Last week, in a Facebook knitting group, a knitter posted a photo of a pair of socks that she had recently completed. They were lovely socks and many lovely comments were made about them. When she was asked to provide a link to the pattern, she did. The pattern link was followed by several comments criticizing the knitter for paying for a pattern when there are so many patterns available for free, and criticizing designers in general for charging for patterns at all. This turned into a huge discussion about free vs. paid patterns that I have been observing from a safe distance.
Weirdly, the same day that all of this kicked off on Facebook, I woke up to an email from a knitter who was admiring my patterns but wanted me to know that she would not be purchasing them because she believes that 'knitting patterns should be free' and I 'really should change my patterns to free'. She had a lot of *shoulds* for me. I responded by thanking her for her advice and pointing her toward my pattern, Solar Vortex, which is 20% off for the month of February.
This is the first time since 2012 (my first pattern was released into the world in 2012) that I have been criticized for offering paid patterns. I would not ask a yarn dyer to dye yarn for free or ask a sewer to make project bags for free, so it would never occur to me to ask a designer to make patterns for free.
My self-published patterns are not free. They cost roughly the same as a Starbucks coffee (so I am told, I don't actually drink coffee). They are not free because I incur costs to produce them. Here are some costs involved in producing a sock pattern:
- Yarn - I pay anywhere from $15 - $40 (including shipping) for enough yarn to make one sample of a new design. Occasionally I receive yarn support from yarn companies, but not very often for a self-published design
- Technical Editing - All of my patterns are tech edited. Two of my patterns have been tech edited twice by two different editors. Tech editors typically charge $20-$30 per hour and it takes 1-2 hours to tech edit a pair of socks. (depending on the pattern - charted patterns with colourwork and graded for multiple sizes take longer than simple designs with no charts, for example).
- Photography - I usually photograph my own socks. I have paid for foot forms and if a foot form is not the right size, I will pay models to model socks for me). I also pay for a subscription to Photoshop, and I consider a DSLR camera a must for pattern photography
- My Time - I do not actually factor my time into each design. It takes me 15 - 20 hours to knit the sample, about an hour to write the pattern and another hour to make revisions, work on formatting and layout and several hours communicating with test knitters, uploading patterns to websites and providing pattern support to knitters.
- Pattern Testing - My patterns are test knit. Pattern testers are the heroes of the indie design world, they donate their time and resources to knit up a design on a deadline while also providing feedback to improve the clarity of the pattern and point out any small errors that may have been missed. While testers are not paid, I have gifted free patterns, stitch markers and other small tokens of thanks to these awesome knitters.
- Ongoing costs related to knit design include: paying for industry specific charting software, a watermark service (I had a few photos stolen last year, so I am trying to be diligent about watermarking my pattern photos), paypal fees, Ravelry fees, website/domain fees, fees for courses (I take tech editing and other business related courses), business cards, branding (logos), photoshop, books and stitch dictionaries...
Independent knitwear design is not a lucrative gig - there are only a few who are able to quit their day job and pursue knitwear design full time. Most of us do it because we love it and charge for it to offset the costs of doing what we love.
Happy Knitting!
I totally agree with you. When I first got back into knitting in 2010, I mainly searched for, and knit, free patterns as a way to build experience. I didn't want to invest money if I wasn't going to keep knitting as a hobby. 6 years later, I still love knitting and pay for the majority of the patterns I knit (either individual patterns on ravelry or magazines). I do check ravelry regularly for what's new and can sometimes get patterns for a reduced price, since some designers put their patterns on sale for the first week. If I really love a pattern, I'm willing to pay full price. I think it has helped to follow designers on twitter, etc... as you see how much work they put into designs. They don't happen overnight!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Rachel!
DeleteI have zero issue paying for a pattern. (In fact I bought your Timey Wimey one just today.) I belong to a sock knitting group on FB and I'm surprised each time I see someone saying they only want free pattern suggestions for their yarn or people saying wow they'd never pay for a pattern when myself or others post a finished product from the "dreaded" pay pattern. Designers do a lot of work and many design in multiple sizes which isn't always offered in free patterns. I like to knit beautiful things out of beautiful wool. I have no desire to design my own patterns nor dye my own wool. That's what I pay all you indie designers and dyers for, so that I can do what I love which is to knit using top notch patterns and colourways. The price I pay is well worth it and much less than you truly deserve. So keep up the patterns and the charging :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your supportive words, Sarah!
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