I spent an incredibly stupid amount of time fighting with my computer today in a problem that involved 16gb of garbage that couldn't be removed from my camera's SD card. It's fixed now, but it gets dark around 4:15 nowadays, so all I have to share with you in the way of pictures today is that poorly lit, oddly colored picture of my progress on stripe study. I just finished the first CC stripe and I'm in love. I might just marry it.
But, as the subject heading indicates, I have something bigger on my mind today as well. It involves a long, complicated thought process and it's not totally organized, and there are contradictions and desires pulling in opposite directions and ... how about I just lay it all out for you.
I wish we all did a bit more critiquing of knitting and crochet patterns on our blogs.
On one hand, this is a very simple desire for me. Blogs that only say nice, superficial, generic things bore the crap out of me. As a person, I tend to default to running my mouth. I have a lot of opinions. Sometimes I don't say them very nicely. Oftentimes I regret what I say or the way I said it, whether or not I always even think the thing I said is true. I frequently change my mind about people/patterns/assorted other issues, and I will freely admit to having changed my mind. I don't think we all need to stick by our opinions when we've been confronted with new information that might make us feel differently.
On the other hand, specifically when it comes to criticism of designers and their designs, it's important to remember that designers are human beings with feelings. While I tend to be a bit of an obnoxious mouth-runner, I'm also a very sensitive, soft-hearted person. While my feelings aren't always that easily hurt (more on that in a bit) the prospect of hurting someone else really, really pains me. I can't stand it. This sounds like a bit of a truism, but when I started designing I became acutely aware of the fact that designers are people. I really, really love to see the things people have made using patterns I've written. I love to see their interpretations and how they make the pattern work for them. I love seeing what they have to say about the things they make. It is constantly amazing to me that I can come up with an idea, make a thing, write instructions for making that thing, and then people can MAKE THAT THING. It's a simple joy, but I love it. But the joy I get from seeing people talk about my patterns makes me reticent to criticize the work of others. A person wrote that pattern, you know? And they have feelings. And I really, really don't want to hurt those feelings. And in the past, in order to avoid possibly hurting someone's feelings, I have held back in my discussions of some patterns, even when the way something is written or even conceived of ends up driving me to the brink of insanity - and lord knows we've all been there.
But even given the fact that writers of patterns are people with feelings, and that I would like to be nice and not hurt people's feelings, I still think there is a place on blogs for constructive critique. What constitutes constructive critique, however, probably doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Liking or not liking someone's aesthetic isn't really good critique of a design. I see tons of things out there that I personally would neither knit/crochet nor wear, but that I think are fabulous designs. They're just not for me. And that's fine. I don't think it's right to rag on them if you just don't like them. There is a way to criticize the technical elements of a design while accounting for its overall goals and aesthetics; I don't think this is necessarily hurtful.
As far as the way a pattern is written, there are many possibilities on how to write things, and so far as the writing conforms to some standard existing out there in the world, whether or not I agree with that standard, I don't particularly feel I have the right to complain about that. Frequently things are abbreviated in a way I might not agree with, but on the other hand, space is always at a premium in patterns, and layout and space and what these things have to do with writing is by no means an issue to be taken lightly.
When it comes to errors, however, I am of two minds. As a knitter/crocheter, I know how frustrating it can be to struggle with something and then find out or figure out it is because there is a mistake in the pattern. When there are multiple mistakes I get especially angry. (This is where the mouth running comes in.) As a designer, I don't particularly mind having a mistake pointed out to me, or having someone ask me if something is a mistake. I'm a human being; I make mistakes. I have my patterns edited, but you know what - the editor is a human being as well. It happens. I appreciate being corrected in that regard, so long as it's done so nicely.
This issue of my own fallibility brings me back around to the beginning - to critique and hurt feelings. As a designer, I frequently look back at my own designs and see things I could have done better. A fair number of these things drive me crazy. So I think there's something to be said to being open to constructive critique as well. It doesn't particularly bother me to hear someone say, "I think you could have done this thing in this other way," or even "why did you do it that way?" I can always disagree, or maybe discussing whatever issue it is could lead me to see the design in a new way. Critique can lend insight.
