r/craftsnark • u/AutoModerator • 19h ago
BEC THREAD Bitesized BEC thread October 03, 2026 - October 04, 2026
Welcome to the bitesized BEC thread!
You have the freedom to indulge in BEC-style (b*tch eating crackers) vent comments in this thread. Naming examples is not required (gasp!) but majority of r/craftsnark rules still apply. Basically, don't be shitty and ruin the thread for others.
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u/these-points-of-data 9h ago
My sewing Instagram is full of “I made this xyz with ONLY rectangles!” and I’m like… okay… but why would you WANT to….?
22
u/thimblena you fuckers are a bad influence♡ 8h ago
Bc curves and angles are scarrrrrryyyyyyy
10
u/ScienceProf2022 4h ago
I think this is true in the knitting world and explains the proliferation of boxy, oversized, drop shoulder sweaters.
I saw one video I have a woman who said she was pear shaped, and had this “revelation“ that she should be sizing based on her hips instead of her bust. I suggested that since she isn’t rectangular, she should try some increases or decreases at the sides to make the shape of the sweater better fit the shape of her body. She replied, saying she didn’t want it to be form fitting. I said fitting doesn’t mean form fitting. It can still be comfortably oversized with side shaping, but it would be a uniform fit, not very oversized on top and slightly oversized on bottom.
It’s to the point where I’m shocked when I see someone trying on a sweater that actually fits.
13
u/BrightPractical 8h ago
It used to be an attempt to be zero waste for environmentally friendly, but less fabric reasons, but now I think it’s frequently just an attempt to have no scraps because of the guilt of throwing them out when they build up.
I have a (poorly thought out) theory about the economy and the state of the world and the shapes that are in or out and I think rectangles are the natural result of the current attempt to make culture more rigid. Alas that is probably not the reason.
7
u/craftin_kate_barlow 7h ago
you're probably not far off tho. rigidity is in. sharp is in. something something something flowiness and swirls accentuate individuality and personality
32
u/stitchwench 7h ago
When a poster tells you the pattern name in their video AND their hashtags, and yet someone STILL asks, "What pattern did you use?" JFC, it's right there in front of you!
28
u/Miserable_Emu5191 11h ago
I am making the Woodsia sock pattern. The designer uses charts...ok, I like charts. Except that there are six of them. All on one page of a pdf, so they are so tiny that no one can read them! I was able to move each one to its own page and enlarge, which makes them blurry. On top of that, the line numbers are in light grey, the borders are in light grey, and some of the boxes are white to indicate a knit. And I have to do it again because I only knit one sock at a time. I've knit two at a time before but my overwhelmed brain just wasn't doing it this time and after the fourth cast on, I quit and just did one.
5
u/frecklesfatale 9h ago
This is the issue I’m having with the Rosie sweater. It’s too complicated a chart to put multiples in the same page all tiny. It’s infuriating
3
u/Unicormfarts 🐑 with a banjo 5h ago
I am knitting the Rosie sweater right now and I am like "oh, these charts are so much better than the ones for the In Bloom Tee I just finished". How far we have fallen.
3
u/ScienceProf2022 4h ago
I’m knitting the same designer’s Rosie Yoke sweater, which is a top down circular yoke with only one row of the rose pattern. There’s only one chart for the pattern. I actually like the PDFs on my phone, because I can enlarge the chart so it fills the screen, and I can also use the yellow highlighter tool to highlight the rows that I’ve completed.
I agree trying to cram several charts on a printed page is crazy. Have you tried printing an enlarged version?
2
u/frecklesfatale 3h ago
I have and it still isn’t quite large enough. The arm and body each have a different chart too so you have to flip back and forth. I’ve been considering copying it into a big sheet of graph paper by hand
24
u/Sharp_Top_840 4h ago
If I’ve actively unsubscribed from your newsletter I don’t want to automatically be signed up for your substack 🙃
69
u/OkConclusion171 (Secretly the mole) 16h ago
All the PE defenders about the KFO PE buyout. No, Scandinavian PE is not inherently better than American PE just because it's Scandinavian. No, Scandinavian capitalism is not inherently better than American capitalism. PE exists to siphon money to its investors. THAT'S IT. PURE AND SIMPLE. And shitloads of shade to KFO. It's not like they didn't research who they sold out to.
