting you weren't as good as you thought.
I agree with everything here! Learning to crochet took me way longer than knitting because the patterns just didn't make sense to me. I learned to knit from patterns over a decade ago but I could never follow a crochet pattern and just pretty much crocheted something that I could completely improvise. I gave it a go again this year and it totally clicked after I bought a newer pattern and looked at video instructions. I totally recognize the "old" style of pattern writing, I find a lot of vintage knitting patterns (90's and older) have this same vagueness because the assumption is someone who uses the pattern already either knows how to knit or has a family member or a knitting group that will help them.
i really think you hit the nail on the head with the bit about ageism and misogyny. but also, i feel like the internet as a whole has gotten too comfortable with trying to shut down anything thats not specifically for them. if you go on literally any tiktok recipe video, youll see tons of comments asking for dietary substitutions or if its okay to do xyz instead of what the recipe actually calls for - like, if the recipe doesn't suit your needs right off the bat, maybe look for a different recipe? obviously accessibility is a different issue in these scenarios, but people really just need to learn that hey, some things arent for you. and thats okay. i personally struggle with the longer, explained patterns because i have an eye condition that makes reading black text on a white background really difficult, so shorter form patterns like Betty's are easier for me to follow because theres less text to read. but i wouldnt say those longer patterns are inaccessible, theyre just not for me and idk im fine with that??? ill just look for another pattern or something. but maybe thats just me idk mannnnn
This video absolutely scratched an annoying itch in the back of my brain, THANK YOU!!!! As an ADHD person it's like, sure, it would be nice if every pattern came with a silly little version that makes the instructions easier for me to understand, but I've also developed a lot of techniques to help myself because that just ISN'T the reality of the world we live in. Like, oh this blog providing me a free pattern has a billion ads that make it hard to follow? Then I'll just take screenshots of the pattern instructions and refer to the photos instead of wading through ad pop-ups... Especially when a designer is providing something for FREE, I don't expect anything but the absolute bare minimum. I don't expect people to bend over backwards for me if they aren't being compensated for the effort of making something fully accessible to anyone of any range of ability. As a designer-in-the-works myself, it's hard fucking work to figure out the pattern ALONE. Taking the time afterward to make everything as digestible as possible for fellow crafters is an art in itself. I can't imagine the frustration these people would feel trying to make a REALLY vintage, like victorian era, pattern. Those are nearly impossible to parse unless you spend a weekend researching old knitting and crochet terminology HAHA.
lol as fellow ADHDer I now want to challenge myself to deciphering a Victorian era crochet pattern….the knots and mistakes I will make would be legendary but I bet I would learn a lot of really cool useless facts and some awesome curse words! I may even have a finished project by the end!
Betty McKnit is one of the most amazingly kind and patient designers in the crochet sphere. She takes so much UNPAID time to respond to questions in her FB group and assisting people sort their counting problems for these patterns. It’s beyond bizarre to hear all of this hubbub. If people don’t like her pattern or style, by all means, they should feel free to design their own pattern.
I’m AuDHD and I have an intellectual disability that really affects my ability to read, especially when the writing is abbreviated. I am also an older millennial who does not understand text speak, acronyms make no sense to my brain. so I’m the exact opposite of you, I love patterns that are written out fully and basically written like pros, because that’s the only way I can wrap my head around it. for that reason, I normally watch the videos because I have an easier time hearing the information and watching the person work through it. I can understand it better than having the shorthand written down pattern. I completely agree with you that I think that she had already done her due diligence by giving the pattern in three separate ways, 2 where the consumer doesn’t have to pay, but she still gets compensation and then the PDF version that you have to pay for, to get without all of the ads. I love that she put the accommodations on her website, I honestly think it’s really thoughtful that she modified her entire website because of the exchange. I really hope that this whole thing blows over quickly for both of them.
I think there are legitimate arguments for increasing accessibility in patterns, i.e. using fonts that are dyslexia or screen-reader friendly, using colourblind-friendly colour schemes, etc, especially when there is so much overlap between crafters and people with disabilities. However, as a millennial, I find it frustrating how prevalent it is in my generation and younger (and also usually North American audiences) to not recognize when they're not the target audience for something, and demand that things be adjusted to make it easier for them or fit their needs more exactly. I also think this delegitimizes genuine accessibility issues within pattern writing, like formatting choices and colour schemes. I'm an experienced knitter, and I enjoy knits that keep my very ADHD brain engaged, so usually different constructions and lots of texture. A lot of Petiteknit, Ozetta, and My Favourite Things Knitwear patterns are too much oversized stockinette for me. You know who those designers are great for? Beginners, people who like Scandinavian minimalism, or those who want easy to follow patterns that explain everything. They're popular for a reason, and I'm not about to complain that they're too basic for me, because I'm simply not the target audience and that's fine. I also see a lot of people dogging on designers like Lene Holme Sansoe and Camilla Vad for following a more brief, Scandinavian style of pattern writing, and I don't think they need to change that because North American audiences expect more handholding. The Porcelain pullover was my first drop shoulder and all over colourwork pattern, and while I didn't know exactly what I was doing, I followed the instructions, trusted the process, and ended up with a beautiful finished garment, and the process of getting there was so much fun. I learned to knit before the internet was the treasure trove of resources it is now, and my adventures in fixing mistakes and figuring out issues made me a better and more confident knitter. Not everything is for you, and I think we all need to be more okay with that.
Thank you!! I agree - I was anxious about speaking on this as I don’t want to downplay how important continuing to remove access barriers and continuing to strive for inclusivity is, but I do think that misuse of the term “ableist” here is covering a whole host of other things including a kind of consumerist and passive relationship to crafting and learning and a whole bunch of ageism, misogyny and entitlement 🫡
lol totally agree about enjoying some patterns and not enjoying others. I spent like 50$ on a pattern and fake-fur yarn to make an Appa amagurumi. It was a miserable experience as I just can’t do the fake fur yarn the way I needed to for amigurumi (I could not see my stitches at all!). But that wasn’t the patterns fault, and it wasn’t the fault of the yarn (though I totally blame and hate it!) and it wasn’t even my fault. That project was not something I enjoyed. It wasn’t for me and that’s okay.
"It was very inaccessible the way it was written and the amount of ads" is a crazy thing to say about a pattern with a RUclips TUTORIAL. I get that certain ways of writing patterns can be tricky to understand or difficult for some. Personally, I find written patterns in a more "traditional" sense more accessible than youtube tutorials. My autism and low vision make it easier for when the pattern is layed out in a clear for me understand way, which "old fashioned" patterns tend to be. Pictures can help with lacework projects, and I also like diagrams for lacework as well. But a lot of contemporary patterns end up more confusing than an "old fashioned" written pattern or lace diagram. Especially when it relies mostly on pictures to tell you what to do. But I'm not going to call contemporary pattern makers ableist for their patterns, even though I know others with low vision who can't use contemporary patterns for similar reasons. As someone who is disabled and does deal with certain accessibility issues, I don't see how this pattern is causing an accessibility issue. Only thing in that regard I could see is like, maybe screen readers being screwy with it, but I haven't used the pattern myself or use a screen reader myself so I can't say for sure. But that's a thing with most crochet patterns and "old fashioned" patterns actually tend to be more screen reader friendly than the ones with tons of picture tutorials. One of my favorite shawl patterns ever is written in a way that is a little tricky for me, so I rewrote it as something easy for me to understand. But that rewrite is kept private. I'm not going to share a rewrite of the pattern with people when it's a free with ads pattern by someone who might rely on that ad revenue. And then something not being useable to you isn't an accessibility issue. I can't use trampolines because of my mobility issues, but I'm not going to call the venue used by local craft fairs ableist because they have trampolines and demand they replace the trampolines with something I can use. It's the same with pattern formats. Edit after finishing the video: I think we have very similar needs for patterns. And yeah, ageism is a pretty big thing in crafting communities. Part of it is how older women are seen, but I think another part of it how some people view knit and crochet as "granny crafts" and some younger people in crafting communities can end up taking out their frustration with that onto the older women who do these crafts. I've seen this quite a bit. People will disregard the knowledge older women have on these crafts and their place in crafting communities because they're angry at people calling their crafts a "grandma" thing and direct that anger towards older women rather than towards ignorant people.
I find situations like this so funny because if you change the subject, it often becomes clear whether it is or isn't a ludicrous request. Say for example I really liked the style of some Jimmy Choo high heels but I don't like high heels, I wouldn't kick of that Jimmy Choo aren't inclusive because they don't make what I want them to make. It must be really frustrating as a creative because I think people have now come to expect to be delivered exactly what they want rather than having to search for it in a way that suits them better. You see it all the time on RUclips with negative comments on video's, when as you rightly said, sometimes you just don't click with a person for no particular reason, but people get the hump and rather than move on and find someone else, they expect this person to deliver exactly what they want. I feel for Betty McKnit and think you are spot on with everything you said in you video!
speaking as a person with adhd and dyscalculia (number dyslexia), two things that make it very difficult to follow crochet patterns in particular, i've never really understood why the tiktok crowd often talks about a pattern being "too difficult" when it seems they aren't even googling terms or stitches they might not know. sometimes, as you said in the video, it really comes down to you not mixing well with a particular style of pattern-writing. i myself have often avoided written crochet patterns in the past because the letters and numbers start blending together into some abhorred amalgamation that is not readable to my eyes, but i've been trying to challenge myself more lately to learn ways to read patterns when i can i'm currently crocheting a shawl (which was very nice to do while watching your video i might add :) ) which has a bunch of new abbreviations i've never seen before and at least 2 new stitches. i watched and read a couple of tutorials in order to figure it out. yes, it took me about half an hour where i alternated between ripping stitches back, clutching my head and yelling "what even is this step????" at my computer screen, but the point is that i got there eventually and that's all i really care about. i wonder if people have some weird aversion to googling when they don't know something nowadays, which is absolutely insane to me considering how much people emphasized using the internet as a way to research things when i was a kid i would also like to point out ive looked at the pattern for the 6-day star blanket. it looks to be fairly well-written, up to a standard id consider legible for most people if not everyone. i like to crochet doilies (talk about a challenge for those with dyscalculia!) and the blanket looks considerably easier on the eyes than the lacework needed to achieve your standard basic doily. i think its important for people to try to problem-solve before immediately blaming a pattern writer, who is using the industry standard, for writing a "bad pattern". it is not a weakness to need to use google to figure out something you don't know, nor is it a moral failing. and as i often tell random people who ask me how long it took me to make x, "it takes as long as it takes" :) thank you for making this video btw, i keep to a very tiny corner of the internet where i mind my business and chat with a total of maybe three people on average about whatever's going on, so whenever the youtube algorithm suggests me a video about crafting drama, i get extremely excited to get cozy with a project and listen to things people have apparently been getting angry about lately. hope you're having a good holiday season and that your projects are treating you well! :D
I too have dyslexia, I also have memory problems. There have been time that I have had to Google how to do a certain stich that I know I've done before but can't for the life of me remember how to do. Or I've come across an abbreviation I've never seen before and had to as in a fb group what it mean. There really are a lot of tools and resources if you look. I personally have gone on a video call and walked someone through a pattern step by step because they REALLY wanted to make it but couldn't figure it out alone. Most of the groups I have been un people were happy to help new comers and answers questions. ❤❤
yes, i also have dyscalculia and adhd and it takes a LOT of brain power for me to understand written patterns especially if it doesn't have any pictures to go along with it. i am also abhorrent at counting and reading graphs. but if i'm determined enough to make something i will find a way. it's like a puzzle to solve.
Just because you don't vibe with something doesn't make it bad sums it up so well. It's such a chronically online take to think that if something doesn't work for you it must be due to a moral failing of the creator. Also loved what you had to say about overconsumption and instant gratification. I've only taken up crochet this past year and it's been amazing to feel myself getting better, including my ability to read different patterns that I struggled to understand right at the start. These things take a long time, there isn't any getting around it, but the gratification of making something yourself that does take that time and dedication lasts so much longer. Every time I put on an garment that I've made and love, I feel that gratification all over again. Great video!
due to its resurgence in popularity (especially during covid), a lot of new folks have entered the crochet/knitting space and don't understand that crochet is a SKILL. not every pattern, written or not, is going to cater to your skill level and that's okay! i don't know how many patterns i have had to come back to at a later point because i didn't understand them for one reason or another and i have been crocheting daily for almost 6 years. i'm completely self taught. i didn't have anyone around me that knew the craft that could teach me, or that i could ask my questions to. it was a slow, arduous process but it was an incredibly gratifying journey. that being said, i also agree that we (in every space) can learn to make things more accessible. working together to make things more accessible for folks is not the same as distributing a pattern that isn't yours without the designers permission. unfortunately, i think the person who created the google doc was just unaware of those norms in the creator space. they certainly didn't have any malicious intent behind it, but it's def within betty mcknit's right to ask them to take it down.
I am talking about the plagiarism or attempt thereof which is the issue here. I don’t understand each and every pattern I come across, however what I will not do is rewrite it and share it for free with other people because as a designer I would not want anyone to do that to my patterns. That is copyright infringement.
patterns are also allowed to be difficult or just not beginner friendly or whatever i also prefer shorthand, very abbreviated patterns without a picture of every basic step clogging the pattern up, they make more sense to me personally
True - there are SO many first-project and beginner-level patterns out there. It’s okay that some patterns aren’t suitable as a first or second or even tenth project.
Tbh sometimes I have to translate patterns into shorthand (although I'm not a crocheter - I do tatting). When patterns repeat a lot it's way easier to find the next step and keep track of where I am when there's very little to scroll through. Shorthand is a learning curve for sure but it's always been worth learning to me - you can even translate different shorthand styles into what you're used to!
This is wild to me. Pay for the pattern if you hate the ads. Rewrite the pattern for yourself to make it accessible (I often have to "translate" patterns on a piece of paper for myself because I deal with brain fog sometimes that makes me unable to hold numbers/patterns in my head) or ask for help (online or in a yarn store). No one person can meet all needs.
I was thinking the same thing the entire video. I'm not a fan of the RUclips videos anymore. Despite having learned with them. And as an audhd person, ads on the free patterns can just get very .... in the way. My solutions? I buy the pattern if it's in my budget. Or I take screenshots as someone else suggested, or I copy paste it into a personal Google document I only keep for myself. That person worked hard to create that pattern. Even if it isn't a new concept. They wrote it down, shared it with the community, for free. They deserve every penny of ad revenue they can eek out. Yarn is expensive y'all
I believe it was on one of Retro Claude’s videos that we had a conversation about accessability and dyslexia and what would work best for us and the conclusion was that it was impossible to cater to all of us the same way because what workes for some is incomprehensible for the others and vice versa, and that’s only for dyslexia. So making a pattern accessible for all disabilities is virtually impossible. I appreciate designers who try to make it accessible but also acknowledge the fact that you can’t please everyone
love love love all your points about overconsumption and the way it’s infiltrated crafting, the popularity of crochet specifically has led people to undervalue the labor and expect everything to be quick/easy/free which is so antithetical to the hobby!! struggling through something and then seeing your improvement is what makes it satisfying
I think the biggest issue with the online crafting community is people confusing actual skill with the ability to follow directions. I've always been a believer that anyone can do anything with enough direction and handholding. But without that, most people become kind of useless. Because they didn't build any skills, just followed instructions. it's why most people suck at cooking. Sure they can follow a recipe, but they probably can't develop one. Or cook a dish on the fly with random ingredients. That is what highlights the difference between a chef that develops recipes and the line cooks that replicate the recipe. And similarly, that's the difference between people who develop patterns, and people who merely follow them. When you find yourself at the skill level to make patterns, you're probably not following other patterns as strictly anymore because you learned the skills you needed. They, like recipes are guidelines, but they wont teach you any skills beyond what used in the pattern. All this to say (and no shade to betty mcknittt) if you needed more thorough instructions on how to make what is basically a granny square variation, that's a genuine skill issue and you need to get gud.
I get that! I have learned so much from pattern testing and from self drafting, and I wanted to set myself those challenges because I realised I often didn’t understand what a stitch or technique was actually *doing* and it was frustrating me. I started crocheting in January and started knitting in march and I think the last few months of self drafting and pattern testing have been so good for my understanding of stitch anatomy and the purpose of various techniques!
This story feels a bit relevant to the topic at hand. I'm a long-time crocheter (decades). At the start of 2024, I set myself a goal of learning to knit socks. I had visions of spending the summer making fun socks to give as presents for Christmas. I had once, nearly 20 years ago, knitted a (very lumpy) scarf. I knew the basics of how a knit and purl are formed. I figured having a whole year to work on it would be ample! By late March, I'd mostly quit in frustration. Turns out socks are actually quite hard. I did manage about 3/4 of 1 very oversized sock, with lots of ladders where the needles crossed. We expect things to be one way and discover we are wrong all the time! I've since picked up knitting needles again with a new understanding of what my goal will actually take. I've been experimenting and practicing with DPNs and circular needles. I've learned how to knit in the round with bigger and more forgiving materials - several hats in now! Learning some simple decrease techniques while trying to understand how and why chose the best for my intended use. I think I wanted to put this story here because it is at least tangentially related and because I am super proud of the progress I have made. I want to share it with an audience who actually understands the difficulty and emphasizes with the issues involved.
I'm a crocheter who has learned and subsequently forgotten knitting, oh, about 8 times, lol. It just doesn't stick with me. I get frustrated without having a little hook! And I could sort of knit, but purl!? You want me to do this backwards!?! So, good for you for sticking with it. I have accepted the fact that I crochet and don't knit. Though I haven't tried Tunisian crochet ..... yet.
Thank you for addressing this! I went and purchased the pattern, first to support the designer, but also to look at the pattern. It's very well written. If you have enough skill, such as being able to work all the stitches, it's very accessible! People forget that you need to spend time to develop skills. Crocheting is a skill. It is perfectly acceptable- for personal use ONLY- to rewrite a pattern. We do it all the time, when we handcopy a recipe, when we change a new cable knit pattern to use the terms we like. I personally find the new method of telling me a cable leans left or right useless. I like the old style of telling me to hold the cable needle front or back more useful. I don't believe it's the designer's responsibility to write a pattern the way I like it, besides, they wrote the pattern out for me! I need to say thank you! I think social media has influenced insanity. People want everything free, but are offended if you ask them to work for free. They want everything instantly, but refuse to recognize it takes time to create. I'm currently twenty hours into a shawl, but, people don't value the work. Very few people would pay me $200 for this shawl, but that's only $10 an hour, less than state minimum wage... with no mention of the hours spent spinning the wool from the sheep that was sheared that a farmer raised. All of that takes time! Crocheting has to be done by hand, and it takes time. Then, if you're using a pattern, thats more time. All the skill needed to crochet- raising sheep, spinning yarn, operating equipment to make hooks, designing patterns, and Crocheting all require skill. Skill takes time to master! You wouldn't demand an engineer redesign a bridge to block traffic! No, you would use the foot bridge designed for walking if you don't have the skill to drive, or you can't obtain a driver. Or you would find another destination! Thank you for this. We need to hear this! People need to respect a culture that has existed before their birth, from before their great grandmother's baby shawl was a design thought in her grandmother's mind.
At some point it stops being about the craft of crochet and it becomes this hive of people who are talking about highly emotionally charged issues. It's not about the pattern. The pattern is just the vehicle to debate things and it's at the point where it's about social issues and people and no one even remembers the crochet part of it. What gets me is the pattern is FREE. My goodness. The way that people just expect a pattern to instantly be easy just because the internet told them to. That's not how it works. I'm a pretty novice/beginner crocheter. The traditional way of patterns makes so much sense to me than the small essays that have started propping up. Loved the video and agree with everything you've said. You've gained a new subscriber.
The emotional reactions are bizarre to me. I recently saw a comment rejecting a particular company due to a collab with a franchise created by a 'bigot'. 🥴 Politicising in that way seems all about the drama. I just like to crochet 😉
Maybe I'm weird, but while I haven't made this blanket (yet), for free patterns, I tend to copy and paste into my phone's notes app. If need be, I'll write out the short hand so I understand each step fully before I work on the project. It helps me learn the short hand as a beginner/intermediate self-taught crocheter, and if I have trouble understanding a step in the pattern, it allows me to talk to crochet friends/family to clarify any confusion I have. Nevermind any kind of video I can watch if they aren't avaliable. I know if I were to attempt this pattern, I wouldn't push myself to make it in 6 days. I tend to do a row/round or two a day. I enjoy the process, even if I'm slow. It helps with my anxiety, and that's more important to me than having the item ASAP just cuz it's viral.
I did something similar for a written out Aran sweater. Each stitch pattern was on a different page of a booklet, and the pattern was 'Rice 14, spoon 6' etc. To make it work for my brain and my process, I sat down and I charted out the whole thing in knitting chart software. But did I share it? No. I used my charts for my own personal use. Because I don't own that pattern
@@samanthagraham5387EXACTLY! I do this all the time, but, as you said, I keep it only for my own personal use. I’ve had friends ask me to share free patterns with them, and the only thing I’ll do is give them a link to the designer’s website. If a designer is willing to give away their hard work, then the very least I can do to show my appreciation is direct more traffic to them so they can at least make a little bit of ad revenue.
