Argh

Well the pattern release yesterday could have gone better, but it could have gone worse as well. I assumed it wouldn't sell quite as quickly since I charged more for it, but I guess that I hoped I was wrong. What I didn't assume was that someone else had already copied the earring design that I made four years ago, likely counting stitches, wrote it up and posted it online. So now it kind of looks like I'm selling something you can get for free even though it was my design in the first place. I tired to convince myself that since it was adapted from an antique pattern, that the same idea could have come to someone else as well. but it really is far too similar and it's already happened too many times.

I'm glad I only got the blog comment regarding it late last night, because then it only made it hard to get to sleep. Plus, I got to calm down a bit before writing about it. My thoughts last night were in the, 'why bother', and ' that's it, I'm not doing this anymore' vein. Sure I'm sick of it, and places like pintrest, while a beautiful collection of inspiration, are also a haven for copyright infringement. I'm just going to take a deep breath and move on now.

Okay, I have to admit now that part of my reaction to that discovery was based on the failure of a day I had overall. I attempted, at least a half dozen times, to design a new piece. Each attempt ended in abject failure. I had an idea, but it wouldn't coalesce. The thread seemed to be rejecting every stitch. So that by the time I got the comment notification on yesterday's post I was honestly quite ready to hang up my hat and get out of the tatting game. Now, don't worry I couldn't stop even if I really wanted to. I love tatting and it's my real job, but a few more days like yesterday and I might be singing a different tune.

So I guess I'm just going to have to work harder today and hope that I have some sort of creative breakthrough to cure the malaise. Before I leave, a big thanks to all of you who already did pick up the pattern. You've no idea how much I appreciate your support! It's part of what keeps me working. Here's hoping for a better day ahead.

The Doodle Grows

No orders in the shop yesterday at all, so I used the time to play with the doodle from the other day. First I mucked with the basic design just a bit. I played with stitch counts and picots and then realized that I mostly got it right the first time. Then I decided that I would make the whole this grow a bit. This left me with what felt like an earring and a pendant. This is the bit I posted for feedback. While I waited for some, I started to set the pieces near each other and thought maybe a necklace?

Once I received a bit of feedback that encouraged my larger necklace thought, I took it as a green light and started working toward that end. It's too soon to tell whether it will work out in the end or not. There may need to be an additional row on top after I get this main section done. I can't yet tell if it's going to hold the shape I want.

In other news I was disheartened to find another tatter clearly counting stitches to copy some of my work. Someone was sharing a bunch of my photos from my Facebook page to theirs, which is fine, but while visiting that page, I saw other photos they had shared from another tatter who was using some of my original designs whose patterns were never published. It looks like she is selling her work directly off of Facebook. I can't tell for certain because it is not in English which is also why I don't know if any credit has been given either...though I don't see any of my names. I'm not going to do anything about it because I don't need the extra aggravation especially with the added language gap. I will use the occasion to again ask those of you out there that are new to tatting and are tempted to count stitches to copy pieces, particularly to sell, to think twice. How would you feel years from now, if you had worked hard on a design and then you saw it pop up in someone else's shop list as their 'original' design? I have nothing against counting stitches to learn, but not to steal designs for sale and to take credit for them is worse.

Alright, rant over. I'll be working on the new necklace today, so hopefully it's a success and I have something interesting to show you tomorrow too.

Warning, Rant Ahead

Ah, Friday...sometimes I wish that you actually meant the week was over, but it's just an illusion for me of course. Non stop is the life of the stay at home mom. No, I'm not really complaining. I do in fact love my life...most days, I just wish the weekend was more like it was when I was a kid, but I digress.

Yesterday, I did much cleaning, but the kind you can't see all that well. You know, bathrooms, dusting blinds and the like. Then I finished up the barefoot sandals and with no preplanned project to attend to, I stopped tatting for the day. I did put up a giveaway for a pair of tatted bobby pins on my facebook page that won't end until this afternoon if you wanted to participate.

Then I decided to go looking at tatting around Art Fire and Etsy. I used to do this all the time, especially around the time I had that awful copycat that put up several pieces using my designs, copied my descriptions, shop policies and photograph style...it was unpleasant. Since then, I only nose around every once in a while. This time I ran across another copy of my work. Now, I know you initially wonder if it's one of the pieces I used a vintage or antique pattern for, but those are fair game for anyone nor was it one where I provided a pattern online. No, this was my lace maille necklace design. Sure, the motif is simple, but they added crystals in the same places, strung them with jump rings into the same configuration. This, my friends is blatant copying. Luckily a short convo to the seller resulted in a quick removal of the piece and an apology. The apology contained one sentence though, that gave me pause and I wanted to talk about that here.

