I have a habit of disappearing. I’m no Houdini, I promise you that. I might exist on a social media blitz high – posting on my Facebook group, Ravelry, Twitter, yada –  for a couple weeks and then disappear for awhile. That’s the nature of my existence, for now anyways, due by in large to the multitude of constraints hoisted upon me.

Yes, even while I’ve been on a 2-month staycation from the Day Job – let’s not mention that too much since I’m 36 hours away from its demise – I’ve been busy working. I’m not one to rest on my laurels. If given 2 months off, I try to use my time wisely (sorta). I believe in a philosophy of working hard and playing hard. On this staycation, however, it’s certainly been more work than anything. Between doing stuff around the house, selling things on eBay, getting rid of stuff around the house, pumping out pattern updates, and working with clients – other self-published crochet and/or knit designers – I’ve kept myself busy. Such is the case of the later in the last several days.

KRW Knitwear

Karen Ratto-Whooley contacted me nearly 8 months ago about doing the graphics for her pattern line. She’s a busy mom with an equally busy schedule of teaching classes and designing for herself and other notable publications and is like most prolific designers in that she’d rather have someone else deal with the graphics-end of things while she concentrates on the designing itself.

When Karen approached me about laying out her patterns, she was doing what most designers without graphics experience or a graphics budget do: use a basic word processing program to layout her work. Yes, one can get by doing this, but there are so many limitations to those programs, nor do they ever produce something that’s as polished in presentation as one can achieve through traditional print-publication software. That’s where I come in.

Karen wanted something simple (“minimal” is what she said) in terms of layout and color palette. She had gone ahead and had a really lovely logo created by another designer. It’s a yarn ball that leads up to a butterfly which represents her “Nonna.”

by Missa of KPixie

The layout needed to reflect her color choices she’d started with: brown and pink with lots of white space in the layout. She wanted a flexible layout that could work if she decided to include diagrams, schematics, and step-outs, or not. Additionally, she was hoping to cut down her page usage which for a simple pattern was eating up sometimes as much as 6 pages. And we certainly did that as the longest pattern of hers is only 2 pages (one sheet of paper back to back)! Now Karen is saving lots of money in up-front printing costs, enabling her to put that money back into the “profit” column without compromising the integrity of her patterns.

With a lot of back-and-forth, Karen and I, in a host of synergistic email conversations, came up with a layout design that we both love. It’s fun, airy, and flexible, simple without being understated. The important pre-pattern information – yarn, hook, notions, etc) are all in neatly organized brown framed bubbles on the side of each main product shot. The romance text – that name makes me chuckle because I instantly think of the word SWOON – is in a prominent, brown colored box near the top as well as the name of the pattern, which makes it easy for LYS’s with a lot of patterns to locate quickly. And the pattern text flows seamlessly from there on down.

Front pages of several KRW Knitwear patterns

The layout also translates well to her catalog, which she also had me do over too. The catalog is designed for 11×17 format so the back and front cover are on the same side with the two inside pages next to one another. On the bottom of the two inside pages is a series of descriptions about the features of KRW patterns as well as pointing out that Karen teaches classes and is going to be selling some kits for her patterns in January 2011.

Back and Front Cover

Two Inside Pages

There’s nothing more exciting than a make-over!

Six years of doing business selling online crochet patterns. SIX. I love what I do, but I don’t love dealing with PayPal. Matter of fact, I dislike them with a passion.

Cartoon courtesy of PayPalSucks.ORG

In the last six years, I’ve had to make several phone calls to PayPal to work out claims and disputes. Every time it’s involved someone making a purchase and not realizing one of the following:

1) They’re downloading a pattern, not an actual item (I kid you not, a few people have purchased thinking they were getting, oh, let’s say a $6.50 real shawl) and they want their money back. It’s no wonder why I have to put this on my site:

2) The link to the file was sent to them, sometimes landing in their spam filter. They had the email with the link, they just didn’t realize it. To solve this, I just forward it to them.

