The Internet Ruined Hobbies

Comments · 68

• SH

  @shanghai8539 · 5 hours ago

  When knitting is a hobby, it's therapeutic; when it becomes a job, it becomes stress.

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• FE

  @FeralPossumVibes · 3 hours ago (edited)

  A saying I picked up from another fiber artist that I love to use is &quot;Honey, you can&apos;t afford me&quot;. <br><br>It&apos;s such a great phrase because: <br>A. It establishes that I am unwilling to haggle/compromise. I know what my skill set and projects are worth <br>B. My craft is expensive; based on my years of skill, material, and labor <br>C. You can&apos;t just buy me yarn and expect me to make you something without labor compensation <br>D. There ARE people willing to pay a high price. People who are not intimidated by that quote have asked me what it would cost for something custom, and they have paid for it <br>E. If I make something for someone as a gift, they understand the gravity of what they are getting. It&apos;s not just some flippant thing I made in a couple hours.<br><br> So, I use that phrase when people tell me to sell my stuff; it gets them to stop pestering me and I can craft in peace 😆

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• FV

  @fvidder2210 · 1 hour ago

  God, the demands to recreate my projects exactly are so annoying. People think they&apos;re flattering me, but what they&apos;re actually doing is demanding that I only use in-production yarn they can buy (as opposed to thrifted or estate sale yarn or something from the bottom of my stash or a super local farm) <i>and</i> demanding that I put up with requests for unpaid private tutoring masquerading as requests for pattern support.<br><br>Even if I were good at pattern writing, it would not be worth it. I only make basic raglans out of weird yarn or extremely complicated weird stuff that I don&apos;t want a n00b turning themselves into a pretzel to try to copy. Anybody experienced could look at my closeup pics and notes and do their own version just fine. No, there&apos;s no chart. I freehanded it. You must be at least this high to ride this ride.

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• CL

  @ClaireSiconolfi · 2 hours ago

  I love everything about this video. I’m so very tired of everything having to be ‘productive and monetized’. It’s okay to just enjoy the thing you do, just for you.

  1

• DE

  @deryayunak · 5 hours ago (edited)

  I also taught myself how to crochet during the pandemic. I felt like I was going to lose my mind if I didn&apos;t keep myself busy with something. All it took was a single skein of yarn, a suitable hook, and YouTube. I’m an architect, so I already had good dexterity, natural skill, and a sense of aesthetics, and I ended up falling in love with crocheting. Over time, my family started telling me, &quot;Your stitches are so neat, you could actually sell these,&quot; and six years later, I still hear it. A while after the pandemic ended, I taught myself how to knit using videos as well, because I really enjoyed learning on my own. Now I can read patterns and charts too. One room in my house is completely packed with yarn. I’ve made countles garments, accessories, bags, hats, and more. Most of them are my own designs or modified versions of existing ones. I only made money from this skill once because someone requested a piece, but it turned out to be a really stressful process. <br><br>I’ve never thought about designing patterns to sell. Maybe I’ll sell the finished items one day, but only if I have the freedom to craft them whenever and at whatever pace I want. I love some of my custom-designed clothes and bags so much that I’ve never posted photos of them anywhere, just out of fear that other crafters might copy them. Even when people examine them in public to figure out how I made them, it makes me feel uncomfortable. My mom keeps saying they would attract a lot of interest if I made and sold them, but I just love the idea that those pieces belong exclusively to me (and no, I’m not a narcissist). In fact, the reason I love crafting in the first place is that every piece turns out unique. That’s why I’m always surprised by people who follow a pattern using the exact same yarn and color choice as the designer. If it’s going to look just like mass-produced clothing, I’d rather go buy something similar instead of spending weeks making it. After all, if I replicate a design down to every detail, I’ll end up wearing the same thing as countless other people. For me, the real joy lies in creating something handmade that reflects the maker&apos;s personal taste—unique in every single stitch, imperfections included. Setting money aside, crafting is actually quite an expensive hobby, but I don&apos;t think there&apos;s anything more satisfying than watching a project take shape stitch by stitch and seeing the final result.

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• BE

  @beccaf262 · 2 hours ago

  People love to tell you to sell your craft but will judge you when you tell them the actual cost of the final product and totally undervalue your work.

  1

• DD

  @ddamascenaa · 5 hours ago

  I learned how to knit as a kid and got back into it after college alongside learning how to sew garments; it’s been 28 yrs since I first learned to knit and about 12 years since I knit my first sweater. My primary motivation has always been garments that fit my actual body while having style qualities I love. <br><br>I’ve toyed with pursuing the kind of education that would allow me to design truly good knitting patterns, mostly because my style preferences + body type aren’t well-represented in the knitting world, and I would guess that there’s some small number of other people who would enjoy the same kinds of design choices I do. I’m always modifying the patterns I buy to fit me and/or have design details I want anyway, so why not hunker down and comprehensively learn design from scratch — not “just” improvising, but truly designing?<br><br>I don’t think I would want to create a full-on business about it, though. Treating it as a very serious hobby is satisfying, and part of what I love about knitting is being able to be slow. My only deadlines are the seasons themselves, and if I don’t finish a sweater before springtime warmth makes it irrelevant, fortunately, autumn &amp; winter will come around again.

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• NI

  @nikiwagner1802 · 2 hours ago

  My sweet grandma taught knit and crochet when I was 8… I’m 52 now! I leaned toward crochet for all those years and picked up knitting again in 2020 😉 became a sock knitter and now I’m finally making sweaters! I have no desire to be a knitwear designer, but I’m thankful for every one of you!!!

• JO

  @joedvice · 3 hours ago

  I learned to knit 26 years ago and have never once considered becoming a knitwear designer. It&apos;s a skill set I know that I just don&apos;t have.

  1

• CR

  @crossstitchandstella · 5 hours ago

  I&apos;ve never sold my knitting, but I have sold my weaving in craft markets and experienced much of the same phenomenon you described. It made it harder for me to enjoy working at my loom. I recently finished a set of custom towels that took ages simply because I wasn&apos;t interested in the color scheme. I have decided to stop doing custom work on the loom for awhile and make those projects just for me or my loved ones, the way I used to when I first began the craft. <br><br>As a long time knitter, I do roll my eyes at new knitters and crocheters that jump straight from basic skills to design. I&apos;ve never felt compelled to design anything more complicated than a doodle for colorwork. Hacks and mods, sure, but I leave design to the pros! Thanks for adding some perspective on why newer makers might feel like they have to invent new things to participate in the community.

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• HG

  @hgib698 · 4 hours ago

  I&apos;ve been &nbsp;crocheting for about 43 years, my mom taught me when I was 7. &nbsp;I crochet in public often, as over the last several years I &nbsp;would take my parents to doctor&apos;s appointments, and people would ask me to make them items. I&apos;m not interested in making items to lose money on the time it takes to make the item. &nbsp;I will make items for friends/family that the item is a gift and will be made on a random time frame. Currently, I only buy patterns from established designers &nbsp;and I buy them to learn techniques, &nbsp;not necessarily to make the item exactly as written.

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• SH

  @sharelleshobbies · 6 hours ago

  We just adopted a corgi this weekend and I’ve already been told to make him an instagram 😂 no thank you, I don’t need another job. No shade to people who do and love it, but it’s not for me. ❤

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