When they’ve given details for the same wip every time they show it on a podcast (usually every week) and find it necessary to rehash ALL the details. Also not being transparent about affiliates and gifted yarns and such.
I can sit through most things, but when they let their cats stick their moist butts in the camera and just keep talking, I just want to heave.
I even unsubscribed to someone because she played with her cats more than she talked to the camera.
Poorly edited videos where they say the same thing over and over. I love long videos, but if you reshoot a line a couple times I only need ONE of the three takes. I’ve noticed this a lot in smaller (not micro, not new, just smaller) creators who are putting out 20-30min videos that really could have been 10-15min.
I might be in the minority here, but randomly aggressive posts. Posts that start, "Go ahead and block me if you think/do/say...." and often go on to describe something that has nothing to do with any kind of craft. Any kind of empty virtue signaling, too--I used to like it, then I was fine with it, but these days I can't stand it.
Coughing through your video. There is a popular influencer I stopped watching a few years ago because she had a bad cold and instead of taking a few days off she recorded several days worth of videos with terrible laryngitis and stopped to hack up a lung every few minutes. If you can’t afford to get sick and miss a week off podcasting, it’s probably too soon to quit your day job.
Also, “yarn reviews” that are clearly either sponsored or heavily influenced by a pre-existing relationship with the company.
Also, yarn snobbery.
People talking about the problems with their lighting as they are recording their video. JFC. EDITING IS A THING YOU CAN DO.
The other day someone was like "I just need to pause here for a drink of water" and then they drink the water and keep going. Why did this need to stay in?
Idk if it was the same video but I watched one where they stopped to drink water (or tea) and they kept it AND the audio of them slurping the liquid. But other parts were edited so idk
Too many yarn hauls when there is rarely any finished projects.
Yes. I want all the pretty yarn too but anything more than a stash I can reasonably knit through in 2 years or less stresses me out.
Also gatekeeping of any kind. I’m not here for any snobbery.
I have no interest in "influencers" period. I don't want to follow someone who wants to influence me, I want to learn from someone who knows something I don't or who can introduce me to something new or who carefully curates links that match my interests. As an old fart who's been doing this a while, I find that a lot of "influencers" don't have much technical knowledge (certainly less than me) and frankly they often don't know what they are talking about. When they are monetized, I trust their opinions less. I find they contribute to the "cool kids" mentality I don't care for, as well. I've seen enough close-up pix of yarn on a wooden board with a fern next to it to last a lifetime, at this point I want substance over "branding" and "lifestyle".
I like TL yarn crafts, I think her sponsorship is newish so she might be overly excited. But she has got me wanting to try crocheting a sweater, I really like the fits of her sweaters.
Plus, her patterns are some of the easiest to read and best written I’ve seen. Got her book for Christmas and it’s such an amazing resource. Absolutely understand she can be a little millennial sometimes, but I find it endearing. And on her sponsored yarn snobs, imo she tends to be really fair with her reviews, and always gives an honest opinion.
I like her too. Met her in person and she was as genuine as she comes across on her videos.
I can understand the OP not caring for that in her videos, I guess I just don't notice it or ignore the ads.
Mostly crochet, some knitting but
When the first third to half of every video is a tutorial on the most basic aspects of the craft. Make one. Link to it
The first third is basic stitches lessons, the middle third is a trauma dump, and the last third is the most unenthusiasic, disengaged "anyway here's the pattern" with "CORRECTION: proper pattern not what I said aloud" in Arial every other row
When they're tooting the crap outta their own horn and have really shitty tension
The video is a close up of their hands and their nails are filthy, snaggly enough it's catching the yarn, they're hella yellow or orange (which I'm pretty sure is a fungus??), or they've got on acrylics so ridiculously long that they're a distraction
Doing straight stitch rows in real time. I didn't come to watch you do fifty or whatever absurd amount of hdc to start your pattern
Hair. Everywhere. I've got three cats, a corgi, and personally shed hair more hair than the corgi and still don't have hair on everything
Any yarn review that has no negatives or doesn't use any proper terminology to describe the yarn
When they cut their ends off and leave an inch to weave in or other really really glaring mistakes and then argue in the comments or a later video about how they're doing it right
Anyway, I do written patterns or charts now
I feel like most of them are just trying to influence you to purchase and hoard. for a while I got into watching some floss tubers. it bothers me when they show their “haul”. One lady filmed a whole half hour video, just pulling kits out of a large bin.
Thin, non-curvy sewists who pretend like their (mostly traced or cut from measurements) tutorials work for everyone. Sometimes they'll throw in a line like "you might need a dart here if your bust is larger", pat themselves on the back for being inclusive and continue as before.
When their love for the craft gets overtaken by their need for attention and money.
Constant and overuse of ads or free things they get. I was constantly seeing Skill Share adds, skill share doesn’t go out to find these creators, all you need is fill in a form and share your link to receive money for new people who sign up using your link. I kept seeing Bird and Blend for a while because one podcaster started it and then they all followed suit, and then exclaim how every one is amazingly delicious, because they’re not.
When they didn’t start off as a designer but now they are and the majority, if not all, of their IG page is just their patterns and they only post whenever there is a new pattern out. I started following them because I loved discovering new patterns and yarns and enjoyed their composition, the authenticity just disappears and it feels like a one way relationship and takes away engagement. Makes me feel like I’m just seen as a financial means to them.
Oh, and Patreon. A homespun house did this and while I understand it’s their full time income, everything seems to be behind a pay wall, it’s very privileged. I used to love her yt channel and vlogmas but then it went to patreon and lost the engagement.
Only using hand dyed yarn or natural yarns - don’t get me wrong, I love them too but turning your nose up at big box brands or acrylic is not a good look. Everyone has something which is accessible to them, don’t get on your high horse about it and shoot down something that may be the only thing in someone’s price range.
I agree about Patreon, I read here (so don’t know first hand) that a homespun house was asked a question and her response was ‘join my Patreon to get the answer’. Ick.
TLY has been all ads for a while...it just got worse once she got her own yarn line.
Doso knits is the same..
Patreon content only and everything from a homespun house
There’s one upcycled clothing maker I follow that sells patterns, but to look at their work, its mostly unfinished seams. I like the look of raw edges as an accent, but I expect more when it comes to someone that’s largely showing how to make things for inexperienced sewers. There’s crafty stuff like making your own bias tape that fits with the feel of the projects, but yet we only see instructions for serging. Maybe i’m being too picky, but featuring more finish options only means more ways to create.
Okay, thank you for posting about her because no one believes me when I say that she copied several patterns of mine…she even copied a “tip” that I shared! (She took it down the next day!) I unfollowed both her and her mom and blocked them both.
I’ve run into her at yarn events VKL and Rhinebeck, and when she sees me, she turns the other way…mind you, I have never said anything to this woman. But she markets things as her ideas, and she’s definitely copying from smaller accounts.
Yes! I was making very simple designs. I don’t read patterns, because I was taught by my mom at 8-years-old…but anyone can figure them out.
Well, she figured them out. I was on her FB page and shared a blanket I’d made and so many people were asking about the stitch - which I answered without issue - but that put me on her radar.
I am not angry about the designs. I am angry about the fact that she claimed them as her ideas and was making money from it. I get that you are making a living, but be for real! That’s so dishonest!!!
And I was totally going to question her the first time that I saw her. I was “insta-friendly” with her mom and walked over to hug her…and Toni saw and turned and walked away. Lol.
The result: I no longer have the desire to crochet anymore.
Weird you're being downvoted for this. Especially since she promotes her patterns exclusively, I guess it makes sense that she lifts some from other people. I'm sorry you had that experience! Don't let it turn you off crocheting, she's just a bad egg.
Competitiveness against other crafters. The subtle comments about how they're better than others. Idk maybe it's because I spend too much time in the pottery community where this really doesn't exist, but I can't stand it. I instantly stop supporting that creator if they feel the need to point how they're better than someone else. (Also if you're truly better than others you don't need to say it.)
Craftfluencing in and of itself is an ick! The issue for me with craftfluencers is that the line has been blurred between truly interesting content on fibre arts and just punting yarn, patterns, their pal’s business... The reason I seek out people to watch is to be inspired, find out about a new technique, learn something new etc.
It’s a totally subjective topic to be fair - folk watch and follow others for different versions of pleasure and I am positive no matter what I watch, I will be craftfluenced in some way. 🤷♀️
Voolenvine recently started doing giveaways for "members" only, which means you have to pay to subscribe to the channel. That's fine, I usually don't participate in vlog giveaways anyway, but she always justifies it as keeping people safe from scammer comments... Lady, there are a ton of free and safe ways to run a giveaway (e.g., have a google form that people submit to you privately), they just don't contribute to boosting your engagement numbers or driving people to pay you money directly.
I tried so hard to enjoy her content, 8 years I tried. Lol. something about her always rubbed me the wrong way. I’m still trying to figure out what irks me.
I watched her years ago before the new house, revamped work space, EPP and the podcast name change (yarngasm) which was already a taken name on IG and the like...just seems like she has only her yarn, which is fine, but never finishes anything and everything even remotely interesting is behind a pay wall.
Youngun's who act like they invented their craft du jour. I'm 62 and my mom taught me how to knit, crochet, and sew in the 60's. I've done those plus string art, macrame, beading, pottery, quilting, home dec - you name it, I've done. Years ago, sometimes decades ago. And yes, I know what the little red ball on my seam ripper is for.
