I've talked about the fiber arts community before in several of my posts - the neighborly vibes, how people try to help you, how everyone's willing to give you feedback or test a pattern or point you in the direction of more resources. Today I wanted to chat about specifically giving feedback. It can be anything from sweet little hearts on a #wip Instagram post to a full 4 paragraph rant on Ravelry about how your pattern isn't meant for normal sized people and the pattern is utterly useless. Feedback is a roller coaster. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences.

Something you may not expect: I really appreciate critical feedback. Have I made a typo? Do you honestly think that the patterns I've written have chronically short arms made for T-rex people? Feedback like this is really useful to me. I want to know. I really care about giving out good patterns that people can use, that fit a variety of human beings. I have at least 3 people test each of my clothing patterns. So reach out! I'm pretty prompt with my e-mails and I love chatting with people who have supported my small business by investing in patterns!

Me+my customers after a good interaction with constructive feedback.

This past week I had someone reach out through Etsy. She had bought a pattern and had a couple questions about the gauge as she was using a slightly different yarn. She then pointed out that I'd made two small typos. We worked together on figuring out the gauge and I thanked her for bringing up the typos. She thanked me for getting back to her so quickly. I then went to update that pattern. One, two, three, done. A positive interaction all way round.

Something you would expect: I don't appreciate being screamed at, or messages that seem to assume there is no human being behind the designs. When you tell people that my patterns are useless and a waste of money, other than hurting my feelings and hurting the integrity of the products, you're also doing nothing constructive. I spend a lot of time doing the math on these patterns, getting feedback from testers, formatting the PDFs. I am not trying to cut corners and throw trash into the world! I promise! Mistakes happen. I do try to avoid them through testing but things slip through the cracks! Let me know, I'll fix it, and I'll usually try to find a proper reward for your trouble and your time.

Do yourself a favor and watch this video of goats screaming like humans. It's amazing

Hoping this doesn't come off like a rant, I don't mean it as one. This post is meant more as a "Please reach out if you notice something, I won't know otherwise!" And thanks so much for helping me along the way :).

9-1-17 Getting Feedback