The Copyright Question

Knitters often ask me if they can sell finished objects made from my patterns. I wish there was an easy answer to this question. I have actually consulted an international Intellectual Property lawyer and she even told me that there is no easy answer, in fact she said it would make a good exam question!

I’m going to set out my own policies here, but I want to make it clear that I am NOT offering legal advice.

Do you really think it’s worth it?

Go and take a look at the Natty Knits Etsy shop where I sell my patterns and some finished creations I’ve knitted in the process of designing. Take a look at what I’ve sold in the last month. There are not many knitted toys in that sold list. On average I sell one knitted toy per month. I have an established Etsy business and I was the designer,  yet I’m not selling knitted owls by the truckload.

Even if I was selling owls by the truckload, it would be a desperate way to run a business, each owl takes around 3 hours to knit and finish. $10 for 3 hours work is way below the minimum wage. I would not accept a huge custom order for 200 knitted owls. Imagine the RSI!

Know the difference between the object and the pattern

The Natty Knits patterns are protected under copyright law. You have no rights to reproduce and sell those patterns, nor to modify them and sell them. You also can’t say that my designs are your own.

What does the law say?

Anecdotally, in the UK it is illegal to sell finished items made with another person’s pattern. In the US it is legal. I can’t give you a definitive answer and a lawyer would charge us way more than the cost of a few owls to establish the legal guidelines for each individual case.

Quality control

And the difficulty doesn’t stop there. I obviously have no control over the owls you will knit, so I have no idea whether my company would like to endorse them. I mean what if you’re a terrible knitter? (sorry).

The Natty Knits Policy

Please feel free to make and sell owls, just don’t sell them on Etsy. That way, the Etsy trolls won’t flag your items as illegal, we won’t get into a competition and it won’t get unpleasant.

Also, Natty Knits will not endorse any other knitters or issue any “Cottage Licenses”. Although, you must credit the pattern design to Natty Knits and if someone asks you, please tell them where the pattern came from.

One final thought

I love it when people knit up my creations, when knitters tell me that they’ve made Hug Monsters for charity or when people make modifications of my patterns and show them off on Ravelry. I also love having a small business which is the product of my imagination. My goal is to help people to express themselves without damaging my business.

Socks?

I have just finished knitting my first pair of socks. I plan to knit some more.

It started as an exercise in technique. Socks can be knitted in so many ways, different heels, toes and cast ons are all useful tools for a knitted toy designer. I decided that it was time to investigate this untapped resource.

As I worked on the socks, I discovered that sock knitting is so much more than just technique. Socks are a very satisfying project. They’re quick to knit and you get to make the same thing twice, so the second sock is knitted even more quickly than the first (in theory). Socks are cheap, you could probably knit $100 socks if you tried hard enough. But most people don’t try that hard. Socks circumvent the “fashion” problem. Sometimes I see a pattern for a sweater or a cardigan that I really like, I spend six weeks and $100 making it only to find that it doesn’t suit me. I am confident that any socks I knit would both suit me and fit me and if they didn’t I could just hide them under boots.

In short, socks are brilliant.

I’m working from the book Sock Knitting Masterclass. I picked it up because each pattern is by a different designer, so I’ll hopefully learn lots of different thing. I have no intention of making every sock in the book, although I do intend to eventually work every kind of heel and toe in top up or top down construction. I am still a toy pattern designer, a mum and a craft shop employee so I don’t expect to achieve this goal anytime soon.

Unusually (for me), I began at the beginning of the book with Cookie A’s Asymmetrical Cable socks. For yarn, I chose some hand dyed fingering weight from my stash that is no longer available to buy.

I learned so much that it makes a better list than a paragraph:

• When cable panels move around it’s called “traveling”.

• Reinforced knitting is made by slipping stitches, how counter intuitive is that?

• The round short row heel is much easier than I expected, but also a bit messy looking. Maybe this is a reason why knitters avoid short rows in toy projects?

• I must READ the pattern, not GUESS the pattern.

• SSKs get better with practice, they really do.

• It is possible to change a purl stitch to a knit stitch (and vice versa) from the row above where it was knitted.

• And again, for emphasis I must READ the pattern, not GUESS the pattern.

As I investigate some of these new ideas I’ll write  more about them. In the meantime I would recommend learning stuff from knitting socks. It’s definitely working for me.

A Heart Without Wings

Some extra hints and tips for a modified version of the Natty Knits Wings of Love pattern.