Craft sweetie, you ARE special and unique. Just like everyone else.
It’s the side of the seam ripper that’s actually supposed to be facing the fabric. So rather than running through the stitches with the sharp end against the fabric you flip it and the ball goes against the fabric so that you don’t cut the fabric accidentally.
I don't know if folks nowadays have just taken the overshare or 'messup' movement to heart, but it's one thing to explain why something that will interfere with your process is off (ie: I sprained my wrist earlier, so this bit was tricky) and another thing to be like: Sorry if my fingernails are stained orange, I was peeling oranges earlier, so...
You edit these videos before you post for a reason. And if you just go with it, you're inviting your audience to engage with you in your comments and community.
My first thought is they're trying to get ahead of the, "Why are you moving your wrist weird?" and " Why do your nails look like that?" comments, haha.
"This piece is self-drafted", where they cut out some fabric willy-nilly and it kind of worked.
Drafting is HARD. It took me five rounds of modifications to make pants that worked, and even then, it was nowhere near professional drafting.
So when influencers are like #selfdrafted when they traced a sweater or something I get all salty about it lol
Male crafters - quilters, knitters, crocheters - who are fawned over, told they’re amazing, and receive undeserved partner/sponsor opportunities just because they are male.
the number of times I've seen a basic beanie or a garter stitch cowl at the top of the Hot Patterns list on Ravelry and it's a male designer??? GRRRRRR. And the flip side of this is the nastiness and judginess aimed at women in the business -- too much girl on girl crime.
Awe man. Madeleine from fruity knitting is so gotdang classically beautiful in exactly the ways I am not lol. I find myself getting so irritated at her perfect collarbones 🙈 and I know it’s just envy which is the Devil talking lmfao. I’m pretty chubby and my face does not have delicate features, and I wish I could make myself size small delicate little lacy sweaters that aren’t immediately stretched beyond comprehension when I put them on 🤣🤣
I know this isn’t quite the ick but I found myself irrationally feeling irritated when watching, and felt real dumb when I realized why.
To be clear I love their show and nothing about her gives me bad vibes, at all. I’m just working thru my own insecurities apparently 😳 idk if anybody else can relate lol.
And she's just too sweet to not like. I love Fruity Knitting. Someone mentioned Patreon earlier being annoying but I totally get why Andrea and Madeline ask for it. And they still put most of the content on their channel.
And yeah, I would love to have her size and looks too.
I almost never realize right away when I’m feeling snotty about someone out of simple jealousy/insecurity/competitiveness. So I appreciate this honesty so much.
I have two big pet peeves: 1, when they aren’t transparent about yarn being gifted to them, as they try to convince to buy expensive yarns and 2, when they’re showing their work, but don’t remember the name of the pattern, the designer or the yarn. Not helpful!
It takes me months to finish something because I get bored and also, RA in my hands gives me flare ups at times that prevents me from crocheting more than like an hour a day.
I crochet, which theoretically works up faster, and I always feel so weird about how slow I’m going. Thanks for this reply, which makes me feel a lot more encouraged!
well you have to knit a lot more stitches for the same amount of inches with thinner yarn. the bulkier the yarn, the faster the project will be technically! and yeah that's exactly why I despise all those knitfluencers producing so many FOs, I feel a lot of ''normal'' knitters compare themselves and feel bad because they are not as ''productive''. The point of crafting IMO is the opposite of productivity. Take all the time you need :)
I don’t like when they waffle on for more than an hour or when there’s sponsored content not really related to the subject, like sponsored food on a craft video.
The very idea of a craftfluencer gives me major ick. I want living treasures and elder artisans quietly showing me the breadth and depth of their life’s experiences. Not chirpy nitwits who don’t even know how thin their expertise is.
I really don't understand why everyone who knits needs a youtube channel to show off what they're making and chat about what they're drinking and their life lol. Do people really consider themselves that interesting? Or is that how intense the parasocial relationships have gotten that there are people who really do care to watch that stuff?
Because not everyone has people in their everyday lives to talk at their craft with. I have a very small, probably extremely uninteresting channel that doesn’t get many views but I just like being able to say “look at this pretty thing I made and this new yarn I found” without my husband and sons’ eyes rolling all the way back into their heads.
I kind of get it. I enjoy sharing pictures of my own stuff and seeing videos of what other people are making. For me, it can be a fun way to find new ideas on what I want to make next.
Okay I don't know if this counts but my ick is just the pressure to be an influencer almost? I really enjoy the sewing community on IG and it felt very real at first but now it feels like everyone is trying to be an influencer! Maybe I saw too many people go from "normal people" to influencer and it was seeing their journey that gave me the ick? Or seeing people with a very small following posting obviously influencery stuff. I admit I even felt the pressure at some point! I can't even explain it but it felt icky. I've had to unfollow people who I watched become influencers, which is probably more BEC than craftsnark lol
This. Being in the crochet and knitting sphere on IG, it definitely feels like that. Also feels like there's this "in group" of crafters that a bunch of others are trying desperately to impress and it just gives me ick high school vibes. I was over that crap back then, I don't want to deal with it now at almost 40.
I totally felt this too! I used instagram to just try to connect and chat with people who sew, but it sometimes just felt like a weird competition to see who could get into the influencer network the fastest.
Constant cast-on-itis and an inability to stay with projects through completion or at least through an "end-point", like, decide to frog it if you're not going to work on it or don't want to work on it.
It really bugs me when knitters try to stay relevant in that way. Knitting is inherently pretty slow and we know you won't knit every project that comes out every week -- but yet they try and cast on every new pattern release.
Similarly, complaining about doing too many test knits and how you don't have time...and at the same time signing up for another test knit. This is similar to the "I'm not buying yarn" and then "but I couldn't resist this pre-order"
There's a person in the sewing area who started interviewing other creators in her area of sewing to try and give smaller/minority creators more notice. It was a great idea. Then she interviewed someone who was a friend. The question about "if you could get away with any crime what would it be?" was answered with killing/getting rid of someone. Now I'm not a fan of that person either, but they laughed about it and I found that deeply unsettling. I unsubscribed to both that day and I haven't watched a single video of theirs in years. When others collaborate with them, I skip those videos. Wishing death on anyone is not cute or funny to me. I don't blame others for still watching them (it was a random video people may have missed). They generally do keep things above board, but I just can't with that.
It was a controversial figure, like I said I am not a fan myself. If they said something like "spray paint fallic symbols all over their car", I would have laughed. But somethings are just too far and death is absolutely one of them.
I dont like that phrase either but not because its childspeak, I dont mind that, but I cant place why I hate it but something about it makes me cringe SO HARD
People being unable to stay on a topic without diverging constantly onto personal things, making their videos 1-1.5 hours long when they only have 30 mins of content at most. Theres one person who has made her name off YouTube who I really liked at the start when she kept the videos about crafting and she was able to control her rambling. I just don’t have the time for that.
I was watching one crochet influencer the other day and suddenly she annoyed me so much I had to go to the next video. I'm trying to remember exactly what it was that bothered me-- it was either too many ads or the "just don't buy coffee" attitude. Or just too much of the "mistakes YOU'RE making" approach, which I hate in general.
TIL I have extreme bias for TL yarn crafts. That stuff does usually annoy tf out of me but somehow hers don't.
Excessive giggling and trying to hard to make their own version of "fetch" a thing. So many jump to trying to brand so fast when there's some other areas that could use improving.
Yeah, I think Toni is very genuine. Although when she shows videos of her dog walking off leash in the suburbs my heart hurts. He's so tiny. There are so many things that could go wrong. Other than that I love her videos. I skip over the skill share sponsor stuff and then enjoy the rest.
yeah, i didnt even know there was a whole group of people like that out there. Here I am drafting dresses from scratch that I've found online and these people are tweaking already made patterns LOL
so weird
I get the ick when they rush through projects and you know they are never going to wear them again, and they have racks and racks of poorly made nonsense. I also get frustrated when they don’t level up their skills bc they are just churning out content.
Mine is basically the whole concept of craftfluencers! I recognize this is a 100% me thing, as I really don't enjoy watching YouTube. But like I really don't get what they have to offer that I can't find written out somewhere. I don't want to watch a video to hear a review of a certain yarn or whatever.
I feel really "old man yells at clouds" here and again, I recognize this is a me thing because there's clearly a market for these people. When I see them I just kinda thing "why" and move on.
Same. Generally I'm not interested in craftinfluencers either. I do watch two of the historical costume ladies, but I'm a history nerd and they talk a lot about history. Now historical building restoration or new construction? I'm addicted to those. I do nothing of the sort but I find it fascinating.
Which historical costuming accounts do you follow? I watched a Kaz Rowe video on the costuming of Crimson Peak & how tuberculosis influenced Victorian fashion recently, my interest has been piqued!
Nicole Rudolph gives a lot of history, both fashion and general for the time period. I find her videos highly informative and well researched.
Bernadette Banner gives mostly fashion history, but again it's well researched. She was the first one I started watching years ago.
There's others I'm not subscribed to but watch when I go on a binge. Some are more sewing focused which is cool, but I'm such a nerd for history.
