by Cynthia Bartz | Mar 27, 2020 | Fiber Arts
Earlier today my sister-in-law sent me an press release from Joann craft stores. The press release detailed how Joann was responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, by donating supplies, giving away patterns, and providing resources to make DIY face masks. My first thought...
by Cynthia Bartz | Feb 12, 2020 | Independent Designer Business
Is your website ready for visitors? Like many independent designers you are probably ticking off all the digital marketing boxes: Ravelry, Instagram, maybe an email newsletter or website, etc.Let’s say, you are putting your patterns out there and have a modest...
by Cynthia Bartz | Dec 31, 2019 | Independent Designer Business
Coupon codes are an essential part of marketing any business. Selling knitting and crochet patterns is no different. If you’ve ever wondered how other designers make coupon codes in Ravelry, I am going to walk you through every step.Step 1: Login to Ravelry and...
by Cynthia Bartz | Dec 10, 2019 | Fiber Arts
If you are unfamiliar with copyright laws in the USA, I would start here. I am going to talk about the copyright issues surrounding the baby Yoda crochet pattern, and an understanding of the latest copyright policy is important. Thanks so much to Jamy for providing...
by Cynthia Bartz | Dec 3, 2019 | Fiber Arts
As a maker, it is important to understand copyright law. In this article I am going to give you the copyright basics for law in the United States. My goal is to give you a baseline understanding, so you can engage in conversations over copyright intelligently. Using...
by Cynthia Bartz | Nov 7, 2019 | Independent Designer Business
I like to think of pattern formatting like salt. Not formatting your knitting pattern is like throwing away your salt shaker. It doesn’t matter how many hours you put into Julia Child’s beef bourguignon if you don’t add any salt. Salt is what makes things taste...
by Cynthia Bartz | Nov 1, 2019 | Fiber Arts
I am so in love with knitting. I can’t imagine my life without it. And I bet you feel the same, about whatever fiber arts has gripped your heart. So, in the spirit of the giving season, I want to challenge you to turn your gratitude towards fiber arts too. This...
by Cynthia Bartz | Jul 14, 2019 | Independent Designer Business
First off, I want to say that if you are an independent designer, you are a business owner. Even if you do it on the side and only release one pattern a year. You are a business owner. You have created value, and you should not undermine that value by saying...
by Cynthia Bartz | May 9, 2019 | Fiber Tools
The Knit Picks Ball Winder is a great, inexpensive ball winder. I love them so much that I have owned two of them. Unfortunately the Knit Picks Ball Winder has a tendency to slip gears. When this happens, your beautiful yarn cakes turn into a loose, tangled pile of...
by Cynthia Bartz | Apr 25, 2019 | Test Knitting and Crochet
You might have heard about test knitting jobs or test crochet jobs, and wondered “how do I even get started?”. Me too. Over the past several years, I’ve learned some tricks to finding test and sample jobs that I am going to share with you. The...
