All Craft Media, and Why You Should Run the Other Way

I hope you guys won't mind if I get up on a soapbox for just a few minutes. Y'see, there's this company, and, well, they are doing not-so-nice things, and I think the knitting public should be aware of it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Several years ago I first encountered Kerrie Allman when I ordered ~$100 worth of cashmere from her company, Hipknits. Actually, my mother ordered it- it was to be a Christmas present. We ordered at the beginning of December. The yarn never came. Eventually I contacted the company, and after several messages, was told it had gotten lost in transit and they promised that another replacement shipment was on the way. I replied back- "Will it be the same yarn I ordered? Because it looks like it's sold out on your site..." but never got a reply. A few months after that, there was still no yarn, and I began asking for a refund. No reply. I tried every email address I could find, and since Kerrie had claimed in several venues to have an "overactive spam filter", I also sent Ravelry messages (during this time Kerrie was posting on Ravelry so there's no reason to think she wasn't getting them.) Eventually, frustrated, I started a thread on Ravelry asking if anyone else had had problems, and what they did to solve them. (The first post has been edited pretty significantly from it's original form, hence all the links and such.)

Posts POURED in. So many orders "lost in the mail." So many replacements promised. So many emails "lost in the spam filter." Since Kerrie was shipping from the UK, and kept making promises to replace orders, most people missed the window of time where they could contest payment with Paypal. And once that window was gone, the communication stopped. (Meanwhile, Kerrie kept posting fluffy little bits of nonsense on her blog and otherwise interacting online as if nothing was wrong- as if she didn't have hundreds of emails in her inbox representing thousands of dollars owed.

Soon, other complaints emerged. Designers had not been paid for their patterns in Kerrie's online knit 'zine, Magknits. One designer hadn't even been notified that her design was accepted, until she saw it on the front cover of the next issue. A yarn store reported placing a HUGE order of Hipknits yarn- half of it never showed, and the rest was so tangled and fragile that it all had to be rewound by hand and sold at a deep discount (in fact, I visited this yarn store over two years later, and she STILL had some. It was that unsellable.) One person informed me that Hipknits used factory seconds as its base yarns- inferior quality, obtainable cheap. I don't know if this is true, but it would certainly explain the quality of the yarn I saw.

By the end, I had finally received a refund from Kerrie's then business partner (she never bothered to email me back herself), Magknits had been closed down with no warning (in what appeared to be an act of spite, though who knows), and I think about that time, Ravelry instituted the "don't use Ravelry for customer service" rule :-P (Sorry Casey and Jess!!) I actually consider this experience lucky- it happened when I was a fledgling designer and prevented me from ever submitting to one of Kerrie's publications. As an interesting sidenote- my refund was Paypalled directly to me, even though the order had been placed with my mother's credit card, which is insanely unprofessional. It was also for $100 even, even though the order was something like $95.85. As far as I could tell, they didn't even have any of the original order information anymore, and were just taking my word for it that they owed me :-P

Moving along....

Kerrie founded (I think? She ran it, in any case) KAL Media, which produced such magazines as Yarn Forward (now "Knit" and soon to change again), Inside Crochet, and quite a few more.

Again, designers reported not getting paid for their work, or receiving their samples back in the mail, and, as is par for the course, not getting any sort of communicative response from the company. Finally, last summer/fall, designers began speaking out- on Ravelry, on Twitter, and on their own blogs. Some have been paid, albeit many months late. Some have not. Not just designers, either- tech editors, too. Many designers never got their sample back, despite promises to the contrary.

Owing a great deal of money, KAL Media went into liquidation. I don't know *exactly* what that term means legally in the UK, but what I do know is that the company was "bought" by All Craft Media, which is owned by Kerrie's husband, and apparently absolved of all debts. There were claims that ACM would honor the contracts and debts that KAL had racked up... but, as they are quick to point out, they aren't *obligated* to.

That's right- Kerrie and her husband are still profiting from magazines filled with designs from designers who were never paid, and telling the designers that they don't HAVE to pay them. Neener neener, suck it, designers.

