According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, October 21st, 2017 is #SmallBizSaturday. This day is meant to remind us that, if we want to keep our beloved neighbourhood shops open, then we must support them with our business.

I say "we" because I am not just a small business owner, but also a consumer. Shopping small has become more and more important to me over the years, as big box stores have all but taken over the modern retail landscape. Sure, prices have dropped, but labour standards and quality have plummeted.

Our fixation on having more for less has become like a disease--we shop 'til we drop, yet our wallets and our hearts grow emptier. We're surrounded by "stuff", but most of it is crap, and most of it was produced by exploited workers--an inconvenient truth. Sadly, few of us can afford to completely "opt-out" of this kind of marketplace...but, rest assured, we make a BIG difference every time we #shopsmall.

​I must admit, one of the hardest parts of being a knitwear designer is trying to figure out other people.

Why, for instance, does one pattern get showered with love, while another gets barely a nod? I poured my heart into them equally. They're both equally beautiful (in my eyes, at least). So why 50 "likes" for one, and 500 for another? What are my fellow knitters thinking???

I know, I know...what is anyone ever thinking, right?

But, seriously, it can be really hard to understand the dismal response to some patterns. For example, the two hats below--Blossomy and Delicata--favourited just 24 and 48 times respectively. (Ravelry). Whaaaat? 

Now, don't get me wrong, I certainly didn't expect Blossomy to hit the Hot Right Now Top 20--it takes a certain kind of confidence to rock that much hat--but 24 likes? I never would have predicted such a sad performance.

As for Delicata, the (lack of) response continues to baffle me...a year after publication! Personally, I love this hat so much I've knit it in three colours...and the ivory one remains one of my most loved, most worn hand-knit hats. How can others feel so "?" about it?

Patterns? They're easy to figure out. People? Not so much.

A few weeks ago, I posted a "teaser" picture to introduce my first-ever shawl pattern, The Ineffable Shawl. Well, I'm happy to report that I was able to publish the pattern on schedule and, despite a meagre 59 "hearts" on Raverly, people are indeed purchasing this pattern to knit for themselves, and I'm definitely grateful for that! 

This shawl was pure joy to knit. In fact, that's how it got its name. From the Cambridge English Dictionary...

I'm absolutely beside myself in this moment. Tears streaming down my face...right onto my alpaca/mohair WIP...and every knitter knows that tears aren't good for mohair.

What happened? A ridiculously senseless violation of copyright, that's what. Actually two senseless violations, if I'm really going to get into it...and it appears that I am. 

Someone posted one of my patterns in the "notes" section of their Raverly project page. Not the link to my pattern, but the actual pattern...every last detail. All four lines of the main stitch repeat, and the decrease sequence for the crown! She altered maybe two lines, but other than that, she essentially re-published my pattern in her project notes.

I mean, seriously. WTF? This is my livelihood. Designing hand-knits and writing patterns is how I make ends meet. How could any knitter do this to another knitter?

And this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Just a few weeks ago, the PDF file for one of my free patterns was lifted from this very website, then used by a yarn store to provide direct downloads from their own site (with the purchase of their yarn)!

The copyright statement on my patterns isn't hidden...it's easy to see and to read (but apparently impossible to comply with). It says that cold comfort patterns are for personal, non-commercial, use. What's not clear about that? Just because something is free, doesn't mean the rights don't belong to someone. 

When I provide a pattern for free, it certainly doesn't mean that I didn't spend a great deal of time, money, and effort creating it. When I share my work for free, it's because I'm trying to share the joy of knitting with others. It's because I want to spread the knitty love, and help others find peace and healing through this amazing thing we do with two sticks and some string.

So when people take advantage of that, or don't use their heads and re-print paid pattern details, it makes me cry. And it makes me want to give up designing...just go back to knitting for my own pleasure. For every little triumph, there's just SO much B.S. that it's sucking all the joy out of it. 

​Excuse me now...I have to go blow-dry my shawl. 

It's the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada, which of course makes it the perfect time to get down to knitty business! By my calculations, a whole extra day added to the weekend equals 33.3% more knitting time!

Speaking of percentages, here's another one you might like...50%. If you've had your eye on some of my patterns, this weekend would be an excellent time to save--when you purchase any pattern from my Ravelry store, the second one is free! For the math-phobic among us, that means they're each 50% off! Simply enter promo code Thankful2017.