Common Courtesy

So I have been wanting to write this blog post for a few days now, maybe weeks but I have not had the chance too. Why? Oh just because I am recovering from having a mastectomy a week and a half ago. So the crochet world and the craft world in general is HUGE. Everyone plays off of each others designs or takes inspiration.....fine. Giving credit were credit is due is ALWAYS a good thing. If you sell your crochet items or sewing items many designers ask that if you sell the item to put in the listing who the pattern is by. I, of course sometimes skip that step when posting for my fans BUT I do try my very best to go back and add the designer. In my Artfire or Etsy Shop I ALWAYS put down who the pattern designer is. So with this being said here comes the whole common courtesy thing.

These designer (whether it be crochet, sewing, knitting, etc) use testers. These testers test the pattern out while making sure there are no errors or if something sounds confusing to get it worked out so it is not confusing. Pattern tester will also provide photos to the designer and something designers will ask the person if they can use their picture. A-okay to use the picture. I have tested for a lot of patterns from different designers. I am in some of their groups and some we work through email. When designers use to ask me if they could use my photos I would agree. I have had many designers give me credit for my work and my photo BUT I have also had some "big" name designers not even tell anyone whose work they were using.  This my friends is kind of rude in my OWN opinion. To me it is like me creating a hat from there pattern BUT not even mentioning in my listing who the pattern designer is. 

I would think that most designers would give credit to photos that they used of items by their testers. I am not saying that ALL designers do this but I have ran into a few who have used MY photos and haven't even given credit to my photos. Because of these designers who have done this to me I have started watermarking my images TWICE. One you can read and the second is a embossed overlay. I DON'T like to do the watermarking (call me lazy if you will, lol) because I think it takes away from the item. I use to do the whole honor system with these designers thinking her they can at least say photo from Urban Hookin'. So I now watermark all of my photos even for those that I KNOW that give credit to the owner of the photo. So this brings me to another thing I want to mention.....TESTING!

Yes, pattern testing! I have and still do pattern test for designers. Some designers are AMAZING to work with and some are eh! Communication....that's it! When a tester sends you an email of what they have found or give suggestions as to what helped them don't ignore the email. Said a message back to let them know that you saw it. Just like the Designer, Testers do take time away from their family and etc. They go over everything a designer wrote and check for spelling, grammar, # counts, measurements, etc.....oh and they even send a photo of the finished item! I know I get excited when I get selected by the designer to test their pattern. I LOVE to test as well as work orders. Having an amazing designer to work with makes it all that much better. When I don't hear back from a designer on something I tested and gave my opinion I feel like I wasted my time. It's also nice when the designer sends the final draft to their testers as a Thank You.

So all in all I guess this post is about giving credit of photos that are not your own work and communicating with pattern testers. Sorry if I have offended anyone by this post but this is solely my opinion. I have been quiet for far to long and I needed to get this out.