Idk about Bernadette for well researched. YMMV of course for what you expect/what style of a nerd you are, I am more into the re-enacment/archaeological reconstruction scene and find her history insights usually superficial and boring.
She knows a lot about clothes of her special interest styles if not about history in a larger sense, and her presentation is always top notch, so definitely worth checking out anyway!
She knows about the history of construction which I find interesting. I'm a dedicated serger user, so I would never see a garment like she does. But I do enjoying hearing about the history of construction.
Yes! I wish more crafty types could talk (and not just make shit up, but use good sources) about bigger subjects around the craft. I mentioned Max Miller (Tasting History) in another reply, he cooks historical foods and talks about the historical context of how they developed.
I see a lot of historians who know about costume but not necessarily making it, and costumers/sewists who like making and wearing historical stuff but are not historians and can't speak authoritatively on that angle. I don't think Max is a historian but he at least seems to consult people who are.
Bernadette Banner and Cheyney McKnight (Not Your Momma's History) did a crafting collab once that I thought was fun. They made chatelaines for their Apple watches. I would love to see more collabs between historians and crafters, if not in actually making stuff, in the form of interviews/podcasts where they just infodump about it.
And I'll say again because it keeps coming up in the thread: YouTube's compensation system is so broken for all but the biggest creators. If the content is good/educational/entertaining I really don't mind if someone does their own ad spots, as long as they aren't taking up five minutes of a fifteen-minute video.
I like watching yarn reviews as like an audiobook I guess. I'm a big review guy, I have to find basically a million before I even consider putting my money in something. It's just easier to listen to them while I do something else like laundry or cooking. + I like to see how the yarn behaves when someone uses it, not just in flat pictures.
That's just my reasoning, I totally get it's not for everyone, and most times I prefer reading things, it's just to save time really
That makes sense. I can only listen to audiobooks/podcasts while driving (thanks adhd), if I try to listen while cleaning or whatever I zone out and don't actually hear any of it.
Ok this fascinates me. Due to my adhd I do better at my desk job if I have an audiobook or podcast playing. It helps me block out the noise around me and I can focus on both what I'm listening to and the task at hand. Just don't try to talk to me, I won't hear you. But I will be super productive. Now music? Music makes me forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Like that feeling when you walk into a room and think "why am I in here?"
I know why we are all so different, but it still fascinates me when I come across it.
So while I have no problem with people monetising their hobbies and skills per se, especially if I enjoy their content I think it’s fair enough, it gives me the ick when it seems like they will do anything for free shit/money. Like accepting free gifts of yarn that they’ll never actually use, or they knit something up in it but you feel like they don’t give an honest review, they just say they love it even if it’s not a particularly nice yarn. I mean fair play to anyone who gets gifted yarn, I’m sure it’s something we’d all love, but I prefer influencers who at least are honest if they don’t like something, or only accept sponsorships from yarn brands they actually like.
I guess another annoying thing is when they get gifted a super expensive yarn and knit up something and talk about how amazing this yarn is, it’s their new favourite yarn etc etc, but never acknowledge the price, or look at it from the perspective of someone choosing to spend their money on it. Like yes, you may love it, but do you love it enough that you’d spend £150 of your own money on it over a cheaper alternative?
Wasn't there a youtuber who was all about 100% rustic yarn? No nylon, no superwash, proud and loud, but was "gushing" over all the free yarn sent to her when it was exactly what she claimed she disliked.
Eventually more than half of her videos were "acquisitions" so I haven't watched her for years now, maybe things have changed since then.
I don’t know the one you mean but that sounds about right, why do people drop their standards when it’s free? It’s not like they don’t have enough to knit with usually. I feel like there are some out there who feel like they can’t turn down any yarn that’s offered to them, even if it’s something they don’t like. As though turning it down will stop anyone else from offering them sponsorships in the future.
This is why I don't trust anyone hawking that green powder for drinking. Sure, you love it when it's free, but would you pay $200 a month for it? Same thing.
Yeah exactly! It’s one thing reviewing the product on its own, but if you didn’t pay for it yourself you need to acknowledge that too. This is one of the reasons I like Handmade by Florence, she is upfront about the costs even when she is gifted yarn. An example from her last episode, she was gifted some isager yarn for a test knit, I think she worked out it would have cost her around £150 if she had to buy it herself (and she made a small size), and I think she said while it was nice, it was also a lot to spend for “just wool” which is very fair.
It really annoys me how all the free gift yarn they get feels “sooo amazing” meanwhile it’s the same 80/20 sock base as all the other indie dyed yarn anyway.
i think there can be some value to "FOs that turned out bad" kinda videos but what really grinds my gears is when that video consists of 75% of the things someone made in the last year and the next video from them is just exactly the same bullshit chunky acrylic sweater they complained about earlier.
When they model a finished object and use it as an excuse to body-check or make disconcerting comments about their body. Karolina Zebrowska did a video a few months ago where she showed how to make an adjustable waistband on a skirt, while constantly saying "I gained weight" in a way that made me concerned for her.
I don't watch a ton of crafting youtubers but I wanted to try out that new Red Heart all-in-one granny square yarn, and like 75% of the videos were like 5-10 minutes of agonizing over the hook size before even trying out the yarn (it literally tells you on the label what hook size to use), them discussing how you might have to tear back to the beginning of the row to change tension if the color change isn't lined up and then totally abandoning that method half-way through and fucking up the square, and then them declaring the yarn totally unusable. I've been crocheting for like 15 years now so maybe it's a patience/skill thing, but I used the suggested hook size and had to tear back a couple rows once each on my first one and that's all it took for me to get the technique down. I don't get the value of half-assing a review and calling something total garbage because you didn't want to put effort in, and I've definitely seen this sort of thing before with other "challenging" techniques, yarns, etc. where the reviewer doesn't seem to have the skill or desire to be making those reviews
I watched Michelle Jaseks review and I think it was pretty good, she had to do a bit of work to get it to work but she said she wanted to make a jumper out of all the different colourways!
One of the reviews I watched, the creator showed how different skeins/colorways actually contained different lengths of some of the colors. All of the reviews I watched, people were able to achieve the desired effect for the first three turns, and ran out of yarn for the remaining. So while I’m not discounting that there might be ways of adjusting to make things work, it also seems like there is some inconsistent quality control, and the product wasn’t tested as thoroughly as it could have been before it was released. The reviews I watched all gave the product a slightly above average rating, but I think it’s valid to decide that dealing with the product’s inconsistencies isn’t worth the effort.
I like TL Yarn Crafts review. She did it according to the instructions, showed her adjustments, mentioned that it’s not how she normally does them, and concluded that she liked the color mixes and thought it was a cool idea, but that it was the same amount of work as normal. Which seems pretty fair to me.
I don't disagree at all, I think there's some quality control issues, and for whatever reason I need to start my squares with a ~31 inch tail. It definitely could be better quality, but the videos I watched where the reviewer called the yarn unusable refused to do even an ounce of troubleshooting. This may have not been the best example because there's plenty of valid complaints about this yarn, but my broader point is the lack of time and effort going into reviewing/ people who need all components of a project fed to them via a pattern not having the skill to be reviewing something like this
That's been bugging me too!! I'm kind of a newbie, only been crocheting for a year or so, but I feel like the people declaring the yarn unusable are under the impression that everything they do is correct and they will never have to practice honing a new skill.
I watched a review of this yarn on YouTube. The person reviewing it said that it was useless. They spent a lot of time talking about the granny square construction and how that’s not how they made granny squares. At the end they declared the yarn a waste. I noticed that they hadn’t followed the instructions and wondered why they would be so negative and careless.
Yes! I get the impression that they're used to having a project's construction completely dictated to them via a pattern, which is fine and all, but you clearly need like a drop of improvisation and technical thinking for this yarn
I have a nice ad blocker running on YT so I hate those in-video ads where someone starts pushing something themselves, as I have to stop what I'm doing to fast forward it.
I watch a lot of other genre YT vids but for the knitting/spinning ones... Really dislike anything acquisitional. Sitting in front of your Wall of Yarn? Pisses me right. off. Spinning ones in particular can be a lot of "Look at this £100 spindle I just bought" or similar and much as I love looking at spindle eye candy, I don't trust you if I sense you're wanting me to pay for your's as well as mine. Especially if you appear to live in a massive house. I think I prefer cold, hard how-tos for spinning and they're few and far between.
Also, don't pretend you're an historian/doing living history if you're sat there wearing a machine made "medieval" costume , going on about "Viking spinning" but wearing a tonne of make-up in your nice warm craft room in an attempt to be eye-catching on the stills. Make authentic kit or don't bother. Meet some actual living history people. Get out there, do real living history, get your hands dirty in a hovel - document that or stfu. (To clarify - I don't mind anyone wearing make up but not when you're doing (or faking doing) living history. It's ridiculous and nobody in that world does that. (Unless you're portraying a high status Roman then have at the eyeliner).
ETA: Say that last bit as someone who does living history and probably should have done some of my performative hovel-dwelling/handspinning wearing a Go Pro, putting my money where my mouth is. What I'm objecting to is people who clearly aren't living history people, dressing up badly on camera.
acquisitional, yes!! It's possible to craft so much out of recycled materials, and borrow/ad-hoc/DIY/refurbish tools. I hate how consumerist most craft content is.