So while there's a lot to be said for both sides of the internet etiquette issue, I still do wish we could all critique more - offering constructive criticism, and receiving it as well. At any rate, I just thought I'd put these thoughts down and maybe see we could have some discussion. Hope you're all having a lovely evening, and I'll be back tomorrow for the - GASP - last day of nablopomo.
Yeah, I rarely ever critique patterns in a public venue. I might rage about it on my locked twitter account, but I, too, hate the thought of hurting someone’s feelings. However, when I do project notes on Rav, if I have a problem with the pattern I would definitely mention the specific issue in a non-bitchy way. I almost always take a peek at a handful of projects on Ravelry before starting a pattern to see if people had issues and I always find it helpful. For some reason putting it in my notes on Rav doesn’t seem as “bad” as critiquing in the middle of the internet on a blog or something? Why I feel this way I don’t know since Ravelry is certainly not private & every designer is on there but THAT’S JUST HOW I FEEL LAUREN AND I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR IT.
Since I started designing my own patterns I have had quite distinct opinions on this subject as well. On one hand it is painful if someone pulls your design apart, on the other, I can’t understand people not telling the designer if there is an obvious error in their pattern. One of my first patterns sold around 10 copies before I decided to reknit that pattern for a gift (my Dad had felted his hat – should have known better than to give him non-washable yarn, but we live and learn). I printed off my pattern and started knitting it, only to find a couple of errors. I couldn’t believe that NOBODY had told me about these errors, despite having a paragraph at the bottom of each pattern I release asking people to contact me if they find errors or struggle with anything.
There is definitely a way of telling people about errors, but don’t ignore them!
I’ve been thinking about this since I first read the post last night. I hate the idea, like you, of hurting someone’s feelings.
I just looked through my project page to see if it would jog memories of any patterns I’ve had opinions about. Interestingly, I came across the “Champagne Fizz” hat I knit. If you go to the pattern comment page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/champagne-fizz-hat/comments you will see a number of different types of comments. The first one, “Are these people insane?” Is a hurtful type of comment, I think especially for the designer. It’s not helpful in any way, it’s just pretty much mean. Another comment, “This doesn’t just nod to high fashion. It sadly waves goodbye to it.” is still a little mean-spirited, it says more about how runway styles don’t always translate to what people should actually wear. I get it.
I like to praise designers when I think they’ve done a great job (so many do!). And I keep my mouth shut if I dislike something. I’ll definitely be thinking about constructive criticism more now, though. Thanks for bringing it up!
I have never designed anything really popular or anything but an honest mistake being pointed out I can handle. It’s the non-pattern related stupidness that makes me ragey (like: I don’t like really like any of the design features of this pattern, please tell me how to knit something totally different. GRR.) I try to separate the designs from the designer. For instance one pattern was so badly written that I nearly demanded a refund but I went on to use another pattern by the same designer that was flawless. And like Bertha, I feel like Ravelry is a slightly less confrontational way of explaining errors/issues.
I like that you wrote this post…I saw what prompted it and I sort of had conflicted feelings about it. I am not a designer but this applies to all kinds of scenarios. As a scientist, I get reviews on every paper that I submit and constructive criticism is very different than bashing. For example, we had to have a statistician review a paper once and one of her comments was ‘Duh’. Yes, to me and to her, it actually was a ‘duh’. But first, how is that comment helpful and second…the paper was written because SO MANY biologists had been using a statistical technique incorrectly in the literature. This statistician was just that…a statistician…and didn’t know the wildlife literature and thus the misuse of a technique. By the time I got finished reading her edits/comments I was so red with anger I couldn’t see straight. She was unprofessional. And I think that’s what I need to see when criticism is given. To me, it isn’t the forum, it isn’t the criticism itself or even the validity of the criticism…it’s that it is done in a ‘professional’ way. And that’s why I’m still conflicted…
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I agree. I like to think of knitters and crocheters as a community. As a community we have a responsibility to the next knitter to resolve the issue – to the beautiful pattern to help perfect it -and to the hard working designer to allow them to make corrections But there is no need for thoughtless snarking. i view it as a collaborative effort when I point out an error and would hope that someone would do the same for me.