"I didn't realize it was your design, as I have seen others on Etsy just like it". This was followed by, "There are just so many things on etsy that look alike."

As to the first comment, No, there aren't...I looked. That design is only used by me and there is nothing remotely like it there that wasn't made by me. It is however the spirit of the comments that is the most disconcerting. Basically they admit they copied the design from a photo, whether they knew it was mine or not is irrelevant, they knew it wasn't theirs, that belonged to someone else and that didn't seem to matter to them. They then took the great amount of time that it takes to make that piece and didn't think at any point during its construction that they were doing anything wrong. Now, I'm all for copying other peoples work in an effort to learn and grow and become a better tatter and designer, but not to sell.

Their second comment seems so much like saying,' hey, look I'm not the only one'. Don't make excuses, you messed up, you were caught, learn from it and move on. I had to learn nearly the same lesson at one point, so I don't harbor any ill will here. I did send a reply with a friendly reminder about the dangers of copyright infringement, not as a threat, but I really am trying to be helpful. I guess I just feel it's best for me to share these sort of things so that more people can avoid ever being in the situation in the first place. There are much meaner people than me regarding design protection and if you copy them...well, you won't get off so easily.

Well, that was a longer rant than I had intended and I know that I've sang this same song on a few other occasions so thank you for your patience. I don't have any tatting projects queued up right now, so I might find some time to play over the weekend and just see what I can birth. I also have our end of the summer/birthday get together this weekend which should keep me busy what with the preparing and then the cleaning up after, so I might not get anything interesting done at all. So I'll just see you on the other side then.

New Lace & Silliness

In stark contrast to the day before, I did just about nothing I said I would yesterday. Not a single mask was made, nor even started. In fact between laundry loads I was just lounging about trying to think of what I'd rather be doing. After schooling time was over I began to dig through my supply bits for something to inspire me when I ran across these bead slide things I had recently picked up. I figured they would work out well int he quadra bracelet design. I opted to make it a little frillier with some extra picots since I was using fancy beads.

Once the bracelet was made I decided it should just be a whole one off set. So I made matching earrings and a pendant on a snake chain. I only bought one strand of the bead slides and even though I know I can get more, I think I'll just leave it at this one set. I didn't finish it in time to get pictures. OK, maybe I did, but I wasn't dressed properly and I really didn't feel like changing just to get proper pictures. So I will get around to that after schooling today and I might have another piece ready to join it as well.

I just happened across one of my vintage books on a trip through a pile looking for something else entirely. This one was from the 70's. Yes, I am aware that calling this book vintage means I am vintage as well. No, I am not happy about that assertion, but moving on. I thought I'd just work up one of the patterns for fun and when one motif was complete I though that three would be the perfect length for a nice cuff bracelet. I left off last night on the third so it should be wrapped this morning while I have my coffee.

One last funny before I go for the day. I was doing a search for ankle corsets. Yes, another one of those vain google searches, when I ran across a listing on Alibaba, a global trade site that hosts individual sellers. It was one of my listing photos for my In Bloom Ankle corsets listed there as 'ANKLE CORSET SOES'. They go on to describe them as corset pumps from Korea and Japan available in one color and several sizes from the Philippines. This probably isn't even a case of rip offs being made. I warrant it's just a lame attempt to scam people out of money since there simply is no way they can supply anything bearing resemblance to the photo, though I would be curious to see if there was an actual product. I did check into their flagging system on the site and it requires you to sign up for an account, provide documented proof of intellectual right holding and a copy of a valid photo id. Yeah, I'm not emailing a copy of my photo id to anyone, that would bring some bad juju for sure. A lovely friend sent an initial inquiry to the seller asking the price and materials used, so we'll see if she gets any response and I'll let you know.

Honestly, this is mostly amusing and I since probably shouldn't link to it and give the page more traffic, here's a screen shot instead. You click on it to see it bigger and read the awesomeness. I really can't imagine there are too many people who would fall for the 'payment by western union only' along with all the other sketchy details, but I do hope no one gets scammed by this. Well, off to the day then. I hope you all have good ones!