In this day and age with thousands of patterns available, it’s wild that people cannot simply find a pattern that is accessible to them instead of stealing from and insulting someone who is putting out a pattern for free! There are many beautiful patterns only available in Nordic languages or only in video form (I need it written) that I would love to make but I have the maturity to say “this one is not available to me” and move on. I also think people are coming into new crafts and don’t have the respect and understanding that these are indeed CRAFTS that require skill building and learning. It smacks of misogyny to me that people think there’s no depth of skill building involved bc it’s a craft passed down by women. It’s not a pattern designer’s responsibility to teach you basics, only to provide the recipe to make the object. If you want to get better, you need to seek out resources or support from people who have the ability to teach you and put in the time and effort to improve.
Yes, the reality is that everything cannot be accessible to everyone. We have a responsibility to find what works best for us, not expecting a bend over backwards from a creator.
Loved this discussion. I agreed basically with everything you said. I think something overlooked also is that it's a FREE pattern. I've been disappointed with patterns ive paid for, from popular designers, in the way that the mistakes or sizing available was disappointing for such a big designer and what i paid for it But for a free pattern? (Especially one with a video tutorial) I would never be up in arms about it. Just move along. Its free. The standards aren't as high. Its like getting sushi from the convenience store vs a nice restaurant. I dont care if the rice is a little stale or something - i got what i paid for (or didnt!)
I was thinking about this too. I often struggle when there are lots of moving ads, sometimes causing the webpage to refresh. However, often the paid patterns have a pretty low cost for access. I recognize there are people who even $5 is cost prohibitive for. Conversely, much like what was said in the video, this is a slow craft. I’m only completing a handful of paid patterns a year. I may have found the argument more compelling had there been evidence they bought the paid pattern and still struggled, but even then we don’t steal other artists work and distribute it. There are plenty of places to get free PDF patterns if that’s what we need, and again as noted, we don’t have to make this version. There are plenty of star blankets out there.
Another thing as well - if the ads are so annoying to you, can't you copy the text into a word document or the notes app on your phone? It might take a couple of minutes of formatting, but then bam! No ads! And Betty McKnitt won't get as much ad revenue, but still some, and more than if you go and rewrite and re-distribute her pattern! (Plus, it's a whole lot less effort than completely reformatting her pattern - although that might have been what happened, she popped it in a word doc and then distributed that. Idk.)
literally one thing that makes me so angry about the crafting community online is those videos that are like 'here's everything i made since i started crocheting a month ago!' and it's never really clicked that this wasn't just jealousy on my part before. crocheting takes time to learn and practice, and if you're making a full sweater a month after you started learning you are going to need a very different pattern than the one i need. you're also moving at a speed that frankly has always felt faked to me - crocheting takes a lot of time! it always frustrates me when people feel the need to dumb down something for newbies reaching above their skill level, and crafting has definitely become a victim of that. as a younger (gen z) crocheter, thank you for this!
But a sweater is easier than any amigurumi. You can make a super simple one just out of 4 rectangles? My first project was a sweater and I didn't find that difficult. I did the same stitch over and over again? A sweater is only "hard" because it takes long, most granny squares have more difficult techniques
lol I had to stop consuming a lot of crafting content (and reading) because I would compare myself and that would take a lot of joy out of it. For me to enjoy something It’s about quality of time not quantity. Do I enjoy and feel proud of myself when I complete a puzzle in 6 hours? Yes. But I would have still enjoyed the puzzle if it took me 2 weeks. Same with crochet projects. I can crochet one shawl in 2 days and another time the same shawl could take me months but I enjoyed making both :-) also, I enjoy making shawls but I don’t wear/use them so if I produced at the rate some creators can I would be drowning in useless shawls! With my slower pace I now have time to find a home for it by the time it’s finished!
Also I feel like some of those creators don't tend to show how much of that month they've spent on it, because a teenager who crochets all evening while watching a new series after their homework, or an unemployed college student early in the semester crocheting through classes/while doing their reading is going to progress differently than someone with a full time job, kids, a partner, assignments/exams or any of the other obligations that come with adulthood. Not to mention the amount of people who were other forms of crafter beforehand. Personally I know I progressed quickly in crochet because I had been knitting for years beforehand and was well accustomed to reading patterns, fiber art jargon, holding yarn etc. I knew how to weave in ends and could comfortably count stitches. I had half the learning to do in comparison to someone who's never touched a ball of yarn in their life, of *course* I progressed fast in comparison, the only skill I needed to learn was how to make the stitches, I already knew (most of) the other parts needed for the craft. It creates ridiculous ideas of what progress in a new craft is going to look like that discourages people, and also leans into devaluing the time and effort required for it
@AlexSoffman-i6n I mean the thousands of knitting and crochet groups around the world would beg to differ - it’s notoriously very much a community. Ever been to a yarn festival?
I think it's also important to remember that most designers aren't salaried employees, and have to walk a fine line between accessibility, feasability and price. The more accessibly written a pattern is, the more financially inaccessible it becomes for someone. Either for the creator who won't be able to compensate for the work hours due to reduced throughput, or for the client for whom the extra price bump due to the extra value may toss the pattern out of their affordable zone. These decisions aren't easy and compromises are necessary. ETA: I too have ADHD and struggle a lot with verbose patterns, so there's also something to be said about conflicting accessibility measures severely inflating the amount of work required to even cover the most common needs
Absolutely! And I also think age, gender and caring profession roles all play into the idea that charging for a pattern is gatekeeping or greedy. It’s sort of wild to me every time I remember that this was all over a free pattern!! Having just filmed a video tutorial and written a pattern for the first time I have a sense of just how much time it takes even for something simple and small, and it’s impossible to both make it free at point of access and invest a lot in tech editing, multiple formats, website features, professional subtitle editing, translation etc.
@@CinemaKnits Yeah, it really puts things into perspective to watch Corinna from JustVintageCrochet decipher patterns from old retail books. People really paid good money for patterns that went essentially like "yeah we threw a few stitch explantions at the beginnig with no pictures, now make that complex doily described in 12 cramped lines with no gauge or hook size to speak of. Good f***ing luck." That was bad and in dire need of standardization, and it's awesome to see modern patterns take advantage of multiple formats and media to meet people where they are, even on free patterns.
I made a star blanket as my second project ever, and Betty's youtube videos were the easiest crochet tutorials ive ever seen. Going to make another star blanket now because of this, love her
I've even seen comments in her youtube videos saying shes being mean and condescending? which is super confusing to me because she didn't come across that way to me AT ALL
@@kinkin3981 as someone who has spent more time than I EVER want to again in the comments section of tiktok and instagram for the purpose of this video, I can say that I did not find one single mean or condescending comment. Some understandable brevity and directness? Yes, because she has to answer the same questions over and over again and is also being badmouthed all over the place! But mostly just a mixture of answering questions and being encouraging. I found no receipts for any of the accusations and I looked pretty hard!
I made it as well and both the video and pattern were so helpful. I had mistakes here and there but of my own making and nothing to do with the pattern. The ads were a little annoying but I made the choice not to purchase the pdf. The entitlement of people is always astounding. If the pattern seemed in accessible why not go to the designer and ask for clarification. Why not do additional research. If you cannot read a pattern, watch a video. I learned crochet from RUclips videos and creators like Betty McKnit who provide companion patterns to videos are how I learned to understand patterns. And if there is something I don’t understand RUclips and google are a click away for help. This whole issue is bonkers to me.
@@CinemaKnits I made my first star blanket watching her tutorials on youtube and it was super straightforward to me and she always clarifies what she's doing so when I started my second blanket I bought the written pattern to go off and its easy to read for me too. I didn't even realise people were having issues until I saw some youtube comments on her videos saying she's talking down to us and being mean and I just huh??? I'm so confused by this whole issue 😭
Just stumbled across you channel. This is so interesting and insightful. I'm 66 years old and cannot relate at all to instant gratification. I'm standing on the shoulders of fabulous women who shared freely and with love. I come from a generation of makers that had no access to resources for help. We used to sit and nut something out and tuly must say that the satisfaction of nailing it was fantastic. I love the fact that our approaches are so different and that there is something to be gained from everybody's skills. There is also something to be said for slow, meditative accumulation of skills. Just an old duck having an opinion.
When I started crocheting 3 years ago I lacked patience and bought lots of chunky yarn etc. Wasted my money, but I donated! I learnt to be more patient (one of the reasons I taught myself to crochet) and now love to use DK!
it's difficult enough to make money as a fiber artist these days that i really don't think writing down a pattern and distributing it for free with no (or very little) interaction with the designer is the way to go. i have adhd. i live with other disabilities. i totally understand the frustration of a pattern not making any sense, but sometimes (and i am in no way saying this to harm anyone, but because of the experiences i have) we have to learn what we can and can't do. you've explained it perfectly! and thank you so much for talking about accessibility in a way that feels genuine! there's definitely a lot of room for improvement in the yarn communities, but it's honestly a community that has helped me accept my own disabilities (I'm going to shout out Retro Claude here, because she's definitely been a big help for me!). this community can be so, so, so lovely, and i think a lot of us sometimes forget that
I'm just starting the video and reading some comments. But ive been crocheting less than a year and this is the first vlanket I've ever made as well as the first written pattern that I'm following. Since it's the first written pattern I'm trying to follow I did watch some of the video tutorial to make sure I was doing it right at first but then only have used the written pattern. I feel like it's so thorough and her videos were so clear and helpful too. Even if I'd only used the video I think it would've been easy because that what I'd done previously having no clue how to read a pattern (they're like another language) Anyways, pattern and very clear video completely free, as a new crocheter I'm surprised and thankful for every free pattern or video and don't complain about the time or difficulty I have trying to understand it. Especially when it's such a fun pattern. Anyways, stealing someones art and work and making excuses is crazy. Even if shes not claiming it as hers she's taking it.
I was working on this pattern a year ago and I learned the hard way I wasn't going to finish it in 6 days when it got stranded at a friend's house before my car got totalled. I didn't get it back for a whole month. I had to deal with that feeling for a while but with the free youtube tutorial and the written pattern, it was pretty easy to understand. I'm a visual learner and she offers these options because she cares about accessibility. I think it's unfair to say she doesn't. It's not realistically completed in six days and that might create pressure for some to try but it's not an easy challenge for anyone. Crocheting is all about finding what makes sense and what doesn't with some support, you can always go back and fix mistakes, I know I made some mistakes in my star blanket but it doesn't look like there's an issue to the naked, untrained eye. Sometimes it's just important to let go of perfectionism with a project like that. I stand by Betty McKnitt in this situation, her patterns are almost as accessible as they possibly can be with her resources. She's doing her best. We shouldn't go over each other's heads if we don't understand how to do something, we can keep looking for solutions until it does make sense. That's what most people would do coming at this craft, regardless of skill or cognitive resources, but you have to respect the source material and the person who shared it out and created several no-cost avenues to view it originally in the first place.
This would be like taking a pattern that isn't totally size inclusive, writing up the sizes that are missing, and sharing that as a separate document/selling it. Yes the intention might be to help others out and offer more sizes, but you would still be taking someone else's work. At that point you might as well create your own pattern. She could have very well made a forum post on Ravelry or a TikTok offering tips for other's who were confused instead. Or just kept the document she made private for her personal use. I've struggled with reading patterns before and I've made plenty of mistakes from not following them well, but I've never looked at it as the writer's fault. I know that I struggle to read, so I do what I can to work with it. If anything, following a pattern that isn't written in the way you typically follow, or following a pattern that might be a bit more challenging to understand is good for you because it challenges you to work your mind around it a little more. If you can do it, then you can take on more patterns. And if you can't do it, then oh well. Also, her saying she's "never been spoken to that way before" makes me wonder if anyone has ever stood up to her a day in her life lol.
Yes! It feels very much like a “be the change you want to see in the world” moment - advocate for size inclusivity & accessible patterns by a) raising awareness and b) writing your own patterns, not by….whatever this was.
I think your take on the controversy was well thought out. I agree that Betty had every right to ask that the interpretation of her pattern be taken down. And it appears that she has taken responsibility for addressing perceived shortcomings. I am impressed by both of you, and I intend to look for more from you both. Thanks!
so glad you touched on the ageism because the comments that I saw insulting her on that basis because they couldn’t figure out the pattern… 😬 it was disheartening and gross. I’m a cusp baby, between mil & z, and also used to being a very quiet observer in almost all spaces, and what I’ve noticed is that anybody who does not match whatever tone the loudest group of young people currently use is seen as being rude somehow. I wonder if she was just being direct and then perceived as rude for not communicating the way people on tt are used to seeing folks communicate within the app. because to me, she just speaks and types like any other gen x person I’ve interacted with, which is to say I’ve not seen her acting anything but kindly. if you don’t interact outside of your own age groups/gens and the ones closest to it, you might not be able to tell that kind of thing, and if you’re used to being “on” all the time, ready to start an argument the way tt and other social media thrives on for engagement, you’re bound to think everyone is out to get you or fight you when they’re not. the way betty has been treated and spoken about speaks volumes, and it’s something I think needs to be dismantled within oneself in order to grow meaningful connections before one comes to regret it when that kind of behavior becomes commonplace and comes back to bite them when they’re a little older, even by a few years agree with everything you’ve said, and you said it all so well. thank you so much for putting this into words
I did quite a bit of Betty-sleuthing for this video by just combing through comment sections of her social media and posts she was tagged in and no joke I counted probably 500 questions she had answered about the star blanket. She answers the same questions hundreds of times, and for good reason has to be pretty brief! “Check pattern - link in bio” “size down your hook”, “make sure you chain two” etc. it’s just efficiency plus the sheer volume of responses she must get. And yes, I am an elder millennial and find that there’s a more direct way of communicating amongst gen X friends and colleagues. Also, ironically, neurodivergent people, in my experience, often prefer direct and clear communication, and also struggle to parse tone in written language, none of which was a consideration when abruptness or directness was being used as part of the “the evidence” of ableism…
@@CinemaKnits Yes, thousand times yes! I was very confused with the "rudeness" when all I saw was just plain, simple, efficient and effective communication. I'm very much gen Z and I speak with other gen z-ers daily but I'm neurodivergent and I couldn't for life of mine see what the problem is. But I guess there's crowd mentality and confirmation bias at place too. You already know that she is the most evil person on the internet right now so no matter what she'll do you'll find something wrong with it, be it wording or length of respons or time it took her to respond or if she didn't respond at all
I agree with what you said about the way she speaks through text! To a chronically online millenial/gen z (and I fall into that category), I feel like we have an expectation of a certain type of text-based communication, and anyone who types in a very direct/clipped/straightforward way can be misconstrued as rude or curt or impatient. It's hard to explain, I feel like it's something you just notice when you're used to it. But that way is just how a lot of gen x talk online.
I am working on this pattern right now as a newer crocheter who has mostly worked on smaller projects. When I chose this pattern I had no idea it was viral on TikTok or there was any drama. To deal with the ads I copy/pasted the pattern into Word and deleted all of the ads/pics and printed it out. I will say I have had some trouble with a few parts of the pattern (parts with * or mention repeats). To deal with this I’ve been watching her RUclips tutorial which has been IMMENSELY helpful. There are definitely pieces of clarity that I wish were included in the written instructions that are in the video, but who am I to complain about a free pattern? I just feel grateful that she was willing to make the video tutorials.
Thank you for this interesting video! I have been a knitter for 30 years, but haven't crocheted that much. Somehow this autumn I found the 6 Day Blanket pattern - and am now working on the 5th one :D! I had no idea there is drama surrounding it, as to me it was just a normal crochet pattern. I found it quite easy actually, thanks to the video tutorial. And after all it repeats the same rows, so once I learned those, I haven't really needed the pattern anymore. The first one took me 60 hours to make, now I can make one in a 3-4 evenings, because I got better at it. I fully agree with your point that virality is not always good. People are looking for quick and easy trendy things, and many of us have lost the ability to focus for a long time on something new and hard and becoming better at it slowly. I have absolutely abandoned projects before, because I could not follow the pattern - but that was on me, not the designer (as the pattern did not actually have any mistakes in it). Having said that, I do understand that accessibility problems are very real (I have my own physical struggles) and we all can and should strive to be better. And it seems like Betty has already responded to the feedback. But it should be obvious to everyone that you cannot take someone else's pattern and re-create it publicly! A pattern being "free" doesn't mean that the designer doesn't own it or doesn't make money from it, so someone else distributing it is stealing.
Exactly! It seems from my research for this video (reading endless TikTok comments & Reddit threads) that a lot of people didn’t really understand how advertising or intellectual property or copywriting works, or why this was an issue, which worries me!
"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's bad" is so true about so many things, and I've personally noticed in many different areas this idea of "if I don't like something then it must be immoral in some way" which just makes for these really vicious arguments because then if someone else does like that thing, they must be immoral. Like just say it's not your cup of tea and move on!
Yes!! It’s as though we all (me included) forget that we can simply dislike something or someone and then move on - we don’t have to invent reasons for the dislike!
I am relatively new to the craft of crochet and Betty McKnit’s 6 Day Star Blanket was my second pattern that I used, the virus shawl being my first. It took me a month and a half to complete in DK weight at a finished size for a queen size bed. It was challenging, and I did have to use the video tutorial several run throughs in tandem with the written pattern before I could just use the pattern. But I did come at it from the point of view of “I’m going to figure this out and master it.” I made mistakes and had to frog sections. I learned so much from the process though: how important stitch counts are, how to effectively use stitch markers to assist me, and how it is never worth it to attempt to keep going after an error and try to “fix or adapt” after that error. I can’t imagine how much ad revenue Betty got from me, but I’m glad she did! 😂 Now that I have put in the time and achieved results that I am proud of, I can officially say I can read and follow a crochet pattern, and that was my goal. It took perseverance and patience and grit. Now I am making her 6 Day Snowflake Blanket using just the pattern. I’ve had to frog a section twice, but now I have it down, and my goal this time was to not use a video. Not all patterns will have them. I agree with your video wholeheartedly, and am saddened that Betty had to experience this type of situation. Sounds like she handled it beautifully. Cheers!
I am so glad! Counting (and general maths/numeracy issues) has been my biggest learning curve in knitting & crochet, and stitch markers are my must-have notion! I rely on them so much, especially to make sure I’m not missing the first or last stitch in a row of crochet, and to keep track of increase and decrease rates! So useful
Betty's star blanket was the first written pattern I ever actually followed, and her videos helped with that immensely. It's the first large project I ever did and found between the two resources that it was very easy for me to do, now it took longer than the six days because I was new and still learning, but it was easy enough that I was able to tackle it without issue, even trying out a new stitch that she used to finish off the blanket for the very first time. I'll probably make several more following her patterns again over the next year.
I have enjoyed all of your videos, especially this one. I wish I could “like” the part about ageism, misogyny, and protecting her profession (and income) a thousand times. You nailed it, and this is such an important point that gets overlooked (or shouted down) in the name of so-called inclusivity. I say that as someone with ADHD who struggles to read things that are printed in multiple columns.
Preach! I am almost 60 and am neurodivergent. Most of my life I did not have the extra assistance needed and so a lot of trial and error. I tried to learn crochet from my Mom for six years but because my brain did not work like my Mom's, I could not pick it up. I knitted and did a lot of cross-stitch so I figured it was just something I was not going to pick up. I finally sat with myself and picked apart the stitches and now I pull apart patterns and rewrite where I need. I still struggle with some patterns that spoon-feed me and half the time I crochet it is ripping it out and doing it again. However, once I get it, it is stuck in my head forever.
As a cusp baby, neither millenial or gen z, but I've always been patient and curious. So, I will try my best before I even reach out for help, I'll re-read, rewatch, look up on Google, look for videos, etc. The majority of the time I figure it out before needing to ask for help. I translated a couple of patterns in other languages, I wasn't expecting anything from the designer because I wanted to make it. Also, I would have to agree with preferring short hand patterns. I hate working on patterns made for beginners, I understand it's needed, but the over explaining makes my head hurt lol
also a cusp baby and I'm the exact same, I don't understand peoples aversion to being challenged by something. In this day and age especially you can find everything online. I've even tought myself how to do all of my own car repairs just by looking things up and watching videos of others doing it.
I mean not to sound ancient but I remember wanting to find out what film an actor had been in when I was about twelve (had a crush on her, obv) and having to go to my local library, use the dewey decimal system to find an encyclopedia of movie stars, use an index to look up the actor, and then write the names of the films she had starred in down in my notebook, then go to a video rental shop and ask if they had any of the films so i could watch them. Not being able to google things you're not sure about baffles me but I think it's a genuine crisis of literacy and communication that I fear is only going to worsen.
I have the hardest time not complaining about the ungrateful kids etc, because when we were younger all you had were the pattern books full of typos and misprints that made it impossible to actually learn how to do anything. Or god forbid you not know the difference in notation based on where/when a pattern was originally drafted. But with this the pattern writer is RIGHT THERE. You have a video! On Demand! I'm not even going to touch on the accessibility angle because SHE'S RIGHT THERE to ask for more accessibility before you steal her adrev!
I’ve been so locked into this. Adults taught me to crochet so I had mentors, but I taught myself to knit when I was 9-10 and I was still too young for unsupervised internet use and blogging. I had no choice but to figure out how to solve my own problems, seek out errata, decide whether or not I wasn’t understanding something or if nothing had been published about it yet. I know it’s tacky for everyone to name their age and generation in the comments, but I’m 31 so some of these helpless people are my peers. It feels like these people are bullying an old lady for not formatting her six year old pattern for TikTok.
