FAQs
Welcome
I do my best to answer every single email I get, in as timely a way as I can. However, with my day job, home life, design work and various other responsibilities, I cannot always respond as quickly as I like. Before you write, you might see if I can answer your question right here.
What copyright/terms of use apply to your patterns?
I'm pleased to make my free and for sale patterns available for personal, non-commercial and charitable use. That means that you are welcome to use the pattern to make items for yourself, as gifts and to give to charity or offer as prizes at charitable events. You are also welcome to print out or copy my pattern as many times as you need for your own use. If you wish to use my patterns to teach classes, to make items for sale or to use on your own site or publication, please contact me using the form on this page.
In accordance with copyright law, I ask that you do not copy my patterns or other content from my site, to share either in print or electronically. If you wish to share something from my site with another person, please give them a link here, instead.
Do you sell your knitted samples?
I do not. My samples are used for various knitting events and as a reference when providing support for patterns.
Can I hire you to knit something for me?
I don't do knit for hire for a few reasons. Firstly, I don't generally enjoy reknitting something I've already knit. I would rather spend my time coming up with new ideas. Secondly, knitting is time consuming and in order for it to be worth my while, I would have to charge far more than any sane person would be willing to spend. If you are interested in having someone knit a piece for you, you might want to check with your local yarn shop. Most yarn shops employ sample knitters and one might be available to assist you.
Do you offer this pattern in crochet?
I am not able to convert my existing knitting patterns to crochet or vice versa.
I want to use a different yarn for this pattern, can you tell me how?
The most successful yarn substitutions are generally for yarns that have the same characteristics as the yarn indicated in the pattern. Changes in gauge, fiber and spinning method, will all impact the success of the finished piece. I cannot guarantee the success of any yarn substitution but I will do my best to try to help you if you ask.
Ravelry is also a great resource for this sort of thing. Both the forums and the yarn search feature are great ways to find out if a yarn is a good match for a project.
Will you write a custom pattern for me?
While I do consider publication requests from yarn companies and publishers, I generally do not do custom design work for individuals. As with knit-for-hire, your local yarn store is a great place to get help with customizing of patterns and knitting help.
Why are your patterns so expensive?
The short answer is that it takes a lot of time and quite a few resources to produce a pattern. But, I realize that not everyone can afford to pay as much as $10 for a single pattern. I offer loads of free patterns and there are so many great resources online offering cheap and free patterns to the public. I hope that when you can, you will support independent designers by buying their patterns, even if you are not able or interested in buying mine. When people can earn a living wage from designing, they are more likely to put time, care, and support into their work and they are more likely to produce great patterns.
Can you write out the charts in a pattern for me?
My patterns are offered "as-is" and while I am happy to provide support to the best of my ability, I am not able to provide additional services such as writing out charts, changing gauge or adding other sizes. With my for-sale patterns, I do my best to offer you as much information up-front, as I can, so that you can determine if a pattern will be a good match for you. If there is any information you need before buying, please contact me. I never want to sell a person a pattern they cannot use.
I can't find one of your free patterns. Can you tell me where to get it?
In the past, I have published a few free patterns for now defunct publications or shows. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that they'd take their sites down and I did not save a copy of the patterns. You can try checking the wayback machine. Many of the patterns may still be accessible that way.
Where can I find your design tutorials?
All of my tutorials can be found here. There's a link to them in the site navigation, as well.
I am having trouble with one of your tutorials because I have a different version or a different OS.
Most of my tutorials should work even in newer versions of the software, but the functions may have moved or been renamed. I would encourage you to check the Help menu for the application or search for the function in google.
I cannot afford the software in your tutorials, do you have any suggestions?
There are open source alternatives for all the software I use and while they may not have all the bells and whistles, they are more than up to the tasks outlined.
For Microsoft Office, consider Open Office as an alternative.
For Photoshop you can use Gimp
For Illustrator you can use Inkscape
For InDesign you can use Scribus
What kind of dogs do you have?
All my dogs are rescues but to the best of our knowledge, they are border collie mixes. The two girls (white with black spots) are, we believe, border collie and cattle dog, while the boy (wearing the black tux and white shirt and spats) is, we think, border collie and lab. The easiest way to tell the girls apart is to count their eye patches. Panda has one eye patch, Thea has two.
Are your dogs related to each other?
Nope, no known relation at all. We got them in different states, different years, through different rescues.
Where do I buy a k-tel knitter?
I don't have any affiliation with k-tel nor any resources for obtaining the tools, patterns or books associated with them. If you are trying to track one down, I suggest you check ebay. Sometimes they are sold alone but they can also be found amongst lots of knitting supplies. Best of luck.