3) The link to the file wasn’t sent to them to the best of their knowledge. They checked their spam filter to no avail. And no emails landed in their inbox containing said link. This is another easy one to solve. I forward the email from PayLoadz (they are the sending source for the patterns) - because I’ve received it but they haven’t. It includes the link and they download the file. In a few rare instances, neither the customer nor I have received the email from PayLoadz. This is always PayLoadz fault as their system somehow didn’t pick up the receipt from PayPal. So I go into PayPal to confirm their purchase and then send them a link from PayLoadz manually.

4) They couldn’t open the file. Now this was caused by two things: a) their Adobe Acrobat software is out of date or 2) they didn’t realize there was a password involved (which was listed in the same email with the link to the file). I’ve gone ahead and solved that issue by removing the necessity for the open document passwords. But until now, the password has been in the same email with the link to the file just some people didn’t see it was there at the very top of the email. And then again in the second paragraph. No big deal though.

In each and every instance, I’ve had to call up PayPal to get the claim or dispute taken care of, otherwise, it could linger on for more than 30 days (Yes, I’ve had that happen before which means PayPal gets to keep my money for that long). In each and every instance I’ve been told that I needed to provide documentation that the item shipped, which I do. I send them the receipt of purchase, the receipt from Payloadz that the email was sent, and a copy/paste from my PayLoadz account showing the same. It’s usually taken care of right then and there.

A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE

Now, fast forward to three days ago when a payment made to me was flagged as a dispute a couple hours after purchase (that’s the higher tier of the two between claims and disputes, usually people put in a claim first then it escalates into a dispute). I instantly figured the scenario was one of the ones listed above. And I spent the next 30 minutes going through my emailed receipts and PayLoadz account looking for my documentation, taking screen captures, and uploading the pictures.

That was three days ago. I’d heard nothing from PayPal regarding this – not surprised – so I called them today. This time, however, I was informed that PayPal had flagged the transaction, and not the customer. I’ve never had that happen before. I asked the customer service rep why this happened to which I was told that it could be any number of things and that she wasn’t required to tell me why, as though this was a matter of international security.

So, I continued to press on about their non-existent virtual goods policy that gives all protection to the customer and none to the seller. I got the same has-been, regurgetated speech I got the last several times: “We apologize. We’re working on it. We recognize this is an issue and we apologize but as it stands, there is no policy. You have no protections.”

Sorry doesn’t cut it. I’ve been doing business – not so thankfully – with PayPal for six years. You mean to tell me it takes SIX YEARS or more to come up with a policy to protect both the sellers AND the customers equally? It’s time to embrace virtual goods as a real and viable form of goods that deserves protections. If that means that there’s an extra layer of security involved in the transaction, that goods can’t be downlaoded instantly but rather the transaction is checked and double-checked for authorization, I’m all for it. If it means I have to wait a few days for payment – and subsequently the buyer waits a few days for their item – just to know that it’s a valid transaction, then I’m all for it.

Back to the transaction, I was told that the money would be held for 10 – 15 days while they tried to contact the buyer to authorize the purchase. I asked what would happen if they said it wasn’t authorized. I’m sure you could guess the response. I don’t get my money and the buyer gets the goods. This kind of shell game is not cool in my book.

And they wonder why there’s an entire website dedicated to the disdain of PayPal several websites dedicated to the disdain of PayPal.

PayPalSucks.com

PayPalWarning.com

PayPalSucks.org

The Problem with PayPal

In the meantime, my account looks like this:

This has me puzzled because I was lead to believe the money from one single transaction was frozen, they were giving me my money back, and that the case was closed.

Nope.

When I click on all those cancelled fees, it leads to multiple transactions from different people, one of which I spoke to this week personally so I know it was a valid transaction! And the dispute? It’s still open.

This is a shell game of the worst kind.

They continue to get away with it. I’m not the only one who has had to deal with this. And some people have had it too as there’s a class action lawsuit against PayPal:

“The law firm of Freed & Weiss LLC has filed a lawsuit against eBay and PayPal on behalf of their clients, Ronya Osman and Brian Patee. The lawsuit charges that PayPal’s practice of “holding” funds for up to 180 days in the accounts is fraudulent because of the “systematic and arbitrary manner in which the freezing is done and the lack of information shared with affected customers.”