I learned at my Great Aunt Helen’s knee. I didn’t even know patterns existed until I was in my late 20s with the magazine Crochet Fantasy (still have my copies). There I was introduced to abbreviations, new stitches, and stitch diagrams. Everything was as abbreviated as possible because it was printed, but there was a stitch tutorial in the back of every edition and a color photo of each project. When I have come across patterns from the 1800s from ladies’ magazines I want to scream because their names and abbreviations are different and they completely lean into “per the usual style”. I am with you on recognizing the difference between an inaccessible set of instructions and someone who doesn’t want to do the work of learning the language of the discipline. (A teacher once pointed out that the more specific a field, the more specialized the vocabulary. The context was scientific work, but it’s true for any subject.)
I taught myself how to knit when I was like 8 or 9 with a book (I’m currently 20 so I’m like pretty young) and I taught myself how to crochet at 14 or 15 with RUclips and genuinely most of it is just needing to sit for hours to figure out what you’re doing and to get comfortable with the hand movements. Obviously accessibility is good, but sometimes not being able to follow a pattern is simply about not being familiar enough with the craft to perform the necessary actions
I have ADHD and I am absolutely a tactile learner. I was pressured (in the best ways) to pick up crochet in 2017. I found that I needed a video explanation first before I could associate it with the diagrams. I came across Betty McKnits pattern earlier this year and went to her website. I don't enjoy following patterns on websites so I immediately purchased her pattern. I've watched her videos as well. I think she's done an incredible job at making her patterns accessible in mulitple formats for people. The fact that she has already updated her website with accessibility options is a clear indicator that she's listening. I started in the quilting world and there are pattern designers I REFUSE to buy from because their patterns are hard to read, it's the same with bag patterns. If I don't vibe with your style of pattern writing, it's not an accessibility issue, it's a vibe check and if we don't vibe then I'm not your customer. I don't doubt that Betty said something along the lines of "If you don't remove this document, I am within my rights to take legal action." Which is the step before a cease and desist letter. That's not a threat, that's a promise. You don't create a new document or rewrite someone's instructions and then distribute it to others. Sure, create that doc and use it for yourself, but you're taking away from her livelihood by distributing it. Also, if you can re-write a pattern, I don't believe it's an accessability issue, it means you don't want to pay for her pattern so you'd rather just spend the time writing it yourself. I could be way wrong but when you have 2 free options and a paid option, if you haven't paid for it, you just want something for free. For all the effort Betty has put into her patterns, $6 isn't a lot of money to pay herself back for her time. It's okay for a pattern to be out of your comfort zone and out of your skill level. Heck, I picked up knitting 1 year ago and I went through 5 or more videos before I found one that I understood for casting on and I still haven't finished one of the two projects I started, I'm close but not done yet. You go until you find what works for you. This instant gratification stuff grinds my gears. Same as the people who shop with champagne taste on a beer budget, but that's not what we're here to talk about. I'm so glad I found your video or really your video found me first, then I had to find it again because I got distracted... thanks ADHD. I hope you don't get canceled and I look forward to watching more of your videos.
You gave some very good arguments! The feeling of instant gratification is something that has been seeping in our lives for years and I have been taking steps to slow it down. Crafting has been one of the things that made me take things slow. I have been paying more attention to handcrafted items and have taken up knitting again after years. Crafting to me is a symboles of slow progress to me. It takes me x amount of weeks/months to make a sweater, instead of just buying it. The longer it takes me to make something, the prouder I am, because I had so much dedication to one item. A change of mindset is definitely necessarry in society in general. Ageism is also something I don't understand, especially in the crafting community. They probably had less resources than I have now and spent year doing the craft and are now taking the time to teach the following generations. I have an inherent respect for that. I hope no one in this situation is getting deeply effected by it.
Watched the entire video. THANK YOU!!!!!!! Like omg, people on TT are the worst sometimes with jumping on a hate wagon without knowing anything or bothering to do 20 minutes of research. This is the exactly correct take. Thank you!!
I don't spend much time on tiktok so this sounds so wild. In all my years of crochet I think I've only stumbled on one pattern that I simply couldn't decipher because it was poorly written, and even that may have been more of a translation problem and it wouldn't even cross my mind to make a stink about it. Even if a pattern doesn't have explanation for every single stitch it's so easy to find a video tutorial for those on youtube in 2 minutes. But also thanks to this video I now need to make that star blanket for our guest bed one of these days 😂
I directly search for the pattern and she literally explains everything like if the blanket curling what should you do, add the photos for each row and even a RUclips tutorial.. And pattern is just a regular one, actually it’s even more explanatory than the most of the patterns I saw before. Calling this pattern incomprehensible is complete disrespect. And if you don’t want to see adds you can simply buy the pdf. This could also help the designer to show less adds in her blog. I’m sure she hate them like me but that’s the only way we can keep going.
@ I really don’t understand what could she do more? There is a pdf and if you are struggling you can purchase it. it’s just 3 or 4 dollars and if you haven’t got the money you can ask to the creator directly. I’m sure she would send it free, I’m sending free PDFs almost everyday. There is also video tutorials. If you can not explain something with a pattern and video tutorial there is only one thing to make. One by one study. Creator made a free pattern for everyone’s use. Isn’t that a thing we should praise? I don’t know, I’m old school. If somebody try to teach me something for free I respect them. and I wouldn't treat them like they was the sole source of my learning process and responsible for everything. Even if we have disabilities , if we want to learn something, we must make an effort for it. Nothing in life falls into our lap automatically. I myself have a learning disability and English is not my first language. In order to make my videos in English, I have been watching dozens of English videos every day for years. I still can't speak English well, but I know everyone appreciates my effort. That's what's important. I wish they could install a program that would allow us to easily do everything we want to do. But for now, we can only progress as much as our efforts…
Man, I went to design school and worked as a designer for years. A thing that was actively encouraged (and usually downright expected with no exceptions) was to find a way make something work for your workflow. It was a super stressful job, but it did teach me how my brain processes information and the best way to lay it out for myself. I do mostly sweaters and wearables, so I have notebooks with drawn out blueprints that break things down into sections. For my brain, which panics at too much information, this makes all the parts less overwhelming and I know exactly what stitches I'm using where. Does it take more time to do that? Yes, but it helps me have a smoother project with less frogging and more precise measurements. It takes trial and error, especially at something new, to know the best way you work with it. My experience teaching others to crochet/just making art in general is that a lot of people don't have the patience to learn the base fundamentals of a craft and get discouraged when they get stuck.
This wasn’t your main point, but for a short time I taught a musical instrument and I think that people who don’t have the patience to learn fundamentals are often afraid of failure. Or they’ve just never learnt how to learn. At the time the best I knew was just to be patient. Afterwards I learnt that when I’m in that mindset it helps to have fun doing something “badly” on purpose. For example, instead of learning basic colour theory I’d try finger painting like a 2 year old again. I have to practice making mistakes and I have to practice learning through play. So idk if the same is true for others? And it might be difficult for anyone who’s deeply entrenched in the fear of failure. But I wanted to share in case you find this useful for yourself or when teaching!
@EmL-kg5gn Oh, it's useful! I very much agree with the fear of failure. One thing I've always tried to encourage people is that it's okay to have a sketchbook of "ugly drawings". Experimental things, stuff that you just want to make that day. It's something to look back on when there's inevitable improvement, and you can't improve if you don't make mistakes. Plus, we make because we enjoy it, right? So we should have fun with it. I struggled with having things be perfect a lot when I was younger, and I definitely felt that discouragement. I was lucky that some of my professors encouraged just trying things with no high stakes grades. You're 100% on being patient. I suppose some of my frustration comes from the immediate "quick cheat" internet content in crafting spaces. Like "make this large crochet blanket in a night" and then I have friends who come to me frustrated and discouraged they can't do it in a night when they're beginners and are still learning the basics. It sometimes kind of un-does the assurance of "you will get there, just give it time."
@ So true!! That’s such a great idea, I haven’t done art in a while but I might try it! Yes, creativity should be fun and the joy is in the process not just the result :) I was really lucky with a few of my teachers too. One was incredibly patient when I hit a roadblock in their subject, I made absolutely no progress the entire year they taught me. Thanks to them I didn’t give up and they somehow persuaded the other staff not to hold me back. A year or two later something finally clicked and I caught up in no time! I can’t imagine how much more difficult my life would be if I’d had any other teacher that year You’re right, there are some people who seem to encourage an impatient mindset just for views. It’s frustrating to see, especially in an undervalued craft!
Hello all! 1. As much as I want to talk to all of you, if your comment is prefaced with “I haven’t watched the video but” / “I am only one minute into the video but” I implore you to actually watch it before deciding what I am saying or deciding you disagree ❤ there are chapters in the description to make navigating the video easier! 2. Accessibility & inclusivity are important topics that we need to continue to address. Please don’t mistake my video for a dismissal of legitimate access barriers faced within the craft. Ableist comments, comments about woke snowflakes or comments that insult the disabled community will be deleted - this is not a safe space for you to sound off about young people or people with intellectual disabilities :) 3. Critique & disagreement is welcome; rudeness, insults, leaving multiple comments and spamming with multiple accounts are not. If I deleted your comment it’s not because you disagree with me, it’s because you were doing one of the above. You’re not being silenced, you just don’t have a platform on my channel if you’re being rude to or about me or about anyone else.
No hate, but you haven't made the blanket so what gives you the right to weigh in on this issue, when you are asking people not to pass judgement if they haven't watched all your video before making a comment?
Yes Yes and Yes! This is a slow craft and we need to learn our steps before the we become good at it and even then we are still learning. I am so happy that Betty Mcknit stood her ground because she is in the right and I love what you said she is not your MUM! I just beagan knitting and crochet and I'm in my sixties, when I first started I was like I need to hurry learning this cause I came into this late but I have backed up cause I know better it takes time and whatever I learn in these crafts for whatever time will be is ok. Let's not rush let's enjoy the beautiful works we make however it turns out. Thanks so much for the common sense.
I've heard a lot of opinions on the blanket, without anyone mentioning what exactly the issue was, so I'm glad you made this video to explain it. I'm not into star blankets, but I feel like I should check out this creator and maybe purchase another of her patterns just to support her. I bought a nightmare pattern once, horribly written, gave me literal headaches for how redundant and obtuse it was at the same time. I reworked it, rewrote it for myself, and made a lovely garment. And then I posted that finished work and THANKED the creator for the pattern because I decided to choose an advanced intermediate pattern as a beginner and that was MY FAULT.
I absolutely stand with Betty. So weird, I just bought the pattern last month to make it, and when I saw this title I was like “What??” It’s BANANAS to me that people think slow crafting will be lightning fast…it’s in the name. Slow. I’m going on three years into crochet, and I prefer the abbreviations too now. ADHD and autism brain checking in lol. Your video was a very level response.
I have ADHD and I've been looking at that blanket for litteral weeks, opening the tab, reading the pattern, making a list of things i have to master before starting, working on other projects to get better at some of the stitches i'll need. I saw it, I understood what it took for me - disabled - to do it and assessed that it would take practice and patience. The wonderful thing about our hobby is that it is something that takes time and dedication. We are not amazed by someone's work just because of what it is, but because of what it means. When you see a beautiful work of crochet, you see the time someone put over hours, weeks, months to get the skill. Trends will pass, and we'll be left with a meditative creative outlet and a community that loves to uphold success and tiktokers will have passed on to the next viral niche to fill. And maybe we'll have some people that stick around and become part of our cozy community!
As a visually impaired person who uses a screen reader sometimes, it can be a bit hard to read patterns with it, as sometimes screen readers will skip over information or not even read PDF forms at all. HOWEVER just because a pattern doesn’t allow me to use a screen reader, I DO NOT BELIEVE that the designer is ableist against blind people.
As a newer crocheted who has seen this blanket everywhere, thank you for bringing me back to reality that it takes time to learn a craft!!!! It seems obvious but the “keeping up with the Jones’” mindset is more prevalent now with socials than ever. Great analysis and appreciate your insight and research into the drama.
I have been crocheting for about 40 years now, my mother taught me when I was eight. I have seen many styles for how patterns are written. I have a mild case of dyslexia and can get completely lost when there are a lot of words. Over the years, I have switched to buying patterns that come with diagrams, because I find them easier to read. I have made diagrams when trying to figure out the pattern, but it has never occurred to me to post them online.
As someone who has several different mental disabilities, it is frustrating to try a pattern and struggle with the instructions. Sometimes it takees multiple failed attempts and frogging before I can get it, but my brain never immediately jumps to "there must be something wrong with the pattern". The amazing thing about crocheting today in the age of the internet is that there are so many options of video tutorials and written patterns. There are multiple different ways to achieve the same or similar end results and it takes some patience and trial and error to make something. There were several patterns I attempted as an absolute beginner and just could not finish, but now over a year in I reattempt and it's a breeze. Trying a pattern and struggling with it is part of getting better at it and is an important part of the process.
Needle crafts are (personally I think should be) the absolute opposite of fast fashion. It is our way out of overconsumption if anything. It teaches us to pay fair money to makers and designers (who in turn are also people with disabilities and needs), it teaches us to slow down, learn by doing and come together in community and learn from each other. ❤
I completely agree. I love brief patterns, ideally charted rather than written out, but I have graph paper and can transcribe before I knit iyswim. I'm not a fan of patterns having more "technique explained" pages than pattern, although sticking them in a book/ebook with a bunch of patterns or a link within a single pattern is great. Indie designers on social media do seem to get so bogged down in making all their patterns achievable by a complete novice, that it can be hard to work out which pattern is truly for disengaged TV knitting and which will need quiet, good lighting and time.
the complaint about counting is so bizarre bc if you watch the video betty doesnt even count her stitches, the single crochet rows for example are meant to be a mindless round, she also tells you to add stitch markers and where to add the stitch marker, i really appreciated the fact that when i was making i didnt need to bother to count i just need to go all the way round and remember what to do at the star points etc
As an older crocheter (almost 40) who collects typed out patterns, video patterns, diagram patterns and non-english patterns... you learn to ADAPT. You change things to what you need. Pattern creators can only do so much, but people also need to realise that if YOU have an accessibility issue, then it's up to YOU to learn to work with that limited accessibility. I'm not about to call out a pattern maker for only giving a pattern for a S-L size piece when I *personally* need 2XL-3XL.
Thank you for this. Having been spending my time crocheting 6, 6-day star blankets for Christmas gifts, I hadn't heard of the controversy. I first came across this pattern in my you tube feed, and watched the entire video before starting the blanket. In the video, Betty explains every. single. stitch. Literally. She shows herself crocheting every stitch of the entire first repeat of the pattern. She also tells you to be aware of what you're doing, admire the work, make sure your counts are correct. Love the spice, btw. "Not your mother" also tells you she shouldn't have to hold your hand through the project.
As a 65-year-old, left-handed, self-taught crocheter - who started crocheting in the 80s - I wholeheartedly agree with your video. Also, I'm currently finishing my second 6-Day Star blanket from a pattern I purchased from Betty McKnit. While I found the "setup" rounds versus the main pattern rounds vaguely confusing at first, the pattern just works...even for lefties.
As a lefty who is thinking about making this blanket and currently doesn’t have the extra brain capacity to change the pattern if it wasn’t lefty friendly thanks. Maybe I’ll get it done while it’s still cold out instead of the summer when I don’t have as much going on.
@@rebekahc2707 You could probably even get it done before Christmas, depending on how big you make it. The one I finished last night was more of a lapghan size in a 3-weight yarn. I did spend 12 days on it, but I really just crochet at night when I'm winding down.
@@rebekahc2707 Since it's a symmetrical blanket, made in the round, I'm pretty sure it would look the same no matter which hand you crochet with. There's no left side or right side. Just go in circles.
I learned how to crochet in the spring and made Betty’s star blanket in the summer. I had found it on Pinterest and had no idea it was so big on TikTok even though I have one. I learned quickly since I was hyper fixated on crochet and already knew how to knit. I had a few hangups while making it but all were solved by my keeping notes and watching her video. I thought it was common practice to take notes on new patterns, to not only keep track of progress but to make notes for yourself to understand it better? I don’t see many of the new crafters doing it. I much prefer the shorthand way her pattern it written and the videos are SO SO HELPFUL I don’t understand how anyone wouldn’t be able to follow them. I have DIAGNOSED neurodivergence and ADHD, so I understand having a hard time reading instructions but I don’t think that’s the actual issue here. It has become trendy online to claim to be autistic, neurodivergent, and ADHD without getting diagnosed. I think a lot of this is from people not taking the time to learn or investing effort; many could probably understand if they tried. A lot of the time it is expected to be handed out in a way which is so longwinded and painful there is no need to adapt to it. On top of the fiber craft culture to include taking notes, we have our own word for undoing stitches/projects because it happens so often while we are learning and trying new patterns; and that’s okay, it’s how we get better. I think people are scared of wasting their time, making mistakes, and feeling like they are not good enough. There are craft communities for disability support and I agree with you saying it is impossible to create a perfectly accessible pattern. You can’t please everyone. I wonder if a major contributor was people not taking the time to read through the pattern and see all the available support Betty herself supplies. I love how much genuine care goes into her materials, she is an excellent teacher and I admire her for sharing it with us and she has handled this so gracefully. It is so important that she stands up for herself and the community because yes, if she didn’t it would set a horrible precedent. As an independent creator she deserves respect and the reaction and theft is uncalled for. She is not a corporate pattern distributor, don’t treat her like one. I completely agree with your comments on misogyny and agism; it is hard enough dealing with one but this is definitely an issue of both. Also, as a very direct person myself, I doubt she was rude or “short”; people who are direct in their communication already get accused of rudeness and I think her being a woman again makes this more of an issue. She is a confident and knowledgable person with good teaching skills, that is why she is direct and it is good. I welcome anyone who wants to learn and am happy to see the community grow. I mentored my 17yo (autistic) sibling in crochet over the fall and I can tell you teaching is hard and their main issue was going too fast and not paying attention. However, after making them slow down and take notes they were able to follow a pattern even harder than this blanket (impkin). I beg anyone who is having trouble to seek help and find communities instead of lashing out. And please PLEASE remember to slow down and learn the craft. It is meant to be fun and relaxing, please don’t feel pressured to be perfect as a beginner, or ever.
This was such a surprise to me. I just added the 6Day Star Blanket pattern to my ravelry library yesterday. I’m not on TikTok so I didn’t even know it went viral. But I saw a few posts on tumblr making the star blanket (a lot of different patterns), and this particular one seemed sooooooo pretty. And it also seemed such a good way to use up some stash yarn. Eventho it’s titled 6-day, I knew I will never finish the entire thing in a week (cuz I am juggling a few other projects too). So strange to have a blanket pattern become discourse. And fully agree with you on the whole “just pick another blanket pattern to make, if this one doesn’t suit you.” you are not paying for it, and nobody’s putting a gun to your head to make it. But I am semi excited to start the project once I’ve picked out the yarns I wanna use from my stash.
I have wanted to make the blanket myself, but have too many projects going. I think you were spot on and presented the issues very well. She is a designer doing her best to provide a quality product and has every right to protect it. Time for some people to grow up.
As a person who really struggles following written patterns, I loved the RUclips tutorial. I made the star blanket a couple weeks ago, and I thought the video was really easy to follow.
I do not have TikTok and I’m not part of any Betty McKnit groups on FB so I had no idea this drama existed. However I did start making this blanket the other day (knowing full well I work too much to make it in six days) and am looking forward to the finished project!
I love this video!! because it’s 100% true ! Betty doesn’t own anybody anything! She just made a pattern, and is 100% your responsibility to know your skill level and be honest with yourself
i once found a pattern in spanish, i dont speak spanish... so i asked a friend of mine who crochets and speaks spanish to teach me the abriviations, and she even translated for me the assemble stages. it was very sweet she did that for me :)
Everything you had to say is spot on correct. I really enjoyed your observations and the manner of clarity you used. I'm a long time crocheter..49 years actually.. learned as a young teen.. and i also can struggle because i read short hand patterns easily because that's how i learned and learning a diagram style took a long time to understand and i still prefer short hand. What i have realized is that not every pattern is made for everyone's abilities and if i can't make somethings i say oh well and move on to the next. No one owes any one in the crafting world one on one help, nor should it be expected. I look forward to seeing the rest of your content . Have a great day!😊
I’ve been working on two star blankets, both the same pattern from Betty McKnit and using her tutorial for more guidance. Later, I tried to read the pattern but I’m always unsure whether I’m doing it wrong or right, so I prefer her video tutorial. This being said, I have never considered her a mean person in the videos, and I’ve watched the video multiple times to get the rounds done
Leftie here who self-taught crochet and knitting with right hand.. I am forever thankful for video tutorials.. I gathered books on knitting and crochet for years and written text just did not make sense to me and had nobody to teach me. So thankful for RUclips! Hated stitch charts and now prefer them to text or video. It is a process.. Also as a designer now, if you start in the publishing with magazines they have their own style guides, each magazine a different one and designers often adopt these to write indie patterns for uniformity/ out of habit.. It makes a lot more sense from work and efficiency perspective to have a template and standard abbreviations, each pattern would otherwise be a novel of some sort..