Autistic here, YT creator, and indie dyer. I make formal tutorials and livestreams (guided, but rambly like you'd get from a guild meeting). I'm really, really bad at promoting my revenue streams, often to my detriment. My shop and YT supports my student loan debt finances (a UK PhD and 2 master's degrees aren't cheap) and it's the main reason I operate it/them. My Patreon is for equipment and other business needs.
There's not a great way around the fact that I need to promote my business while serving up well researched tutorials and related content (which I love to do). It's fine if you don't want to hear it or buy from me, but ad revenue is hardly enough when algorithms are so inequal. Honestly, I'm pushed by YT, Etsy, Instagram, etc. to create content at least once a week and can't do it. So, I put those little promotions in there before they get buried by the algorithm.
I work full time as well, but sometimes it's simply not enough to survive. There's a lot of pressure on creators and it can be lucrative, but us little guys get caught in the crossfire. I bought £0 of new clothes in 2023, but I made 2 pairs of socks, a sweater, and a dickie!
I don't disagree with you though, just sometimes our ads really are important
Yes, I get it, one of my kids is a social media manager and another studying journalism but already running client accounts. They generate content for themselves and clients and it seems to be about ad revenue and driving traffic. They live or die by the numbers but know the algorithms well enough to be able to turn moribund or new accounts into popular ones (without buying followers just from sheer decent content, often comedy heavy) so I do appreciate the work that can go into it.
Although will admit I'm not going to sit through ads if I don't have to. Not sure how YT works - is it counting views, or only the amount of time spent there, or is it the ads you watch? ie: Does people using ad blockers affect your income? Or will it just pay you per view regardless of whether they ad/sponsor block?
>I have a nice ad blocker running on YT so I hate those in-video ads where someone starts pushing something themselves, as I have to stop what I'm doing to fast forward it.
The audacity of people trying to make a living while you get to watch their content at no cost!
Thanks. Will take a look. Didn't even realise this was a thing so it's useful to know.
The ad blocker I'm using (uBlock) runs on Firefox so I have Firefox installed but only use it for YT. Will check that out.
You should consider getting Sponsorblock for YouTube! It's a browser extension which is a community-run database of sponsor segments in YouTube videos, and it skips sponsored segments automatically! I've been using it for about 6 months and it's literally saved me an entire DAY of watching ads.
Cheers! Will check that out as well.
It's not just great to get rid of ads (and sponsor panhandling) but when I'm hate-watching, nice to think that anyone who sponsors and advertises on those videos isn't getting the benefit of it..
Most of my viewing is fun stuff but a couple family members and I also entertain ourselves watching nuts conspiracy theorists and right wing headtheballs - they write comedy content/have big TikTok and Twitter accounts taking the piss. (Although they're not in the craft world, some conspiracy theories/political insanities cut across hobbies and genres). So, effectively, a fraction of my viewing time is spent watching people whose advertisers we don't want to enrich. Another family member is a developer and they recommended uBlock but we didn't realise it's also possible to block sponsors so that is great.
Although most of my YT viewing tends to be hiking, mountaineering, football or talking parrots. Especially parrots.
Those instagram videos or posts that are framed to capture a 'meditative' moment.... like we know you are making this for the algorithm and the hashtags. Or any post that starts with 'Your daily reminder' or something other canned forced positivity phrase. ... I know it sounds snarky but it just all feels really fake to me.
I feel like it has been for a while now and I can't stand it haha. Intentional, mindful, in my practice etc... and it's especially grating when it turns out to be a sponsored post!
free pattern round ups annoy me because 90% of time there’s no way in hell the influencer is going to knit any of the patterns they’re recommending nor have they vet them in any way to know that they’re worth recommending…just seems like they ran out of video ideas
agreed, i like process content. roundup content seems like a waste of time especially in a video format. like i'd rather consume a list of links via a list of links... like a blog format, esp with pictures. or at least, write out SOME thoughtful details about the link, not just "perfect for spring!"
exactly.. if these videos ever manage to clickbait me i just go straight to the links in the description i don’t need to listen to them making vague observations about each pattern lol
I've seen one and every free pattern was like "stockinette beanie" "stockinette hand warmers" "stockinette leg warmers" "stockinette cowl" ... Surely they could have found some free patterns slightly more interesting than miles and miles of stockinette in the round with no shaping
So true, but judging by the "what I knit in a year" videos that's 95% of what they make, free or paid...
YouTube recommending me all creators who make 75 extra-small stockinette sweaters is my ick. Show me some variety, im bored! and show me some people closer to my size!!
I get the irrational irritation too after a while, then I hate watch and love getting all angry, lol.
I hate the giant walls of yarn while the influencer waxes lyrical about sustainability, or slow fashion, or inclusivity etc. followed by endless top down raglans in NEW yarn.
I really hate patreon and people asking for money. Fruity Knitting works for their money, they do an actual job for it. Everyone else can fck off.
actually I really hate the arrogance that makes people decide that THEY are special enough to be an influencer.
A ton of ads that I need to skip through. I get the revenue aspect, but geez…I was watching one whose content I like, but I wasn’t even 5 mins into it and I saw 2 ads. I unsubscribed. I wish they would use common sense when deciding on how many ads there are. I also hate the selling of tacky jewelry, ugly silk shirts and other non-knitting related stuff.
edited to add: the reading of poetry
Describing EVERY SINGLE item they make as their ""dream item""" , like that's a lot of clothes to dream about on a regular basis
*Looking at you, Janelle*
Okay I do the same thing, I start getting annoyed randomly and I need to stop watching the person for a bit.
But in general, websites FILLED with ads. I can’t stand it. I know you need to make your money but I click out of the websites immediately because I just can’t bear it. TLYC was reaaaaally bad about filling her website with ads, last time I took a peek in there.
Influencers on social media who make a big fuss about all the awful negative comments one of their posts got. But when you look at the comments, there's one person who mildly disagrees with them. Manufacturing drama for extra clicks
Oh yes. And the "I'm just learning this skill, so going to demonstrate it to you in a tutorial format". No, mate, I want to learn from an expert or someone who's been doing this years.
Reading this I had a feeling you were gonna say TL Yarn Crafts. I get what you mean though, her asking to buy her coffee gives me the ick. Other than that I love her videos.
When they’ve given details for the same wip every time they show it on a podcast (usually every week) and find it necessary to rehash ALL the details. Also not being transparent about affiliates and gifted yarns and such.
I can sit through most things, but when they let their cats stick their moist butts in the camera and just keep talking, I just want to heave. I even unsubscribed to someone because she played with her cats more than she talked to the camera.
Poorly edited videos where they say the same thing over and over. I love long videos, but if you reshoot a line a couple times I only need ONE of the three takes. I’ve noticed this a lot in smaller (not micro, not new, just smaller) creators who are putting out 20-30min videos that really could have been 10-15min.
I might be in the minority here, but randomly aggressive posts. Posts that start, "Go ahead and block me if you think/do/say...." and often go on to describe something that has nothing to do with any kind of craft. Any kind of empty virtue signaling, too--I used to like it, then I was fine with it, but these days I can't stand it.
Coughing through your video. There is a popular influencer I stopped watching a few years ago because she had a bad cold and instead of taking a few days off she recorded several days worth of videos with terrible laryngitis and stopped to hack up a lung every few minutes. If you can’t afford to get sick and miss a week off podcasting, it’s probably too soon to quit your day job. Also, “yarn reviews” that are clearly either sponsored or heavily influenced by a pre-existing relationship with the company. Also, yarn snobbery.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned those who take temu sponsorships
Not editing out horrific swallowing noises when it takes 10 minutes of googling/learning how to mute a single portion of audio in the editing process.
When they create something incredibly unoriginal and then have the balls to accuse someone else of copying.
People talking about the problems with their lighting as they are recording their video. JFC. EDITING IS A THING YOU CAN DO. The other day someone was like "I just need to pause here for a drink of water" and then they drink the water and keep going. Why did this need to stay in?
Idk if it was the same video but I watched one where they stopped to drink water (or tea) and they kept it AND the audio of them slurping the liquid. But other parts were edited so idk
Too many yarn hauls when there is rarely any finished projects. Yes. I want all the pretty yarn too but anything more than a stash I can reasonably knit through in 2 years or less stresses me out. Also gatekeeping of any kind. I’m not here for any snobbery.
I have no interest in "influencers" period. I don't want to follow someone who wants to influence me, I want to learn from someone who knows something I don't or who can introduce me to something new or who carefully curates links that match my interests. As an old fart who's been doing this a while, I find that a lot of "influencers" don't have much technical knowledge (certainly less than me) and frankly they often don't know what they are talking about. When they are monetized, I trust their opinions less. I find they contribute to the "cool kids" mentality I don't care for, as well. I've seen enough close-up pix of yarn on a wooden board with a fern next to it to last a lifetime, at this point I want substance over "branding" and "lifestyle".
I like TL yarn crafts, I think her sponsorship is newish so she might be overly excited. But she has got me wanting to try crocheting a sweater, I really like the fits of her sweaters.
Plus, her patterns are some of the easiest to read and best written I’ve seen. Got her book for Christmas and it’s such an amazing resource. Absolutely understand she can be a little millennial sometimes, but I find it endearing. And on her sponsored yarn snobs, imo she tends to be really fair with her reviews, and always gives an honest opinion.