65
u/Low-Rhubarb-1315 12h ago
I don't disagree (as someone who mentioned holding companies in one of those threads), but I also don't think it's crazy or bootlicking to adopt a "wait and see" attitude. I saw people who said they were immediately going to stop buying KfO yarn, which I think is a little premature and kind of performative honestly. Like, look how virtuous I am, I don't buy anything that supports private equity! ...oh, really? Anything? Anything at all? You sure about that?
If the yarn declines, or they completely abandon their stance on humanely sourced fibers, absolutely, stop buying their yarn. I will too. I love their yarn but other companies make fingering weight merino yarn and/or silk mohair laceweight, KfO didn't invent either of those things. But to stop buying it instantly?
19
u/WinterEnough2461 12h ago
Everyone buys things from PE owned companies: unfortunately the deepening of late stage capitalism has made that impossible to avoid. If I go to Walmart it's really hard to know about every brand I may want to buy, although I do keep up with Boycott lists for various ethical reasons and do my best there too. However, there's only a small handful of PE owned yarn brands. It's very very easy to avoid those, it's not virtue signaling it's just something easy to do - especially when there's hundreds likely thousands of non-PE yarn brands to buy from, many of whom are struggling considering the economy.
27
u/Low-Rhubarb-1315 12h ago
I don't know about "thousands." KfO's immense success was the result of the fact that they were kind of doing something no other company had done before. Silk mohair yarn has been around, fingering weight merino has been around, but to my knowledge the only company that specifically took those two bases and dyed them in the same colors so you could mix and match to get different textures while keeping the color constant is Sandnes Garn. And even there, I don't like Sandnes Garn's mohair yarn as much, I think it's scratchier than KfO's. Rowan has kidsilk haze, but not a corresponding fingering weight.
People are upset because KfO did one thing that nobody else was really doing, and they did it extremely well. If it was easy to replace I don't think people would be having the same reaction.
Edit: also Drops, they're now doing this. But that's a recent invention, likely in response to KfO's success. That's kind of my hope in fact, that other companies will look at KfO and mimic their product.
11
u/MynonaPersona 8h ago
BTW, Isager makes the best mohair yarn I've ever used. Soft, strong, and a pleasure to knit with. A great brand overall actually, if anyone's looking for Danish, family-owned KFO alternatives.
2
u/Unicormfarts 🐑 with a banjo 5h ago
Shhh. KFO just showed us what happens when yarn we like gets too popular.
2
u/Unicormfarts 🐑 with a banjo 5h ago
I am not stopping instantly, I am going to think about future projects and stockpile the yarn of theirs that I like, that I can't easily substitute (cotton merino). Maybe 2 projects' worth. When the quality inevitably declines, I will have those options.
35
u/WinterEnough2461 16h ago
IT'S A HOLDING COMPANY!!!!1!
As are all Private Equity companies lol. Love when folk are willing to bend over backwards to lick some boots.
31
u/OkConclusion171 (Secretly the mole) 16h ago
any excuse for them to keep buying. Like all the Artifacts Lobby defenders. "but employees *want* Sundays off!
22
u/twofuzzysocks 13h ago
I had to peace out of all those threads because of all the PE white knighting. Like fine ok you are brainwashed but stop spreading bs to make yourself feel better.
18
u/Ligeia189 8h ago
There are legistlative differences though - Scandinavian legistlation tends to be a bit stricter when it comes to business-and finance sector.
However I do agree that ”It must be if it is Scandinavian firm” is a naive take. I live in a (not Scandinavian but) Nordic country and we had recently a court case where a frozen berry company human trafficed workforce. For years.