I recently read a blog by someone who was lamenting some “unsubscribes” assuming that they were in reaction to some negativity in her own blog. She was obviously going through a very rough time and was really distressed. I realized later that I had just cleaned up some duplicate entries in my Google reader blog list and may well have been one of her un-subscribers. I hadn’t given a thought to the cleanup, it wasn’t meant as a criticism just efficiency. But I will be more aware next time. I would not have hurt her for anything in the world. I respect every blogger for sharing their work, their insights and their personal stories and wish that we could all be a little kinder in general.
The internet has opened up so many wonderful possibilities for communities and collaboration, but there is something about the anonymity of the net that leads to insensitive and hurtful behavior.
I am old enough to remember a time when manners were more important and hope we’ll develop some digital manners as the internet matures.
I feel the same way about critiquing. There’s such a fin line between constructive and destructive. I also tend to be more free with my feelings on a pattern while using ravelry. I loved hearing your thoughts on feedback. When I put out my first pattern last month, I had a super obvious DUH mistake. I got a really nice email about it, asking, “maybe you made a mistake?”, which was much appreciated. It was only the day after I released, so I quickly edited again and made the change. Just felt like a huge jackass. I will definitely work harder to review before publishing next time.
Also, yay! stripe study!!
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Critique is weird for me. I think it’s because I have some pretty intense perfectionist tendencies. Actually, scratch that, I’m an insane, off-the-wall, if it isn’t perfect it isn’t good enough psycho. I take critique quite badly myself, and I’m always terrified other people feel similarly. So I tend to go for the happy, shiny, super considerate approach. Not just in knitting/sewing reviews, but in life in general. If I do have anything potentially negative to say, I always try to make it sound like it’s MY fault, rather than someone else’s. I’d hate for someone to feel uncomfortable when I know they’ve put in effort to make it as good as possible (even if their “good” doesn’t align with my definition of “good”).
Of course, now I’m reading a book called “Nice girls just don’t get it”, which is basically telling me I need to stop doing that :S
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unrelated but FYI the flickr link on the About page is broken.
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oh where to start …
i’m of the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything” school of thought, but that doesn’t mean that if i notice an error, i will keep my mouth shut. letting a designer know that there’s a possibility of a boo-boo is being helpful, as long as it’s done respectfully. letting a designer know that that you hate their design on the other hand, is unnecessarily cruel. and there’s just no need for it. there’s tons of stuff out there that leaves me cold, but i don’t have to knit it, and unless someone asks me what i think, i’m not going to write it on my blog or in the ravelry forums.
what’s funny though is that i’ve been on the receiving end of less than nice things said about some of my designs, and i’ve been ok about it. honestly ok. not everyone is going to like a granny square dress. heh. as long as i like it. right?
I can totally take criticism, but people with the ability to dish out criticism without being a jerk seem pretty thin on the ground.
That said, I’m collecting some patterns for release soon, and am debating setting up a form for feedback. Great idea? Terrible idea? I’m not sure!
I like seeing critique of knitting patterns in blogs too. It took me a long time to figure out that a lot of the time when I was having trouble, it wasn’t because I didn’t know what I was doing, but that the writer of the pattern was being unclear. I mean, they got to the point of writing this up, having it edited, and publishing it. Surely the people who get that far know what they’re doing!
Interestingly, just last week when I was admiring a sample Rock Island in a lovely yarn store in Gold Country, the knitter of the shawl warned me that the pattern was not very well-written.This was the first Brooklyn Tweed critique I remember hearing in real life. (But I could be forgetting about someone of the many I know who’ve knit it complaining about Koolhaas.) Then I saw the WryPunster post detailing problems with another JF pattern. Alack! Now it’s a thing. So I can watch out for it.
I wish there were more actual critique in the blogosphere right now. But, like you said, it should be constructive. I want to know how original or thoughtful the construction is, whether techniques are sufficiently explained, and whether the piece is enjoyable to knit or annoyingly fiddly.
I think the knitting world hasn’t really figured out the etiquette of communicating with and about designers/designs. I put out my first pattern a year ago and loved being able to share my idea with the knitting community. I put a note at the end asking people to contact me with questions, thinking that great conversations would spring up over the pros and cons of different techniques. Instead, I got more emails than I care to think about with questions that were (I thought) clearly answered by something that I had written in the pattern. There’s a long post on my blog from this past spring that covers this in more detail.
I just wanted to say that I hear you and I wish people put more thought into what they write to and about designers.