Also it feels like a bit of learned helplessness? People are so used to people handing your own @ss to you, that you completely loose the ability to figure things out for yourself?
100%. I think a great example of this is the way any crochet post on instagram will have a ton of "pattern?" comments even if the name of the pattern/designer is in the caption or there's a link in the bio to the designers shop where you could easily check. These people would rather bug a stranger, making them personally respond to every single one of these messages rather than spend a few seconds of their own time clicking and reading to check for themselves
@@emmao6578 yeah, exactly. I mean it's not that we haven't all occasionally pulled a stunt like this in total brainfog, but the sheer amount of such comments is really disturbing.
@@lisawinterberryhearth8096 tbh I am glad I grew up not using the internet as much when I was 13-15. I learned knitting from my mom and maybe the odd knitting magazine she had lying around, but mostly I figured things out for myself. I love youtube and i Love tutorials, but I am so glad that I had the time and space to learn how to sew + knit intuitively
So glad I saw this video!! I am currently working on this blanket using the website only for the pattern. I’ve been crocheting for 20 ish years, and this is probably the first year that I’m able to tackle a project like this. And it’s definitely taking me more than 6 days 🤭 if I just focused on the blanket MAYBE 6 days. But crocheting for me is counting two or three times, crocheting once!
lol as a fellow crocheter with ADHD my first crochet project that I started and finished was a Graphghan with the FMA symbol on it where I designed the pattern myself using free online crosstitch software. It was all single crochet so I thought it would be easy enough! It took my about 3-4 years to finish and you can see my tension improve through the blanket (or at least I can, my friend who it was gifted to says they can’t even tell but I’m pretty sure they’re being nice). There is something wonderful for my ADHD brain to enjoy a slow craft that I can put down or pick up any time I want. I always have several wips at a time so when I get bored with one project I just pick up a new one or resume an old one. Now I am trying to use up my stash before buying more yarn and it’s a fun challenge.
I have ADHD and sometimes struggle with the way patterns are written. I've also made the 6-Day Shawl. While I felt like Betty McKnit's written pattern was particularly challenging for me personally, the crochet-along video playlist helped bypass the confusion. Once I already knew what was supposed to be done then looking back at the written pattern, what Betty McKnit described makes sense -- it just wasn't connecting for me for some reason. That said, I was able to work out everything using the free resources provided. Yes, it took me a little longer but many things take me a little longer anyway; that's what it means to live with a learning disability. Even so, I've managed to learn to crochet entirely through free online resources. I've only been at it for 4-5 months. I am so thankful for the abundance of free patterns and tutorials out there. If I have to scroll through some ads to find the pattern, so be it. It's the least I can do for mooching off others' work and creativity. And if I still can't understand the pattern despite having tried to decode it? Find a different one. There's SO much to choose from.
If you think a website is inaccessible because of ads... just use an addblocker? god people are so entitled to start a shitstorm about this (I am AuDHD myself so)
I mean, ad blockers cost money and can be intimidating to people who've never been deeper into a computer than their desktop. Personally I just. write the pattern down. It helps me understand it better, there's no ads, I can use it without Wi-Fi and I can add personal notes as I go if I have issues. You can also copy and paste it into a format that works for you. Takes a little time but so does crochet.
@@V123_4 ? I've got an ad blocker. It's never cost me a cent, and it took two clicks to install in my browser. If someone can understand how to use a web browser to find crochet patterns, they can install a free ad blocker.
The problem here is the reason it looks like it is from an old pattern book or magazine is because it IS from an old pattern book or magazine. Betty McKnit did NOT create this pattern. She copied it from an old pattern book or magazine and is passing it off as her own work. This particular pattern is one of the old ubiquitous ones as well. Betty might as well have published "How to make a Granny Square" and said that because she published it on her blog she owns granny squares for all the more that she owns the star blanket.
This literally isn’t true. The ripple stitch is taken from a dictionary of ripple stitches by Jan Eaton, credited in the pattern. Betty does not claim to have invented the ripple stitch. She does not claim to own star blankets. She owns this pattern - the six day star blanket. Stop spreading gossip and slander about someone in a livelihood-threatening way just because you’ve decided you don’t like them - there’s no need for it and it’s incredibly toxic.
There also seems to be confusion here between stitches, types of object, and patterns. When I write a sweater pattern, for a drop shoulder wide rib sweater, I do not claim to have invented wide rib, or drop shoulder construction, or sweaters. I just own the pattern for *that particular sweater*, that I designed. JFC.
Pinning bc I am tired of this particular rumour and it needs to stop.
@CinemaKnits OMIGOSH! Thank you! I think I found my "trademark" blanket pattern somewhere in that book (200 Ripple Stitch Patterns)... I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I'm going to go look for it at my local library and see if I'm right, and credit Ms. Eaton properly. 💕
I absolutely did not copy the 6-Day Star from any old pattern book or magazine. On my own, I worked out how to adapt a chevron stitch in the round and make it lie flat and make it repeatable. If you’re going to say I copied it from something else, produce the thing I supposedly copied. You can’t. Because it doesn’t exist. There are many versions of crochet star blankets. This one is unique, and I made it.
I can’t handle the assertion that you stole a pattern from people who don’t know the difference between stitches, types of object and patterns. Currently writing my first garment pattern and I use a 6 by 8 rib (inspired by a Scandinavian camisole design), a drop shoulder construction and the dimensions of an 80s adidas sweatshirt. It’s my pattern, I designed it and did all the maths and figured out how to create decreases in pattern so the rib looks neat and how to switch between back and forth and in the round whilst also increasing and decreasing and shaping the sweater, and figured out how to grade it from XS to 5XL smoothly. But with this argument being made about the star blanket, someone could just copy and paste my pattern then tell me it’s derivative because I didn’t invent sweaters or 6x8 rib? It’s just fundamentally not understanding what design is.
If I did copy it from a magazine, which I didn’t, does that then make it okay for Brie to copy it from me? Or is she also a scammer for copying someone else’s work? Is copying okay or not?
I’m someone with intellectual disabilities who tried using the 6 day star pattern and struggled. I just found a different star blanket pattern. It was that simple.
Can I ask what specifically was a problem for you? Genuinely, Im just really curious. I write patterns too and im interested in what might be a problem (outside of a pattern not being for beginners).
You are smart 😊
@ generally I prefer crochet diagrams over written patterns for long projects or complex stitch patterns. I can see exactly where everything is supposed to be and don’t have to strain over reading. I don’t mind abbreviated written instructions for simpler/shorter projects.
@roanoke7551 without being the original commenter. Personally I struggle sometimes when the pattern just suddenly includes the new stitch as short term - so a "now this stitch starts to be included" is nice
But also when there are increases and decreases and the pattern is not mentioning the sum of stitches after the row.
Due to my ADHD struggles i sometimes end with having to count all the stitches in a rowand have to do Math beforehand to know the sum of stitches
@@KaliqueClawthorne I struggle with the stitch count not being included as well. The second-guessing is insane. And I don't even have any ADHD struggles when I crochet/knit (when I struggle with whatever it is that causes my focus and patience issues, I just don't crochet)
As someone who has a hard time understanding written patterns. The artist is not responsible for my shortcomings.
Same, I'm not great with written patterns so I had some trouble following the pattern, but simply watching the tutorial cleared up all confusion. It's super accessible.
100%. I can't learn from video patterns (unless it's just a tutorial for a very specific stitch) but that's my problem, not the artist's.
I also struggle with it but that's why I bought a book so I can learn. If a pattern is still too complicated even with my book or a video, I would just move on and find a different project.
I agree, it's basically a language that takes time to fully understand and comes with experience in the craft (knit/crochet). When I started with crochet I 100 % preferred video tutorials with lengthy explanations. Now I find them quite annoying to follow because they are very slow but I am still glad that some people with less experience in the craft can follow the pattern with less frustration. However, if the artist prefers to make written patterns (which are accessible for experienced crafters and don't slow them down) I see no problem with that. There are plenty of resources for both groups.
Yea, no. That pattern is written just fine. She even had a special stitches section. I want the people complaining to follow a 2004 free DROPS pattern 😂
I think new crocheters forget that they are emersing themselves not only in a new hobby, but a new culture that comes with its own language, social norms, etc. Your personal journey always on a continuum. Challenging your skills is how you learn. Not everything needs to cater to newer crocheters and can actually be detering to more advanced crocheter.
Can the community as a whole improve accessibility? Absolutely, but not everything needs to cater to everyone .
Also, this could been an amazing collab opportunity but spiraled into something else.
exactly! people want everything handed to them on a silver platter. critical thinking is going extinct
I self taught through RUclips videos only less than 3 years ago. I love to crochet , but I HATE the drama😮. It's utterly bizarre to me that people do this and it's so unhealthy. I see this in all sorts of 'communities', such as animal rescue, DIY, etc. I just don't get it🙄.
Eeeh, “not everything needs to be accessible” isn’t really a great take, and in this case is basically what not everything needs to cater to everyone.
@@sparagmos4748Craft drama has been going on forever. You should have seen the knitting communities on Livejournal back in the day.
As someone with multiple complex disabilities that impact me neurologically, cognitively and physically - I am SO exhausted by people misusing ableism/inaccessibility. It actually does more harm than good for disabled people when every small inconvenience is treated as a malicious act. Accessibility is a multiple layered thing - there is nothing wrong with rewriting a pattern for yourself (I would actually say if you can do that, the pattern isn’t actually inaccessible to you, it was just difficult for you to follow). There is something wrong with distributing that without permission.
Absolutely!!
I think, tho, that it’s worth remembering that accessibility isn’t a binary yes/no thing. The reason a pattern was difficult to follow could be an accessibility issue, whether it’s the size or color of the font or the fact that the numerous advertisements cover the pattern text. Like you say, accessibility is a multiple layered thing - and just because it’s possible to force your way through something doesn’t mean that thing is inherently accessible. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes! Many of us have been doing these things ourselves. I use Reader view on busy websites, or I print (or purchase a pdf and then print) and then highlight only what is needed and zoom in etc.
Also between you and me- if ads were such a huge issue, there are browsers with ad block that lets you have a private ad free view without actively spreading around another copy and making it easier and preferable to the version that supports the work put in.
yeah maybe its not ideal for the creator, but at least its a decent middle ground where imo, if you already know you want to do something thats infringing on someone else's property and wishes- why are you doing it so loudly and proudly?
Ya I was gonna say. The kid complains it’s inaccessible, then reproduces it. I guess someone else pointed out accessibility can have to do with the struggle of getting through something too.. but then the kid should have just kept her notes and used them herself. Weird to me cause like first thing I learned almost was that you can’t reproduce patterns. Says please don’t do it right there on every one. Idk, maybe wasn’t specified on this one? Or she missed it more likely. I haven’t seen it. Anyway.
It's the most wonderful time of the year: when the youtube algorithm finds a video of obscure niche drama and sends it my way 💖
nothing hits quite like impossibly niche drama that is none of my business! I am glad the algorithm gifted you this
@CinemaKnits thank you, I have just been gifted this niche drama as well, on a very stressful day too! I've got the video on as I manage this mess 😁
@@annyphoenix2099 👁️👄👁️
RIGHT
@@annyphoenix2099that is exactly what i’m doing too
I'm 53 and listening to you list all the ways people have now to get help with a pattern - I just want to invite people to think about the fact that it used to be just you and a written pattern and a photo of the finished garment. that's it. no ravelry, no you tube videos, no facebook group, no blog post, no contacting the creator, no internet. your options were, figure it out yourself or ask another knitter/crocheter or someone working at a local yarn store. that's it. it's great that we have all these things now, along with a better awareness of disability issues and access but there comes a point where it's just you learning how to do it, with the yarn and the needles/hook and a lot of frustration. that is part of it. the reality is ripping back your work, abandoning projects, coming back and trying again over and over. and that's where a lot of the satisfaction comes in. no one can take all that away for you and make everything smooth and easy.
I too learned how to knit before the internet was prevalent. All I had was one book to reference and I accidentally knit through the back of every stitch for YEARS before I realized the mistake. Was that anyone's fault? Absolutely not. After 22 years of knitting I'm finally taking the time to learn crochet and it feels so luxurious to have video tutorials for anything I need! Very frustrating to see people dogpile on a designer when really learning the craft is more accessible than ever.
Similar age here, and this reminds me of something that I feel was better known not too long ago, by which I mean "less than 20 years ago".
Anyone who knits/crochets or does similar crafts in public, or even just in front of friends who haven't seen us doing it yet, is used to the inevitable "Oh, I could never have the patience to learn that!" My answer was always that learning it was where I got the patience from in the first place. I didn't sit down and learn to knit because I was already an inherently patient person!
I wonder now how much of this stems from trying to fit three motivations into two types of crafter. For example, I'm a process knitter. I don't much care what happens to something once it's not on my needles any more, and I even experience a little grief for the project once it's completed, instead of feeling accomplished, because once it's a scarf or a sweater, its primary purpose for me is over. It was there mainly to be knitting I was in the middle of. Product knitters, my opposite kindred, have the opposite mindset, and while I don't understand them, I hope they complete every project they begin.
But we're talking now about three distinctly separate motivations once virality and social media enter the conversation: the desire to have the thing, the desire to make the thing, and the desire to be someone who made the thing. If you want the thing and don't have it, but don't have the skill to make it, you can buy it. If you want to make the thing, but don't have the skill, you can learn the skill (and if you're a process crafter, you get the bonus goodness of all the process involved in learning). But if you want to have made it, and don't have the skill to make it, what then? You have to settle for something unsatisfying either way; buy it (and not be able to truthfully say you made it) or go through the slow and frustrating process of learning a new skill first.
That second dissatisfaction seems like it would be increased by virality, with its narrow time frame for relevance, the pressure to have made the thing while everybody else is still talking about it. It completely removes the option for the learning of a craft to teach you the patience you're going to need to practice that craft.
I am only 31, but I was taught by my great grandmother as a kid and really got into crochet as a teenager. At that point it was very much the same, I bought patterns at the craft store or just had to wing it and use what I knew to to make what I was trying to acheive. Now I use all of the resources out there and I often think "wow, I had such a specific issue and found a Reddit post, RUclips video, and blog post all helping me solve it!" It's truly incredible, but I think that if I'd learned entirely by doing that, I wouldn't have the problem solving skills I have now!
Nor should anyone actually want all the obstacles taken out of their way! Challenges and figuring out things on our own is a growth opportunity. We can't teach a baby to crawl. They have to figure it out on their own. And we need to keep figuring things out for our entire lives.
Im also 53 and have never been able to follow a written crochet pattern. The long form detailed explainations make it worse. I can understand the drawing scematics much better, but get lost when everything is written out. I'm much better at freeform types of crochet and enjoy looking at a picture and trying to make it. I learn so much from my mistakes. I feel like the detailed explainations derail my ADHD and make the process so much harder. Never has it crossed my mind to bad mouth or rewrite the patterns people put out because everyone has their own way of doing things and dont need to cater to me. I enjoy puzzling it out or move on to something else.
“The pattern was called out for its inaccessibility” and then you read it and it’s written like every single pattern you’ve ever read in your entire life
I know, bananas
For real. I hadn't seen the pattern, but had vaguely heard about the drama. I went to look at it assuming that the blog would be a pop-up ad nightmare with super sparse instructions or weird abbreviations based on the complaints. But it's just a normal pattern...
@@NicotineAndSilence Yeah and if the ads were a problem, couldn’t people just like, copy and paste the text? Or save as a PDF? There are so many extensions that let you omit certain web elements before printing
Also it comes in 3 ways, 2 of which are free(!!) and has community support?! really the only one thing she could add was the accessibility profiles on the website. and those are nice wherever we can find them but what are people expecting from designers nowadays? just find another star blanket pattern if this one doesnt work for you. there are hundrets!
I will say, as someone who does not knit or crochet, (but do other crafts) I found it confusing. Because I have not learned the shortcuts and how to parse that type of pattern, which may be a contributing factor here. Maybe it is beginners, or people who have only ever read long form prose style patterns who just don't have the required skill to parse the short form, and what really needs to be done is some education on how to read patterns like this. I'm guessing it would only take a page or two to explain.
I think another element here is the overlap of crafts community and disability community. In disability communities I've experienced, it is normal to offer each other free resources & assistance on parts of the world that haven't been made accessible to us. A 'they don't look out for us, so we have to look out for each other' attitude. I think this is important when it comes to the big institutions and powers of the world. The 'accessible bootleg' of the pattern fits right into this spirit. But the complicating issue here is that the original pattern designer is not a big institution, but a small crafter in an already devalued industry. Distributing a bootleg pattern is clearly a bad call here (especially if there is already a youtube pattern explanation video out there by the original creator, which is such a great accessibility option it itself!). I don't think there was malicious intent involved to start with, but calling the original creator 'abelist' shows a lack of nuanced view of the situation. And then the internet outrage grinder went and did its thing....
I applaude the original pattern creator for staying professional through this, and even making her page more accessible.
She was obviously able to follow the original pattern with accompanying video, to be able to write a pattern for it. It’s more likely she wanted the attention/clicks from giving it away under the auspices of "making it more accessible" and not one time did she ask for permission or offer her own instructions for the original designer to add to her own "to make it accessible" to those people who actually paid for the pattern or visited her site/social media.
It is worth noting that just because there’s a video doesn’t mean it’s accessible. The video in this case is very chatty, so not necessarily great for folks with some forms of executive dysfunction. And while someone took the time to close caption the video, it has no punctuation - and that can actually be really hard to read! So there are definitely still really legit reasons folks could want a simple pattern to read, even with the existence of the RUclips video.
@khills
You really seem to have a chip on your shoulder to be constantly making excuses for someone plagiarizing material.
There is no excuse for the behavior of the individual or demonization or the pattern writer.
@@khills I personally think there's a difference between something being accessible, and something being immediately actionable.
If you genuinely want to make a pattern, watching a video a few times over to take notes & figure out which parts are actually usefull isn't a discrimatory ask.
I think the point where, for me, this turns into reasonable accessibility is where you have *both* the pattern & the video. So you can sit down with the pattern and the video and work through it.
The close captions being suboptimal sucks, I wish youtube would bring community captions back.
Whoever posted the bootleg and whined about the creator being ableist is clearly the type of person to directly run into a stranger on the street and cry, "OH my God, you just ran into me with malicious intent, and it's because YOU'RE fat-phobic!" Nothing could ever be their fault, and it is their world. Their delusion must know no bounds.
I’m an educator and I can tell you that “instant gratification” is an issue with learning in general. Not being comfortable with the uncomfortable feeling of learning something new causes learners to throw their hands up too quickly. Technical advances have smoothed out so many sticky points, that any sort of struggle or friction in the learning process feels like something must be broken. It feels too clunky compared to the rest of our lives. Only seeing the highlight reels of others learning process doesn’t make this any easier. You hit the nail on the head! Thanks for the great video!
It really sucks because reading and making a standard knit or crochet pattern is incredibly similar to how a simple computer reads code, and writing those patterns is like coding, which is being heavily emphasized for kids I feel. What if we could get them into coding by doing crafts??? But if nobody teaches or learns problem solving, how are they gonna do it?
As an elementary teacher in Germany: Absolutely yes! My 3rd graders think they have to be perfect in new skills immediately and else wish to give up. Also they often use "But it's no fun/But I don' t wanna do it" as an argument for not putting in effort. Guess what, little dude! You didnt learn how to walk or talk in a day so give yourself time!
I think it might be partly caused by the immediate gratification and dopamine availability provided by a lot of the Games they play. I noticed that my own patience reading or listening to a Podcast isn't the same it was before I got used to my Smartphone.
I also worry about social medias pressure of perfection. People who are just starting out or trying are swarmed by images of people doing it perfectly (and not all the failures beforehand) and comments ranging from genuine help to nasty hate. Learning things and not getting it right the first time is often seen as this “all or nothing” point of success. People are not allowed to learn through trial and error. There’s a pressure to get it passable the first time or hide it from the world.
I finally got around to checking out Betty's pattern and was shocked pikachu face that people think this is a badly written pattern??? I'm saying this as a fellow designer, but the pattern is actually TOO wordy for me and could use tightening up in some places.
I am absolutely baffled by the helplnessness of TikTok crocheters.... I've actually had to go to absurd lengths in my own patterns now with so many roadblocks to prevent them from blowing up my Etsy DM's because they don't know how to read basic shorthand. Listing description with a sample row/round, an entire "Pattern Support" page at the start of the PDF outlining what I will and will not provide support for, which basically boils down to me saying "No I will not walk you through this pattern" in several different ways. So many of them think they're Intermediate crocheters when they don't even now simple abbreviations... I really and truly feel for Betty here and my blood is boiling on her behalf.
Oh and the ageism is just the icing on the cake, pisses me off so badly! Like you say, Betty's not your mom! She's not your friend! She's not going to go on a sprawling text conversation with you like you're elementary school besties catching up, she's a business woman who needs to communicate succinctly to get on with her day!
A lot of this just comes down to pure entitlement and disrespect from younger crocheters, and I'm saying this as a a Gen Z-er....
I'm a pretty young crocheter as in I'm approaching 1.5 yrs crocheting (but am a Millennial) and it's weird how folks on YT and TikTok are so helpless or just decide to not follow the pattern and then wonder why their stuff doesn't look right. Her pattern looks well written to me. When Cinema Knits said old style, I thought it was a diagram pattern which I'm only just starting to be able to read.
