I Love Planning Surprises!

I just can’t help it... I love planning gifts and surprises this time of year (well... OK... all year long!) for everyone from the stitchers who visit our website to members of my family.

For the next 3 weekends, I am adding a sample chart to our newsletter page each time for a total of 3 charts which stitchers can enjoy. The first one is the little tiny dragon that I had prepared to submit to the JCS Ornament issue until my invitation got eaten by the mail :(
We gave it out to shops in Charlotte this summer, but it is now up for stitchers all over the world to enjoy.

The only hard part was writing the copyright notice. To think that when I first started putting charts up on the site for stitchers to enjoy, I only put the copyright symbol with the date and our company name. Sigh! Then they started showing up elsewhere on the Internet or being kitted up for sale on Ebay... Now I have to write more than I want to just to be sure I spell things out. Does it stop the most determined pattern sharers? No... Does it make people more aware of how much copyright abuse has hurt our industry in the past 2 years? I’m not sure the message is getting through. Most people are far more willing to blame the economy or just the cyclical nature of the industry (both of which are valid points...) but when I look at how closely our plight matches that of the recording industry (without the big dollars and deeper pockets) I can indeed see a parallel. When you find something to enjoy on the Internet that doesn’t cost you anything, it is like finding money in an old coat pocket... or getting an unexpected present in the mail. Everyone likes getting something for nothing... or for a good bargain. I know that this is why many of us designers began putting up small charts on our websites in the first place - we wanted to give something back to those who had made supported us.

Then... someone discovered that you could put the actual patterns purchased from a store onto scanners, scan them in and start sharing THEM with others... just like MP3 files of hit songs. Why buy a whole magazine or hard cover book when you only wanted one pattern?? Why buy a whole album when you really only want the single you hear on the radio?? If you look at a newsstand now, you’ll see that the number of North American stitching magazines has dwindled. I’ve watched editors come and go, magazines be bought out by larger companies or fold completely. Now, there are fewer magazines for new or non-stitchers to stumble across.. so less people have exposure to the craft. How do you know that one of the other designs in the magazine might not have been a perfect gift for someone a few months later? How could you ever fall in love with another song on the CD that you ended up liking better than the “hit single” if you only downloaded the one file??

I certainly haven’t found the answers to this issue yet... but I do keep hoping that the words I write will be respected by most... even if they are ignored by some.

I’m also planning stuff for Nashville, which will be here before I know it. The Runekeeper Saga is being stitched by one of my talented model stitchers as I try to sort out page layout with the printer to fit story and charts into one booklet. I’ve added a border and some other fun things, but I’m trying to keep it to 16 pages instead of 24 if I can...

My favourite Fantasy designers and I have also decided that we want to make Nashville a FUN place for shop owners to come. Many shops prefer not to travel to events like these anymore since they can find most of the new things on-line... but it is the camaraderie, the chance to exchange ideas about how to help our industry and the one on one contact between members of the industry that can really help you grow in what you do. So last year a few of us sat down and thought... what could WE do to make this show more fun?? We decided to have a FANTASY FAIRE... so we’re all going to be in one row of the hotel and have a TON of surprizes and fun. All I will say for now is that it involves special things for shops to collect and many of us in costume. I’ve even found a 41” sword (dull edges... don’t worry) to wear and I can’t wait!! Now we’re just going to leak little clues and details a few at a time. Heh! Heh! Heh! I love it!

I also can’t wait until tomorrow (the first Sunday in Advent) when I get to put my tree up and get out the Christmas music......YAY!!