Holiday Recap

Ah, back to normal...well, almost anyway. We spent solstice and the days that followed in Monterey. We returned home on Wednesday when my brother and his girlfriend arrived from San Diego to christen our guestroom. Then of course it was straight into the holiday with Christmas dinner hosting duties and the subsequent cleanup. Many members of the family caught some bug or other even my daughter managed to contract fifth disease. That's not as bad as it sounds, she just has a rash on her cheeks, but it sure looks scary.

All the while I managed to actually stay on vacation. Sure I worked on some sewing some sequins in the hotel and Christmas eve I did tat a couple of things, but as soon as I received a Zelda game for Christmas, my needles were down. I decided that all the signs pointed to me wasting a little time. I have not done that is many a moon. Of course Sunday night I had to play catch up. I got orders ready, curated the Wunderkammer and caught up on emails and convos. Then I even had a little more time for Zelda...I love Zelda games.

I did get one tatting related gift and I was glad to receive it. A lovely wooden needle case I had eyed on etsy. Like many tatters, my needles have been existing in their plastic tube since purchased. Said tube was not standing the test of time. All my needles fit in this thing. There are even a few steel crochet hooks and beading needles in there. I have to appreciate my husbands ability to search through my massive favorites list, which contains mostly future Wunderkammer picks to find something I actually wanted for me, it had to be a chore.

I did get more sequins done on the mask project as I mentioned, but I haven't gotten any new pictures yet, so maybe for tomorrow. I also sold a mask that needs making so as you'll imagine I'm back to work today. Oh and my freshly inked neck, which is driving me batty with the itching should be ready for a proper picture soon as well, so you can see what I bought myself for the holidays. I'm sure to take a few days to really get back into the swing of things. Vacation always does that.

Oh, crap, I almost forgot to tell you. I know I mentioned that the mimics shop had vanished. Well, I did finally get that official message from the etsy legal team stated that they had removed the infringing material and informed the "user". It was a very formal, canned response, but that was all I needed. Also, though the mimics accounts still exist at Artfire and that other site, all the listings are gone. I'm still in that 'waiting for the other shoe to fall' mode, but I think I am now prepared should this sort of business rear it's ugly head again thanks in no small part to the legions of tatters and artisans I have had the pleasure of knowing online, who offered support and advice. What drama the Internet creates, it may also be used to destroy...and now I'm back to work.

Tattoo & New

Back from the coast freshly tattooed and with apparently good news. No, you don't get a good picture of the tattoo yet. I posted one on facebook and twitter Tuesday morning, it was done late Monday night, but that picture is quite bad and it was very red, swollen and well, not as pretty as it really is. So, maybe in the next few days as it looks better, I'll share a better image.

Now the apparent good news. I say this with a slight bit of trepidation because I never did hear anything back from etsy one way or the other, so I am left with guesses as to the nature of this event. On Tuesday morning, I noted that the mimics shop stood empty. Without official confirmation as to why, I was still left wondering if it would turn out to be an opossum move. Then Wednesday before I headed back to the valley, the shop had vanished. No longer does that username have an active account on etsy. Still with no official confirmation, I can only guess that it is all over. Though I also admit to some fear over possible future events. I really can't dwell on all of that now.

I would again like to say thank you to all of you who sympathized with my plight, offered advice or support or just stood by me in your thoughts. I really appreciated every bit of that and it has made this easier to deal with. I know in the wider scheme of things this was just a minor annoyance. I haven't lost my perspective or anything, but when it first happened it could hardly have been any bigger.

Onto a few more things. I did get some time to work on sequins in the hotel, but I didn't take any new pictures. As I finished up the bottom edge, I realized that I am going to have to redo that whole section. I have not gotten the proper spacing on the sequins, they were far too close together and manage to warp the bottom chains into a much less desirable shape. I will probably save that horrible cutting and retatting until the end, but it must be done. I have done the top edge, the eyes and have begun on the netted section of the forehead. Trying to get sequins to fill the empty spaces is also proving a challenge. I'm still trying to work out the best method for that to happen, but I think a break though will be coming soon.

I also have a couple of new custom project ideas on my table, but I really need to get this mask done before my brain heads in other direction. I don't want to spoil the surprise on those so I'll share them as I get to work on them. The holiday shopping season is of course over and though there is usually a smidge of the 'what I didn't get' shopping after, I should be slightly freer to get these custom things worked on. I just hope at this point I don't forget any of them. So if I'm supposed to be working on something for you and you don't hear from me...fell free to nudge me as that might be in your best interest.

Sequins

I'm off this morning on a holiday adventure. I will be scarce this week and most likely terribly off topic, I hope you'll forgive me.

