NOTE: this post includes LINKS to the various resources used in these projects

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This year was one of those “milestone” birthdays for my daughter, and she found a crocheted tote bag that she wanted me to make for her. I dutifully – and excitedly – got to work on it (who among us – fiber artists – isn’t THRILLED when a family member asks us to make them something!!??!).

Almost immediately, challenges emerged. The pattern wasn’t explicit, the video tutorial assumed that certain phrases meant the same thing to everyone, and – I know this may just be my issue – the crochet hook “squeaked” throughout the video and I had a hard time listening and being able to hear/understand the steps of the pattern.

On top of that, I got the birthday request just 2 weeks ahead of the birthday party. I gave it the old college try, and actually got half of the tote’s pieces completed to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, the second half did not go well,… at all.

Less than a week out from the big party, I had a decision to make. The crochet hook and yarn got put down, and the sewing machine studio was activated. I am fortunate to host a rather impressive stash of fabric (more expansive than my yarn stash, I think) and soon found fabric that turned out to be PERFECT for my daughter’s gift as the print fits her personality to a ‘T’! The finished tote is featured at the top of this post.

The party was a success, she loves her tote bag, and I promised her that I would eventually get a complementary crochet tote in the Halloween theme, but that the pattern she found, as presented, was a no go.

As often happens with fiber artists of ALL mediums, in my searching for a different (more clear) pattern for a crocheted Halloween tote bag pattern, I discovered something else: I found the Lost Souls Shawl pattern.

It captured my attention and interest, and I went on a hunt to find the pattern. I discovered that there was ONE source: the designer, who had the pattern posted on their Ravelry page. I went to that page and saw that it was no longer for sale.

NOTE: initially, I did not read all the way down – read on for more details

Dejected, I decided to look on YouTube, as I assumed – correctly – that there would be at least 1 tutorial video of this piece posted there; and I was not disappointed.

I chose Fiber Spider’s tutorial (it notes they have permission from the designer to create the tutorials), and then settled in to watch and learn.

There are 4 tutorial videos in this series, each of them around 30 to 45 minutes in length. I sat down with yarn/crochet hook in hand and cat at my side to see if this was do-able OR if this was a doomed project for me. The tutorials were well done and Fiber Spider’s host is adept at showing and explaining details that even the newest crocheter would be able to grasp. Soon I had the beginnings of my first Lost Crochet Shawl, shown below.

A couple notes about fiber arts tutorials.

1. They are a TERRIFIC way to get clarity on what can sometimes be obtuse written directions
   • I’m a BIG fan of them!
2. Fiber artists have to choose between the sequence of crocheting/knitting along the first time they watch it, or only watching and taking notes on the spoken directions.

For QUICK projects, both #1 and #2 are not only possible, but easily accomplished, however; for projects that include multiple tutorial videos over several hours, this is less feasible – especially for busy people.

As someone who is still working full-time in my career, holding down a couple side hustles as a trainer and adjunct faculty member, and with a busy family that includes grandkids in pre-school, grandkids in college, elderly parents and everything in between, I soon realized that I did not have time to search the YouTube videos to refresh my memory of the row/stitch sequences and repeats each time I sat down to continue the project. I needed to get the written instructions. I ALSO knew that from the pattern shared on the YouTube video that there were a couple edits or approaches that were slightly different from the original pattern, and I was following those – even though the tutorial noted the originals, as well as the optional approaches.

I wanted the written pattern, ASAP, and here’s where technology’s opportunities/challenges emerge.

I set up one of my AI tools to find the videos at the specific URL (web addresses) and create a script from them. In less than 30-seconds, I not ONLY had the pattern, but the tool (its LLM) had recognized the accepted abbreviations in crocheting (single crochet = sc as one example) and appropriately used those throughout the pattern, even though the abbreviations are not spoken in the video. It also formatted the pattern into a visually appealing written document.

Wow.

I immediately began to think about how the wondrous conveniences of technology (YouTube, AI, etc.) are a net positive to fiber artists, and yet – they are ALSO a business “threat“ – especially to fiber artists who create and sell their work as part of their income stream.

We don’t need to look very hard online to find people posting about Intellectual Property (IP) theft on platforms like Etsy and others. According to Google’s AI (Gemini), “A 2015 financial services firm study found that over 5% of Etsy’s offerings, roughly two million items, were either counterfeit or violated copyright or trademark rules.“. Etsy gets a lot of “hate” from fiber artists and designers for what is perceived to be a lackluster response to the issue, but they are not alone in their IP challenges.

On Ravelry, IP theft usually takes the form of pattern piracy. Pattern piracy includes the unauthorized sharing of patterns, where other users post copyrighted paid patterns for free; and design copy, where one creator may publish a pattern that is an uncredited copy or minor variation of another’s work, as their original piece.

As someone who works (professionally) in the information technology space, I am well aware of the CHALLENGES of this technology that we embrace for many of the improvements in our lives. Plus, as the daughter of someone who made a living creating unique handcrafted gifts when I was a child, I am EXTREMELY sensitive to copy cat actions.

Let’s be clear: there is not going to be a simple, straightforward or even feasible approach to STOPPING the outright theft of others’ works. If we make and sell things in this space, we are going to have to accept that, and work on identifying ways to circumvent it

As to the circumvention, I have no great wisdom to share; but I do have an idea about our role as fellow-fiber artists and crafters.

We should be striving to ALWAYS do the right thing by our colleagues in the fiber arts community.

This will mean something different to each person, so I will share how I approached this issue in the case of the Lost Souls Shawl pattern.

Situation

• I legally accessed a YouTube video where someone – with permission – demonstrated a pattern that I understood to be no longer available.
• From those (again, legal) resources, I used a tool licensed to me for my personal use to translate the video into a more useful – to me – resource.

Response

• I did not post the pattern anywhere, nor offer to share it across my fiber arts community groups.
• Once I discovered that there was an option to receive a written pattern from the designer by donating ($10 or more) to an Animal Rescue organization, I made the donation to our local Humane Animal Rescue organization.
• THEN, in a subsequent follow-up visit to Ravelry, I discovered that the designer has again begun to sell her pattern for the Lost Souls Shawl. I purchased a copy in support of the fiber artist and her work – even though I already had the pattern.

A couple follow-up points.

Some may criticize me for posting about how I translated the videos to text, but this is not a state secret, and I promise you that I’m not the 1st person to do this – nor will I be the last.

We can’t control EITHER of those things, but we CAN control our responses to these and related issues. We can strive to do the right thing for the designers whose work we enjoy.

I may receive some criticism from people who say they “can’t afford” to buy all the patterns they want or “need“, and to that I say ‘horse crap‘.

To a person, we all have way more fabric/yarn and patterns than we will EVER make in our lifetimes, regardless of how old we are today. If we limit ourselves to only “wanting” patterns that we will actually sit down and make, there’s no reason – ZERO – we can’t afford the handful of dollars that the designers are asking of us for their creative endeavor.

Many of us bemoan the loss of Joann’s to private equity (greed); and worry about the closing of our local fabric and yarn stores due to rising costs (tariffs and inflation). Let’s be the ANTI-greed and support our brothers and sisters in fiber by doing the right thing – even when it’s awfully easy not to.

It’s what our grandmothers, great-grandmothers and others would have done, and I like to think mine are still watching over me, and – hopefully – approving of my fiber activity choices and actions.

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(C) 2025 Fiber Harmony/Stitch ‘n Dish

Links:

• Lost Souls Shawl pattern link (paid pattern)