And the latest drama to unfold- the Knit Magazine Sock Club has been riddled with many of the same problems that Ms Allman is known for- "lost" shipments (man, she really needs a new mailman!), a complete lack of useful communication, marked by unanswered emails, deleted Ravelry posts, unkept promises, and the occasional poor-me post or email that only serves to make everyone angrier. Apparently the last shipment, rather than being a hand-dyed yarn as promised, will be a cheap commercial yarn worth far less than what sock club members paid.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I am so, so tired of a new thread cropping up every few months with a new batch of upset, ripped off knitters and designers. It makes me sick that this person is still in business, and that people are still defending her and giving her second chances.

Designers- I don't care if you are newbies, you deserve to be treated with respect, and there are a lot of companies out there who will do just that. KAL/ACM feeds off of new, inexperienced designers who are desperate to get published or who don't know their history. Don't submit. Your talent is worth more than that. Before submitting to a new publication, do a little research :-)

Knitters- please, please don't support this company. Not only will you get ripped off (sock club failures, subscriptions delayed or lost in the mail...and let's face it, the quality is going to go down when designers stop wanting to submit!) but you'd be enabling KAL/ACM to profit off designers that they apparently have no intention of compensating.

Anyone owed money by this company: Don't give up. Unfortunately, public shaming seems to be the only way to get them to listen. If you've purchased something and you're within the 45-day-Paypal-window, CONTEST that shit ASAP. You can also contest through your credit card company, and I've heard-tell that contacting something called Trading Standards (the UK's BBB, I believe) couldn't hurt, though if they haven't shut her down yet, I don't know what it'll take. If you are currently working on a design for one of their magazines, I highly recommend calling off that contract or getting payment before you send it. Designers- don't worry about looking "unprofessional"... every other editor worth their salt knows exactly what's going on and isn't going to fault you for being open about this. They're the ones being unprofessional. Don't let them get away with it.

And finally, Kerrie- get the fuck out of this business. Seriously. What are you doing?? Running a business isn't for everyone, you know. There's no shame in data entry or grocery-store-cashiering.

A few References and Resources:

A list of current ACM publications:

- Knit Magazine (soon to be renamed, again. Perhaps because of all the unfortunate hashtags?)

- Inside Crochet

- Simply Beautiful

- Sew Hip

- Handmade Living

- Handmade Fashion

- Modern Quilting

Associated businesses:

- Hipknits (I believe currently run by a relative)

(Am I missing any?)

And here are some other posts about this company, in case you are curious:

Yarn Addict

Rock and Purl

Joyarna (some good links in that one.)

Here's Trading Standards:

