Moo

It has been awhile since I have been to a yarn store. I mean, I went to one yesterday for a little while, but it had been a week or 10 days or somewhere around that since I last went to one. I'm finding I go to a yarn store these days more for the entertainment value, or for meeting a friend, or for saying hello to whoever is there that day or looking through a book or two.

Lately, I think people are becoming more and more openly and what I think overly critical of the patterns, books and sweaters that are on the shelves, on the tables, hanging on the sample rack, etc.

So often, a new magazine will come out, and a group of knitters will pour over it, and criticize each pattern as they turn the pages. The criticism is harsh, or at least in my opinion, harsh, and I have begun to wonder why. From what I can see, there is a huge range of styles available for just about everybody, save for some that come in sizes above 3X-large and I understand there is a need for a wide range of sizes. But, why all the chatter about how fugly a particular model is? Why all the chatter about how one wouldn't be caught dead in something or other? If you look on public forums, there are way more discussions about how a particular magazine or pattern doesn't pass muster than discussions about something more relevant, constructive or positive, like maybe a technique or how one could customize a particular pattern to fit their own personal style. I understand that it is easy to complain at times, though.

Thing is, as I have become more involved in the behind-the-scenes part of the knitting world, I have made new friends, friends who are a part of the old and new guard of this so-called knitting world. When I hear the harsh and open discussion about my friends' designs, things I know they worked hard on, I cringe.

When I walked into the yarn store yesterday after what I considered a long hiatus, one of the gals looked up and said, "Oh! We were just talking about you this morning," for a second there, I got a little worried.

BTW: Have you seen these mini Moo Cards? Oh my. You can upload as many as 100 of your own photos and they will print them on these tiny calling cards that have your information on the reverse. I picked a handful of some of my favorite images from Knit and Tonic, and ordered some. They arrived yesterday. I am positively smitten.

Comments

[Teresa]

Agreed. I've been upset about this very thing lately too. People being harsh and overly critical of someone's designs. I've always wanted to say.."Well, if you can do better, prove it, or shut the 'h' up." I don't. I'm polite. As an artist myself, I can see someone's hard work and appreciate it, even if it's not my *taste*, but I don't trash it.

[Ewa]

It is a shame when people feel they have to do others down to make themselves feel better. I know, we've all done it, but if you learn from it and move on. I agree, it's sad to hear others do it - the temptation is to butt in and respond :-)

Funnily, I've just ordered my first batch of Moo cards on Monday - due here any day! Can't wait, they look sooo dinky and neat... Show us yours then!!

[Amy Cutting]

Thank you! I swear it's like we've all forgotten the old adage "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" - and I'm only 28! I seem to be in the minority but I've LOVED the past 3 Interweave Knits and all I seem to be hearing is extremely harsh criticism of it. Give the designers and creators of our publications some props people! If all you ever hear is negative feedback, would you really want to put all the time and effort into creating a pattern/publication? I think designers do an AMAZING job and not everything in life is perfect (errata, sizing issues etc) but if they're clever enough to create the entire pattern for US then I think we can put in a wee bit of effort and make it work for us. How many of us actually follow the exact pattern anyway (same yarn, same color, length, sleeves etc)? They cannot be expected to correct our changes or unknowing mistakes (I know I made more than a few starting out thinking there was a problem with the pattern when it was actually just my misreading it or not understanding the directions). Sorry for my mini-vent but all the negativity on the forums/podcasts/blogs that have been ragging on designers/publications/photography have really been starting to get me down. Thank you designers & creative types for all your efforts!!!

[Leah]

I love mini moos! My mom ordered some for her RX8 Car club, lol. My friend just ordered some to tell everyone's she's moved. They do such a nice job too.
The ones of your little doggy are so cute! I swear he needs to do modeling :)

[Emily]

You know, I've noticed this too. I almost had to stop even looking at the Ravelry forums because they were getting so out of hand. Do I like everything in every magazine? Of course not. But for every pattern I think is awful I'm sure there is someone rushing to buy the yarn for it that day, and vice versa. I just don't see the point in putting things down. Constructive criticism is one thing, but that's not what I see happening most of the time. I'm so impressed that people keep designing and putting themselves out there in the current climate of nothing being good enough/in enough sizes/in cheap enough yarn/in expensive enough yarn/etc. Oh, as an aside, I'm SO excited about your book - preordering it today!