I started crochet this year and even I don't get how people think its badly written? it's straightforward to me not confusing at all and even her videos are helpful to me as well and well made I've been so ???? seeing everyone complain 😭
@@grayrainbow100 hi thanks for this, I’ve actually added so much to the pattern over the years due to questions and the rants I’ve received from people. So I agree with you about the tightening up. I’ve included everything I’ve had to answer repeatedly in my groups and elsewhere. It is easier just to put it in the pattern. Thanks for your take. ❤️
As a Gen X who has been knitting and crocheting since the mid 1970s you had to use your brain and try several ideas if you were stuck on a pattern (or ask your mum's friend next door). I find this really strange to be harassing the pattern designer.
there is SO MUCH helplessness when it comes to crafting, sewing, diy etc.. i work at. afabric shop and the amount of people who come in asking me to walk them through how to construct a garment, but they’ve never even touched a needle and thread in their life is baffling. or like they come in asking me what bobbin their machine needs and i’ve never even seen their machine… google is free!!! there is such a lack of curiosity around all ages (but especially with younger people too)
the instant gratification in the crafting community is absolutely bleeding in. I run the fiber arts club at the school I teach it - I've had so many students coming to me, absolutely DISTRAUGHT because they couldn't make a pattern in an hour, or were struggling with a stitch type, or dealing with yarn tangles. "but the tiktok said it was easy!" "but the tiktok said a baby could do it!" "but so-and-so said it would only take 20 minutes!" and not wanting to work through the problems. They just want the ease and speed promised to them
i feel so bad for these kids.
Yes I’ve been crocheting for over 15 years now. It took me a much longer time to figure out how to do certain stitches than most TikTok tutorials indicate now… it’s kind of like a form of false advertisement…
Also present in the expectation from the people who receive our makes or see them and go "Can you make me one?" thinking it takes us like 5 seconds, they just see the finished project I post after spending several months hand knitting a sweater for myself.
The best example I can think of relating to this was when I first started learning I saw a video 'crochet a bucket hat in an hour'. I never did, because even at absolute beginner level I could see that I didn't want a bucket hat crocheted with chunky acrylic yarn! Chunky is tempting when you want quick results, but it's rarely beautiful, or even that functional.
Honestly the idea of a one-hour project just isn't appealing to me at all. Why would I want to have to find another project after just one hour?
1. I agree on your instant gratification points. Wholeheartedly. When anyone begins school, they must begin with grade 1 reading before reading Shakespeare. It takes time to graduate levels of pattern reading for any craft.
2. As a retired teacher I can say that providing instruction for learning styles, especially with disabled students is far beyond the scope of a pattern designer. Teachers often work long hours learning to customize a method to teach individual students. Its not a one size fits all even for learners with the same challenges.
3. as someone who's crocheted 60 years, and am not afraid of any advanced pattern, some are still challenging. The concept of completing projects does include attempting trial an error. You make an attempt, look at it, if not working rip it out and work differently.
4. Thank you for sticking up for us aging. It's hard when we try and share knowledge only to be brushed off due to age.
I'm 53, and I appreciate what you said as an educator. It isn't the responsibility of the designer to make the pattern accessible in every way it may need to be for everyone. I'm a good crocheter, not a great one. If I don't understand a pattern, I try, I Google, I RUclips, and if I can't get it right, I may set that project aside for someone else and come back to it. Some patterns are beyond my skill set and THAT IS OKAY. Whether you're talking about crochet or cooking or pipe -fitting or car maintenance.... There's levels of complexity and comprehension. It feels like a more respectful approach would have been too contact the designer and ask for a more accessible version of the pattern, maybe with an offer to collaborate, benefiting both crocheters.
“Misogyny and ageism play a role here” - spot on, that’s 100% a big factor here. Women’s work is so often undervalued.
@@AlexSoffman-i6nParentifying is something that can happen in general. Pointing that out is not ageist.
She did not beat around the bush!!
To me, complaining about someone writing an extremely standard-style pattern makes about as much sense as yelling at a music composer because you cannot read standard music notation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes - I think there’s a lot to be said and done re: making patterns more accessible including having more standardisation across patterns and having official forms of guidance on how patterns should be written (I think Toni Lipsey speaks about this but would need to look it up!) It’s important to continue to campaign for accessibility and to continue to strive for increased inclusivity. However, none of that is Betty Mcknit’s personal responsibility - she wrote a pattern in an extremely standard style & also provides extensive help and support. Don’t hate the player hate the game!
Yeah, the descendants of Beethoven and Mozart really should rewrite those famous pieces in a totally different notation style . . .
It seems to me that people saw a standard free pattern and wanted it to be a full tutorial. I think the more modern designers do tutorial style, but I learned to crochet in middle school in the ‘80s so I learned on standard pattern notation. I went to other crocheters and books to fill in the blanks. For context - I’m autistic level 2 and ADHD
@ there is also a full one hour plus long tutorial for the pattern available for free on Betty Mcknit’s RUclips, though!
@@helenlayley yeah, they should transpose into more accessible key signatures!!! Bwaaa haaa!!!
I am honestly glad, that you pointed out the ageism. The crochet community prouds itself with being very nice and supportive and positive, but this is not the first time I have seen hostility against older crafters that is kind of hidden behind calling them out for some kind of moral failure (like being "mean") that made me go "Hm, am I imagining things?" And I think there is definitely a generational conflict burried somewhere in this whole drama.
Another thing I have noticed is that after there is finally conversation about mental health struggles and invisible disablities (which is absolutely great) especially younger people tend to almost pathologize their very normal beginner struggles. "I don't understand this pattern, must be because I am a visual learner". Which might be the case. Or not. Nobody looks at a shorthand pattern and is like: "I understand everything!" We all had to slowly work through the first ones at some point. The problem is that some people will decide there in the first moment of their struggles, that this must be not for them and that they can't work with such a pattern ever. And from that perspective I can see why many see it as an accessablity issue, when for the most part it's an experience issue.
And in a way that is harmful for the whole accessability conversation. Because it muddies everything. Where do the actual accessibilty concerns start and what is just impatient beginners throwing a fit? It is easy to only see the latter and decide that it's a non issue, when there might be actual things that can be done better.
It seems to me that people getting started don’t understand that patters are literally a second language. No native English speaker could pick up and understand the original version on Don Quixote on their first attempt to read Spanish. It takes years to learn the different aspects of pattern language and have quick recall for stitch abbreviations. I’ve been knitting for more than 10 years and it took me probably 8 years to feel confident enough to learn hardcore patterns. You’ve gotta crawl before you can walk no matter what.
@@denslc I myself am an advanced crocheter capable of doing difficult patterns, and I still have to look up how to do uncommon stitches like bobbles and waffles every time they come up because they just aren't that commonly used in most amigurumi, which is what I prefer to make. It's crazy that so many beginners in this day seem to expect to pick up a hook for the first time and already have the skill to crochet a cozy for their entire car.
A LOT of the accessibility in crochet patterns like this is the ability to find a different pattern. But people want the viral pattern now, especially new crocheters and they are doing it rushed so they can get it in 6 days so of course it's going to be harder (missing stitches etc).
I have disabilities that affect how I read patterns and such so the whole drama really bothered me, especially when people were crying ableist. SO MANY TIMES people will bring up "it's ableist against this!" and they mainly do it to join in on some drama. Most people with these disabilities like me will look for a different pattern or use tools like screen dimmers, screenshots, taking notes, stitch markers, etc. ///(controversial alert) My own pet peeve is how often conversations about my disabilities only get big because people want something to be easier for themselves as abled people. "It will also be easier for disabled people!" Well they mainly care when it benefits them too.
This is a great example of using skills and strategies to make things accessible to your situation! You recognized what you needed and were able to find the necessary resources. That's the entire goal of supporting students with disabilities in education. (This is done better in some areas than in others, but hopefully we will still be able to provide these services moving forward or misunderstandings like this will become an increasingly common problem.)
Unfortunately, the world is not accessible to everyone and it never will be. Barriers like money, location, age, disability, etc. will always exist. If you see a sweater that you like, but can't afford it, then you might have to find another sweater (or save up your money or buy it second-hand or find a way to earn some extra money or find some other way to buy the sweater).
The point that sticks out to me is the comment where Betty McKnit states that "she didn't offer it to me". If the goal of this other crocheter was to make the pattern more accessible to others, it could have been a private conversation where this person reached out to Betty and said that they made a document that helped them make sense of the pattern. They could have asked if Betty would post the document on her original blog post or add it to the community forum where others could benefit while also giving Betty the credit and website traffic.
Right? Like I have dyslexia and sequencing disorder- this didn't seem ablest to me (but we didn't see the dms or anything).
I do a lot of cross stitch and I go back and forth from colored patterns and b&w depending on how bad my issues are on a given day. I also use counting pins in a bunch of colors.
I'm not saying that ableism isn't in the crafting world. There is. And there is ableism in the design of so many social media platforms. (Particularly Tumblr, in my experience)
thisss!
Just because you don't want to use your brain does not mean everyone has to cater to that! I feel like so often people on the internet start using accessibility issues without reason and thus often devauling actual real accessibility concerns and discussions.
@@amaz21This!
Thank you
Betty Mcknits has an extremely accessable video which you can rewatch for each row every time you have to make that row, what's more accessible than that. Additionally if you are unable to concentrate due to adverts buy the pattern, or write it down yourself the way you understand it and don't distribute it
@AlexSoffman-i6n if I try to play guitar and can't read sheet music, or follow a tutorial it doesn't mean the video is inaccessible it means that I have not yet acquired the skill set needed to play that song. I should instead learn the skills I need to then follow the instructions. Yes I have a learning disability and yes I do find things hard to read. None of that should give me the right to steal someone's pattern and distribute it.
I didn’t hear about this drama until now, and I completely agree with every point you made. I am a beginner knitter myself and I do find the old fashioned patterns intimidating. The more I learn, the easier they are for me to understand, and the long winded explanations become more frustrating!
Being a member of Facebook groups and subreddits, I noticed that so many people cannot do their own research anymore, and instead ask the most trivial questions on forums, expecting to be handheld through every step. Sure there is a place for asking questions, troubleshooting, etc, but part of learning a skill or craft is being able to identify a problem and find a solution to it. Instead we expect someone else to give us the solution without putting in any effort.
People ask so many questions that could be solved with a simple internet search, and that's what I've started telling people. "You might want to try looking it up first before asking others to look it up for you."
lol I have been on both sides in a way. I love to research things myself so I often don’t ask questions on craft forums. But I also like to keep reptiles and sometimes the lack of information out there is frustrating as only a handful of people have kept a specific species alive for a time and can speak to their care requirements in a manner I trust or can verify with multiple sources. So in those cases I understand asking “stupid” questions. But for a craft like crochet/knit that has been around almost forever, almost every question has been asked and answered and is easily available with some searching. It can be frustrating to answer that question a hundred times when google exists.
lol I have been on both sides in a way. I love to research things myself so I often don’t ask questions on craft forums. But I also like to keep reptiles and sometimes the lack of information out there is frustrating as only a handful of people have kept a specific species alive for a time and can speak to their care requirements in a manner I trust or can verify with multiple sources. So in those cases I understand asking “stupid” questions. But for a craft like crochet/knit that has been around almost forever, almost every question has been asked and answered and is easily available with some searching. It can be frustrating to answer that question a hundred times when google exists.
I think ultimately this came down to not differentiating between disability accessibility and newbie accessibility. Is the pattern truly inaccessible to those with autism or dyslexia, or are you just a noob? Sometimes you're just a noob and that's fine! I think people forget that yarn work and pattern reading are skills that need to be honed. No one (save for some lucky ass savants) will pick up a skill that quick.
@@yangyangknits yes, that’s a really succinct way of putting it that I wish I had thought of in the video! I could not actually find (anywhere!) an explanation from anyone on exactly why this pattern in particular poses access issues, nor could I get hold of the revised bootleg pattern to see what had been done to make it more accessible. The most common complaints I could find online were about the stitch counts being wrong and about the shorthand, use of asterisks and brackets, and lack of descriptive language. The first one would pose at least an inconvenience to any crocheter, the other two seem to me to be about experience reading patterns - we all have our way of parsing and making sense of patterns but it takes practice! I also don’t understand how the detailed video didn’t just circumvent these issues - surely it would??
I took up crochet partly to help with focus and attention. I still haven't made a really complex/ large project yet because I still have problems with focus and attention! That's my problem, being spoon-fed instructions isn't the responsibility of any creator 😅
I thought the exact same thing! I didn't understand the pattern either, not because I'm autistic and she's ableist, but because that would have been my third crochet project ever and I'm still not quite sure what a double crochet is😅
I fully agree with this, as someone with autism and SEVERE dyscalculia (some people describe it as numbers or math dyslexia), I think you are 100% right. You have to start from the beginning with all things, and be able to recognize when you're not ready for a certain pattern right now. I was one of the folks who tried to jump into amigurumi first thing, but I went back to basics. I still haven't been able to figure out granny squares, which to some crocheters are one of the first things they learn. But I can make a beautiful shawl and crochet c2c. Some things we just aren't ready for.
I'll admit I had a hard time with reading patterns at first, due to dyscalculia, but with enough time, I learned how to translate it. If I don't understand something I dedicate my time to watching tutorials.
Betty's pattern is not any different from any other written pattern, so I call bullcrap on these ableism claims, especially when she made a free RUclips tutorial to be more accessible.
And how did they deal with this? By stealing her paid pattern and distributing it and encouraging others to steal it, out of apparent pettiness... I really can't believe this whole situation.
literally yes to everything that you've said, particularly about the age gap and style of pattern writing. It took me a whole decade longer to figure out crochet than knitting because I couldn't "click" with the instructions available to me at the time. Instructions written in shorthand and assumed the crafter had baseline knowledge of certain stitches i.e. were taught by family members as was the norm. I'd also wager a guess that the "rudeness" perceived was actually Betty being a very direct communicator and not having a placative tone that young millennials and gen z default to (calling myself out with that).
I agree on all fronts!! & I also think there’s an (increasingly ignored) gap between an honest expression of frustration and actual meanness. It’s totally reasonable to be frustrated and blunt with someone who is basically plagiarising you. The idea that even when our boundaries are being crossed we still owe a stranger friendliness and warmth is sooo tied up with gender and age for me…
@@CinemaKnitsabsolutely!!
I'm 36 and I'm just starting to learn crochet, I just couldn't get it before - and then somehow, finally, I got the chain thing, and it clicked - a lot of RUclips videos helped with that. I'm still slow and a beginner - I'm really greatful so many creators have put things out there for free!
At a certain point, everyone needs to learn that not everything is about them. There is the option of a free pattern, a paid pattern, and a RUclips video - plus so many other free videos! How much more does one think they are entitled to?
I remember having a discussion in a knitting group almost a decade ago about how none of us could pick up crochet because we couldn't understand the pattern... but I picked up a crochet pattern a few weeks ago and had no problem figuring it out. Its the same for knitting patterns from around pre-2005, though. They're either filled with just abbreviations or amalgamations of charts. I have a few pattern books from that era, and I genuinely struggle to make sense of them despite 20 years of knitting... and these are still better than vintage patterns from the 40s and 50s (which people rewrite professionally because they're so different from the modern standard). There's definitely been a general shift in both crafts to assume you're learning from the pattern to some degree and don't have a network of more experienced people to call on, but it's also a bit ridiculous to try to circumvent the learning curve on older patterns instead of just accepting you weren't as good as you thought.
I agree with everything here! Learning to crochet took me way longer than knitting because the patterns just didn't make sense to me. I learned to knit from patterns over a decade ago but I could never follow a crochet pattern and just pretty much crocheted something that I could completely improvise. I gave it a go again this year and it totally clicked after I bought a newer pattern and looked at video instructions.
I totally recognize the "old" style of pattern writing, I find a lot of vintage knitting patterns (90's and older) have this same vagueness because the assumption is someone who uses the pattern already either knows how to knit or has a family member or a knitting group that will help them.
i really think you hit the nail on the head with the bit about ageism and misogyny. but also, i feel like the internet as a whole has gotten too comfortable with trying to shut down anything thats not specifically for them. if you go on literally any tiktok recipe video, youll see tons of comments asking for dietary substitutions or if its okay to do xyz instead of what the recipe actually calls for - like, if the recipe doesn't suit your needs right off the bat, maybe look for a different recipe? obviously accessibility is a different issue in these scenarios, but people really just need to learn that hey, some things arent for you. and thats okay. i personally struggle with the longer, explained patterns because i have an eye condition that makes reading black text on a white background really difficult, so shorter form patterns like Betty's are easier for me to follow because theres less text to read. but i wouldnt say those longer patterns are inaccessible, theyre just not for me and idk im fine with that??? ill just look for another pattern or something. but maybe thats just me idk mannnnn
This video absolutely scratched an annoying itch in the back of my brain, THANK YOU!!!! As an ADHD person it's like, sure, it would be nice if every pattern came with a silly little version that makes the instructions easier for me to understand, but I've also developed a lot of techniques to help myself because that just ISN'T the reality of the world we live in. Like, oh this blog providing me a free pattern has a billion ads that make it hard to follow? Then I'll just take screenshots of the pattern instructions and refer to the photos instead of wading through ad pop-ups...
Especially when a designer is providing something for FREE, I don't expect anything but the absolute bare minimum. I don't expect people to bend over backwards for me if they aren't being compensated for the effort of making something fully accessible to anyone of any range of ability. As a designer-in-the-works myself, it's hard fucking work to figure out the pattern ALONE. Taking the time afterward to make everything as digestible as possible for fellow crafters is an art in itself.
I can't imagine the frustration these people would feel trying to make a REALLY vintage, like victorian era, pattern. Those are nearly impossible to parse unless you spend a weekend researching old knitting and crochet terminology HAHA.
lol as fellow ADHDer I now want to challenge myself to deciphering a Victorian era crochet pattern….the knots and mistakes I will make would be legendary but I bet I would learn a lot of really cool useless facts and some awesome curse words! I may even have a finished project by the end!
Betty McKnit is one of the most amazingly kind and patient designers in the crochet sphere. She takes so much UNPAID time to respond to questions in her FB group and assisting people sort their counting problems for these patterns. It’s beyond bizarre to hear all of this hubbub. If people don’t like her pattern or style, by all means, they should feel free to design their own pattern.
I hadn’t heard of her until now, but only a few minutes into the video my impression was that she sounds like an amazing person!
I’m AuDHD and I have an intellectual disability that really affects my ability to read, especially when the writing is abbreviated. I am also an older millennial who does not understand text speak, acronyms make no sense to my brain. so I’m the exact opposite of you, I love patterns that are written out fully and basically written like pros, because that’s the only way I can wrap my head around it. for that reason, I normally watch the videos because I have an easier time hearing the information and watching the person work through it. I can understand it better than having the shorthand written down pattern. I completely agree with you that I think that she had already done her due diligence by giving the pattern in three separate ways, 2 where the consumer doesn’t have to pay, but she still gets compensation and then the PDF version that you have to pay for, to get without all of the ads. I love that she put the accommodations on her website, I honestly think it’s really thoughtful that she modified her entire website because of the exchange. I really hope that this whole thing blows over quickly for both of them.
I think there are legitimate arguments for increasing accessibility in patterns, i.e. using fonts that are dyslexia or screen-reader friendly, using colourblind-friendly colour schemes, etc, especially when there is so much overlap between crafters and people with disabilities. However, as a millennial, I find it frustrating how prevalent it is in my generation and younger (and also usually North American audiences) to not recognize when they're not the target audience for something, and demand that things be adjusted to make it easier for them or fit their needs more exactly. I also think this delegitimizes genuine accessibility issues within pattern writing, like formatting choices and colour schemes. I'm an experienced knitter, and I enjoy knits that keep my very ADHD brain engaged, so usually different constructions and lots of texture. A lot of Petiteknit, Ozetta, and My Favourite Things Knitwear patterns are too much oversized stockinette for me. You know who those designers are great for? Beginners, people who like Scandinavian minimalism, or those who want easy to follow patterns that explain everything. They're popular for a reason, and I'm not about to complain that they're too basic for me, because I'm simply not the target audience and that's fine.
I also see a lot of people dogging on designers like Lene Holme Sansoe and Camilla Vad for following a more brief, Scandinavian style of pattern writing, and I don't think they need to change that because North American audiences expect more handholding. The Porcelain pullover was my first drop shoulder and all over colourwork pattern, and while I didn't know exactly what I was doing, I followed the instructions, trusted the process, and ended up with a beautiful finished garment, and the process of getting there was so much fun. I learned to knit before the internet was the treasure trove of resources it is now, and my adventures in fixing mistakes and figuring out issues made me a better and more confident knitter. Not everything is for you, and I think we all need to be more okay with that.
Thank you!! I agree - I was anxious about speaking on this as I don’t want to downplay how important continuing to remove access barriers and continuing to strive for inclusivity is, but I do think that misuse of the term “ableist” here is covering a whole host of other things including a kind of consumerist and passive relationship to crafting and learning and a whole bunch of ageism, misogyny and entitlement 🫡
lol totally agree about enjoying some patterns and not enjoying others. I spent like 50$ on a pattern and fake-fur yarn to make an Appa amagurumi. It was a miserable experience as I just can’t do the fake fur yarn the way I needed to for amigurumi (I could not see my stitches at all!). But that wasn’t the patterns fault, and it wasn’t the fault of the yarn (though I totally blame and hate it!) and it wasn’t even my fault. That project was not something I enjoyed. It wasn’t for me and that’s okay.
