Tuesday 6 March 2012

elf hat and a bit about Pinterest

I'm going to talk about Pinterest as the following project is something I pinned on Pinterest.  I've read quite a few blog posts recently where people are saying that they've stopped using Pinterest due to issues of copyright.  Now, I don't share these concerns.  I've come across very few pins which aren't pinned correctly and the projects I pin are all crafty projects, either tutorials, pictures from blogs or pictures from on-line shops.  I find it odd that these people would have an issue with me pinning them as they've put their work on the internet for all to see.  I'm not claiming it as my own, I'm linking to them.  For the shops, this means exposure, for the others, it also means a new audience.  I don't pin paintings or "art photography" or illustrations, so I'm struggling to see the issue.  Personally, the photos on my blog are appalling quality, there's no way anyone would want to claim them as their own, and I see being pinned as an honour.  Someone likes my stuff!  Where am I going with this?  I don't know!  Most of the comments attached to the posts I'm referencing agreed with the author saying they shared the same concerns.  Am I wrong people?  Am I missing the point?  Personally, I don't intend to give Pinterest up, I love it!

So, want to see what I found, pinned and made?  First of all, credit: this design is a free pattern published by Oodles4noodles.  Click on that link to go to the pattern, not the pin.


This was my first attempt.  I had a few difficulties with the pattern - not because of the way it was written, but because I wanted to use the baby bamboo and merino yarns I had to make a snuggly hat, and they are lighter-weight than the worsted used in the pattern.  I shifted down a hook size too.  I also had problems because of my own stupidity.  Having got to the bottom of the long bit, and started on the increasing, I discovered a hole 3 rows up.  I'd slip-stitched through the stitch, not the chain gap.  I tried to unravel, but there were knots!


Discard and start again!  This time it went much better.  I had to alter the pattern due to my lighter yarn, I did a few more increasing rounds before making the cuff of the hat.  The next issue was down to my inexperience.  The pattern says to do a front-post dc, then a dc, etc.  Doing it the way I thought it would be done, I'd have doubled the number of stitches.  I couldn't quite work out where to do that dc, so I did front-post dc, back-post dc and I love the way it turned out.

How cute is that?  I'm not sure if it will fit Jacob (yes, of course, he had to get a mention before long!), I measured the circumference but couldn't find my head size chart anywhere and couldn't be bothered to log on to find the one on Pinterest as it was almost midnight by then and I wanted it finished!  Big Love has now finished, so my Friday night ritual after Mr CA goes to bed is to watch House.  I love House, but this is the last series - I'm going to have to find something else to tape for Friday nights that Mr CA won't want to watch.  Any suggestions?  We watch crime type stuff together so it needs to be something slightly more "girly".  Slightly mind, I'm no girly-girl (definitely NOT Downtown Abbey - I don't do costume drama!).

Oh dear, I seem to keep getting distracted!  Which reminds me, I crashed my car into the gatepost at work this morning.  It's the third time.  The first two times I just clipped my wing mirror but this time I bounced off it and have 2 massive dents in the passenger side.  Ooops. 


In the absence of Jacob, or any small baby, Mr Hefalump agreed to model the hat for me.  He felt a bit sheepish, but then Humphrey was laughing at him...

12 comments:

Sandra :) said...

I wondered why I kept hitting pins that didn't click back to anything - I only found out a few days ago that someone had pinned the incorrect link in those cases, lol. I'm just recently hearing about this whole copyright issue and I don't quite understand it either. People who don't want their work pinned can apparently put code on the site so that Pinterest can't link to it, and the rest - I found something of mine pinned and just about did a dance of excitement!

Your little Dr. Seuss hat is sooooooooooo adorable - Mr. Hefalump looks quite dashing!

I found Downton Abbey late to the game but I'm watching it now from the very beginning - I love it! And quit hitting the gatepost ... ROTFL!

Katherine said...

hee hee ... Love the Dr. Suess hat for Jacob. Mr Hefalump does a fair job modelling, but we know your wee nephew will make it look oh-so-adorable.

Fiona said...

Your posts are always fun.. cute hat... I am not sure about the pinterest problem but I am impressed if someone likes something of mine to pin it!
Hugz

Nancy Lee said...

That hat is seriously sweet.
Re watching TV: How about Games of Thrones? Sean Bean and a cast of thousands that make the Big Love crowd look like Noddy and the gang.
I also like A Gifted Man. It's like House, but with a haunting...

Erin @ MakeitSew said...

Cute hat! And I agree with you about pinterest... very rarely do I find a pin that's not credited properly, so what's the downside? People get to look at pretty pictures, websites get more exposure, seems win-win to me.

As for TV shows, have you watched Gilmore Girls? Very girly, very funny, I loved it!

Anonymous said...

I was so excited to find people were pinning my stuff. It always says the project is from my blog, so I'm happy as a pig in you know what.

Emily said...

The problem with Pinterest is Pinterest. When you pin something, they download the entire image to their servers and suddenly they claim to own it. They can and will use them to promote their site and do whatever monetization they wish. As an image-producer that is not OK with me. Yes, it's great that someone might pin a photo of mine and maybe it would mean I get a visit, but what if Pinterest takes the photo and sends the traffic to someone willing to pay them? What am I supposed to do?

Just because an image is on the internet doesn't make it automatically a free-for-all who gets to use it.

Personally I have had one person take one of my images to promote a class that I had nothing to do with without giving me any credit for the photo. How would that make you feel? How would you react?

I know I am raining on the parade, but these are serious issues that affect a great many people. Pinterest is going to be sued, it's just a manner of time.

Wendy said...

I wanted to reply to the above comment but Emily is a no-reply blogger so I'm hoping that she comes back to read this!

I still don't understand the issue with Pinterest. If someone wants to take images, they can and will take them from a blog or website, they don't need Pinterest to do that. I can't see how Pinterest would be allowed to "own" the images and I can see that they will get brought up on that at some point. They can't take ownership of images given to them by someone who is not the original owner, that's just logic.

Even so, I can't see how me pinning a picture of my friend's quilt, perhaps not the best photo in the world, will impact anyone.

As it's possible to steal images from anywhere, not just Pinterest, then I would expect to find images from photographers etc watermarked across the front.

Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com said...

Love this! We just posted our Kitchen Fun and Crafty friday link party and would LOVE for you to share this!
http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2012/03/kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-link_15.html We have also included a Sugarlicious giveaway!

ElisabethAndrée said...

Sorry Wendy, I react far too late on your comment on my blog. The Pinterest discussion continues, but what I do is stick to the rules and put the source anywhere. I have many pins removed though.

What a gorgeous elf hat!!

StasaLynn said...

You said exactly what I have been thinking about Pinterest.... I love it and try very very hard to give credit where credit is due.... Pinterest really gives so much inspiration and I love how we can access a great tutorial or pattern that we find!

Stacey

The Dotty One said...

Awww - I love the elf hat!! Its AMAZING. He is going to look so cute!

I've not joined pintrest so can't really comment. The reason I haven't joined is because I think I don't need another thing on the internet that will suck my time rather than anything to do with the copyright issues. I keep hearing how amazing it is though so I may have to change my mind...!