I saw something about 10 days ago that surprised me immensely. I think one of my knitting patterns has been copied or at least “adapted” to an extent that it is literally identical. But I won’t say it’s for definite because things like this could truly happen by chance. But thinking again and again about what I saw, it is really quite hard to believe that this happened by chance because it looks exactly the same. I can see some differences but I know why these differences were made. If (that is if) this pattern which is already published, was really an adaptation of my design, it is disappointing that no credit was given to me. Actually this is the second time by different individuals that my designs as been “adapted” to an extent that it is identical. So I decided to voice about it.

I won’t go into detail about this particular case as it is by an individual and not by a large retail giant. If this happens for the second time by the same person, I will take an action. But for now, I would like to talk about my philosophy about this whole situation.

Knitting community is a great pool of people where they are all courteous and give credit to one’s design if a person adapts it – even to an extent that you cannot really see any resemblance to the original design! Knitters are all creative and I love being a part of this community.

Getting an inspiration from other designers, brands, etc is natural. I have my own favourite designers that I admire and I am always inspired by fabulous knitting designs that I see on Ravelry and elsewhere. If you are designing a new pattern, you may adapt a certain shape, a certain stitches on a completely different type of garment. I think that’s fine. But when it becomes, the same style of garment, the very similar detail of designs, very similar stitches on a same style garment – then that is a bit too much.

When you suspect that someone has adapted your design to an extent that it is literally identical, it is a difficult feeling. But one thing I can say is not to let this stop you. It’s a cliche to say that “imitation is the highest form of flattery”. May be it is, but you know, the bottom line is all about THE NEXT NEW DESIGNS. There is no point publishing what has been seen before.

It taks a LONG time for me to create a garment from start to finish. I go into a lot of details (scenery, photos, words, colours, texutres etc), swatches, analysing the ideal fibres. So when someone adapts my design I would expect someone to give some credit for the hard work I did.

Although I won't be able to tell you which one it is, these are some of the images I went through to design a garment.

I don't just go through inspirational images. I knit countless number of swatches. It really does take a long time, but that is the beauty of knitting - TIME.

I would like to “turn lemon into lemonade”. So next time I create my own design (which is going to be soon), I will blog about every step that takes from the beginning to the end of creating the final garment. I want to share my method of how I do it, and may be there is something that we can both learn from each other. Life goes on. I have a loving family and kitties with amazing knitting friends. All I need to concentrate is to create knitting patterns that we can all enjoy.