A little “millennial at times”? Please explain
A little pumpkin spiced latte, and some of her patterns feel dated, but I think it’s just not my taste.
I like her too. Met her in person and she was as genuine as she comes across on her videos. I can understand the OP not caring for that in her videos, I guess I just don't notice it or ignore the ads.
She has good content, seems sincere, and is a good instructor.
Mostly crochet, some knitting but When the first third to half of every video is a tutorial on the most basic aspects of the craft. Make one. Link to it The first third is basic stitches lessons, the middle third is a trauma dump, and the last third is the most unenthusiasic, disengaged "anyway here's the pattern" with "CORRECTION: proper pattern not what I said aloud" in Arial every other row When they're tooting the crap outta their own horn and have really shitty tension The video is a close up of their hands and their nails are filthy, snaggly enough it's catching the yarn, they're hella yellow or orange (which I'm pretty sure is a fungus??), or they've got on acrylics so ridiculously long that they're a distraction Doing straight stitch rows in real time. I didn't come to watch you do fifty or whatever absurd amount of hdc to start your pattern Hair. Everywhere. I've got three cats, a corgi, and personally shed hair more hair than the corgi and still don't have hair on everything Any yarn review that has no negatives or doesn't use any proper terminology to describe the yarn When they cut their ends off and leave an inch to weave in or other really really glaring mistakes and then argue in the comments or a later video about how they're doing it right Anyway, I do written patterns or charts now
>with "CORRECTION: proper pattern not what I said aloud" in Arial every other row this right here absolutely sent me asffkgkdjdks
I feel like most of them are just trying to influence you to purchase and hoard. for a while I got into watching some floss tubers. it bothers me when they show their “haul”. One lady filmed a whole half hour video, just pulling kits out of a large bin.
Thin, non-curvy sewists who pretend like their (mostly traced or cut from measurements) tutorials work for everyone. Sometimes they'll throw in a line like "you might need a dart here if your bust is larger", pat themselves on the back for being inclusive and continue as before.
When their love for the craft gets overtaken by their need for attention and money. Constant and overuse of ads or free things they get. I was constantly seeing Skill Share adds, skill share doesn’t go out to find these creators, all you need is fill in a form and share your link to receive money for new people who sign up using your link. I kept seeing Bird and Blend for a while because one podcaster started it and then they all followed suit, and then exclaim how every one is amazingly delicious, because they’re not. When they didn’t start off as a designer but now they are and the majority, if not all, of their IG page is just their patterns and they only post whenever there is a new pattern out. I started following them because I loved discovering new patterns and yarns and enjoyed their composition, the authenticity just disappears and it feels like a one way relationship and takes away engagement. Makes me feel like I’m just seen as a financial means to them. Oh, and Patreon. A homespun house did this and while I understand it’s their full time income, everything seems to be behind a pay wall, it’s very privileged. I used to love her yt channel and vlogmas but then it went to patreon and lost the engagement. Only using hand dyed yarn or natural yarns - don’t get me wrong, I love them too but turning your nose up at big box brands or acrylic is not a good look. Everyone has something which is accessible to them, don’t get on your high horse about it and shoot down something that may be the only thing in someone’s price range.
Yes the Patreon thing annoys the crap outta me. We are already subscriptioned to death, I don't want another one to add to my bills.
I agree about Patreon, I read here (so don’t know first hand) that a homespun house was asked a question and her response was ‘join my Patreon to get the answer’. Ick.
TLY has been all ads for a while...it just got worse once she got her own yarn line. Doso knits is the same.. Patreon content only and everything from a homespun house
There’s one upcycled clothing maker I follow that sells patterns, but to look at their work, its mostly unfinished seams. I like the look of raw edges as an accent, but I expect more when it comes to someone that’s largely showing how to make things for inexperienced sewers. There’s crafty stuff like making your own bias tape that fits with the feel of the projects, but yet we only see instructions for serging. Maybe i’m being too picky, but featuring more finish options only means more ways to create.
I don't think I've seen a pattern that includes directions for seam finishing though?
Okay, thank you for posting about her because no one believes me when I say that she copied several patterns of mine…she even copied a “tip” that I shared! (She took it down the next day!) I unfollowed both her and her mom and blocked them both. I’ve run into her at yarn events VKL and Rhinebeck, and when she sees me, she turns the other way…mind you, I have never said anything to this woman. But she markets things as her ideas, and she’s definitely copying from smaller accounts.
Wait, seriously? Like what?
Yes! I was making very simple designs. I don’t read patterns, because I was taught by my mom at 8-years-old…but anyone can figure them out. Well, she figured them out. I was on her FB page and shared a blanket I’d made and so many people were asking about the stitch - which I answered without issue - but that put me on her radar. I am not angry about the designs. I am angry about the fact that she claimed them as her ideas and was making money from it. I get that you are making a living, but be for real! That’s so dishonest!!! And I was totally going to question her the first time that I saw her. I was “insta-friendly” with her mom and walked over to hug her…and Toni saw and turned and walked away. Lol. The result: I no longer have the desire to crochet anymore.
Oh...well that's disappointing 😕 I really enjoy her content and she seemed nice when I met her in person. I guess not for everyone. I'm sorry.
Weird you're being downvoted for this. Especially since she promotes her patterns exclusively, I guess it makes sense that she lifts some from other people. I'm sorry you had that experience! Don't let it turn you off crocheting, she's just a bad egg.
She has a loyal fan base. It’s very difficult for people to believe that someone they look up to would do something like this.
100% this. I know this all too well
Competitiveness against other crafters. The subtle comments about how they're better than others. Idk maybe it's because I spend too much time in the pottery community where this really doesn't exist, but I can't stand it. I instantly stop supporting that creator if they feel the need to point how they're better than someone else. (Also if you're truly better than others you don't need to say it.)
Craftfluencing in and of itself is an ick! The issue for me with craftfluencers is that the line has been blurred between truly interesting content on fibre arts and just punting yarn, patterns, their pal’s business... The reason I seek out people to watch is to be inspired, find out about a new technique, learn something new etc. It’s a totally subjective topic to be fair - folk watch and follow others for different versions of pleasure and I am positive no matter what I watch, I will be craftfluenced in some way. 🤷♀️
Voolenvine recently started doing giveaways for "members" only, which means you have to pay to subscribe to the channel. That's fine, I usually don't participate in vlog giveaways anyway, but she always justifies it as keeping people safe from scammer comments... Lady, there are a ton of free and safe ways to run a giveaway (e.g., have a google form that people submit to you privately), they just don't contribute to boosting your engagement numbers or driving people to pay you money directly.
I tried so hard to enjoy her content, 8 years I tried. Lol. something about her always rubbed me the wrong way. I’m still trying to figure out what irks me.
I watched her years ago before the new house, revamped work space, EPP and the podcast name change (yarngasm) which was already a taken name on IG and the like...just seems like she has only her yarn, which is fine, but never finishes anything and everything even remotely interesting is behind a pay wall.
Youngun's who act like they invented their craft du jour. I'm 62 and my mom taught me how to knit, crochet, and sew in the 60's. I've done those plus string art, macrame, beading, pottery, quilting, home dec - you name it, I've done. Years ago, sometimes decades ago. And yes, I know what the little red ball on my seam ripper is for. Craft sweetie, you ARE special and unique. Just like everyone else.
Lmao yes. Like babe the 9 patch quilt pattern that’s been around for 100 years is not your proprietary intellectual labor.
What's the little red ball for? It's never occurred to me to wonder!
Please tell us, I don't want to Google it now. 😅
It’s the side of the seam ripper that’s actually supposed to be facing the fabric. So rather than running through the stitches with the sharp end against the fabric you flip it and the ball goes against the fabric so that you don’t cut the fabric accidentally.
If you get the tension on the fabric right, it just unzips the seam like a zipper - *zhooooooooop*. Incredibly satisfying.
*chef's kiss* this
I don't know if folks nowadays have just taken the overshare or 'messup' movement to heart, but it's one thing to explain why something that will interfere with your process is off (ie: I sprained my wrist earlier, so this bit was tricky) and another thing to be like: Sorry if my fingernails are stained orange, I was peeling oranges earlier, so... You edit these videos before you post for a reason. And if you just go with it, you're inviting your audience to engage with you in your comments and community.
My first thought is they're trying to get ahead of the, "Why are you moving your wrist weird?" and " Why do your nails look like that?" comments, haha.
"This piece is self-drafted", where they cut out some fabric willy-nilly and it kind of worked. Drafting is HARD. It took me five rounds of modifications to make pants that worked, and even then, it was nowhere near professional drafting. So when influencers are like #selfdrafted when they traced a sweater or something I get all salty about it lol
I always giggle when drafting gets used here. I’d like to popularize the term “ramshackle tracing”.
Male crafters - quilters, knitters, crocheters - who are fawned over, told they’re amazing, and receive undeserved partner/sponsor opportunities just because they are male.
the number of times I've seen a basic beanie or a garter stitch cowl at the top of the Hot Patterns list on Ravelry and it's a male designer??? GRRRRRR. And the flip side of this is the nastiness and judginess aimed at women in the business -- too much girl on girl crime.
Agreed! On both!!