[JoezGal]

With the upsurge in the popularity of knitting over the last several years and the resulting increase in patterns that are available in books, magazines, and on the internet, it is becoming more difficult for designers to come up with unique creations which have that 'wow' factor that we knitters tend to crave. While I don't condone harsh and unproductive criticism, I do understand what it's like to browse through a pattern book or magazine and get the feeling that I'm looking at stale and unimaginative reruns. I have stopped buying most knitting magazines and have not been really excited by a new knitting book in quite some time. That's OK though, because I would have to live to be about 980 years old to knit up all the patterns I already own!

[jen]

Oooh, aren't those Moo cards fantabulous? I'm going to order some as soon as the bank account allows! And I've always thought, people who complain constantly just have no imagination. :P

[bettyc]

I swear, I think the collective masses are just getting cranky and snarky about everything these days. I think in some ways the internet contributes to this because people feel they can be more insulting or whatever because they are not talking to someone face-to-face. Oh well. I, for one, love looking at all knitting patterns. I wouldn't dream of knitting/wearing most of them, but I love to study them anyway.

[lynda]

I totally have no use for Moo Cards... but.want.them!!

I'm with Emily - I pretty much stay out of the forums anymore. I just don't understand people :o(

[Jan]

I've been thinking the same thing, too, reading the comments on Ravelry. What a bunch of snippy, bitchy, nasty people! Seems like when I meet a new knitter nowadays it's all about which yarn shop they HATE (or yarn shop owner...), or how awful crochet is, or YOU'VE NEVER KNIT A SOCK?!!! Strange days.

[MonkeyGurrl]

I think people are negative by nature, and what with all the craziness going on in the world, they have to focus their collective attention on SOMETHING. I mean, you could go on ad nauseum about the tragedy in Myanmar, but we all know there are people far more educated in dictatorships and relief efforts and 3d world countries than we are, so we'd probably just end up sounding stupid (something I do with incredible agility), so we stick to what we know.

That having been said, I agree - if you can't say something nice, you don't HAVE to say anything! It's not MANDATORY. Fashion, art, crafting, are all subjective phenomenon, and there is no good reason to be mean, li'l-miz-former-bully-on-the-playground (who ever is saying the snarky stuff, not you personally, Wendy.)

[sue Treiber]

I am a knitter/scrapbooker who has chosen to not go down that path anymore. I stay out of the forums and away from the smack blogs and just do my thing. No one needs all this negativity in their lives!
I've been wanting an excuse to order Moo cards-they are dang cute.

[Darlene]

some people need filters but in a world of little to no filters, stuff just comes out. i stay away from my lys bc it becomes clique-ish just like in (dare i say it) highschool. my lys excursions is as follows: i say my hellos...browse, pick my yarns and say me buh-byes. i no longer stop in, have a cup of coffee or tea or whip out any knitting. its just too dangerous. i knit everywhere else but never the lys!

moo cards are very cool. i just got mine- i heart them!

[Wendy]

I want the cards, too, just wish I were a better photographer.

I will admit to not really liking the last two Interweaves, even though I am a huge fan of Eunny's designs. But hey, I don't have the budget for an $8 magazine that I won't knit anything out of and that's why I don't subscribe to any. I don't go anywhere and trash talk anyone, though, and you never know who's in the room, right? Especially on the tubes... I'm not sure we should only be allowed to say positive things out loud, but there's opinion/review and then there's meanness. No excuse for meanness or rudeness in my book. Looking forward to the fall issue!

[elizabeth]

Chalk it up to everyone being on edge lately? I noticed particularly harsh critiques in my studio classes this year--and they were not constructive. Often people were just being vicious. And I see the same attitude in yarn stores and on forums all the time.

[Rev Linda]

Hmmm. Sounds like LYS are becoming like churches - and people have left church in droves!

[sprite]

As an FYI, you can buy adorable Moo card holders/keychains/luggage tags on Etsy.

splatgirl.etsy.com

Not affiliated in any way; just a happy customer.