"It was very inaccessible the way it was written and the amount of ads" is a crazy thing to say about a pattern with a RUclips TUTORIAL.
I get that certain ways of writing patterns can be tricky to understand or difficult for some. Personally, I find written patterns in a more "traditional" sense more accessible than youtube tutorials. My autism and low vision make it easier for when the pattern is layed out in a clear for me understand way, which "old fashioned" patterns tend to be. Pictures can help with lacework projects, and I also like diagrams for lacework as well. But a lot of contemporary patterns end up more confusing than an "old fashioned" written pattern or lace diagram. Especially when it relies mostly on pictures to tell you what to do. But I'm not going to call contemporary pattern makers ableist for their patterns, even though I know others with low vision who can't use contemporary patterns for similar reasons.
As someone who is disabled and does deal with certain accessibility issues, I don't see how this pattern is causing an accessibility issue. Only thing in that regard I could see is like, maybe screen readers being screwy with it, but I haven't used the pattern myself or use a screen reader myself so I can't say for sure. But that's a thing with most crochet patterns and "old fashioned" patterns actually tend to be more screen reader friendly than the ones with tons of picture tutorials.
One of my favorite shawl patterns ever is written in a way that is a little tricky for me, so I rewrote it as something easy for me to understand. But that rewrite is kept private. I'm not going to share a rewrite of the pattern with people when it's a free with ads pattern by someone who might rely on that ad revenue.
And then something not being useable to you isn't an accessibility issue. I can't use trampolines because of my mobility issues, but I'm not going to call the venue used by local craft fairs ableist because they have trampolines and demand they replace the trampolines with something I can use. It's the same with pattern formats.
Edit after finishing the video: I think we have very similar needs for patterns.
And yeah, ageism is a pretty big thing in crafting communities. Part of it is how older women are seen, but I think another part of it how some people view knit and crochet as "granny crafts" and some younger people in crafting communities can end up taking out their frustration with that onto the older women who do these crafts. I've seen this quite a bit. People will disregard the knowledge older women have on these crafts and their place in crafting communities because they're angry at people calling their crafts a "grandma" thing and direct that anger towards older women rather than towards ignorant people.
I find situations like this so funny because if you change the subject, it often becomes clear whether it is or isn't a ludicrous request. Say for example I really liked the style of some Jimmy Choo high heels but I don't like high heels, I wouldn't kick of that Jimmy Choo aren't inclusive because they don't make what I want them to make.
It must be really frustrating as a creative because I think people have now come to expect to be delivered exactly what they want rather than having to search for it in a way that suits them better. You see it all the time on RUclips with negative comments on video's, when as you rightly said, sometimes you just don't click with a person for no particular reason, but people get the hump and rather than move on and find someone else, they expect this person to deliver exactly what they want.
I feel for Betty McKnit and think you are spot on with everything you said in you video!
speaking as a person with adhd and dyscalculia (number dyslexia), two things that make it very difficult to follow crochet patterns in particular, i've never really understood why the tiktok crowd often talks about a pattern being "too difficult" when it seems they aren't even googling terms or stitches they might not know. sometimes, as you said in the video, it really comes down to you not mixing well with a particular style of pattern-writing. i myself have often avoided written crochet patterns in the past because the letters and numbers start blending together into some abhorred amalgamation that is not readable to my eyes, but i've been trying to challenge myself more lately to learn ways to read patterns when i can
i'm currently crocheting a shawl (which was very nice to do while watching your video i might add :) ) which has a bunch of new abbreviations i've never seen before and at least 2 new stitches. i watched and read a couple of tutorials in order to figure it out. yes, it took me about half an hour where i alternated between ripping stitches back, clutching my head and yelling "what even is this step????" at my computer screen, but the point is that i got there eventually and that's all i really care about. i wonder if people have some weird aversion to googling when they don't know something nowadays, which is absolutely insane to me considering how much people emphasized using the internet as a way to research things when i was a kid
i would also like to point out ive looked at the pattern for the 6-day star blanket. it looks to be fairly well-written, up to a standard id consider legible for most people if not everyone. i like to crochet doilies (talk about a challenge for those with dyscalculia!) and the blanket looks considerably easier on the eyes than the lacework needed to achieve your standard basic doily. i think its important for people to try to problem-solve before immediately blaming a pattern writer, who is using the industry standard, for writing a "bad pattern". it is not a weakness to need to use google to figure out something you don't know, nor is it a moral failing. and as i often tell random people who ask me how long it took me to make x, "it takes as long as it takes" :)
thank you for making this video btw, i keep to a very tiny corner of the internet where i mind my business and chat with a total of maybe three people on average about whatever's going on, so whenever the youtube algorithm suggests me a video about crafting drama, i get extremely excited to get cozy with a project and listen to things people have apparently been getting angry about lately. hope you're having a good holiday season and that your projects are treating you well! :D
Thank you ❤❤❤
I too have dyslexia, I also have memory problems.
There have been time that I have had to Google how to do a certain stich that I know I've done before but can't for the life of me remember how to do.
Or I've come across an abbreviation I've never seen before and had to as in a fb group what it mean.
There really are a lot of tools and resources if you look.
I personally have gone on a video call and walked someone through a pattern step by step because they REALLY wanted to make it but couldn't figure it out alone.
Most of the groups I have been un people were happy to help new comers and answers questions. ❤❤
yes, i also have dyscalculia and adhd and it takes a LOT of brain power for me to understand written patterns especially if it doesn't have any pictures to go along with it. i am also abhorrent at counting and reading graphs. but if i'm determined enough to make something i will find a way. it's like a puzzle to solve.
I also have ADHD and dyslexia, and love making doilies! 💖 I personally really prefer diagrams because reading written instructions can be confusing
Just because you don't vibe with something doesn't make it bad sums it up so well. It's such a chronically online take to think that if something doesn't work for you it must be due to a moral failing of the creator.
Also loved what you had to say about overconsumption and instant gratification. I've only taken up crochet this past year and it's been amazing to feel myself getting better, including my ability to read different patterns that I struggled to understand right at the start. These things take a long time, there isn't any getting around it, but the gratification of making something yourself that does take that time and dedication lasts so much longer. Every time I put on an garment that I've made and love, I feel that gratification all over again.
Great video!
due to its resurgence in popularity (especially during covid), a lot of new folks have entered the crochet/knitting space and don't understand that crochet is a SKILL. not every pattern, written or not, is going to cater to your skill level and that's okay! i don't know how many patterns i have had to come back to at a later point because i didn't understand them for one reason or another and i have been crocheting daily for almost 6 years. i'm completely self taught. i didn't have anyone around me that knew the craft that could teach me, or that i could ask my questions to. it was a slow, arduous process but it was an incredibly gratifying journey.
that being said, i also agree that we (in every space) can learn to make things more accessible. working together to make things more accessible for folks is not the same as distributing a pattern that isn't yours without the designers permission. unfortunately, i think the person who created the google doc was just unaware of those norms in the creator space. they certainly didn't have any malicious intent behind it, but it's def within betty mcknit's right to ask them to take it down.
Only a person who hasn’t designed a pattern would say Betty McKnit is wrong.
Ikr. I would have liked to see the “accessible” pattern compared to Betty’s pattern.
Yeah, these complaints are definitely coming from a place of not understanding how much work goes into writing a pattern.
I am talking about the plagiarism or attempt thereof which is the issue here. I don’t understand each and every pattern I come across, however what I will not do is rewrite it and share it for free with other people because as a designer I would not want anyone to do that to my patterns. That is copyright infringement.
patterns are also allowed to be difficult or just not beginner friendly or whatever
i also prefer shorthand, very abbreviated patterns without a picture of every basic step clogging the pattern up, they make more sense to me personally
True - there are SO many first-project and beginner-level patterns out there. It’s okay that some patterns aren’t suitable as a first or second or even tenth project.
Tbh sometimes I have to translate patterns into shorthand (although I'm not a crocheter - I do tatting). When patterns repeat a lot it's way easier to find the next step and keep track of where I am when there's very little to scroll through. Shorthand is a learning curve for sure but it's always been worth learning to me - you can even translate different shorthand styles into what you're used to!
This is wild to me. Pay for the pattern if you hate the ads. Rewrite the pattern for yourself to make it accessible (I often have to "translate" patterns on a piece of paper for myself because I deal with brain fog sometimes that makes me unable to hold numbers/patterns in my head) or ask for help (online or in a yarn store). No one person can meet all needs.
Yes, I hate knitting charts so I always translate them to written directions myself. And I learn a lot every time!
I was thinking the same thing the entire video. I'm not a fan of the RUclips videos anymore. Despite having learned with them. And as an audhd person, ads on the free patterns can just get very .... in the way.
My solutions? I buy the pattern if it's in my budget. Or I take screenshots as someone else suggested, or I copy paste it into a personal Google document I only keep for myself.
That person worked hard to create that pattern. Even if it isn't a new concept. They wrote it down, shared it with the community, for free. They deserve every penny of ad revenue they can eek out. Yarn is expensive y'all
I believe it was on one of Retro Claude’s videos that we had a conversation about accessability and dyslexia and what would work best for us and the conclusion was that it was impossible to cater to all of us the same way because what workes for some is incomprehensible for the others and vice versa, and that’s only for dyslexia. So making a pattern accessible for all disabilities is virtually impossible. I appreciate designers who try to make it accessible but also acknowledge the fact that you can’t please everyone
love Retro Claude and look to her a lot regarding craft and accessibility!
love love love all your points about overconsumption and the way it’s infiltrated crafting, the popularity of crochet specifically has led people to undervalue the labor and expect everything to be quick/easy/free which is so antithetical to the hobby!! struggling through something and then seeing your improvement is what makes it satisfying
I think the biggest issue with the online crafting community is people confusing actual skill with the ability to follow directions. I've always been a believer that anyone can do anything with enough direction and handholding. But without that, most people become kind of useless. Because they didn't build any skills, just followed instructions. it's why most people suck at cooking. Sure they can follow a recipe, but they probably can't develop one. Or cook a dish on the fly with random ingredients. That is what highlights the difference between a chef that develops recipes and the line cooks that replicate the recipe. And similarly, that's the difference between people who develop patterns, and people who merely follow them. When you find yourself at the skill level to make patterns, you're probably not following other patterns as strictly anymore because you learned the skills you needed. They, like recipes are guidelines, but they wont teach you any skills beyond what used in the pattern.
All this to say (and no shade to betty mcknittt) if you needed more thorough instructions on how to make what is basically a granny square variation, that's a genuine skill issue and you need to get gud.
I get that! I have learned so much from pattern testing and from self drafting, and I wanted to set myself those challenges because I realised I often didn’t understand what a stitch or technique was actually *doing* and it was frustrating me. I started crocheting in January and started knitting in march and I think the last few months of self drafting and pattern testing have been so good for my understanding of stitch anatomy and the purpose of various techniques!
This story feels a bit relevant to the topic at hand.
I'm a long-time crocheter (decades). At the start of 2024, I set myself a goal of learning to knit socks. I had visions of spending the summer making fun socks to give as presents for Christmas. I had once, nearly 20 years ago, knitted a (very lumpy) scarf. I knew the basics of how a knit and purl are formed. I figured having a whole year to work on it would be ample!
By late March, I'd mostly quit in frustration. Turns out socks are actually quite hard. I did manage about 3/4 of 1 very oversized sock, with lots of ladders where the needles crossed.
We expect things to be one way and discover we are wrong all the time!
I've since picked up knitting needles again with a new understanding of what my goal will actually take. I've been experimenting and practicing with DPNs and circular needles. I've learned how to knit in the round with bigger and more forgiving materials - several hats in now! Learning some simple decrease techniques while trying to understand how and why chose the best for my intended use.
I think I wanted to put this story here because it is at least tangentially related and because I am super proud of the progress I have made. I want to share it with an audience who actually understands the difficulty and emphasizes with the issues involved.
I'm a crocheter who has learned and subsequently forgotten knitting, oh, about 8 times, lol. It just doesn't stick with me. I get frustrated without having a little hook! And I could sort of knit, but purl!? You want me to do this backwards!?! So, good for you for sticking with it. I have accepted the fact that I crochet and don't knit. Though I haven't tried Tunisian crochet ..... yet.
Thank you for addressing this! I went and purchased the pattern, first to support the designer, but also to look at the pattern. It's very well written. If you have enough skill, such as being able to work all the stitches, it's very accessible! People forget that you need to spend time to develop skills. Crocheting is a skill.
It is perfectly acceptable- for personal use ONLY- to rewrite a pattern. We do it all the time, when we handcopy a recipe, when we change a new cable knit pattern to use the terms we like. I personally find the new method of telling me a cable leans left or right useless. I like the old style of telling me to hold the cable needle front or back more useful. I don't believe it's the designer's responsibility to write a pattern the way I like it, besides, they wrote the pattern out for me! I need to say thank you!
I think social media has influenced insanity. People want everything free, but are offended if you ask them to work for free. They want everything instantly, but refuse to recognize it takes time to create. I'm currently twenty hours into a shawl, but, people don't value the work. Very few people would pay me $200 for this shawl, but that's only $10 an hour, less than state minimum wage... with no mention of the hours spent spinning the wool from the sheep that was sheared that a farmer raised. All of that takes time! Crocheting has to be done by hand, and it takes time. Then, if you're using a pattern, thats more time.
All the skill needed to crochet- raising sheep, spinning yarn, operating equipment to make hooks, designing patterns, and Crocheting all require skill. Skill takes time to master! You wouldn't demand an engineer redesign a bridge to block traffic! No, you would use the foot bridge designed for walking if you don't have the skill to drive, or you can't obtain a driver. Or you would find another destination!
Thank you for this. We need to hear this! People need to respect a culture that has existed before their birth, from before their great grandmother's baby shawl was a design thought in her grandmother's mind.
At some point it stops being about the craft of crochet and it becomes this hive of people who are talking about highly emotionally charged issues. It's not about the pattern. The pattern is just the vehicle to debate things and it's at the point where it's about social issues and people and no one even remembers the crochet part of it.
What gets me is the pattern is FREE. My goodness. The way that people just expect a pattern to instantly be easy just because the internet told them to. That's not how it works.
I'm a pretty novice/beginner crocheter. The traditional way of patterns makes so much sense to me than the small essays that have started propping up.
Loved the video and agree with everything you've said. You've gained a new subscriber.
The emotional reactions are bizarre to me. I recently saw a comment rejecting a particular company due to a collab with a franchise created by a 'bigot'. 🥴 Politicising in that way seems all about the drama. I just like to crochet 😉
Maybe I'm weird, but while I haven't made this blanket (yet), for free patterns, I tend to copy and paste into my phone's notes app. If need be, I'll write out the short hand so I understand each step fully before I work on the project.
It helps me learn the short hand as a beginner/intermediate self-taught crocheter, and if I have trouble understanding a step in the pattern, it allows me to talk to crochet friends/family to clarify any confusion I have. Nevermind any kind of video I can watch if they aren't avaliable.
I know if I were to attempt this pattern, I wouldn't push myself to make it in 6 days. I tend to do a row/round or two a day. I enjoy the process, even if I'm slow. It helps with my anxiety, and that's more important to me than having the item ASAP just cuz it's viral.
I did something similar for a written out Aran sweater. Each stitch pattern was on a different page of a booklet, and the pattern was 'Rice 14, spoon 6' etc. To make it work for my brain and my process, I sat down and I charted out the whole thing in knitting chart software.
But did I share it? No. I used my charts for my own personal use. Because I don't own that pattern
@@samanthagraham5387EXACTLY! I do this all the time, but, as you said, I keep it only for my own personal use. I’ve had friends ask me to share free patterns with them, and the only thing I’ll do is give them a link to the designer’s website. If a designer is willing to give away their hard work, then the very least I can do to show my appreciation is direct more traffic to them so they can at least make a little bit of ad revenue.
In this day and age with thousands of patterns available, it’s wild that people cannot simply find a pattern that is accessible to them instead of stealing from and insulting someone who is putting out a pattern for free! There are many beautiful patterns only available in Nordic languages or only in video form (I need it written) that I would love to make but I have the maturity to say “this one is not available to me” and move on.
I also think people are coming into new crafts and don’t have the respect and understanding that these are indeed CRAFTS that require skill building and learning. It smacks of misogyny to me that people think there’s no depth of skill building involved bc it’s a craft passed down by women. It’s not a pattern designer’s responsibility to teach you basics, only to provide the recipe to make the object. If you want to get better, you need to seek out resources or support from people who have the ability to teach you and put in the time and effort to improve.
Yes, the reality is that everything cannot be accessible to everyone. We have a responsibility to find what works best for us, not expecting a bend over backwards from a creator.
Loved this discussion. I agreed basically with everything you said.
I think something overlooked also is that it's a FREE pattern. I've been disappointed with patterns ive paid for, from popular designers, in the way that the mistakes or sizing available was disappointing for such a big designer and what i paid for it
But for a free pattern? (Especially one with a video tutorial) I would never be up in arms about it. Just move along. Its free. The standards aren't as high.
Its like getting sushi from the convenience store vs a nice restaurant. I dont care if the rice is a little stale or something - i got what i paid for (or didnt!)
Yes agreed, and I actually think none of this would have happened if the pattern wasn’t free!!
I was thinking about this too. I often struggle when there are lots of moving ads, sometimes causing the webpage to refresh. However, often the paid patterns have a pretty low cost for access. I recognize there are people who even $5 is cost prohibitive for. Conversely, much like what was said in the video, this is a slow craft. I’m only completing a handful of paid patterns a year. I may have found the argument more compelling had there been evidence they bought the paid pattern and still struggled, but even then we don’t steal other artists work and distribute it.
There are plenty of places to get free PDF patterns if that’s what we need, and again as noted, we don’t have to make this version. There are plenty of star blankets out there.
Another thing as well - if the ads are so annoying to you, can't you copy the text into a word document or the notes app on your phone? It might take a couple of minutes of formatting, but then bam! No ads! And Betty McKnitt won't get as much ad revenue, but still some, and more than if you go and rewrite and re-distribute her pattern! (Plus, it's a whole lot less effort than completely reformatting her pattern - although that might have been what happened, she popped it in a word doc and then distributed that. Idk.)
@@JaviiaEvelynthis is what I did for a portion of the pattern.
literally one thing that makes me so angry about the crafting community online is those videos that are like 'here's everything i made since i started crocheting a month ago!' and it's never really clicked that this wasn't just jealousy on my part before. crocheting takes time to learn and practice, and if you're making a full sweater a month after you started learning you are going to need a very different pattern than the one i need. you're also moving at a speed that frankly has always felt faked to me - crocheting takes a lot of time! it always frustrates me when people feel the need to dumb down something for newbies reaching above their skill level, and crafting has definitely become a victim of that. as a younger (gen z) crocheter, thank you for this!
Idk I'm moving shockingly fast? I started last month and I'm learning rapidly. I worked something up from cast on to done in a few hours last night..
But a sweater is easier than any amigurumi. You can make a super simple one just out of 4 rectangles? My first project was a sweater and I didn't find that difficult. I did the same stitch over and over again? A sweater is only "hard" because it takes long, most granny squares have more difficult techniques
lol I had to stop consuming a lot of crafting content (and reading) because I would compare myself and that would take a lot of joy out of it. For me to enjoy something It’s about quality of time not quantity. Do I enjoy and feel proud of myself when I complete a puzzle in 6 hours? Yes. But I would have still enjoyed the puzzle if it took me 2 weeks. Same with crochet projects. I can crochet one shawl in 2 days and another time the same shawl could take me months but I enjoyed making both :-) also, I enjoy making shawls but I don’t wear/use them so if I produced at the rate some creators can I would be drowning in useless shawls! With my slower pace I now have time to find a home for it by the time it’s finished!
Also I feel like some of those creators don't tend to show how much of that month they've spent on it, because a teenager who crochets all evening while watching a new series after their homework, or an unemployed college student early in the semester crocheting through classes/while doing their reading is going to progress differently than someone with a full time job, kids, a partner, assignments/exams or any of the other obligations that come with adulthood.
Not to mention the amount of people who were other forms of crafter beforehand. Personally I know I progressed quickly in crochet because I had been knitting for years beforehand and was well accustomed to reading patterns, fiber art jargon, holding yarn etc. I knew how to weave in ends and could comfortably count stitches. I had half the learning to do in comparison to someone who's never touched a ball of yarn in their life, of *course* I progressed fast in comparison, the only skill I needed to learn was how to make the stitches, I already knew (most of) the other parts needed for the craft. It creates ridiculous ideas of what progress in a new craft is going to look like that discourages people, and also leans into devaluing the time and effort required for it
@AlexSoffman-i6n I mean the thousands of knitting and crochet groups around the world would beg to differ - it’s notoriously very much a community. Ever been to a yarn festival?