I decided that I was indeed finished with the tatting phase of my mask after adding one more line of split rings, this time in the opposite direction. This was done to create a web upon which to string on the sequins. It also pulls the separate elements together in a fairly strong way and the mask almost stays on my face without a ribbon. I pressed the piece by draping a towel over my mannequin head and used much steam to tame the chains. After the sequins are added I see no way for the mask to be further pressed or washed, so I needed it as best as I could get it.

Next I spent like an hour trying to decide which method of sequin application to employ. As a former dancer, I have worn a lot of sequins...a lot, but I've never had to sew on rows of it before. I got loose sequins and started with the bead in the center technique, which was immediately too bulky and not flashy enough. So it was onto the simple rows. It took a while before I got into any kind of rhythm with the work, but now it's humming along. I might take it with me on my adventures, but I don't think a lot of work will get done this week. Hopefully next week, I'll have enough to show the commissioner of the project. At this point It really doesn't matter to me whether it works out for what it is intended as it has become a little of a mountain climbing expedition. Only done to see if I can reach the top.

One last thing before I off, my Mimic. Proper information has been provided to etsy to see if they can remove the seller, though I don't know how long before I will know one way or the other. In the meantime however, the mimic has set up shop on two more venues, Art Fire and glcmall.com, which I've never heard of, both under another store name, but with the same exact pieces. I don't know whether I should be more pissed off at this point or sad that they are trying so very hard. Anyway, that's all I'm saying about that and if I don't talk to you anymore this week, have a blessed Solstice, a happy Yule, a Merry Christmas...basically, yeah...happy holidays.

Mimic

I know that I promised not to dwell on this, but my copycat issue apparently runs much deeper than I had first assumed. Perhaps I was just so shocked that I didn't bother to take a closer look or maybe I have a had time believing someone would do this at all. Anyway, the Mimic has not only taken a design that I offered for free, but is now copying other pieces in my shop, I assume by counting stitches from my photos. It does not just end there though. The Mimics photos are styled to resembled my own including the border that I use to unify my images. Wait, there's more, the Mimic has also literally copy and pasted my store policies with the exception of available colors because I have more thread. This is ridiculous, blatant and tacky. Some of my policies indicate that I have had to recently change my policies due to fee changes at etsy that occurred before they even opened shop.

The mimic is easy to find, just search for tatting, I won't give them the satisfaction of a direct link. While the mimic has yet to garner any sales, the store has earned a few hearts. I am worried less about my possible loss of business than I am my reputation. It seems many of the Mimics moves are designed to fool my customers into thinking that the Mimic is me. I am not amused. Much of this is puzzling to me. Why be so dishonest? Why not use some of the great effort that is going into the ruse to simply make designs themselves? What motivates someone to do this sort of thing? Sure, if it had stopped with the Mimic thinking it was okay to sell the piece made with my pattern, I might have let the whole thing go. I might have accepted that that was my mistake, but this...this is not getting away from me. I have already sent off an email to etsy detailing the situation and I am preparing to send off a letter to their legal department as well if needed. Any educated advice on this subject would be well received.

I am of course complaining loudly here so that others know what is going on. I talked with other sellers who have experienced similar mimicry, copied item descriptions, policies, store announcements all along with copied designs. I even heard tale that one mimic added their victims name to the item tags in order to get customers that were looking for the original creator. Seriously, what is wrong with people?

I did manage a little progress on the mask despite the crap storm I just described. I decided to go with just a few split ring chains to attached the center motif to the outside edge. Though I might add a few more for stability, I think that that section will largely be covered with sequins anyway, so any design would be obscured anyway. I am supposed to try to create some large spiders to lay over the top, but I am beginning to doubt the practicality of that. The spiders in the original 'not a mask' were metal and jewel and I'm just not certain that I can do that with lace without it looking like a flea Market knockout. I'm trying to use that as an inspiration, so that the final mask will give the same basic effect as the 'not a mask', but I also want it to stand on its own as a piece.

I will likely try out some sequins methods today after I figure out how to press the mask. Then I think my blog posting might get sporadic. I'll try to pop in on a regular basis with updates, but my vacation from home school starts Monday and husband is home as well. Then there is of course all this holiday business, so try not miss me too much and so I don't forget, enjoy your holidays too!