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/

~~~~~~

Anyway. Enough boring old serious photoless drama text for one day. Back soon with something cheerier and woolier :-)

Wale and Course

I fully admit to loving this hat. I've worn it about 50% of the time since it was finished (which is saying something when you have as many hats as I do, haha.) It's knit flat in sport-weight yarn (Louet Gems Sport) and shaped with short rows, with welt detailing that is offset with a smidgen of contrast yarn (Malabrigo Worsted in Frank Ochre, of course.)

And I totally learned something! I was looking for a synonym for "welt" (seeing as my previous welted patterns have already used up the Eudora Welty pun and the Klingon reference) and I found "wale".... which, as it turns out, also refers to the vertical column of stitches in a knit fabric. "Course" is the opposite- the horizontal stitches. Given the welts and the unusual orientation of the wale and course in this pattern, I thought it an appropriate name ;-)

Check it out on Ravelry here

Sidenote: This pattern was featured on the blog KnitHacker before it was even published...and, in fact, before I had even seen this tester's project! Hehe. I feel so fancy!

Congrats Mel C, mailing list giveaway winner!

Congrats to the most recent mailing-list-giveaway winner, Mel C.! (I'm pretty sure she's not the Spice Girl, but anything's possible.) Mel got this nifty pack 'o crafty swag:

Want to potentially win some neat stuff totally out of the blue? All you gotta do is join my "New Pattern Notification List" on the sidebar over to your right, there --->

I only send out emails when a new pattern is released, and I'll never share your information with anybody, no matter how nicely they ask. These random prize drawings are just my way of saying "Hey, thanks for letting me spam you, friend," and everyone on the list is eligible ;-)

(New pattern next this week? Oh I do think perhaps.....)

Station Hat!

Yay it's a pattern! It's..... hats!!

Pick your weight (DK or Worsted), pick your decreases (Cross or Swirl), put 'em together and put it on yer head. And barely a purl, I promise!

(Side note photo tip: Don't take photos in the dang snow. Your camera underexposes everything and you squint a lot. Grumble.)

The name comes from the "Relaxation Station", where I was waiting for a delightful chair massage while dreaming this up. Anyway... these hats have quickly risen to the top of the wearing-pile! The worsted one especially is quite cozy.

add to cart

Or check it out on Ravelry!

PS: Totes cute outfit yeah? I am embracing the shorts-with-tights-and-boots trend pretty wholeheartedly. Otherwise I never wear shorts. That gauzy shirt is a little weird though.

The 7+ Tacky Sins of Pattern Photography

Listen up, knit and crochet designers of Ravelry. I don't want to be the bitch here. I don't want to be all coming-down-on-you, telling you UR DOIN IT RONG, lecturing you about how good photography is really, really important to a knitting pattern.

...but I totally am going to.

'Cause when I browse through the pages of "recently added patterns" I've noticed a few disturbing trends. Ugly trends. Perfectly lovely designs being represented in the least flattering way possible. What a waste of your hard work and effort! Your project deserves much better than that.

So let's have a little talk. (But first up, full disclosure: All of the "don'ts" photos you see here were taken either by me or my husband. Some are not pattern photos, some, unfortunately, are- it's taken awhile for me to learn these lessons. Most of the "do" photos were taken by the obscenely talented Vivian Aubrey. She's the pickiest photographer I've ever met and as a result, her photos tend to look awesome.)

1. No Goddamn Cell Phones

Just because your cell phone HAS a camera does not mean it IS a camera. Look, I snap a ton of iPhone shots with the best of 'em, and I even post them here sometimes, which is sort of bad form. But when you need a really clear, high-quality photo to show off your goods? Don't do it.

And don't think you can just run it through friggin' Hipstamatic and make it go from crappy to artsy. It doesn't work like that. We see through that.

2. No Goddamn Flash

Unless you are a professionally trained photographer using professional equipment, your flash is never going to make anything look better. NEVER. Nobody has ever, in the history of ever, looked good in a photo taken with on-camera flash. You either get super-washed-out-with-no-detail:

Or you get Cap'n Shinyredface:

And either way, you're likely to get red-eye. (And just so you know, I actually had to go take those right now, for this post, because I hate flash so much that I didn't have any around. Something I can't say for the rest of these, unfortunately.)

3. If you're taking it yourself, use a tripod and a remote or timer. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Just because Stephen West can get away with the self-held-camera Myspace shot and make it look damn good doesn't mean anybody else can. And even he can't pull off the grungy-mirror-shot:

(Also, don't hold the camera at angles that make your chin look redonkulous.) If you don't have a tripod, you can also prop your camera up on a table with stacks of books and whatnot. But decent tripods can be had pretty cheaply, as can decent cameras, nowadays.

4. Watch your backgrounds

The purpose of a pattern photograph is to make your item look beautiful and to give the knitter vital information about the piece. Information you DON'T need includes: what my neighbor's house looks like, what kind of bush is growing on top of my head. And while the first one has my face in shadow (another no-no) the second one has wretched direct sunlight, which brings me to...