Early in 2010 I published a pattern for a knitted heart with wings. At the time I dismissed the idea of a wingless heart because I couldn’t get it to work exactly as I wanted it to. I came back to the heart pattern last month, because I wanted to knit some as Christmas tree decorations. I discovered that with a few small changes, you can convert the Wings of Love pattern to a simple heart.

The pattern calls for the heart to be knitted in DK weight yarn, but if you want a wingless heart you’ll need a tighter gauge. Use a Sport weight yarn and 2.5mm needles (there is no corresponding US needle size, but if you don’t have 2.5mm, try a US size 2, which is equivalent to 2.25mm).

Knit the heart exactly as it says in the pattern, obviously don’t knit the wings.

Use the BO tail to sew up one side of the heart using garter mattress stitch. There are loops on both sides, formed by the first and last knitted stitches in a row. Sew through the edge loops, working back and forth between the sides. When you have made a few stitches, gently pull the sewing yarn tight. The garter stitch loops are meshed together by the sewing yarn to create an invisible garter stitch seam. it looks like this:

When you have only four more loops to sew together before the top of the heart seam, sew through the loops in sequence to make a rounder finish to the top of the heart:

Pull the yarn to gather, then sew back inside the heart to secure. Use the CO tail to sew the seam at the bottom edge of the heart and then repeat the steps above for the opposite side seam.

New Year, New Ideas

Happy New Year knitters!

I spent the holidays lazily knitting a pair of socks and finalizing a plan of sorts for 2012. Here’s that sort of plan:

More Free Patterns

That got your attention, didn’t it?

I often have ideas for stitch patterns or small items that don’t really need a whole pattern. Rather than saving them up, I think it’s time I started sharing them with you. They’ll be free on this blog, like this Quick Lace Cowl.

There will also be some new free PDF download patterns later in the year. Just like the ones on the sidebar to the right of this post.

Woodland Creatures

We’ve been Around the Barnyard and now it’s time to go into the woods. I’m working on a series of patterns for toy woodland creatures, mouse, hedgehog, squirrel and fox are all on my list. Big Crow will be the first new Natty Knits pattern of 2012, he could certainly join the woodland  team. The crow (pictured above) was created as a custom order just before Christmas, it also inspired me to make a large version of the popular Owl pattern, that will be finished in the Spring.

Secret Submissions

I have never submitted any of my patterns to any magazines, I’ve never done that because magazines require that the submission is something that has never been published anywhere ever before, including just as a photo on a blog or a thought on Twitter. As you can imagine, keeping something that quiet is going to be a huge challenge for me. I’d like to try it though. Of course, if it has to be a secret, how will you know I’ve done it?

Socks

Don’t worry, I’m not going to suddenly become all grown up and start designing socks. I am going to increase my technical knowledge by knitting some though. There are lots of different ways to shape socks and I’d like to add those shapes to my design repertoire. Also, it’s nice to knit something for me that only takes a week or two out of my design time. I’m going to start with the book Sock Knitting Masterclass and see where it takes me. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Disclaimer

I might manage to do all of this, I might not. 2012 is also the year my little boy starts kindergarden and the year of a long trip home to the UK.

So this is a plan of sorts, a sort of plan. Let’s see how it goes.

And The Winner Is…

Comment number 123 (as chosen by Random.org) wins a copy of the eBook Around the Barnyard.

Congratulations to Susie Vavasour who said “I like the round pig and the mallard”. She has already been emailed.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway. I’ve had a lot of fun reading your comments.

And if you didn’t win, please remember that Around the Barnyard is available on Etsy, Ravelry and Knit Picks. And all the patterns (except the Baby Chick) are available from Etsy for only $2 each.

Win a Free Copy of the eBook Around the Barnyard

It’s the season of giving, so this week I’ll be giving away a copy of my new eBook Around the Barnyard.

Around the Barnyard is a 28 page PDF containing six toy farm animal knitting patterns for a Sheep, Pig, Duck, Cow, Mother Hen and Baby Chick. All the patterns use short row shaping, which is what makes these toys so round and so cuddly. The introduction has full instructions for making neat short rows as well as other hints and tips to help you knit up your farm friends. There are diagrams and full color photos throughout the eBook.

All you need to do to win a copy of this is pop over the the Natty Knits Etsy shop and take a look at the knitting patterns. Then come back to the blog and leave a comment on this blog entry to tell me which pattern you like best.

The give away ends at midnight PST on Sunday December 25th. The winner will be picked using a random number generator and announced on Monday December 26th. You can enter from anywhere in the world, but only one entry per person. Please make sure that I can contact you in some way from your comment. The prize is the eBook Around the Barnyard in PDF format which will be emailed to the winner.