Here's me swatching in the car on the way to Florida the day after Christmas. I was learning a new stitch pattern and how to Increase and Decrease. I used Red Heart Yarn (as I usually do for swatching)I admit it, I have tried to stop, and I can't. I can't stop designing. I've tried (for like a week) and the ideas just kept coming. There are many good reasons to stop designing. My good pal, Kim Guzman in her blog Wips n' Chains makes some courageous statements about the realities of crochet design as a profession. If you are thinking of becoming a designer, I encourage you to visit her blog and read Thursday Jan 17th entry.
If you love to crochet, please support your craft by purchasing patterns and books. If you cannot afford patterns and books, please encourage your library to acquire crochet books and magazines for their collections.
If the topic of copyright issues intrigues you, at the bottom right of my blog page is a link to Craftdesigns4you and has an awesome, comprehensive discussion on this issue. If you are thinking about becoming a designer, this is mandatory reading for you.
When I stayed home with the kids and I was facing a decision about what I wanted to do, I thought that I wanted to be a children's book writer. When I did some research, someone, somewhere wrote that s/he couldn't "not write" that writing was just something that s/he had to do everyday like breathing, eating, sleeping, etc. That's how I feel about crochet. It is hard for me to make items from other people's patterns (anymore) because I get inspired to take them in new directions. I think you need to feel this way about crochet to seriously consider becoming a designer. in another post, I'll talk about the personality traits I think are ideal for designing.
If you love to crochet, please support your craft by purchasing patterns and books. If you cannot afford patterns and books, please encourage your library to acquire crochet books and magazines for their collections.
If the topic of copyright issues intrigues you, at the bottom right of my blog page is a link to Craftdesigns4you and has an awesome, comprehensive discussion on this issue. If you are thinking about becoming a designer, this is mandatory reading for you.
When I stayed home with the kids and I was facing a decision about what I wanted to do, I thought that I wanted to be a children's book writer. When I did some research, someone, somewhere wrote that s/he couldn't "not write" that writing was just something that s/he had to do everyday like breathing, eating, sleeping, etc. That's how I feel about crochet. It is hard for me to make items from other people's patterns (anymore) because I get inspired to take them in new directions. I think you need to feel this way about crochet to seriously consider becoming a designer. in another post, I'll talk about the personality traits I think are ideal for designing.
2 comments:
Dear Ellen,
Thank you so much for all the practical information you provide on your blog. I am home with three children and am thinking very carefully about what it might take to become a crochet designer. I don't know what the outcome will be but the things you discuss are very helpful.
I haven't looked at what it would take to make a living with crochet design, but I know that the self-employment tax for my other business brings my total taxes to about 40%, and that's killer. People don't realize how much it really costs to run a business because they think the tax deductions are good and that will lower their tax. It does, but then you have to add back in the SE tax it's a wash.
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