5. Watch Your Shadows!

You pretty much never want to shoot in direct sunlight or any other harsh directional light (unless you're after a specific effect and you know what you're doing, in which case you'll have already stopped reading this post.) It will wash out some details while plunging others into shadow, and nothing will look very good. It will usually make your models squint unappealingly, as well. On the other hand....

6. Don't Get Antsy and Try to Take Your Photos Indoors At Night

Even with a tripod and the ability to hold very still, indoor night shots just won't be that flattering most of the time. Addendum: Don't then go on to lose the hat, and therefore the ability to ever reshoot it without knitting it again. Sigh. Miss you, Maelstrom!

7. Think About How the Yarn Will Photograph Before You Knit

This one has taken me years to embrace. The sad fact is, some colors are very hard to capture well on camera, especially when you're trying to shoot details. It's one thing if you're working with a very skilled photographer- a good photog with good equipment can usually capture just about anything. But if you're closer to the amateur end of the spectrum, it's best to think before you cast on. Very dark colors will require a LOT of light in order to show off their detail, something I didn't account for here:

Meanwhile, in order to keep white knits from looking washed out, you may have to underexpose the photo so much that other things disappear into shadow:

And then there's the problem that many cameras have with bright, pure reds:

It seems to send their sensors into overload :-( In theory, pure green and pure blue can do this too, though it seems to happen less often. This yarn gave me a lot of trouble unless I photographed it with both a black and white object in the background to balance things out.

So do yourself a favor- if you're not sure how a given color will photograph, take a bunch of photos of the yarn in different settings, held next to your face, etc. before you start knitting with it.

BONUS. Don't do anything that looks like this:

There are exactly zero things that are ok about this picture. Sweet Guacamole.

How to do it right:

Let's have a look at some of Viv's lovely work, eh?

1. When in doubt, choose a nice neutral background in a complimentary color, and use a wide aperture so that it blurs out. Make sure your model is far enough away from the background for it to get good and blurry.

This wide-aperture trick is great for isolating detail or photographing smallish objects:

(THAT ONE'S NOT VIVIAN'S! She might kill me if I let you believe otherwise. One note- the piece of dog hair stuck to the balls is not exactly in good taste. Always be scanning for intrusive details. Vivian would've caught that.)

2. Get in nice and close to the details. Knitters want to see how things look on people, obviously, but they also want a good hard look at the minutia.

3. Look for sunlight that has been bounced around a bit- reflected off a wall, perhaps. Shady photos work too but tend to be very cool feeling. If you can get that ideal, reflected sunlight, you'll get lovely colors. In this case, we were under a fairly high bridge. (You can get a good look at the location a ways down this page- look for the car.) The light hitting me was bouncing off the legs of the bridge, the nearby houses, the ground, etc.

Of course, color correction helps too. My camera seems to tend towards cool tones while Vivian's always seem to come out warm and lovely (jealous.)

Now that I've said my extremely wordy piece... if anyone else has any other tips to add, please feel free!

And the results are in!

........sort of. Drum roll, please!

click to embiggen

Our little Pog:




Is a Corgi - Schnauzer with (it goes on to say) a healthy dose of Argentine Dogo, Chihuahua, and Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Hmmm.

Or, maaaaybe, as one guess-er suggested, she is at least primarily a Patterdale Terrier (three picture links, there) - a breed that isn't AKC recognized and therefore isn't tested for by Wisdom Panel. Now, she's about ten pounds too big... but she definitely has some of their unique breed traits and since the breed isn't really held to any AKC standards, it's possible that she's simply poorly bred :-P Or, indeed, she could be a mix with a bigger dog. Maybe even a Schnauzer and an Argentine Dogo, in there. I am giving her the title of "Patterdalesque Terrier."

(Of course, the test doesn't test for "horse" and "bat" either, so horsebat isn't out of the running.)

Anyway, given this outcome, I'd like to offer two prizes: One to user Damaged Goods who first introduced me to the Patterdale, and one randomly selected guess-er, since nobody said anything like "Schnauzer Corgi" because clearly none of you are blind. And that random guesser is...Connie! Damaged Goods- please send me an email at keepittoadullroar (at) gmail (dot) com to collect your prize! Connie, I'll email ya ;-)

Thanks for playing my super silly game, everyone!

Patterdalesque Terriers enjoy yoga. Or should I say....doga.

Studio Tour!

I feel silly doing this, but I love seeing other people's studio spaces and how they organize them... so I thought I'd return the favor. Complete with extremely nauseating camerawork!




(Sorry, it's an iPhone, what d'ya expect? I still need to buy a new charger for my real video camera. Apparently they are kind of expensive. Who knew?)