Freezing funds and not sharing information as to why? Hmm, SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

The day I can cut the strings that me to PayPal and PayLoadz will be an awesome day worthy of a red sangria toast.

It’s been in my head for awhile now to update and revamp the layout for all the NexStitch patterns. With the last published patterns (Rhiannon Tote and Dandelion Neck Cuff), I had done some updating to the layout to eliminate the “intro” page and rework the materials page to include more product pictures and edit out some unnecessary graphics (a picture of a hook and the chosen yarn) that add to the workload when self-publishing. But more so than that, the amount of paper the written portion of my patterns take up has always weighed heavily on my conscious.

I’ve struggled to find a balance between providing enough instructional material while producing Earth-friendly patterns. I’ve often failed in the later department. My thinking has always been that I’m providing instructions in two ways: the step-by-step version with tutorial pictures and an easy-printing format that’s in black and white with no pictures; I’ve always guessed (read: hoped) that people would be like-minded in their thinking about being Earth-friendly and not print out the step-by-step version but rather view and refer to it on their computer if they get stuck. Who wants to spend all that money on ink and paper anyways?

All of which makes me wonder: If you purchase crochet patterns online, do you print out all or a portion of the directions provided?

So far I’ve managed to reduce the number of pages from 1 page for the smaller patterns to as many as 4 in the larger ones. I’m nowhere near done yet, but I’m happy to be saving some trees even if it’s a time suck on my end to make that happen.

I’m really happy to see print magazines like Crochet! magazine lean towards technology and open up online subscriptions. It’s inspiring, actually. I’m going to save my thoughts about the supposed or not so supposed death of print media in the crochet world for another post because I have more thoughts on that which are more germane to that topic than this, but just know I’m hoping to see Interweave move in the same direction. I love getting my Interweave Crochet magazine in the mail – there’s a sense of romanticism for that tangible moment when it hits my hands – but I’ll be amongst the first to applaud and sign up for the digital version.

How about you all? Would you stop buying the print editions of magazines if you could get your hands on the digital versions? No? How about if the online version gave you access to all previous editions? What if the digital version was cheaper? What would it take for you to bag print and move to digital?

I’m very curious about your thoughts!

Wouldn’t that be awesome? A site called, “Crocehtbook” for all the crocheters out there. Guess that’s like Rav in some ways, huh?

Anyways, have I mentioned my Facebook fan page here? I don’t think I have. I’ve had one for awhile now, I just haven’t used it until recently. Come join me on Facebook! My plan is to use my page for pattern updates, errata, site improvements, yada yada. It’s a great social media tool. So join me over there if you’re always on Facebook and want to get updates about NexStitch stuff.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post. It seems that I’ve contained my socializing to Twitter these days. It’s fast. It’s easy. And it requires very little of me. I’ve been a lazy blogger stuck in a coma of sorts. And a lazy designer to boot. OK, that’s not entirely true. I’ve been hard at work helping other people reach their self-publishing goals but I’ve ignored by own. I made it my New Year’s Resolution to get back on the horse. And I have, just not in a momentous way.

Most of what I’ve been doing is designing graphics. Stitch diagrams. Charts. Layout. Schematics. You name it. So why not design something graphicy for myself?

The Beginning of an Idea

Last summer I found myself sitting in the park coming up with ideas – you know because my brain and hands can’t keep still even in a peaceful, serene environment like a park – to make T-shirt designs for a potential Cafe Press store. I’d come up with a long list of ideas, some of which are holiday related, that I wanted to roll out as the year went along. Well, two of the ideas time has come and gone in the wake of working on graphics for other people. I did manage to squeak out one idea before St. Patty’s Day approached which you can see here:

I started with the idea that I thought it would be cool to come up with a line of T-shirts (and other gear) that would include a stitch diagram of something as both a design concept and a way to sell a pattern of something in picture format. I’m starting out small here: a clover. It’s an easy shape to design in both crochet and graphic form.

Do I think this concept is sellable? I don’t know. I’m testing it out. Call it an experiment of sorts. We’ll see how it goes.