I think it's also important to remember that most designers aren't salaried employees, and have to walk a fine line between accessibility, feasability and price. The more accessibly written a pattern is, the more financially inaccessible it becomes for someone. Either for the creator who won't be able to compensate for the work hours due to reduced throughput, or for the client for whom the extra price bump due to the extra value may toss the pattern out of their affordable zone. These decisions aren't easy and compromises are necessary.
ETA: I too have ADHD and struggle a lot with verbose patterns, so there's also something to be said about conflicting accessibility measures severely inflating the amount of work required to even cover the most common needs
Absolutely! And I also think age, gender and caring profession roles all play into the idea that charging for a pattern is gatekeeping or greedy. It’s sort of wild to me every time I remember that this was all over a free pattern!! Having just filmed a video tutorial and written a pattern for the first time I have a sense of just how much time it takes even for something simple and small, and it’s impossible to both make it free at point of access and invest a lot in tech editing, multiple formats, website features, professional subtitle editing, translation etc.
@@CinemaKnits Yeah, it really puts things into perspective to watch Corinna from JustVintageCrochet decipher patterns from old retail books. People really paid good money for patterns that went essentially like "yeah we threw a few stitch explantions at the beginnig with no pictures, now make that complex doily described in 12 cramped lines with no gauge or hook size to speak of. Good f***ing luck." That was bad and in dire need of standardization, and it's awesome to see modern patterns take advantage of multiple formats and media to meet people where they are, even on free patterns.
I made a star blanket as my second project ever, and Betty's youtube videos were the easiest crochet tutorials ive ever seen. Going to make another star blanket now because of this, love her
I've even seen comments in her youtube videos saying shes being mean and condescending? which is super confusing to me because she didn't come across that way to me AT ALL
@@kinkin3981 as someone who has spent more time than I EVER want to again in the comments section of tiktok and instagram for the purpose of this video, I can say that I did not find one single mean or condescending comment. Some understandable brevity and directness? Yes, because she has to answer the same questions over and over again and is also being badmouthed all over the place! But mostly just a mixture of answering questions and being encouraging. I found no receipts for any of the accusations and I looked pretty hard!
I made it as well and both the video and pattern were so helpful. I had mistakes here and there but of my own making and nothing to do with the pattern. The ads were a little annoying but I made the choice not to purchase the pdf. The entitlement of people is always astounding. If the pattern seemed in accessible why not go to the designer and ask for clarification. Why not do additional research. If you cannot read a pattern, watch a video. I learned crochet from RUclips videos and creators like Betty McKnit who provide companion patterns to videos are how I learned to understand patterns. And if there is something I don’t understand RUclips and google are a click away for help. This whole issue is bonkers to me.
@@CinemaKnits I made my first star blanket watching her tutorials on youtube and it was super straightforward to me and she always clarifies what she's doing so when I started my second blanket I bought the written pattern to go off and its easy to read for me too. I didn't even realise people were having issues until I saw some youtube comments on her videos saying she's talking down to us and being mean and I just huh??? I'm so confused by this whole issue 😭
Just stumbled across you channel. This is so interesting and insightful. I'm 66 years old and cannot relate at all to instant gratification. I'm standing on the shoulders of fabulous women who shared freely and with love. I come from a generation of makers that had no access to resources for help. We used to sit and nut something out and tuly must say that the satisfaction of nailing it was fantastic. I love the fact that our approaches are so different and that there is something to be gained from everybody's skills. There is also something to be said for slow, meditative accumulation of skills.
Just an old duck having an opinion.
When I started crocheting 3 years ago I lacked patience and bought lots of chunky yarn etc. Wasted my money, but I donated! I learnt to be more patient (one of the reasons I taught myself to crochet) and now love to use DK!
it's difficult enough to make money as a fiber artist these days that i really don't think writing down a pattern and distributing it for free with no (or very little) interaction with the designer is the way to go. i have adhd. i live with other disabilities. i totally understand the frustration of a pattern not making any sense, but sometimes (and i am in no way saying this to harm anyone, but because of the experiences i have) we have to learn what we can and can't do. you've explained it perfectly! and thank you so much for talking about accessibility in a way that feels genuine! there's definitely a lot of room for improvement in the yarn communities, but it's honestly a community that has helped me accept my own disabilities (I'm going to shout out Retro Claude here, because she's definitely been a big help for me!). this community can be so, so, so lovely, and i think a lot of us sometimes forget that
Love Retro Claude!!
I'm just starting the video and reading some comments. But ive been crocheting less than a year and this is the first vlanket I've ever made as well as the first written pattern that I'm following. Since it's the first written pattern I'm trying to follow I did watch some of the video tutorial to make sure I was doing it right at first but then only have used the written pattern. I feel like it's so thorough and her videos were so clear and helpful too. Even if I'd only used the video I think it would've been easy because that what I'd done previously having no clue how to read a pattern (they're like another language)
Anyways, pattern and very clear video completely free, as a new crocheter I'm surprised and thankful for every free pattern or video and don't complain about the time or difficulty I have trying to understand it. Especially when it's such a fun pattern.
Anyways, stealing someones art and work and making excuses is crazy. Even if shes not claiming it as hers she's taking it.
I was working on this pattern a year ago and I learned the hard way I wasn't going to finish it in 6 days when it got stranded at a friend's house before my car got totalled. I didn't get it back for a whole month. I had to deal with that feeling for a while but with the free youtube tutorial and the written pattern, it was pretty easy to understand. I'm a visual learner and she offers these options because she cares about accessibility. I think it's unfair to say she doesn't. It's not realistically completed in six days and that might create pressure for some to try but it's not an easy challenge for anyone. Crocheting is all about finding what makes sense and what doesn't with some support, you can always go back and fix mistakes, I know I made some mistakes in my star blanket but it doesn't look like there's an issue to the naked, untrained eye. Sometimes it's just important to let go of perfectionism with a project like that. I stand by Betty McKnitt in this situation, her patterns are almost as accessible as they possibly can be with her resources. She's doing her best. We shouldn't go over each other's heads if we don't understand how to do something, we can keep looking for solutions until it does make sense. That's what most people would do coming at this craft, regardless of skill or cognitive resources, but you have to respect the source material and the person who shared it out and created several no-cost avenues to view it originally in the first place.
This would be like taking a pattern that isn't totally size inclusive, writing up the sizes that are missing, and sharing that as a separate document/selling it. Yes the intention might be to help others out and offer more sizes, but you would still be taking someone else's work. At that point you might as well create your own pattern. She could have very well made a forum post on Ravelry or a TikTok offering tips for other's who were confused instead. Or just kept the document she made private for her personal use.
I've struggled with reading patterns before and I've made plenty of mistakes from not following them well, but I've never looked at it as the writer's fault. I know that I struggle to read, so I do what I can to work with it. If anything, following a pattern that isn't written in the way you typically follow, or following a pattern that might be a bit more challenging to understand is good for you because it challenges you to work your mind around it a little more. If you can do it, then you can take on more patterns. And if you can't do it, then oh well.
Also, her saying she's "never been spoken to that way before" makes me wonder if anyone has ever stood up to her a day in her life lol.
Yes! It feels very much like a “be the change you want to see in the world” moment - advocate for size inclusivity & accessible patterns by a) raising awareness and b) writing your own patterns, not by….whatever this was.
I think your take on the controversy was well thought out. I agree that Betty had every right to ask that the interpretation of her pattern be taken down. And it appears that she has taken responsibility for addressing perceived shortcomings. I am impressed by both of you, and I intend to look for more from you both. Thanks!
so glad you touched on the ageism because the comments that I saw insulting her on that basis because they couldn’t figure out the pattern… 😬 it was disheartening and gross. I’m a cusp baby, between mil & z, and also used to being a very quiet observer in almost all spaces, and what I’ve noticed is that anybody who does not match whatever tone the loudest group of young people currently use is seen as being rude somehow. I wonder if she was just being direct and then perceived as rude for not communicating the way people on tt are used to seeing folks communicate within the app. because to me, she just speaks and types like any other gen x person I’ve interacted with, which is to say I’ve not seen her acting anything but kindly. if you don’t interact outside of your own age groups/gens and the ones closest to it, you might not be able to tell that kind of thing, and if you’re used to being “on” all the time, ready to start an argument the way tt and other social media thrives on for engagement, you’re bound to think everyone is out to get you or fight you when they’re not. the way betty has been treated and spoken about speaks volumes, and it’s something I think needs to be dismantled within oneself in order to grow meaningful connections before one comes to regret it when that kind of behavior becomes commonplace and comes back to bite them when they’re a little older, even by a few years
agree with everything you’ve said, and you said it all so well. thank you so much for putting this into words
I did quite a bit of Betty-sleuthing for this video by just combing through comment sections of her social media and posts she was tagged in and no joke I counted probably 500 questions she had answered about the star blanket. She answers the same questions hundreds of times, and for good reason has to be pretty brief! “Check pattern - link in bio” “size down your hook”, “make sure you chain two” etc. it’s just efficiency plus the sheer volume of responses she must get. And yes, I am an elder millennial and find that there’s a more direct way of communicating amongst gen X friends and colleagues. Also, ironically, neurodivergent people, in my experience, often prefer direct and clear communication, and also struggle to parse tone in written language, none of which was a consideration when abruptness or directness was being used as part of the “the evidence” of ableism…
@@CinemaKnits Yes, thousand times yes! I was very confused with the "rudeness" when all I saw was just plain, simple, efficient and effective communication. I'm very much gen Z and I speak with other gen z-ers daily but I'm neurodivergent and I couldn't for life of mine see what the problem is.
But I guess there's crowd mentality and confirmation bias at place too. You already know that she is the most evil person on the internet right now so no matter what she'll do you'll find something wrong with it, be it wording or length of respons or time it took her to respond or if she didn't respond at all
I agree with what you said about the way she speaks through text! To a chronically online millenial/gen z (and I fall into that category), I feel like we have an expectation of a certain type of text-based communication, and anyone who types in a very direct/clipped/straightforward way can be misconstrued as rude or curt or impatient. It's hard to explain, I feel like it's something you just notice when you're used to it. But that way is just how a lot of gen x talk online.
So true!!!!! Your point about the aggressive mindset social media algorithms are cultivating is honestly worth someone writing a book about!
I am working on this pattern right now as a newer crocheter who has mostly worked on smaller projects. When I chose this pattern I had no idea it was viral on TikTok or there was any drama. To deal with the ads I copy/pasted the pattern into Word and deleted all of the ads/pics and printed it out. I will say I have had some trouble with a few parts of the pattern (parts with * or mention repeats). To deal with this I’ve been watching her RUclips tutorial which has been IMMENSELY helpful. There are definitely pieces of clarity that I wish were included in the written instructions that are in the video, but who am I to complain about a free pattern? I just feel grateful that she was willing to make the video tutorials.
Thank you for this interesting video! I have been a knitter for 30 years, but haven't crocheted that much. Somehow this autumn I found the 6 Day Blanket pattern - and am now working on the 5th one :D! I had no idea there is drama surrounding it, as to me it was just a normal crochet pattern. I found it quite easy actually, thanks to the video tutorial. And after all it repeats the same rows, so once I learned those, I haven't really needed the pattern anymore.
The first one took me 60 hours to make, now I can make one in a 3-4 evenings, because I got better at it. I fully agree with your point that virality is not always good. People are looking for quick and easy trendy things, and many of us have lost the ability to focus for a long time on something new and hard and becoming better at it slowly. I have absolutely abandoned projects before, because I could not follow the pattern - but that was on me, not the designer (as the pattern did not actually have any mistakes in it).
Having said that, I do understand that accessibility problems are very real (I have my own physical struggles) and we all can and should strive to be better. And it seems like Betty has already responded to the feedback. But it should be obvious to everyone that you cannot take someone else's pattern and re-create it publicly! A pattern being "free" doesn't mean that the designer doesn't own it or doesn't make money from it, so someone else distributing it is stealing.
Exactly! It seems from my research for this video (reading endless TikTok comments & Reddit threads) that a lot of people didn’t really understand how advertising or intellectual property or copywriting works, or why this was an issue, which worries me!
"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's bad" is so true about so many things, and I've personally noticed in many different areas this idea of "if I don't like something then it must be immoral in some way" which just makes for these really vicious arguments because then if someone else does like that thing, they must be immoral. Like just say it's not your cup of tea and move on!
Yes!! It’s as though we all (me included) forget that we can simply dislike something or someone and then move on - we don’t have to invent reasons for the dislike!
I am relatively new to the craft of crochet and Betty McKnit’s 6 Day Star Blanket was my second pattern that I used, the virus shawl being my first. It took me a month and a half to complete in DK weight at a finished size for a queen size bed. It was challenging, and I did have to use the video tutorial several run throughs in tandem with the written pattern before I could just use the pattern. But I did come at it from the point of view of “I’m going to figure this out and master it.” I made mistakes and had to frog sections. I learned so much from the process though: how important stitch counts are, how to effectively use stitch markers to assist me, and how it is never worth it to attempt to keep going after an error and try to “fix or adapt” after that error. I can’t imagine how much ad revenue Betty got from me, but I’m glad she did! 😂 Now that I have put in the time and achieved results that I am proud of, I can officially say I can read and follow a crochet pattern, and that was my goal. It took perseverance and patience and grit. Now I am making her 6 Day Snowflake Blanket using just the pattern. I’ve had to frog a section twice, but now I have it down, and my goal this time was to not use a video. Not all patterns will have them. I agree with your video wholeheartedly, and am saddened that Betty had to experience this type of situation. Sounds like she handled it beautifully. Cheers!
I am so glad! Counting (and general maths/numeracy issues) has been my biggest learning curve in knitting & crochet, and stitch markers are my must-have notion! I rely on them so much, especially to make sure I’m not missing the first or last stitch in a row of crochet, and to keep track of increase and decrease rates! So useful
Betty's star blanket was the first written pattern I ever actually followed, and her videos helped with that immensely. It's the first large project I ever did and found between the two resources that it was very easy for me to do, now it took longer than the six days because I was new and still learning, but it was easy enough that I was able to tackle it without issue, even trying out a new stitch that she used to finish off the blanket for the very first time. I'll probably make several more following her patterns again over the next year.
I have enjoyed all of your videos, especially this one. I wish I could “like” the part about ageism, misogyny, and protecting her profession (and income) a thousand times. You nailed it, and this is such an important point that gets overlooked (or shouted down) in the name of so-called inclusivity. I say that as someone with ADHD who struggles to read things that are printed in multiple columns.
Preach! I am almost 60 and am neurodivergent. Most of my life I did not have the extra assistance needed and so a lot of trial and error. I tried to learn crochet from my Mom for six years but because my brain did not work like my Mom's, I could not pick it up. I knitted and did a lot of cross-stitch so I figured it was just something I was not going to pick up. I finally sat with myself and picked apart the stitches and now I pull apart patterns and rewrite where I need. I still struggle with some patterns that spoon-feed me and half the time I crochet it is ripping it out and doing it again. However, once I get it, it is stuck in my head forever.
As a cusp baby, neither millenial or gen z, but I've always been patient and curious. So, I will try my best before I even reach out for help, I'll re-read, rewatch, look up on Google, look for videos, etc. The majority of the time I figure it out before needing to ask for help. I translated a couple of patterns in other languages, I wasn't expecting anything from the designer because I wanted to make it. Also, I would have to agree with preferring short hand patterns. I hate working on patterns made for beginners, I understand it's needed, but the over explaining makes my head hurt lol
also a cusp baby and I'm the exact same, I don't understand peoples aversion to being challenged by something. In this day and age especially you can find everything online. I've even tought myself how to do all of my own car repairs just by looking things up and watching videos of others doing it.
I mean not to sound ancient but I remember wanting to find out what film an actor had been in when I was about twelve (had a crush on her, obv) and having to go to my local library, use the dewey decimal system to find an encyclopedia of movie stars, use an index to look up the actor, and then write the names of the films she had starred in down in my notebook, then go to a video rental shop and ask if they had any of the films so i could watch them. Not being able to google things you're not sure about baffles me but I think it's a genuine crisis of literacy and communication that I fear is only going to worsen.
I have the hardest time not complaining about the ungrateful kids etc, because when we were younger all you had were the pattern books full of typos and misprints that made it impossible to actually learn how to do anything. Or god forbid you not know the difference in notation based on where/when a pattern was originally drafted. But with this the pattern writer is RIGHT THERE. You have a video! On Demand! I'm not even going to touch on the accessibility angle because SHE'S RIGHT THERE to ask for more accessibility before you steal her adrev!
I really can't imagine how this generation of TikTok crafters would cope with an early 2000s era Vogue Knitting pattern!
I’ve been so locked into this. Adults taught me to crochet so I had mentors, but I taught myself to knit when I was 9-10 and I was still too young for unsupervised internet use and blogging. I had no choice but to figure out how to solve my own problems, seek out errata, decide whether or not I wasn’t understanding something or if nothing had been published about it yet. I know it’s tacky for everyone to name their age and generation in the comments, but I’m 31 so some of these helpless people are my peers. It feels like these people are bullying an old lady for not formatting her six year old pattern for TikTok.
I learned at my Great Aunt Helen’s knee. I didn’t even know patterns existed until I was in my late 20s with the magazine Crochet Fantasy (still have my copies). There I was introduced to abbreviations, new stitches, and stitch diagrams. Everything was as abbreviated as possible because it was printed, but there was a stitch tutorial in the back of every edition and a color photo of each project.
When I have come across patterns from the 1800s from ladies’ magazines I want to scream because their names and abbreviations are different and they completely lean into “per the usual style”. I am with you on recognizing the difference between an inaccessible set of instructions and someone who doesn’t want to do the work of learning the language of the discipline.
(A teacher once pointed out that the more specific a field, the more specialized the vocabulary. The context was scientific work, but it’s true for any subject.)
I taught myself how to knit when I was like 8 or 9 with a book (I’m currently 20 so I’m like pretty young) and I taught myself how to crochet at 14 or 15 with RUclips and genuinely most of it is just needing to sit for hours to figure out what you’re doing and to get comfortable with the hand movements. Obviously accessibility is good, but sometimes not being able to follow a pattern is simply about not being familiar enough with the craft to perform the necessary actions
I have ADHD and I am absolutely a tactile learner. I was pressured (in the best ways) to pick up crochet in 2017. I found that I needed a video explanation first before I could associate it with the diagrams. I came across Betty McKnits pattern earlier this year and went to her website. I don't enjoy following patterns on websites so I immediately purchased her pattern. I've watched her videos as well. I think she's done an incredible job at making her patterns accessible in mulitple formats for people. The fact that she has already updated her website with accessibility options is a clear indicator that she's listening.
I started in the quilting world and there are pattern designers I REFUSE to buy from because their patterns are hard to read, it's the same with bag patterns. If I don't vibe with your style of pattern writing, it's not an accessibility issue, it's a vibe check and if we don't vibe then I'm not your customer. I don't doubt that Betty said something along the lines of "If you don't remove this document, I am within my rights to take legal action." Which is the step before a cease and desist letter. That's not a threat, that's a promise. You don't create a new document or rewrite someone's instructions and then distribute it to others. Sure, create that doc and use it for yourself, but you're taking away from her livelihood by distributing it. Also, if you can re-write a pattern, I don't believe it's an accessability issue, it means you don't want to pay for her pattern so you'd rather just spend the time writing it yourself. I could be way wrong but when you have 2 free options and a paid option, if you haven't paid for it, you just want something for free. For all the effort Betty has put into her patterns, $6 isn't a lot of money to pay herself back for her time. It's okay for a pattern to be out of your comfort zone and out of your skill level. Heck, I picked up knitting 1 year ago and I went through 5 or more videos before I found one that I understood for casting on and I still haven't finished one of the two projects I started, I'm close but not done yet. You go until you find what works for you. This instant gratification stuff grinds my gears. Same as the people who shop with champagne taste on a beer budget, but that's not what we're here to talk about. I'm so glad I found your video or really your video found me first, then I had to find it again because I got distracted... thanks ADHD. I hope you don't get canceled and I look forward to watching more of your videos.
You gave some very good arguments! The feeling of instant gratification is something that has been seeping in our lives for years and I have been taking steps to slow it down. Crafting has been one of the things that made me take things slow. I have been paying more attention to handcrafted items and have taken up knitting again after years. Crafting to me is a symboles of slow progress to me. It takes me x amount of weeks/months to make a sweater, instead of just buying it. The longer it takes me to make something, the prouder I am, because I had so much dedication to one item. A change of mindset is definitely necessarry in society in general.
Ageism is also something I don't understand, especially in the crafting community. They probably had less resources than I have now and spent year doing the craft and are now taking the time to teach the following generations. I have an inherent respect for that. I hope no one in this situation is getting deeply effected by it.
Watched the entire video. THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Like omg, people on TT are the worst sometimes with jumping on a hate wagon without knowing anything or bothering to do 20 minutes of research.
This is the exactly correct take. Thank you!!
I don't spend much time on tiktok so this sounds so wild. In all my years of crochet I think I've only stumbled on one pattern that I simply couldn't decipher because it was poorly written, and even that may have been more of a translation problem and it wouldn't even cross my mind to make a stink about it. Even if a pattern doesn't have explanation for every single stitch it's so easy to find a video tutorial for those on youtube in 2 minutes.