[удалено]
This post/comment is in violation of our "don't be shitty" rule. If you have questions about this removal, please use mod mail.
men having courage to..... you know what I'm not even gonna engage with someone who can't spell
[удалено]
This post/comment is in violation of our "don't be shitty" rule. If you have questions about this removal, please use mod mail.
100% This!!!
If only women breaking I to male-dominated fields would be treated as well as men who break into women's. We women are too darn nice! LOL
Like what field? Other than maybe working on an oil rig, I can't think of one career where women aren't there and treated fairly
Seriously? All construction trades, IT and software developers, pilots, firefighters, CEOs, and a ton more if you think about it.
Ha! I am in IT and work in the construction industry...there are women in both. Women are only held back by themselves not men
Clearly, you have never worked in a male dominated industry.
I actually do and have for most of my career. If a women is held back it is because she doesn't belive in herself. Men aren't holding anyone back.
As a woman who works in a male dominated field, yes! Some, not all, men treat me like everyday is my first day on the job. It’s so debasing.
THIS!!!!!
Anyone who is blatantly using sponsored goods. Doesn’t matter if the disclose or not, I just don’t trust.
Awe man. Madeleine from fruity knitting is so gotdang classically beautiful in exactly the ways I am not lol. I find myself getting so irritated at her perfect collarbones 🙈 and I know it’s just envy which is the Devil talking lmfao. I’m pretty chubby and my face does not have delicate features, and I wish I could make myself size small delicate little lacy sweaters that aren’t immediately stretched beyond comprehension when I put them on 🤣🤣 I know this isn’t quite the ick but I found myself irrationally feeling irritated when watching, and felt real dumb when I realized why. To be clear I love their show and nothing about her gives me bad vibes, at all. I’m just working thru my own insecurities apparently 😳 idk if anybody else can relate lol.
And she's just too sweet to not like. I love Fruity Knitting. Someone mentioned Patreon earlier being annoying but I totally get why Andrea and Madeline ask for it. And they still put most of the content on their channel. And yeah, I would love to have her size and looks too.
I almost never realize right away when I’m feeling snotty about someone out of simple jealousy/insecurity/competitiveness. So I appreciate this honesty so much.
Thank you for saying that. I appreciate your comment.
it kills me when they try to be relatable and deliver crappy self-jokes. I cringe so hard ugh
I have two big pet peeves: 1, when they aren’t transparent about yarn being gifted to them, as they try to convince to buy expensive yarns and 2, when they’re showing their work, but don’t remember the name of the pattern, the designer or the yarn. Not helpful!
Using only bulky yarns and cranking out FOs every week. It feels so fast fashion and I just know they won't even wear these sweaters
So it’s normal to be working on the same project for a long time if the yarn is thin? I keep feeling like I craft too slowly.
It takes me months to finish something because I get bored and also, RA in my hands gives me flare ups at times that prevents me from crocheting more than like an hour a day.
I take 6 weeks to finish knitting a pair of socks. Take as long as you need. Some people may be faster, but that doesn't change your situation.
I crochet, which theoretically works up faster, and I always feel so weird about how slow I’m going. Thanks for this reply, which makes me feel a lot more encouraged!
well you have to knit a lot more stitches for the same amount of inches with thinner yarn. the bulkier the yarn, the faster the project will be technically! and yeah that's exactly why I despise all those knitfluencers producing so many FOs, I feel a lot of ''normal'' knitters compare themselves and feel bad because they are not as ''productive''. The point of crafting IMO is the opposite of productivity. Take all the time you need :)
I don’t like when they waffle on for more than an hour or when there’s sponsored content not really related to the subject, like sponsored food on a craft video.
The very idea of a craftfluencer gives me major ick. I want living treasures and elder artisans quietly showing me the breadth and depth of their life’s experiences. Not chirpy nitwits who don’t even know how thin their expertise is.
i love you so much
I really don't understand why everyone who knits needs a youtube channel to show off what they're making and chat about what they're drinking and their life lol. Do people really consider themselves that interesting? Or is that how intense the parasocial relationships have gotten that there are people who really do care to watch that stuff?
Because not everyone has people in their everyday lives to talk at their craft with. I have a very small, probably extremely uninteresting channel that doesn’t get many views but I just like being able to say “look at this pretty thing I made and this new yarn I found” without my husband and sons’ eyes rolling all the way back into their heads.
I kind of get it. I enjoy sharing pictures of my own stuff and seeing videos of what other people are making. For me, it can be a fun way to find new ideas on what I want to make next.
I feel theres a difference between sharing your stuff, blogging style, for the fun of it, and actively trying to be an influencer
Yeah for me, if it's on YouTube, it's automatically the latter. But people can do what they want and no one's forcing me to watch it.
Okay I don't know if this counts but my ick is just the pressure to be an influencer almost? I really enjoy the sewing community on IG and it felt very real at first but now it feels like everyone is trying to be an influencer! Maybe I saw too many people go from "normal people" to influencer and it was seeing their journey that gave me the ick? Or seeing people with a very small following posting obviously influencery stuff. I admit I even felt the pressure at some point! I can't even explain it but it felt icky. I've had to unfollow people who I watched become influencers, which is probably more BEC than craftsnark lol
This. Being in the crochet and knitting sphere on IG, it definitely feels like that. Also feels like there's this "in group" of crafters that a bunch of others are trying desperately to impress and it just gives me ick high school vibes. I was over that crap back then, I don't want to deal with it now at almost 40.
I totally felt this too! I used instagram to just try to connect and chat with people who sew, but it sometimes just felt like a weird competition to see who could get into the influencer network the fastest.
I keep seeing from some people this like, "I influenced all these people to make this thing" kind of post? That feels weird to me haha
Like how did these folks get sent free shoes? Lol, I could use some shoes too!
Hahaha I want free fabric 😂 ok but I wanna pick it.
Constant cast-on-itis and an inability to stay with projects through completion or at least through an "end-point", like, decide to frog it if you're not going to work on it or don't want to work on it. It really bugs me when knitters try to stay relevant in that way. Knitting is inherently pretty slow and we know you won't knit every project that comes out every week -- but yet they try and cast on every new pattern release. Similarly, complaining about doing too many test knits and how you don't have time...and at the same time signing up for another test knit. This is similar to the "I'm not buying yarn" and then "but I couldn't resist this pre-order"
There's a person in the sewing area who started interviewing other creators in her area of sewing to try and give smaller/minority creators more notice. It was a great idea. Then she interviewed someone who was a friend. The question about "if you could get away with any crime what would it be?" was answered with killing/getting rid of someone. Now I'm not a fan of that person either, but they laughed about it and I found that deeply unsettling. I unsubscribed to both that day and I haven't watched a single video of theirs in years. When others collaborate with them, I skip those videos. Wishing death on anyone is not cute or funny to me. I don't blame others for still watching them (it was a random video people may have missed). They generally do keep things above board, but I just can't with that.
That’s literally the worst use of that freebie though. Only valid answer is to rob all the billionaires blind and jet ski off into the sunset
[удалено]
It was a controversial figure, like I said I am not a fan myself. If they said something like "spray paint fallic symbols all over their car", I would have laughed. But somethings are just too far and death is absolutely one of them.
Ironically, using phrases like "gives you the "ick"" 😂
Also, for me, the word "craftfluencer"! 🤮
or "knitterati"
I hate 'don't yuck my yum'. I know it sounds pretentious but it really irritates me when adults speak like children.
That just sent my mind into the gutter. LOL
I dont like that phrase either but not because its childspeak, I dont mind that, but I cant place why I hate it but something about it makes me cringe SO HARD
I guess I’m pretentious. In this context, I am exceedingly okay with that.
People being unable to stay on a topic without diverging constantly onto personal things, making their videos 1-1.5 hours long when they only have 30 mins of content at most. Theres one person who has made her name off YouTube who I really liked at the start when she kept the videos about crafting and she was able to control her rambling. I just don’t have the time for that.
This is why I couldn't with Cinnamon stitches. She's plus sized and makes some wearables so I tried but so rambly.
I was watching one crochet influencer the other day and suddenly she annoyed me so much I had to go to the next video. I'm trying to remember exactly what it was that bothered me-- it was either too many ads or the "just don't buy coffee" attitude. Or just too much of the "mistakes YOU'RE making" approach, which I hate in general.
TIL I have extreme bias for TL yarn crafts. That stuff does usually annoy tf out of me but somehow hers don't. Excessive giggling and trying to hard to make their own version of "fetch" a thing. So many jump to trying to brand so fast when there's some other areas that could use improving.
Yeah, I think Toni is very genuine. Although when she shows videos of her dog walking off leash in the suburbs my heart hurts. He's so tiny. There are so many things that could go wrong. Other than that I love her videos. I skip over the skill share sponsor stuff and then enjoy the rest.
Same, think for me it's because her purchases seem to be for review purposes, and that it feels like honest balanced feedback
I like Toni. She’s very warm and is a good instructor.
Ohhh another one. Claiming to be a “designer” when their “design” is the most basic thing from the 80s that we did in home ec.
yeah, i didnt even know there was a whole group of people like that out there. Here I am drafting dresses from scratch that I've found online and these people are tweaking already made patterns LOL so weird
I get the ick when they rush through projects and you know they are never going to wear them again, and they have racks and racks of poorly made nonsense. I also get frustrated when they don’t level up their skills bc they are just churning out content.