What do you all think of this idea? Am I crazy? Am I a genius? Am I wasting my time? Either way, if you like the shirt, you can buy one in my CafePress store!

I’m oddly drawn to the lime green shirt:

Sometimes it’s important to assess what you currently have going on in your life and make changes, updates, and improvements. New clothes. A new hairdo. Repaint the bedroom. Assess and downsize personal inventories.

And sometimes it’s important to realize what you have is so far outdated that it needs to be scratched and started over. “86′ed” as it’s called in the restaurant industry.

I’m down with that second option. It’s time for something new, a virtual makeover. A re-do of an old do. I’m busy planning a website re-design which will have more enhanced features. While I’m not going to spill all the beans – because I’m no mood to clean up after that kinda mess – let’s just say that I’m hoping to clean up and streamline my whole entire website to the point in which you won’t recognize it. It’s time for a good old fashioned ear lowering.

It’s on like Donkey Kong.

Finally. A published pattern. FINALLY.

I’ve been sitting on this pattern for a year and a half. That’s right. You aren’t seeing things. I did say A YEAR AND A HALF. Designers are known to come up with a bevy of ideas and sit on some of them, but it’s not so usual to be near the finish line and drop a project (or in my case, all designing) so suddenly. I ceased putting out new designs when I began taking on clients (other designers) for their own graphics needs. But I was finding myself spending less and less time with crochet. And truth be told, I rarely picked up a hook during my self-imposed internment.

It’s not that I didn’t want to. I did. It’s just…there were (and have been) so many other things on my plate that something had to give. The Day Job got stressful. More of the Side Work (aka. “graphics work”) was coming in. At one point, I wasn’t sure if the wedding was going to happen. And then my step-father passed away. And then there was a wedding scheduled along with all the details that were quite time consuming. I just didn’t have room for a hook in there, physically but more so mentally.

Does anyone else feel like that? Like you can’t have a fresh perspective on new designs if so many other things are crowding your brain? That’s how I felt anyway. I tend to put everyone and everything else first and me last. That’s what I was doing. In a way, I was devaluing my own self.

I have to reference something Kim Werker said a few months ago about ‘being afraid to be awesome’ (loosely paraphrased). It’s a self-imposed roadblock that I’ve chosen to dig myself out of. Starting today.

So now that some of those things have been resolved, I’ve chosen to get back on my metaphysical “horse” and pump out some new designs, do something for mefor a change.

SCRATCH THAT: But it here!

We’re oh-so close to releasing the 3rd and final volume of the Bag Book series from SFTD Online. (I will update this post when we go live).

Strapped For Bags, Volume 3 featuring:

A Crocheter’s Backpack by, Amy O’Neill Houck

Hip Hoppin’ Backpack by, Dee Stanziano

Knot Bag by, Doris Chan

Scrap Yarn Bag by, Marty Miller

Crochet Small Wire Bag by, Noreen Crone-Findlay

Felted Harvest Bag by, Tammy Hildebrand

Half-Double Half-Circle Handbag by, Vashti Braha

Natalie Zee Drieu from Craft Magazine posted some link action to my Adobe Illustrator tutorials. It’s always nice to get some link action from the crafty mavens at Craft.

It’s kinda funny, and yet amusingly odd to see my computer’s desktop for all the Internets to see over at Craft…

Here’s a sneak peak of a handbag pattern that I had started a long, longgggg time ago and finally finished this week. This bag is totally my style. I’m a beach girl through and though, so I chose to make it with raffia (Wraphia by Berwick). The bag has been embellished with embroidery and surface crochet. And it’s lined with some oh so lovely Amy Butler fabric.

Montauk Handbag

I enjoyed crocheting with Wraphia because it has a lot of stability. The stitches it produces are quite defined. The downside is that once you’ve worked it, frogging it back if you’ve made mistakes makes dents in the “yarn.” Re-working this frogged Wraphia is OK the first time or two, but after that many tries, it condenses enough that it affects the look of whatever you’re producing. So, if you’re considering designing something using it, I highly recommend that you buy extra to fool with.

I don’t have a sure fire date as to when it’ll be released (because I’m still working on getting some pics of step outs) but I’ll let you know when I do.