Hello friends, lovely seeing you here!

Just a quick note, swearing abounds when I start talking about pattern thieves later on…they really get my goat!

Am settling into a routine at work, getting the hang of it. I’ve been spending a bit more time alone at work, my boss is pregnant and due in a month, and her mum, who works there with me, has been taking her to some dr appointments, classes, etc. It’s been a bit odd to get used to: I have their dogs in the office with me, and when I leave the office, to show a unit or use the facilities, I have to lock the office doors, but unlock the childgates that keep the dogs in, one gets separation anxiety and will hurt herself trying to get through the gate. There is a good chance, since one of the dogs gets such separation anxiety that I might have to dog sit when the baby comes, they don’t do well alone for more than an hour or so (they’re 11 and 13, so they need good schedules and things they can rely on). They’re very good dogs, my work dogs, and I suspect that when I said I didn’t mind having the dogs with me while I work, that’s part of what helped me get the job.

So anyway, work was good, the 8 hours goes by quickly, and I can get a wee bit of crochet done, not usually a spawn, for those I usually have lots of bits and wire out and pliers and scissors, and well, too involved for work, since I don’t take a lunch break. I’ve been trying a 2D sugar skull. I looked at a few pictures of crocheted ones, and knew I could do that. Here’s my first one, ready for some embroidered hearts and designs. They’ll probably be slightly different looking, I’d like to try ones with different flowers in the eyes, or hearts.

I spoke a bit about hookers stealing patterns, or changing a few things and calling it their own. It’s been quite a topic for conversation amongst hookers this last week. I likened it to recipes, you can’t take Gordon Ramsey’s famous recipe, add a pinch of salt, a half cup of shallots, and cook for 5 minutes more, and call it your own, and publish it in a book. BUT, before the internet and things, folks used to do that, minus the publishing part. They’d take recipes, alter to taste, and then call it “Jenny’s special recipe,” sharing that recipe with friends and family as their own. With the internet, and the ability to share being so easy, we now know that Jenny’s special recipe was not her own, but a recipe someone else created from scratch, and now Jenny is claiming credit. Well, hookers are doing the same thing. Some lazy hookers find patterns, change a few stitches, and then call it their own, even sell it, knowing that they didn’t do “the work” involved in creating a pattern from the bottom up (or top down as some of us create). There are supposed percentages one can change a pattern and claim it as different, I call bullshit. BULLSHIT!!! It’s not a new, different pattern, it’s the same original one with modifications.

The U.S. copyright office says patterns “MAY BE” able to be copyrighted, and that one may be considered copyrighted as soon as it is written down or put onto an electronic device that allows one to view it. http://www.copyright.gov Of course, none of us have/can seem to find a copyright lawyer friend, so no one knows for sure. It is not copyright protected until you actually go do the paperwork. You CAN do the work after someone steals it, but they can always say it was written before yours, and then try to counter…it’s a mess. There is a link to an article that says patterns are not generally copyrightable: http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CopyrightLaw/Patterns.shtml , which throws all kinds of other things out. There are folks who are considering NOT creating anymore patterns because of some ASSHOLES. I’d call them assholes to their face, that’s probably the nicest thing I’d call them. I’d throw in lazy, lame, untalented, and pathetic. I know there are many, many bear patterns, but I swear, if you just start looking at what IS out there, you can come up with something that isn’t. I do it all the time. When I start a new project, though I’m not working up a pattern for it, I look at what has been made before, and make sure that my work is completely different. I’ve never had a hard time doing that, and so I really can’t come up with a good reason for anyone else to do it. If someone else has created the perfect pattern for something you like, use it, contact that designer if you can and tell her/him, spread the love. That will get you many more positive reactions that for ONE PERSON to find out you’re a pattern thief. And if I find out, you’re pretty much ruined… I’m not shy about telling folks “this person fancies herself a designer but is nothing more than a lame, talentless hack.” I’ll blog about it, tweet it, facebook it, put it on pinterest and deviantART, I have friends who will do the same. I’ll put it on reddit, we all know how things go viral there…

I just want to shake these people. They’re causing real designers, real hookers with real talents, to possibly quit doing the thing they like. No one wants to create a pattern for something, only to have someone else claim it as their intellectual property. Thieves are stifling actual talented folks! That makes me so mad!!! Again, it’s part of why I don’t create patterns. I’m not so very gracious as to share what came from MY brain with someone else who couldn’t possibly create anything like that… Bitchy? Maybe, but at least I’m truthful. Of course if good designers stopped sharing their ideas the thieves would have less to steal from, or maybe have to actually use their brains and create for themselves…ooo, actual work.

I really am so very irritated by these people. I’d love to know this is reaching at least one person who steals, or someone who knows someone who does. I’d love to know that someone reads this, and then when a friend offers to “share” a pattern she paid for, says “Nothanks, that’s stealing. I’ll buy it myself, it’s well priced.” (or ‘I’ll design one for myself that I really like”) I’d love to know that someone reads this and becomes outraged when someone they know tries to claim credit for a pattern they just changed a bit. This isn’t just about thieving. It’s about the artists, the creators, THE PEOPLE. I don’t want to know those thieves. They aren’t good people. Someone who is willing to lie, and claim credit for someone else’s ideas, even if “changed” isn’t a good person. Not someone worth knowing, and I’m actually sad that they know how to crochet. I like to think of hookers, or those who crochet, as good people, but this just lets me know there are some asshole hookers out there I might like to smash the fingers of…oh yea, I’m hard core!!!

I still wish for and look for a good forum to reach folks. I will also blog about it on occasion, so you’ll read about it more. Probably until folks stop doing it. No artist wants their creations stolen. I’m sure if the crocheted sandal was on the other foot, and they finally created something on their own, the thieves wouldn’t want someone else to claim credit. That’s how we have to think, would we want this to happen to us? Even if your patterns are free, it’s nice to hear “Wow, thanks for this pattern it’s amazing, just what I wanted!”

So, I’m making Calvin and Hobbes for my friend Dan

Hobbes, the stuffed version, is next.

Well, that’s what I’ve got… working on spawn, outraged by hacks. Loving my new home, my short commute, my job, the husband and dogs and cat. It’s about time for me to put in a creepy movie and start hooking. I’ll see you next time!

Keep it creepy!!!