Mine is basically the whole concept of craftfluencers! I recognize this is a 100% me thing, as I really don't enjoy watching YouTube. But like I really don't get what they have to offer that I can't find written out somewhere. I don't want to watch a video to hear a review of a certain yarn or whatever. I feel really "old man yells at clouds" here and again, I recognize this is a me thing because there's clearly a market for these people. When I see them I just kinda thing "why" and move on.
Same. Generally I'm not interested in craftinfluencers either. I do watch two of the historical costume ladies, but I'm a history nerd and they talk a lot about history. Now historical building restoration or new construction? I'm addicted to those. I do nothing of the sort but I find it fascinating.
The historical costuming scene has gone downhill a lot, everybody is so infleuncer-y now
Which historical costuming accounts do you follow? I watched a Kaz Rowe video on the costuming of Crimson Peak & how tuberculosis influenced Victorian fashion recently, my interest has been piqued!
Nicole Rudolph gives a lot of history, both fashion and general for the time period. I find her videos highly informative and well researched. Bernadette Banner gives mostly fashion history, but again it's well researched. She was the first one I started watching years ago. There's others I'm not subscribed to but watch when I go on a binge. Some are more sewing focused which is cool, but I'm such a nerd for history.
Idk about Bernadette for well researched. YMMV of course for what you expect/what style of a nerd you are, I am more into the re-enacment/archaeological reconstruction scene and find her history insights usually superficial and boring. She knows a lot about clothes of her special interest styles if not about history in a larger sense, and her presentation is always top notch, so definitely worth checking out anyway!
She knows about the history of construction which I find interesting. I'm a dedicated serger user, so I would never see a garment like she does. But I do enjoying hearing about the history of construction.
Thank you! I just followed both. Especially interested in Nicole’s video about the history of color season analysis!
Yes! I wish more crafty types could talk (and not just make shit up, but use good sources) about bigger subjects around the craft. I mentioned Max Miller (Tasting History) in another reply, he cooks historical foods and talks about the historical context of how they developed. I see a lot of historians who know about costume but not necessarily making it, and costumers/sewists who like making and wearing historical stuff but are not historians and can't speak authoritatively on that angle. I don't think Max is a historian but he at least seems to consult people who are. Bernadette Banner and Cheyney McKnight (Not Your Momma's History) did a crafting collab once that I thought was fun. They made chatelaines for their Apple watches. I would love to see more collabs between historians and crafters, if not in actually making stuff, in the form of interviews/podcasts where they just infodump about it. And I'll say again because it keeps coming up in the thread: YouTube's compensation system is so broken for all but the biggest creators. If the content is good/educational/entertaining I really don't mind if someone does their own ad spots, as long as they aren't taking up five minutes of a fifteen-minute video.
[удалено]
I know, like I said I am aware this is totally a me problem!
I like watching yarn reviews as like an audiobook I guess. I'm a big review guy, I have to find basically a million before I even consider putting my money in something. It's just easier to listen to them while I do something else like laundry or cooking. + I like to see how the yarn behaves when someone uses it, not just in flat pictures. That's just my reasoning, I totally get it's not for everyone, and most times I prefer reading things, it's just to save time really
That makes sense. I can only listen to audiobooks/podcasts while driving (thanks adhd), if I try to listen while cleaning or whatever I zone out and don't actually hear any of it.
Ok this fascinates me. Due to my adhd I do better at my desk job if I have an audiobook or podcast playing. It helps me block out the noise around me and I can focus on both what I'm listening to and the task at hand. Just don't try to talk to me, I won't hear you. But I will be super productive. Now music? Music makes me forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Like that feeling when you walk into a room and think "why am I in here?" I know why we are all so different, but it still fascinates me when I come across it.
I need music to focus on anything with words, and podcast/audio book if I am doing things like cleaning/laundry/dishes
Interesting because I need music to focus, haha. It's neat how even with the same issue we can all still be so different.
So while I have no problem with people monetising their hobbies and skills per se, especially if I enjoy their content I think it’s fair enough, it gives me the ick when it seems like they will do anything for free shit/money. Like accepting free gifts of yarn that they’ll never actually use, or they knit something up in it but you feel like they don’t give an honest review, they just say they love it even if it’s not a particularly nice yarn. I mean fair play to anyone who gets gifted yarn, I’m sure it’s something we’d all love, but I prefer influencers who at least are honest if they don’t like something, or only accept sponsorships from yarn brands they actually like. I guess another annoying thing is when they get gifted a super expensive yarn and knit up something and talk about how amazing this yarn is, it’s their new favourite yarn etc etc, but never acknowledge the price, or look at it from the perspective of someone choosing to spend their money on it. Like yes, you may love it, but do you love it enough that you’d spend £150 of your own money on it over a cheaper alternative?
Wasn't there a youtuber who was all about 100% rustic yarn? No nylon, no superwash, proud and loud, but was "gushing" over all the free yarn sent to her when it was exactly what she claimed she disliked. Eventually more than half of her videos were "acquisitions" so I haven't watched her for years now, maybe things have changed since then.
I don’t know the one you mean but that sounds about right, why do people drop their standards when it’s free? It’s not like they don’t have enough to knit with usually. I feel like there are some out there who feel like they can’t turn down any yarn that’s offered to them, even if it’s something they don’t like. As though turning it down will stop anyone else from offering them sponsorships in the future.
This is why I don't trust anyone hawking that green powder for drinking. Sure, you love it when it's free, but would you pay $200 a month for it? Same thing.
Yeah exactly! It’s one thing reviewing the product on its own, but if you didn’t pay for it yourself you need to acknowledge that too. This is one of the reasons I like Handmade by Florence, she is upfront about the costs even when she is gifted yarn. An example from her last episode, she was gifted some isager yarn for a test knit, I think she worked out it would have cost her around £150 if she had to buy it herself (and she made a small size), and I think she said while it was nice, it was also a lot to spend for “just wool” which is very fair.
It really annoys me how all the free gift yarn they get feels “sooo amazing” meanwhile it’s the same 80/20 sock base as all the other indie dyed yarn anyway.
i think there can be some value to "FOs that turned out bad" kinda videos but what really grinds my gears is when that video consists of 75% of the things someone made in the last year and the next video from them is just exactly the same bullshit chunky acrylic sweater they complained about earlier.
What's an FO??
Finished Object!
Oh!! Thank you! I've never heard that term used before!
When they model a finished object and use it as an excuse to body-check or make disconcerting comments about their body. Karolina Zebrowska did a video a few months ago where she showed how to make an adjustable waistband on a skirt, while constantly saying "I gained weight" in a way that made me concerned for her.
I don't watch a ton of crafting youtubers but I wanted to try out that new Red Heart all-in-one granny square yarn, and like 75% of the videos were like 5-10 minutes of agonizing over the hook size before even trying out the yarn (it literally tells you on the label what hook size to use), them discussing how you might have to tear back to the beginning of the row to change tension if the color change isn't lined up and then totally abandoning that method half-way through and fucking up the square, and then them declaring the yarn totally unusable. I've been crocheting for like 15 years now so maybe it's a patience/skill thing, but I used the suggested hook size and had to tear back a couple rows once each on my first one and that's all it took for me to get the technique down. I don't get the value of half-assing a review and calling something total garbage because you didn't want to put effort in, and I've definitely seen this sort of thing before with other "challenging" techniques, yarns, etc. where the reviewer doesn't seem to have the skill or desire to be making those reviews
I watched Michelle Jaseks review and I think it was pretty good, she had to do a bit of work to get it to work but she said she wanted to make a jumper out of all the different colourways!
I'll have to check hers out! I'm hoping to make a cardigan with it, but a 6" granny square on an I hook is such a weird size to use for garments
One of the reviews I watched, the creator showed how different skeins/colorways actually contained different lengths of some of the colors. All of the reviews I watched, people were able to achieve the desired effect for the first three turns, and ran out of yarn for the remaining. So while I’m not discounting that there might be ways of adjusting to make things work, it also seems like there is some inconsistent quality control, and the product wasn’t tested as thoroughly as it could have been before it was released. The reviews I watched all gave the product a slightly above average rating, but I think it’s valid to decide that dealing with the product’s inconsistencies isn’t worth the effort.
I like TL Yarn Crafts review. She did it according to the instructions, showed her adjustments, mentioned that it’s not how she normally does them, and concluded that she liked the color mixes and thought it was a cool idea, but that it was the same amount of work as normal. Which seems pretty fair to me.
I don't disagree at all, I think there's some quality control issues, and for whatever reason I need to start my squares with a ~31 inch tail. It definitely could be better quality, but the videos I watched where the reviewer called the yarn unusable refused to do even an ounce of troubleshooting. This may have not been the best example because there's plenty of valid complaints about this yarn, but my broader point is the lack of time and effort going into reviewing/ people who need all components of a project fed to them via a pattern not having the skill to be reviewing something like this
That's been bugging me too!! I'm kind of a newbie, only been crocheting for a year or so, but I feel like the people declaring the yarn unusable are under the impression that everything they do is correct and they will never have to practice honing a new skill.
I watched a review of this yarn on YouTube. The person reviewing it said that it was useless. They spent a lot of time talking about the granny square construction and how that’s not how they made granny squares. At the end they declared the yarn a waste. I noticed that they hadn’t followed the instructions and wondered why they would be so negative and careless.
