r/craftsnark

I was looking on Ravelry and found some of her patterns. The size range and pattern format is incredible, and I would love to knit many of her designs. However, all of her patterns are discontinued, her website is hacked by an Indonesian scam site, and all her social media has been deleted. As far as I can tell, her last design was Oct. 2024. Does anyone know if she's okay or what happened?

she’s back and tried to friend me. I thought she was not allowed to sell online? I’ve already heard of issues. Not getting fiber for months, or if ever, moths. etc. don't be fooled by the cheap prices.

The nearest LYS to where I live is 2+ hours by public transport. I can order online and there are some shops in my city but they only sell acryllic yarn like Stylecraft and some King Cole. You can imagine my excitement when a local yarn dyer announced she was opening a new yarn shop nearby. She's been talking it up loads, especially all the nice yarn brands she's going to stock (West Yorkshire Spinners, Sandnes Garn, Rosa Pomar, etc). She's been running a yarn business for years and I let myself get really excited about it.

Today she posted saying she can't actually stock any nice yarn unless customers pay for it upfront. She explained it's because nice brands often need a big order upfront and she doesn't want to risk getting a bank loan.

I want to believe this is legit but I feel really disappointed. Why wouldn't she research this stuff upfront, before deciding to launch the business? Why is it not ok for her to take on financial risk, but to ask everyone else to? Why not launch an online business first and check you've got demand, before investing all your money in a physical venue?

I don't know if I'm being too harsh or have spent too long reading horror stories about bad business practise on subreddits like this. Or if this person I thought was legit is behaving irresponsibly and I should steer clear.

Here's the thread where you can share any new patterns or products that you don't think deserve their own post. Any craft goes, whether you're sharing sewing patterns, weird yarn colourways, woodburning templates, soapmaking supplies, or any thing else that you'd like to discuss. If you think it deserves it's own thread, feel free to make one!

Please share all personal chatter here--questions, planning, works in progress, successes, failures, discoveries, and anything else pertaining to your personal crafting.

She ranting about a LYS in the pacific north west reaching out to her and other sock designers asking for a free pattern to include in their 2027 sock subscription box in exchange for exposure. I’m being nosy and very curious to know who it is.

Welcome to the bitesized BEC thread!

You have the freedom to indulge in BEC-style (b*tch eating crackers) vent comments in this thread. Naming examples is not required (gasp!) but majority of r/craftsnark rules still apply. Basically, don't be shitty and ruin the thread for others.

I find the pattern I want on Threadloop. Follow the link to buy. It's a German website; fair enough, it's a German company. I add the pattern to my basket and try to check out. Can't choose a UK address, so I use a random German address (it's a PDF pattern, not something physical so it doesn't matter). Put my card details in. And now the Pay button is disabled, without any explanation as to why.

Okay, fine. I'll see if they have a UK website, and they do! Great, now I've got to find the pattern. Only problem is that none of their patterns have names or numbers! I'm searching for '101' (that's what it was called on the German site) and nothing comes up. After exhausting the combinations of search terms, I go to 'all dresses' and try the filters. 'Knitted dresses': no. 'Jersey dresses': no.

At this point I go back to Threadloop and find out what year the pattern was released, and put that into the filters instead. Finally, after a load of scrolling, I find it. Basket, checkout. All's smooth.

But I still haven't got the email with the pattern! Most places send it within less than five minutes. It's been fifteen and I haven't even got the purchase confirmation.

I know all this sounds petty but I'll be avoiding them in future.

I loved going to craft stores and walking through the aisles, looking at all the supplies and options... but now I just feel disappointed. I feel disappointed not only by the prices, but the quality, and options being offered.

I already don't shop at Hobby Lobby because of their political and religious views and Joanns doesn't exist anymore. I feel like Michaels isn't even an arts and craft store anymore. Its just full of bad quality, overpriced junk at this point.

I know that there are second hand art supply stores and I do visit the one in my town whcih can be fun to explore for random supplies, but I miss having a go-to physical store with quality supplies that I could find for specific projects.

Anyone else feel the same?