[Becky]

Honestly? I think they have every right to snark and pick apart any design they wish to. I wish that more people were brave enough to say it to someone's face, that makes a great filter, but c'est la vie. Often times I flip through magazines and wonder what in the world the designer was thinking, weird sleeves, overly baggy, saggy and weird-looking items that I could never, ever see myself (or anyone in normal, everyday life for that matter) wearing. If I wish to share my thoughts with a group of like-minded people, why not? Bottling up your emotions, positive or negative, is never a healthy thing to do.

I think Andy Rutledge says it best:

"If you’re a designer, get it straight right now: it doesn’t matter how much work you put into it or how much you wanted to do a good job or how much cool collaboration you experienced on the project or how silly the client’s constraints were or how poor the working conditions are at work. It is only the results of your work that matter. Ever. Period."
http://www.andyrutledge.com/criticism.php

True the article is about web design, but I think it's flexible enough to transfer it to just about anything. We, as consumers, don't give two figs about anything other than the end product. If we don't like a movie, we complain. If we don't feel a product, let's say a meal out, is up to our standards, we complain. It's in our nature and unless we were the ones actually doing the work, we tend to not care how much work went into it. And that's the way it should be, it encourages designers, chefs and companies to put out better products which benefits them because they sell more.

In the end it doesn't matter whether you spent five minutes or five years on your creation, all that matters is the end result. If the public isn't happy then what can you do other than take what they said into consideration. I know it's tempting, but no one should take criticism of their design personally because it's not personal. Those women in the yarn stores, they probably don't know the designer personally (completely different story if they did and were saying it behind their backs with a different story for their faces), they're just commenting on the design, the end product.

Besides, if you don't have any negativity in your life then you'll never be able to appreciate the positives. Without anger happiness doesn't exist, right?

[Jill E]

I agree as well. It shocks me the level that people go to in putting down something or someone. I get very frustrated. Even some of my close friends will get catty every once in awhile and I just have to ignore it. Thanks for reminding me of it though - I'm going to make an effort to say 5 positive things before I even think about being critical.

[Wendy]

I don't think that people shouldn't be able to voice their opinion or to make critical remarks about someone's design or body of work. The thing is, many people aren't constructive. Constructive criticism is helpful, but pointing and laughing is not.

[Becky]

True, but unless the designer is standing right there next to them, what's the harm? I would hope that they would respond in a different, more helpful manner if discussing with the designer. But let's be serious, we're talking about idle conversation between friends, not a formal discussion concerning the esthetics of design. Unless this _was_ intended to be a formal discussion on the esthetics of design, then that's just bad form.

At some point we've all laughed, made fun of and or criticized something that we don't like. We are human after all. It's only a bad thing if it's done within a forum where serious discussion of the subject is required.

[Marnie]

Firstly, I love Moo cards. I'm so happy with mine and I want to give them all away so I can order more, because they are just so fun. Yours look very cute.

I'm with you on the criticisms. I tend to do more self publishing, and don't have much published in magazines, but my friends do and it makes me sad when I run across a blog post where people are making unkind comments about their hard work. This is not to say that I don't think friends can discuss the merits and problems with a design, between them, but I just don't think it should be done publicly, and the internet and yarn stores are both very public.

[Becky]

Geez! Comments come fast here, last one for a while from me, I promise.

I say if you submit your design to the public you're opening yourself up for reviews. Should we stop ourselves from criticizing movies? Remove the rating and commenting system from IMBD, perhaps? When you design _anything_, doesn't matter what, you have to learn how to separate yourself from your design because otherwise you're going to end up hurt. Taste is very subjective, there's always going to be someone who will like what you did, or at least lie and say they did :P, and there will be 10x more people who hate it. You have to roll with the punches and accept that. Not that I'm condoning all nonconstructive criticism, I just think it's a part of life that we're all going to have to learn to deal with at some point. And the sooner we do the better.

[pixie]

i made some moo cards before i went to maryland, they are so cute. I ordered one of the felt covers too! Glad you like yours, flickr is so great, I send photos to target all the time from flickr!

[Jess]

I agree, it seems that people eagerly await a new edition and then enjoy having a huge "bashfest". Pretty sad really. They should all be required to write just one pattern. They might change their tune... or at least one would hope they would.

Moo cards are very cute! Smitten indeed!