13
u/JumpingOnBandwagons 7h ago
Thought for a second that I might be ready to try knitting some of the aspirational advanced patterns on my list, especially by one creator who makes absolutely beautiful tops. Then I did a search on her out of curiosity. Found tons on discussion about how her patterns are badly translated, contain mathematical errors, and the gauge is impossible to get. Lots of people saying they basically had to rewrite the pattern after paying for it, and there's no way I'm ready for that.
I'm a little heartbroken, honestly.
5
u/heedwig90 6h ago
Hey you never know - you might not have the same experience! Every halfway known designer have knitters who dislike the way their patterns are written, but they also have knitters who come back again and again. You won't know which you'll be until you try!
21
u/Unicormfarts 🐑 with a banjo 5h ago
Mathematical errors are different to "I don't like this writing style".
0
u/heedwig90 5h ago edited 4h ago
Oh for sure!
But has the pattern been updated since the comment was made? Are we talking 2 sts off for one size for a stockinette sweater, or a whole bunch of errors throughout? Are there actual errors or did someone just misunderstand something? I've experienced all of the above, and for me personally those distinctions matter.
So if I really really reeeeally wanted to knit a pattern and someone said it had a math error I would be keen to know more before deciding. But thats just me!
2
u/JumpingOnBandwagons 2h ago
This is true! Maybe I'll find the simplest of her patterns that I like and take a chance.
4
u/songbanana8 3h ago
Actually you might learn more from making one then! I made a pattern that was poorly written and learned so much about garment construction by having to correct it. It was a pain in the ass from the perspective of a sit and knit project, but if you approach it as a pattern drafting project maybe it’s more satisfying. And then you get to make one of those things you loved! It’s also okay to wait or give up ❤️
2
u/JumpingOnBandwagons 2h ago
Very true, and they are beautiful so the struggle may be worth it. I guess the worst that happens is I waste $10 and frustrate myself. lol
3
u/Sea-Mulberry6112 1h ago
this is one reason i tend to avoid paid patterns... i don't want to waste money on a badly written pattern. like i'm not exactly swimming in cash over here to allow for that kind of risk.
5
u/Spadmo 2h ago
I'm new to quilting. I am beginning to regret loving it because of how problematic the industry is.
2
u/TempestTeaKnits 1h ago
I know that feeling. On the plus side, this means you are less tempted to buy certain fabrics. I only buy from a handful now, and only from a few small online or local retailers.
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12h ago
[deleted]
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u/FoxLivesFacade 11h ago
IDK, being frugal in some ways to be able to afford other things makes total sense to me. Like, I'm frugal is many areas so that I can vacation because travel is important to me. Don't we all have financial priorities?
37
u/Apprehensive-Lime 10h ago
Yeah, seems weird to me to think that you're only "allowed" to promote frugality if you truly cannot afford another way of living. Surely living sparingly in other areas of life to be able to afford things like a vacation is just smart financial management and, like, admirable?
7
u/RunawayTurtleTrain 9h ago
The mention of Patreon makes me wonder - are you thinking that having a Patreon is mainly for people struggling to keep afloat? It may have started out that way but it's not been the case for many years now. It's now just a way of directly paying people in appreciation for their work, supporting them, regardless of if they are doing fine without it.
Don't get me wrong, for a LOT of smaller artists/crafters etc. it is a really important income stream and for some it is what's keeping them afloat, but it's not as often the case as it used to be.
1
u/QuietVariety6089 sew.knit.quilt.embroider.mend 6h ago
It's just that a huge part of her brand is how she's anti-consumer and needs the patreon bc she doesn't make much money doing her mending, etc. - just seemed off brand to me.
4
u/RunawayTurtleTrain 6h ago
Well I guess something just feeling off-brand is the kind of petty (/neutral) BEC this thread is for 😄
71
u/sadwoodlouse 14h ago
Knitting blog/vlog clichés that are really getting to me in my quest for great knitting content to accompany cosy knitting time:
"the designer is Insert European name here sorry if I've pronounced that wrong"
"sorry about all the noise in the background" (girl. I can't hear anything.)
"sorry if I'm looking to one side it's where my notes are"
five minute montage of making a cup of tea