Shinier Things

Now, I promise not to dwell on this for too long, but I felt a short update was in order. No, I did not get a response from my admittedly strongly worded message to the person using my design to make tatted necklaces for sale. Instead, the seller renewed their entire shop in an effort, I suppose to get more exposure, or perhaps as a taunt to me personally. Either way, my annoyance continues. I heard more tales yesterday of crafters who will never share having heard mine and other stories like it. It makes me sad. I also thought about engaging in a childish game I would have called bury the listings by renewing myself. I though better of it and just a few hours later it was done anyway just by the natural flow of product listings. So yeah lady, go ahead and keep spending that money to renew...it's clearly working.

Moving on to shinier things. You might be wondering what the hell it is that I'm making here. Well, it's a brand new mask design. I was given the charge of recreating a mask that isn't a mask at all using tatting and sequins. Yes, I said sequins. The 'wasn't a mask at all' looks like it was actually glued right to the models face. Yeah, sequins and giant spider appliques just tacked right on to her impossibly beautiful face. Anyway, I decided that I needed more wire support for the larger face coverage so I added that forehead wire. Then I decided that instead of wire wrapping the whole assembly at the end I'd crochet around the wire in the beginning. I'm still not sure that was the right call at all. In fact my only relief at this point is I know that I will be adding a copious amount of sequins to the design, thus obscuring any mistakes I make at the start.

As you can tell, I've not gotten very far yet and in another possibly foolish move, I've decided to just design as I tat. I gave the mask a simple vine base and the top portion is likely to be basically a section of a doily design that appears in my head as I create it. Again, I am aware this could be disastrous, but I really hate the paper and pencil design process. I'd rather just get the thread out and sink or swim. Why am I even engaging in this craziness? Well, first I was asked and often I run with things like this regardless of the consequences. Second, because I've really been looking for an excuse to make another 'art' piece. You know something ridiculously complex that will likely never sell, but it's mere existence make you feel like a real artist rather than a sweat shop employee. It of course is going to take some time to get finished, but I will keep you abreast of any progress and wish me luck with this one!

Irony

2. a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).

b. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.

[French ironie, from Old French, from Latin īrōnīa, from Greek eirōneia, feigned ignorance, from eirōn, dissembler, probably from eirein, to say; see wer-5 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Right after I posted my pattern here yesterday, I went trolling etsy as I'm wont to do. I search through my competition which is becoming quite the sizable group. I'll tell you one thing most of us appear to have in common, mutual respect. Each tatter has their own style and niche. While we technically compete against each other, I find out work more complementary and rarely do we cross over into anothers core demographic.

I've also offered a nice handful of patterns now with just a few strings, clearly noted. While i have never minded competition that drives me to create new things, I do not want to compete against, well...my own things. As a precaution I try to state that my patterns are for personal use only. I hope this does not make me appear stingy, but it seems prudent to do so. I say all these things merely as the set up for the aforementioned irony.

So, as I mentioned, was trolling etsy, when what do my eyes spy, but necklaces worked up in my patterns. Yep, one of the ones I offered to help people learn needle tatting on Instructables. Then I checked the whole shop, which while containing original pieces also contained a couple of collar necklaces with the same pattern as my Portrait pieces. Now on that note, I must add a disclaimer. Those collar necklaces were in fact one half of a vintage pattern, so there is every possibility that another person saw those patterns and did exactly what I did to make them necklaces. Though in conjunction with the clearly mine necklace, it looks a little more like a case of, oh I could do that too. Again, I do not own that pattern, but I did in fact come up with the exact stitch counts in the other.

You'll notice I'm not naming names...yet. I've sent a rather stern message to the offending pattern and though I've not yet heard back I'm looking into having etsy remove the listings. I know that in the end they are probably only hurting themselves. I hate to be all negative, but as I mentioned on the twitter yesterday, the greater issue from all of this is the inclination to never offer a pattern again and to remove what I have offered. I'm not going to do that at this point, but the thought occurred. The thought also occurred among other crafters to not share their designs in the future to avoid this sort of thing and that's a shame. As a maker, I think most of us feel inclined to share our knowledge, to pass down information, to be a community, but the rampant theft of ideas make us pull up the welcome mat and lock ourselves inside.

To those who would take ideas and claim them as your own, simply disregard the original creator as irrelevant or profit from others hard work without acknowledgment thinking that there is nothing wrong with that, I have a moral lesson for you.

Often the shortest path leads nowhere.

