Where do Great Patterns Come From?

Usually news stories about knitters get focused on the granny angle. The NYTs recently did a piece on Josh Bennett. They decided to also cover a blogger, Samurai Knitter a.k.a. Julie Theaker, who had disclosed her opinion of his work on her blog...6 years ago? I don’t know why we knitters get such rough treatment from the mainstream media.

As a result of the coverage Julie has written a very interesting post on the business model used by mainstream magazines as compared to online publications. In this case the comparison was to Twist Collective.

I think having knitters understand the economics behind the business decisions in the knitting world is always a worthwhile exercise. Take a look at her post, most of it is a review of the issue itself, but sharing the background on why TC is producing such great work is fascinating.

In my case I want to sell patterns, my income stream comes from pattern sales as well as teaching and speaking events. To sell patterns, I'm very focused on the patterns being good and that means items are reworked if they don't match the vision I had when I started the design. Some are completed abandoned, some get rethought over a longer period of time until I resolve aesthetic or technical problems. I haven't submitted to any of the mainstream magazines because I'm convinced that the tight timelines lead to the publication of work that wouldn't have made my personal cut. I believe the reason we are seeing such wonderful work from self-publishers is that slower pattern development leads to the best work of the designer.

What do you think? Do you get your patterns from magazines or from self-publishers? 

If you enjoy reading my blog, I'd really appreciate it if you would tell your knitting friends or share links to your favourite posts online with Twitter, Ravelry or Facebook. Word of mouth is really helping to grow my business as knitters respect the views of other members of our community. Thanks!

Do You Always use the Yarn Specified in a Pattern?

Yarn: https://www.etsy.com/shop/emilyparson          Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-louise-laxton-shawlette

Do you prefer patterns to specify specific yarns or just a yarn weight?

I've been getting conflicting advice on this. I think it's because everyone has different paradigms in mind when they answer the question.  Some of my advisers tell me that the exact yarn must be specified and available.

Yarn distributors know patterns sell yarn so they think patterns should be written for the yarn.

Yarn store owners want patterns that sell yarn in standard weight DK, worsted etc. so they can move stock.

Yarn companies want patterns that sell their yarn. They often develop patterns specifically planned to make substitution difficult. They may develop yarn with non standard gauges or combine two yarns in a design to make unique projects.

Indie dyers use standard weights of yarn as their base because they can't afford to do a lot of pattern support. They want patterns written for standard weights. They often use free patterns and have a project knit in their yarn as a promotional sample. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-prudence-crowley-vest

My best selling pattern (in the photo above) was done in a yarn that was discontinued the same week that I published the pattern. Since I've been designing that has happened to me several times. The last time it occurred, the yarn company discontinued the yarn three weeks after providing it to my client. The result for my business has been I am focusing on standard weight yarns because I want to sell patterns.

I choose the yarn for the photo at the top because of it's absolutely amazing colour. The irony is... the depth of colour is not truly reflected on a computer screen. I want to sell patterns so it's a standard weight, 4 ply fingering.

Yes, I do spend far too much time thinking about this kind of thing don't I?