You know how it is!
You want a specific style of crochet pattern and, in years gone by, you could quite confidently go online, find something you liked and purchase it with the reasonable expectation that you were getting just that: a pattern to make the thing.
These days?
Not so much.
AI is hiding in every corner, or so it would seem.
But where are all the real crochet designers?
If you've checked all the usual spots, lurking in the aisles of your LYS (local yarn store), wandering around indie fibre festivals, or perhaps sitting in that local café that doesn't mind you taking up a table all day with an endless supply of your favourite brew while you crochet away, and you've still had no luck...
Well, Fiona from Flo's Crafty Crochet and me, from Auburncraft Crochet Design, have been trying to be helpful.
So what have we been up to?
Fiona and I have been friends across the miles for years. She's in Ireland and I'm an Aussie, of course.
Over the years we've both encountered plenty of stumbling blocks while trying to grow our crochet businesses. So back in 2020, we decided it might be a good idea to dedicate a Facebook group to supporting published crochet designers.
And that's how Crochet Designer Support Group came about.
It has grown quite a bit since then and now has a community of nearly 600 genuine crochet designers.
There is a requirement to join. Designers need to have at least two published crochet patterns.
That was important to us.
We weren't trying to create another group where anyone could simply announce that they were a crochet designer because they had made a granny square once.
We wanted people who were actually designing and publishing crochet patterns.
Fast forward to 2022 and a friend had a crochet Facebook page they were no longer putting time into.
Fiona and I took it over and linked it to the Support Group.
And that page became the Crochet Designer Studio.
So what does the Crochet Designer Studio actually do?
Quite simply, it gives the designers in our Support Group somewhere to show their work to potential customers.
A new pattern?
A new collection?
A promotion?
A CAL?
Something exciting happening in your crochet business?
The Studio is there for this sort of thing.
The Studio is a Facebook page, and it also has its own Instagram account. We use these to showcase the work of the designers who are part of Crochet Designer Support.
And yes, with AI now becoming a very real issue in the crochet world, I think that's more important than ever.
But this isn't really an anti-AI page.
It's about something much more useful.
Finding the real people behind the patterns.
What does that mean if you're a crocheter?
Well, hopefully, it means another place to find your next favourite designer.
You might see a design on the Studio page that catches your eye.
You might discover a designer you've never heard of.
You might find exactly the sort of pattern you've been looking for.
And you get the opportunity to follow that designer, find their patterns and see what else they create.
Because behind that pattern is an actual person.
Someone who sat down with a hook and yarn and worked out how the thing was going to work.
Someone who probably frogged it.
Possibly several times.
Someone who knows what the stitches are supposed to do because they actually designed the pattern.
So yes, we have nearly 600 crochet designers all ready to show you their designs!
Fiona and I have built a community of nearly 600 crochet designers who would love you to discover and support their work.
Naturally, we would also like you to support our businesses.
We're designers too, after all.
But the Crochet Designer Studio is a community initiative.
It isn't just about Fiona and me.
It's about giving all those designers in Crochet Designer Support another opportunity to be seen.
And when you visit the Studio, you're not going to find a feed full of random crochet images from who-knows-where.
You'll find the work of real designers from our community.
So help us to help you
If you're a crocheter, follow the Crochet Designer Studio on Facebook and Instagram and see who you discover.
You might find a designer you've never heard of.
You might find the perfect pattern for something you've been wanting to make.
And if you're a crochet designer who respects copyright and has at least two published patterns, you're welcome to join us in Crochet Designer Support.
We're trying to make it a little easier for real designers to find customers and for customers to find real designers.
Because there are a lot of us out here.
We're just sometimes a little harder to find amongst all the noise.
So we're doing what we can to shine a little light on them.
Real designers. Real patterns. Real people behind the work.
Add a comment below if you are following the Crochet Designer Studio on Facebook and Instagram.
And don’t forget to follow Auburncraft Crochet Design and Flo’s Crafty Crochet too!