Karma

I know that the concept of karma really refers to a much more expansive ideal spanning lifetimes, but most of us have adopted the idea for everyday use use. We've appropriated the word to mean a literal tit for tat exchange of good and bad fortune. I've found, particularly lately, that every time something goes well, something else smacks me down, a sort of balancing act to keep me from getting too cocky perhaps. For instance, we find a nearly perfect house to buy, we are then tortured with delays and aggravations so many that we nearly give up before we finally get said house. Sure we got an amazing deal and we paid for it mentally and physically for months.

So, I have a rather lovely weekend, things are going swimmingly. I get sales and my much looked for attention, but then I get comfortable and do a little competition searching. I usually only do this on etsy, but yesterday I searched artfire for only the second time and, well...got annoyed. Looks like someone else I gave the barefoot sandal pattern to, is trying to sell them as well as a bracelet eerily similar to one of mine, save for the clasp idea. I'll cave on the bracelet, it was designed using a vintage pattern I have no claim to. It's only the idea of turning into a bracelet that was mine. In fact I might even have brushed that off as coincidence had it not been for the sandals. So here's the end of my rant on the subject, PERSONAL USE...that's what I wrote on the bottom of the pattern in very nice, clear language. If you're going to ignore that, which I of course have limited control over...could you at least grant me design credit, or try to ask permission. I mean, if I just sold patterns, not finished pieces, it wouldn't matter as much, but I do and that's how I make my meager living...so yeah, stop it.

Now, a reflection: I know that many other artisans have suffered this much more than I have. So many, in more accessible mediums face the copiers and the 'might be' copiers on a daily basis. I've gone out of my way to help others learn to tat with tutorials and patterns because I believe that art should be shared and passed on, but I realize that in doing so, I put myself at a much greater risk of imitation. My experience has also been that these folks are more 'I wasn't thinking' than, ' I shall undercut her prices to steal her customers'. They appear to have been relatively innocent trespasses. Doesn't mean they're not annoying, but I don't feel so much attacked as I do tread upon.

To seal the karma balancing, I also got a nice sale yesterday. It was immediately followed by paypal putting the payment under review. Just couldn't let me get one in without a caveat could you karma. It's cool...I'm alright. I'm not really angry, annoyed maybe, but not angry. I can go with the flow and not let it get me down. Here I go on another day.

Proprietary

I am, I'm afraid, one of those people who walks through a craft fair and quietly notes all the things I can make myself. I get ideas browsing through the stores at etsy and have on occasion, made items I've seen for myself and family. I would however, never make those things to sell. It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do, but I know there are plenty of people who have absolutely no problem knocking off everything they see for a chance at profit. They are often disguised as curious customers or beginners that claim they just need a little help and are huge fans of your work.

Nearly every day someone complains of being copied and even disregarding the natural hive mind that has many coming up with the same idea independently of each other, too many of the complaints are genuine. The other day I noted someone who was distraught that her product was being reproduced my many people using the name she came up with for it. At first blush it seems like a blatant case of theft until you read on to discover that she has published a how-to on her blog for this product. Seriously, are you kidding me, what did she think was going to happen with that?

It really is wonderful that the handmade community is so sharing with each other. We like to help others learn new crafts and improve their skills, but we can't afford to forget that not everyone is in the game to learn and grow. Lots of people are in it to make money and will take advantage of every opening they get. People are always asking how to respond to people who convo them asking how they make something or where they get supplies. Some are even bold enough to ask while explaining that they want to make your product to sell. Why on earth would you want to share the very details you may have spent years working on to a relative stranger to help them compete with you? I know that you want to help and you don't want to be rude, but the answer to the question should be, I'm sorry, but that is proprietary information. Then you can send them off to Google or the library so they can learn through hard work, like you probably did.

It is a fine line we walk between community and competition. I started my tatting challenge to not only expose tatting to new people as a way to sell more pieces, but also to populate the world with more tatters. I'm working on the principle that the craft getting more popular will allow us all to succeed. I am however acutely aware that the move may inevitable bite me in the arse by gifting me with more competition. Look, I don't tat to make money, but it is a motivating factor in the creation of new patterns and designs. I would be a liar, if I said that I wasn't happy that they aren't hundreds of tatters on etsy. I like that I don't have to worry about people copying me. I have no problem sharing a pattern or two, in fact I plan on offering a few here at some future point, but I'm certainly not going to sell my most popular designs as patterns to tempt fate. I'm glad to help and I like to share, but I've developed a degree of paranoia from watching others suffer that I just can't ignore. So for now, most of my patterns will remain proprietary information.