But also thanks to this video I now need to make that star blanket for our guest bed one of these days 😂
I directly search for the pattern and she literally explains everything like if the blanket curling what should you do, add the photos for each row and even a RUclips tutorial.. And pattern is just a regular one, actually it’s even more explanatory than the most of the patterns I saw before. Calling this pattern incomprehensible is complete disrespect.
And if you don’t want to see adds you can simply buy the pdf. This could also help the designer to show less adds in her blog. I’m sure she hate them like me but that’s the only way we can keep going.
@ I really don’t understand what could she do more? There is a pdf and if you are struggling you can purchase it. it’s just 3 or 4 dollars and if you haven’t got the money you can ask to the creator directly. I’m sure she would send it free, I’m sending free PDFs almost everyday. There is also video tutorials. If you can not explain something with a pattern and video tutorial there is only one thing to make. One by one study. Creator made a free pattern for everyone’s use. Isn’t that a thing we should praise?
I don’t know, I’m old school. If somebody try to teach me something for free I respect them. and I wouldn't treat them like they was the sole source of my learning process and responsible for everything. Even if we have disabilities , if we want to learn something, we must make an effort for it. Nothing in life falls into our lap automatically.
I myself have a learning disability and English is not my first language. In order to make my videos in English, I have been watching dozens of English videos every day for years. I still can't speak English well, but I know everyone appreciates my effort. That's what's important. I wish they could install a program that would allow us to easily do everything we want to do. But for now, we can only progress as much as our efforts…
Man, I went to design school and worked as a designer for years. A thing that was actively encouraged (and usually downright expected with no exceptions) was to find a way make something work for your workflow. It was a super stressful job, but it did teach me how my brain processes information and the best way to lay it out for myself.
I do mostly sweaters and wearables, so I have notebooks with drawn out blueprints that break things down into sections. For my brain, which panics at too much information, this makes all the parts less overwhelming and I know exactly what stitches I'm using where. Does it take more time to do that? Yes, but it helps me have a smoother project with less frogging and more precise measurements.
It takes trial and error, especially at something new, to know the best way you work with it. My experience teaching others to crochet/just making art in general is that a lot of people don't have the patience to learn the base fundamentals of a craft and get discouraged when they get stuck.
This wasn’t your main point, but for a short time I taught a musical instrument and I think that people who don’t have the patience to learn fundamentals are often afraid of failure. Or they’ve just never learnt how to learn.
At the time the best I knew was just to be patient. Afterwards I learnt that when I’m in that mindset it helps to have fun doing something “badly” on purpose. For example, instead of learning basic colour theory I’d try finger painting like a 2 year old again. I have to practice making mistakes and I have to practice learning through play. So idk if the same is true for others? And it might be difficult for anyone who’s deeply entrenched in the fear of failure. But I wanted to share in case you find this useful for yourself or when teaching!
@EmL-kg5gn Oh, it's useful! I very much agree with the fear of failure. One thing I've always tried to encourage people is that it's okay to have a sketchbook of "ugly drawings". Experimental things, stuff that you just want to make that day. It's something to look back on when there's inevitable improvement, and you can't improve if you don't make mistakes. Plus, we make because we enjoy it, right? So we should have fun with it.
I struggled with having things be perfect a lot when I was younger, and I definitely felt that discouragement. I was lucky that some of my professors encouraged just trying things with no high stakes grades.
You're 100% on being patient. I suppose some of my frustration comes from the immediate "quick cheat" internet content in crafting spaces. Like "make this large crochet blanket in a night" and then I have friends who come to me frustrated and discouraged they can't do it in a night when they're beginners and are still learning the basics. It sometimes kind of un-does the assurance of "you will get there, just give it time."
@ So true!! That’s such a great idea, I haven’t done art in a while but I might try it! Yes, creativity should be fun and the joy is in the process not just the result :)
I was really lucky with a few of my teachers too. One was incredibly patient when I hit a roadblock in their subject, I made absolutely no progress the entire year they taught me. Thanks to them I didn’t give up and they somehow persuaded the other staff not to hold me back. A year or two later something finally clicked and I caught up in no time! I can’t imagine how much more difficult my life would be if I’d had any other teacher that year
You’re right, there are some people who seem to encourage an impatient mindset just for views. It’s frustrating to see, especially in an undervalued craft!
Hello all!
1. As much as I want to talk to all of you, if your comment is prefaced with “I haven’t watched the video but” / “I am only one minute into the video but” I implore you to actually watch it before deciding what I am saying or deciding you disagree ❤ there are chapters in the description to make navigating the video easier!
2. Accessibility & inclusivity are important topics that we need to continue to address. Please don’t mistake my video for a dismissal of legitimate access barriers faced within the craft. Ableist comments, comments about woke snowflakes or comments that insult the disabled community will be deleted - this is not a safe space for you to sound off about young people or people with intellectual disabilities :)
3. Critique & disagreement is welcome; rudeness, insults, leaving multiple comments and spamming with multiple accounts are not. If I deleted your comment it’s not because you disagree with me, it’s because you were doing one of the above. You’re not being silenced, you just don’t have a platform on my channel if you’re being rude to or about me or about anyone else.
This discussion earned you a subscription, altho I am not even sure what your channel is about.
@ 😅 welcome! It’s mostly me making sweaters and yapping
Hallelujah!
@@castironskilletgranny same here.
No hate, but you haven't made the blanket so what gives you the right to weigh in on this issue, when you are asking people not to pass judgement if they haven't watched all your video before making a comment?
Yes Yes and Yes! This is a slow craft and we need to learn our steps before the we become good at it and even then we are still learning. I am so happy that Betty Mcknit stood her ground because she is in the right and I love what you said she is not your MUM! I just beagan knitting and crochet and I'm in my sixties, when I first started I was like I need to hurry learning this cause I came into this late but I have backed up cause I know better it takes time and whatever I learn in these crafts for whatever time will be is ok. Let's not rush let's enjoy the beautiful works we make however it turns out.
Thanks so much for the common sense.
I've heard a lot of opinions on the blanket, without anyone mentioning what exactly the issue was, so I'm glad you made this video to explain it. I'm not into star blankets, but I feel like I should check out this creator and maybe purchase another of her patterns just to support her.
I bought a nightmare pattern once, horribly written, gave me literal headaches for how redundant and obtuse it was at the same time. I reworked it, rewrote it for myself, and made a lovely garment. And then I posted that finished work and THANKED the creator for the pattern because I decided to choose an advanced intermediate pattern as a beginner and that was MY FAULT.
She has a square and rectangular version of the pattern if you search.
I absolutely stand with Betty. So weird, I just bought the pattern last month to make it, and when I saw this title I was like “What??” It’s BANANAS to me that people think slow crafting will be lightning fast…it’s in the name. Slow. I’m going on three years into crochet, and I prefer the abbreviations too now. ADHD and autism brain checking in lol. Your video was a very level response.
I have ADHD and I've been looking at that blanket for litteral weeks, opening the tab, reading the pattern, making a list of things i have to master before starting, working on other projects to get better at some of the stitches i'll need.
I saw it, I understood what it took for me - disabled - to do it and assessed that it would take practice and patience.
The wonderful thing about our hobby is that it is something that takes time and dedication. We are not amazed by someone's work just because of what it is, but because of what it means. When you see a beautiful work of crochet, you see the time someone put over hours, weeks, months to get the skill.
Trends will pass, and we'll be left with a meditative creative outlet and a community that loves to uphold success and tiktokers will have passed on to the next viral niche to fill. And maybe we'll have some people that stick around and become part of our cozy community!
As a visually impaired person who uses a screen reader sometimes, it can be a bit hard to read patterns with it, as sometimes screen readers will skip over information or not even read PDF forms at all. HOWEVER just because a pattern doesn’t allow me to use a screen reader, I DO NOT BELIEVE that the designer is ableist against blind people.
As a newer crocheted who has seen this blanket everywhere, thank you for bringing me back to reality that it takes time to learn a craft!!!! It seems obvious but the “keeping up with the Jones’” mindset is more prevalent now with socials than ever. Great analysis and appreciate your insight and research into the drama.
I have been crocheting for about 40 years now, my mother taught me when I was eight. I have seen many styles for how patterns are written. I have a mild case of dyslexia and can get completely lost when there are a lot of words. Over the years, I have switched to buying patterns that come with diagrams, because I find them easier to read. I have made diagrams when trying to figure out the pattern, but it has never occurred to me to post them online.
@@hgib698 that makes sense! I will straight up turn a paragraph of a pattern into about ten letters and numbers in the notes app on my phone….
As someone who has several different mental disabilities, it is frustrating to try a pattern and struggle with the instructions. Sometimes it takees multiple failed attempts and frogging before I can get it, but my brain never immediately jumps to "there must be something wrong with the pattern". The amazing thing about crocheting today in the age of the internet is that there are so many options of video tutorials and written patterns. There are multiple different ways to achieve the same or similar end results and it takes some patience and trial and error to make something. There were several patterns I attempted as an absolute beginner and just could not finish, but now over a year in I reattempt and it's a breeze. Trying a pattern and struggling with it is part of getting better at it and is an important part of the process.
thank you! I've just been passively watching the drama and the internet has really villianized her and I agree with you! Justice for Betty McKnits!
Needle crafts are (personally I think should be) the absolute opposite of fast fashion. It is our way out of overconsumption if anything. It teaches us to pay fair money to makers and designers (who in turn are also people with disabilities and needs), it teaches us to slow down, learn by doing and come together in community and learn from each other.
❤
I completely agree. I love brief patterns, ideally charted rather than written out, but I have graph paper and can transcribe before I knit iyswim. I'm not a fan of patterns having more "technique explained" pages than pattern, although sticking them in a book/ebook with a bunch of patterns or a link within a single pattern is great. Indie designers on social media do seem to get so bogged down in making all their patterns achievable by a complete novice, that it can be hard to work out which pattern is truly for disengaged TV knitting and which will need quiet, good lighting and time.
the complaint about counting is so bizarre bc if you watch the video betty doesnt even count her stitches, the single crochet rows for example are meant to be a mindless round, she also tells you to add stitch markers and where to add the stitch marker, i really appreciated the fact that when i was making i didnt need to bother to count i just need to go all the way round and remember what to do at the star points etc
As an older crocheter (almost 40) who collects typed out patterns, video patterns, diagram patterns and non-english patterns... you learn to ADAPT. You change things to what you need.
Pattern creators can only do so much, but people also need to realise that if YOU have an accessibility issue, then it's up to YOU to learn to work with that limited accessibility.
I'm not about to call out a pattern maker for only giving a pattern for a S-L size piece when I *personally* need 2XL-3XL.
Thank you for this. Having been spending my time crocheting 6, 6-day star blankets for Christmas gifts, I hadn't heard of the controversy.
I first came across this pattern in my you tube feed, and watched the entire video before starting the blanket. In the video, Betty explains every. single. stitch. Literally. She shows herself crocheting every stitch of the entire first repeat of the pattern. She also tells you to be aware of what you're doing, admire the work, make sure your counts are correct.
Love the spice, btw.
"Not your mother" also tells you she shouldn't have to hold your hand through the project.
As a 65-year-old, left-handed, self-taught crocheter - who started crocheting in the 80s - I wholeheartedly agree with your video. Also, I'm currently finishing my second 6-Day Star blanket from a pattern I purchased from Betty McKnit. While I found the "setup" rounds versus the main pattern rounds vaguely confusing at first, the pattern just works...even for lefties.
64-year old here!
As a lefty who is thinking about making this blanket and currently doesn’t have the extra brain capacity to change the pattern if it wasn’t lefty friendly thanks. Maybe I’ll get it done while it’s still cold out instead of the summer when I don’t have as much going on.
@@rebekahc2707 You could probably even get it done before Christmas, depending on how big you make it. The one I finished last night was more of a lapghan size in a 3-weight yarn. I did spend 12 days on it, but I really just crochet at night when I'm winding down.
@@rebekahc2707 Since it's a symmetrical blanket, made in the round, I'm pretty sure it would look the same no matter which hand you crochet with. There's no left side or right side. Just go in circles.
I learned how to crochet in the spring and made Betty’s star blanket in the summer. I had found it on Pinterest and had no idea it was so big on TikTok even though I have one. I learned quickly since I was hyper fixated on crochet and already knew how to knit. I had a few hangups while making it but all were solved by my keeping notes and watching her video. I thought it was common practice to take notes on new patterns, to not only keep track of progress but to make notes for yourself to understand it better? I don’t see many of the new crafters doing it. I much prefer the shorthand way her pattern it written and the videos are SO SO HELPFUL I don’t understand how anyone wouldn’t be able to follow them.
I have DIAGNOSED neurodivergence and ADHD, so I understand having a hard time reading instructions but I don’t think that’s the actual issue here. It has become trendy online to claim to be autistic, neurodivergent, and ADHD without getting diagnosed. I think a lot of this is from people not taking the time to learn or investing effort; many could probably understand if they tried. A lot of the time it is expected to be handed out in a way which is so longwinded and painful there is no need to adapt to it. On top of the fiber craft culture to include taking notes, we have our own word for undoing stitches/projects because it happens so often while we are learning and trying new patterns; and that’s okay, it’s how we get better. I think people are scared of wasting their time, making mistakes, and feeling like they are not good enough.
There are craft communities for disability support and I agree with you saying it is impossible to create a perfectly accessible pattern. You can’t please everyone. I wonder if a major contributor was people not taking the time to read through the pattern and see all the available support Betty herself supplies. I love how much genuine care goes into her materials, she is an excellent teacher and I admire her for sharing it with us and she has handled this so gracefully. It is so important that she stands up for herself and the community because yes, if she didn’t it would set a horrible precedent. As an independent creator she deserves respect and the reaction and theft is uncalled for. She is not a corporate pattern distributor, don’t treat her like one. I completely agree with your comments on misogyny and agism; it is hard enough dealing with one but this is definitely an issue of both. Also, as a very direct person myself, I doubt she was rude or “short”; people who are direct in their communication already get accused of rudeness and I think her being a woman again makes this more of an issue. She is a confident and knowledgable person with good teaching skills, that is why she is direct and it is good.
I welcome anyone who wants to learn and am happy to see the community grow. I mentored my 17yo (autistic) sibling in crochet over the fall and I can tell you teaching is hard and their main issue was going too fast and not paying attention. However, after making them slow down and take notes they were able to follow a pattern even harder than this blanket (impkin). I beg anyone who is having trouble to seek help and find communities instead of lashing out. And please PLEASE remember to slow down and learn the craft. It is meant to be fun and relaxing, please don’t feel pressured to be perfect as a beginner, or ever.
This was such a surprise to me. I just added the 6Day Star Blanket pattern to my ravelry library yesterday. I’m not on TikTok so I didn’t even know it went viral. But I saw a few posts on tumblr making the star blanket (a lot of different patterns), and this particular one seemed sooooooo pretty. And it also seemed such a good way to use up some stash yarn. Eventho it’s titled 6-day, I knew I will never finish the entire thing in a week (cuz I am juggling a few other projects too).
So strange to have a blanket pattern become discourse. And fully agree with you on the whole “just pick another blanket pattern to make, if this one doesn’t suit you.” you are not paying for it, and nobody’s putting a gun to your head to make it.
But I am semi excited to start the project once I’ve picked out the yarns I wanna use from my stash.
Thanks for your analysis. I had not made the link between this and overconsumption, and you have opened my eyes.
I have wanted to make the blanket myself, but have too many projects going. I think you were spot on and presented the issues very well. She is a designer doing her best to provide a quality product and has every right to protect it. Time for some people to grow up.
As a person who really struggles following written patterns, I loved the RUclips tutorial. I made the star blanket a couple weeks ago, and I thought the video was really easy to follow.
I do not have TikTok and I’m not part of any Betty McKnit groups on FB so I had no idea this drama existed. However I did start making this blanket the other day (knowing full well I work too much to make it in six days) and am looking forward to the finished project!
I love this video!! because it’s 100% true !
Betty doesn’t own anybody anything! She just made a pattern, and is 100% your responsibility to know your skill level and be honest with yourself
i once found a pattern in spanish, i dont speak spanish... so i asked a friend of mine who crochets and speaks spanish to teach me the abriviations, and she even translated for me the assemble stages. it was very sweet she did that for me :)
Everything you had to say is spot on correct. I really enjoyed your observations and the manner of clarity you used. I'm a long time crocheter..49 years actually.. learned as a young teen.. and i also can struggle because i read short hand patterns easily because that's how i learned and learning a diagram style took a long time to understand and i still prefer short hand. What i have realized is that not every pattern is made for everyone's abilities and if i can't make somethings i say oh well and move on to the next. No one owes any one in the crafting world one on one help, nor should it be expected. I look forward to seeing the rest of your content . Have a great day!😊
I’ve been working on two star blankets, both the same pattern from Betty McKnit and using her tutorial for more guidance. Later, I tried to read the pattern but I’m always unsure whether I’m doing it wrong or right, so I prefer her video tutorial. This being said, I have never considered her a mean person in the videos, and I’ve watched the video multiple times to get the rounds done
Thank you for saying that, I appreciate it.
Leftie here who self-taught crochet and knitting with right hand.. I am forever thankful for video tutorials.. I gathered books on knitting and crochet for years and written text just did not make sense to me and had nobody to teach me. So thankful for RUclips! Hated stitch charts and now prefer them to text or video. It is a process.. Also as a designer now, if you start in the publishing with magazines they have their own style guides, each magazine a different one and designers often adopt these to write indie patterns for uniformity/ out of habit.. It makes a lot more sense from work and efficiency perspective to have a template and standard abbreviations, each pattern would otherwise be a novel of some sort..
Also it feels like a bit of learned helplessness? People are so used to people handing your own @ss to you, that you completely loose the ability to figure things out for yourself?
100%. I think a great example of this is the way any crochet post on instagram will have a ton of "pattern?" comments even if the name of the pattern/designer is in the caption or there's a link in the bio to the designers shop where you could easily check. These people would rather bug a stranger, making them personally respond to every single one of these messages rather than spend a few seconds of their own time clicking and reading to check for themselves
@@emmao6578 this specific behaviour is my Roman Empire I swear to god
I thought that was what youtube was for? To figure it out yourself. Imagine me learning how to crochet in the late 1970’s from a booklet.
@@emmao6578 yeah, exactly. I mean it's not that we haven't all occasionally pulled a stunt like this in total brainfog, but the sheer amount of such comments is really disturbing.
@@lisawinterberryhearth8096 tbh I am glad I grew up not using the internet as much when I was 13-15. I learned knitting from my mom and maybe the odd knitting magazine she had lying around, but mostly I figured things out for myself.
I love youtube and i Love tutorials, but I am so glad that I had the time and space to learn how to sew + knit intuitively
So glad I saw this video!! I am currently working on this blanket using the website only for the pattern. I’ve been crocheting for 20 ish years, and this is probably the first year that I’m able to tackle a project like this. And it’s definitely taking me more than 6 days 🤭 if I just focused on the blanket MAYBE 6 days. But crocheting for me is counting two or three times, crocheting once!
lol as a fellow crocheter with ADHD my first crochet project that I started and finished was a Graphghan with the FMA symbol on it where I designed the pattern myself using free online crosstitch software. It was all single crochet so I thought it would be easy enough! It took my about 3-4 years to finish and you can see my tension improve through the blanket (or at least I can, my friend who it was gifted to says they can’t even tell but I’m pretty sure they’re being nice). There is something wonderful for my ADHD brain to enjoy a slow craft that I can put down or pick up any time I want. I always have several wips at a time so when I get bored with one project I just pick up a new one or resume an old one. Now I am trying to use up my stash before buying more yarn and it’s a fun challenge.
I have ADHD and sometimes struggle with the way patterns are written. I've also made the 6-Day Shawl. While I felt like Betty McKnit's written pattern was particularly challenging for me personally, the crochet-along video playlist helped bypass the confusion. Once I already knew what was supposed to be done then looking back at the written pattern, what Betty McKnit described makes sense -- it just wasn't connecting for me for some reason. That said, I was able to work out everything using the free resources provided. Yes, it took me a little longer but many things take me a little longer anyway; that's what it means to live with a learning disability.
Even so, I've managed to learn to crochet entirely through free online resources. I've only been at it for 4-5 months. I am so thankful for the abundance of free patterns and tutorials out there. If I have to scroll through some ads to find the pattern, so be it. It's the least I can do for mooching off others' work and creativity. And if I still can't understand the pattern despite having tried to decode it? Find a different one. There's SO much to choose from.
If you think a website is inaccessible because of ads... just use an addblocker?
god people are so entitled to start a shitstorm about this (I am AuDHD myself so)
The entitlement and disrespect is on the rise
I mean, ad blockers cost money and can be intimidating to people who've never been deeper into a computer than their desktop. Personally I just. write the pattern down. It helps me understand it better, there's no ads, I can use it without Wi-Fi and I can add personal notes as I go if I have issues. You can also copy and paste it into a format that works for you. Takes a little time but so does crochet.
@@V123_4 they don't. ublock origin as a browser plugin is completely fre and it's two clicks to install it.
@@V123_4Ad blockers are free on many browsers. Try looking up firefox, that's also available on phones, if you don't have a desktop/laptop.
@@V123_4 ? I've got an ad blocker. It's never cost me a cent, and it took two clicks to install in my browser. If someone can understand how to use a web browser to find crochet patterns, they can install a free ad blocker.