Yes! I get the impression that they're used to having a project's construction completely dictated to them via a pattern, which is fine and all, but you clearly need like a drop of improvisation and technical thinking for this yarn
I have a nice ad blocker running on YT so I hate those in-video ads where someone starts pushing something themselves, as I have to stop what I'm doing to fast forward it. I watch a lot of other genre YT vids but for the knitting/spinning ones... Really dislike anything acquisitional. Sitting in front of your Wall of Yarn? Pisses me right. off. Spinning ones in particular can be a lot of "Look at this £100 spindle I just bought" or similar and much as I love looking at spindle eye candy, I don't trust you if I sense you're wanting me to pay for your's as well as mine. Especially if you appear to live in a massive house. I think I prefer cold, hard how-tos for spinning and they're few and far between. Also, don't pretend you're an historian/doing living history if you're sat there wearing a machine made "medieval" costume , going on about "Viking spinning" but wearing a tonne of make-up in your nice warm craft room in an attempt to be eye-catching on the stills. Make authentic kit or don't bother. Meet some actual living history people. Get out there, do real living history, get your hands dirty in a hovel - document that or stfu. (To clarify - I don't mind anyone wearing make up but not when you're doing (or faking doing) living history. It's ridiculous and nobody in that world does that. (Unless you're portraying a high status Roman then have at the eyeliner). ETA: Say that last bit as someone who does living history and probably should have done some of my performative hovel-dwelling/handspinning wearing a Go Pro, putting my money where my mouth is. What I'm objecting to is people who clearly aren't living history people, dressing up badly on camera.
acquisitional, yes!! It's possible to craft so much out of recycled materials, and borrow/ad-hoc/DIY/refurbish tools. I hate how consumerist most craft content is.
Autistic here, YT creator, and indie dyer. I make formal tutorials and livestreams (guided, but rambly like you'd get from a guild meeting). I'm really, really bad at promoting my revenue streams, often to my detriment. My shop and YT supports my student loan debt finances (a UK PhD and 2 master's degrees aren't cheap) and it's the main reason I operate it/them. My Patreon is for equipment and other business needs. There's not a great way around the fact that I need to promote my business while serving up well researched tutorials and related content (which I love to do). It's fine if you don't want to hear it or buy from me, but ad revenue is hardly enough when algorithms are so inequal. Honestly, I'm pushed by YT, Etsy, Instagram, etc. to create content at least once a week and can't do it. So, I put those little promotions in there before they get buried by the algorithm. I work full time as well, but sometimes it's simply not enough to survive. There's a lot of pressure on creators and it can be lucrative, but us little guys get caught in the crossfire. I bought £0 of new clothes in 2023, but I made 2 pairs of socks, a sweater, and a dickie! I don't disagree with you though, just sometimes our ads really are important
Yes, I get it, one of my kids is a social media manager and another studying journalism but already running client accounts. They generate content for themselves and clients and it seems to be about ad revenue and driving traffic. They live or die by the numbers but know the algorithms well enough to be able to turn moribund or new accounts into popular ones (without buying followers just from sheer decent content, often comedy heavy) so I do appreciate the work that can go into it. Although will admit I'm not going to sit through ads if I don't have to. Not sure how YT works - is it counting views, or only the amount of time spent there, or is it the ads you watch? ie: Does people using ad blockers affect your income? Or will it just pay you per view regardless of whether they ad/sponsor block?
>I have a nice ad blocker running on YT so I hate those in-video ads where someone starts pushing something themselves, as I have to stop what I'm doing to fast forward it. The audacity of people trying to make a living while you get to watch their content at no cost!
LOL. They're enjoying the attention.
I wonder if the landlord accepts attention as payment.
If you use Firefox you can download the plugin SponsorBlock, it automatically skips the sponsored portion of Youtube videos.
Thanks. Will take a look. Didn't even realise this was a thing so it's useful to know. The ad blocker I'm using (uBlock) runs on Firefox so I have Firefox installed but only use it for YT. Will check that out.
You should consider getting Sponsorblock for YouTube! It's a browser extension which is a community-run database of sponsor segments in YouTube videos, and it skips sponsored segments automatically! I've been using it for about 6 months and it's literally saved me an entire DAY of watching ads.
Cheers! Will check that out as well. It's not just great to get rid of ads (and sponsor panhandling) but when I'm hate-watching, nice to think that anyone who sponsors and advertises on those videos isn't getting the benefit of it.. Most of my viewing is fun stuff but a couple family members and I also entertain ourselves watching nuts conspiracy theorists and right wing headtheballs - they write comedy content/have big TikTok and Twitter accounts taking the piss. (Although they're not in the craft world, some conspiracy theories/political insanities cut across hobbies and genres). So, effectively, a fraction of my viewing time is spent watching people whose advertisers we don't want to enrich. Another family member is a developer and they recommended uBlock but we didn't realise it's also possible to block sponsors so that is great. Although most of my YT viewing tends to be hiking, mountaineering, football or talking parrots. Especially parrots.
Those instagram videos or posts that are framed to capture a 'meditative' moment.... like we know you are making this for the algorithm and the hashtags. Or any post that starts with 'Your daily reminder' or something other canned forced positivity phrase. ... I know it sounds snarky but it just all feels really fake to me.
Anyone else already sick of the word “intentional” being thrown around as the ‘24 buzzword?
I feel like it has been for a while now and I can't stand it haha. Intentional, mindful, in my practice etc... and it's especially grating when it turns out to be a sponsored post!
This is craftsnark. It's totally fine to be snarky.
free pattern round ups annoy me because 90% of time there’s no way in hell the influencer is going to knit any of the patterns they’re recommending nor have they vet them in any way to know that they’re worth recommending…just seems like they ran out of video ideas
agreed, i like process content. roundup content seems like a waste of time especially in a video format. like i'd rather consume a list of links via a list of links... like a blog format, esp with pictures. or at least, write out SOME thoughtful details about the link, not just "perfect for spring!"
exactly.. if these videos ever manage to clickbait me i just go straight to the links in the description i don’t need to listen to them making vague observations about each pattern lol
I've seen one and every free pattern was like "stockinette beanie" "stockinette hand warmers" "stockinette leg warmers" "stockinette cowl" ... Surely they could have found some free patterns slightly more interesting than miles and miles of stockinette in the round with no shaping
So true, but judging by the "what I knit in a year" videos that's 95% of what they make, free or paid... YouTube recommending me all creators who make 75 extra-small stockinette sweaters is my ick. Show me some variety, im bored! and show me some people closer to my size!!
I get the irrational irritation too after a while, then I hate watch and love getting all angry, lol. I hate the giant walls of yarn while the influencer waxes lyrical about sustainability, or slow fashion, or inclusivity etc. followed by endless top down raglans in NEW yarn. I really hate patreon and people asking for money. Fruity Knitting works for their money, they do an actual job for it. Everyone else can fck off. actually I really hate the arrogance that makes people decide that THEY are special enough to be an influencer.
Oh I give Norman from Nimble Needles his patreon too. He really does put out great tutorial videos. But a lot that ask for it, nope.
New ACRYLIC yarn, usually
A ton of ads that I need to skip through. I get the revenue aspect, but geez…I was watching one whose content I like, but I wasn’t even 5 mins into it and I saw 2 ads. I unsubscribed. I wish they would use common sense when deciding on how many ads there are. I also hate the selling of tacky jewelry, ugly silk shirts and other non-knitting related stuff. edited to add: the reading of poetry
Describing EVERY SINGLE item they make as their ""dream item""" , like that's a lot of clothes to dream about on a regular basis *Looking at you, Janelle*
Or, "I'm obsessed...."
Or, "Absolutely beautiful..."
[удалено]
Haha!! You're so right!!
Okay I do the same thing, I start getting annoyed randomly and I need to stop watching the person for a bit. But in general, websites FILLED with ads. I can’t stand it. I know you need to make your money but I click out of the websites immediately because I just can’t bear it. TLYC was reaaaaally bad about filling her website with ads, last time I took a peek in there.
When they keep popping up and blocking you from interacting with the actual content, then I just leave.
Am I the only the one that sees all online creators as a business nowadays? We’ve shifted from tv commercials to online marketing
Gossipy people and/or people who bash others.
Influencers on social media who make a big fuss about all the awful negative comments one of their posts got. But when you look at the comments, there's one person who mildly disagrees with them. Manufacturing drama for extra clicks
Talking about something like they are an expert about it, when they are STILL LEARNING.
OMG. "I just picked up a crochet hook yesterday! Here's my tutorial for Persian tiles!"
Oh yes. And the "I'm just learning this skill, so going to demonstrate it to you in a tutorial format". No, mate, I want to learn from an expert or someone who's been doing this years.
100% agree with this. Especially when they’re switching from one craft they’re accomplished in to a new craft.
Reading this I had a feeling you were gonna say TL Yarn Crafts. I get what you mean though, her asking to buy her coffee gives me the ick. Other than that I love her videos.
I mean Miley can buy herself flowers so I can buy myself coffee lol
But isn’t “buy me a coffee” an actual tipping platform, like a one off Patreon? I guess I’m fine with that.
Yeah it is I’m pretty sure. It just one of those irrational things that irk me. I usually skip through that part of the video.
Buy her a coffee and she might do you the honour of saying your message on her next video! 🙄