Gather round
Published On: October 10, 2018

I really sort of want to just hide them all around the neighborhood and see if anyone notices…

And before you ask, yes, there will be a pattern (and quite soon too, but I want to knit a few more first). But I want to talk about something for a minute.  This is a little scary, but here goes.

I strongly considered not putting this pattern out, because the last few times I’ve put out a pattern for something cute and tiny, I’ve gotten a few really distressing messages.  There are a handful of folks who took time out of their day to write to me and say some version of ‘it’s ridiculous to have a pattern for something so simple’ or ‘it’s ridiculous to have a pattern for something so simple and charge for it’ or ‘someone else made something kind of similar and they didn’t charge for it.’

And those are always a bummer to read!  But I get so much more good feedback from folks who love making stuff like this that I didn’t want to let the angry stuff win out.  So, I’m going to take a minute to break those down, one by one.

Let’s start with ‘that’s so simple, it’s ridiculous to have a pattern.’  I feel that way myself sometimes.  But when I posted a picture of these over on instagram, I had person after person after person asking me to write a pattern.  Seriously, go read the comments on this instagram post (be sure you click through to see all of them, there are more than 200).  People are saying, clearly and directly, that they’d like a pattern.  So it seems like maybe what seems simple to some folks isn’t as clear to other folks.  So, just because you wouldn’t need a pattern to make something, doesn’t mean everyone feels that way.  And if you feel that way, that’s fine!  But all it means is that the pattern isn’t for you, not that it shouldn’t exist for the folks who do want it.

Next up, ‘that pattern is too simple to charge for.’  So here’s the thing.  This is my job, and I charge for my work.  And writing a pattern like this is work.  When I make a pattern like this, especially a pattern for something simple, I make it ridiculously detailed.  This one, for example, will have pages of step by step photos and will include info on everything from how to cast on to when and how to weave in your ends to how to stuff them and what to stuff them with to how to find and attach the acorn caps.  That’s because if you look at this picture and and think ‘yeah, I could totally use a pattern to help me make those’ (rather than ‘I could make those without a pattern’), you probably want a lot of detail to help you feel confident in making them.  And writing a pattern with that level of detail takes a lot of work.  I’ll spend this whole week creating, editing, releasing this pattern (and then more time after that supporting it).  It’s ok for me to get paid for my work.

And finally, ‘someone made something sort of similar and didn’t charge for it.’  That’s probably true!  I am certainly not the first person to knit anything, and would never ever ever claim to be.  And the internet and ravelry make it really easy to write something up and share it for free (as of this writing, there more than one hundred and twenty thousand free patterns on ravelry).  And if you want to use one of those patterns, you totally should!  But, if someone else wants to use my pattern, either because they like my style or want that level of detail, that’s ok too (just like how it’s ok if someone else needs a pattern to make something you can make without one).  There’s room for everyone!

Ok, all that sounded kind of grim for a moment.  But as frustrating as they are in the moment, those tiny handful of angry messages are so far outweighed by the folks who write to say they love what they’ve made and had a great time doing it that I’m not going to let them stop me from making things that make me (or you!) happy.

So…go…start gathering up acorn caps (amazon and etsy both have them if you don’t want to find your own).  And keep an eye out, because I suspect I’m going to sneak this pattern out in the next day or two (so you’ll have plenty of time to make and enjoy them while it’s still fall).

 

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