Where my stitches at? Interview with Jess and Casey of Ravelry

Ohmigoshomigosh, Marimello is finally on Ravelry. OH you aren't in yet? There, there.

And either BoingBoing is stalking us (again) or we got our invite the same week. (Check out the recent Boing Boing TV post.) Clearly is trying to outdo Marimello but little do they know we have something up our luscious bamboo silk sleeves: a vintage interview with Jess and Casey, the brains and passion behind Ravelry. Read on:

M: For those who don't get to play with Ravelry yet, just how much fun are we going to have?

J&C: I think that most people will have a lot of fun :) Ravelry is multi-faceted and we've found that everyone's favorite part of Ravelry is different. If you love organizing, you'll probably really enjoy your Ravelry notebook, where you can keep track of your projects, stash and tools. Do you like wandering around the web and checking out people's projects and patterns on their personal blogs and sites? Ravelry is perfect for fiber voyeurs. Really love forums and online communities? There are plenty of options out there but we think that our community is something special because there is that extra substance behind (and all around) the chatting. Fun is the whole point!

M: What has surprised you so far about the ways people are using their Ravelry abilities?

J&C: I guess the biggest surprise is how quickly people are finding one another. We just love hearing from independent designers who have been found by local yarn store owners because they want to stock their patterns, new independent dyers and spinners who are getting wholesale orders for their yarns for the first time, people starting up new Stitch'n Bitch groups in their area...all happening already, before we have even opened the site for real!

M: What role do you think community plays in the crafting world? Knitting in particular.

J&C: I often giggle to myself when Casey and I talk about Ravelry to people who are not knitters or crocheters. Often they just don't understand that there is a huge online community of crafters already and that we don't actually have to build all of those connections from the ground up. We are just providing a fun and concise way to find others who share your interests or live near you.

Obviously, communities centered around crafting is not anything new- sewing circles and groups at local stores have been happening for a long time. I think what is different now is that it is possible to connect with people from all over the world and even find local people that you might not have met otherwise.

I know that I learned to knit by myself, from a book, and I didn't know anyone who knit or crocheted until I started my blog. After a while, I was knitting pretty much every day and it was just so fun to do something creative after I got home from work, sitting in front of a computer all day. I really wanted to meet people who shared my love for knitting and, even in a city like Boston, it was a bit challenging to meet new people. I think online communities make that initial meeting a lot less stressful and more comfortable. After you have been chatting with someone on your blog or on Ravelry, you feel like you know them a bit and you can skip all the 'getting to know you' chitchat and actually hang out. I have met people through the blogging community that I consider my real friends.

One of the reasons that we created Ravelry in the first place was that the online crafting community was such a wealth of information and ingenuity but there was not a way to really search and find what you were looking for--besides googling for hours on end. Over the past year, we just noticed that there were so many new indie designers and yarn dyers and spinners--with etsy stores and their own websites--but there are only a handful of ways to get the word out about your stuff (profiles with bigger bloggers, knitty, crochetme, etc). We are hoping that Ravelry helps people to find their audience as well has helps crafters find new and interesting ways to express themselves.

M: It's fair to say social networking sites have had a significant impact on both the music and crafting communities. How do you think it has worked out differently for both communities? How do you think they influence the way crafters market themselves, conduct business, show off? I mean are we more showey-offy?

J&C: Here is our music parallel :) Online communities allow everyone to share their art with the world. The Internet (and especially blogs and community sites) has given talented crafters and musicians a way to find fans and customers themselves. You don't need a big marketing budget and you don't have to wait to be discovered by an industry. You can be discovered by the people instead.

We're very excited about all of the independent designers, dyers, and spinners that are using Ravelry. We really want to help these amazing people (and they really are amazing!) showcase their work, find their audience, and promote their businesses. Community is an extremely important part of small and independent business (businesses of any size, but the bigger guys often miss the point). People aren't only shopping small because they like things that are handmade or locally produced; we consumers are beginning to want a more real connection with the creators that we support.

This really means a lot to us. We want to help people do what they love for a living.

Teen Vogue does DIY

Not being teens anytime this century, we are unfamiliar with the goings on of Teen Vogue. Back in day, we had Sassy, YM and Seventeen to get our fashion/advice fix. But it's good to see that these days Teen Vogue is keeping in touch with the DIY scene and the teen fascination with couture.

We find this interesting because in our crafty world, recreating couture falls under the umbrella of subversion. Of course this is a fairly recent association to make given that crafters, more specifically seamstresses and tailors, have been recreating the latest fashions for centuries. This whole buying off the rack thing is a wee babe in the grand old house of fashion when you think about it.

But the Teen Vogue articles, from Marchesa to Zac Posen, all involve and highlight the original designers. This is more about giving teens access to high fashion and allowing them to tweak and customize the designs.

Now don't get us wrong. We're all for getting the kids crafting, but we're really hoping two things:

1) That no one is getting parental help on this project. Again, it's not that we don't enjoy mommy's sweaters (xoxo! Mom), but having you mom do your 4th grade math homework didn't go over well with Mrs. Westra then and it doesn't go over with Marimello now.

2) That the theme of making your own stuff doesn't go right over the teens' heads. While it is AWESOME to have your own Tory Burch-esque v-neck avec signature dickie, it's not so awesome to own one that was made by some one who made less than the change you pump into a soda machine in passing period.

We're hoping that the brilliant teens of today figure out how that DIY is a responsible choice and alternative to pawing through cheap knockoffs at the Rack. Not that we made any responsible decisions until we were age 25 or so, but we can always hope.

Check out Teen Vogue's DIY here. And for more on Marimello's irresponsible descision making skills, just try googling us. Back in our day the WAS no MySpace. Back in my day we left no digital footprints and whatever we were doing out so late is lost in the sands of time. Fer Sure.

Ideas Unbound: Interview with David Bernstein Part II

Digital content (i.e. your patterns, your words, your pics) will find an audience who doesn’t want or need to pay. This is faboo if you are posting on say Instructables, but not so if you are trying to make a buck. So, we’re back with part deux of the David Bernstein interview where in we discuss the desire for digital content to be free, what gets the New Pamphleteer out the door, and the future of print in the digital age. The New Pamphleteer has embraced the ideas which big publishing houses have not and has big plans for navigating the murky waters between print and digital formats.

M: Many publishers, small and large, are worried about giving away any scrap of their merchandise, including allowing access to a book via Google Book Search or Amazon Search Inside the Book. But you send out an ebook version of your pamphlets to everyone who orders. While we may be so sated with the instant readability, who says we're not gonna turn around, print it out and circulate it our damn selves?

DB: Our mantra on this is unoriginal, but true: Digital content wants to be free. Ebooks are to, me, a not particularly attractive product as a reader. What advantage do they have, as currently constituted, over printed books? The bottom line is, if someone really wants the content, they want to own it in physical form. If they only want to read it, but aren't willing to pay ... well, they would just borrow the printed book from a friend or a library, or but a used copy fro a buck from Amazon. For us, ebooks are just an easier way to let people pass around our stuff to their friends, which I don’t see as a bad thing. The more people who see our pamphlets, the better it is for us. Marketing guru Seth Godin proved this a few years ago, when he gave away the ebook version of one of his books and saw sales of the physical copies skyrocket. Most publishers are terrified of this model, but we're pretty certain that it’s what the future will hold – at least until someone comes up with a more interesting (meaning interactive and fun) way of creating ebooks. Which I might add, is one of our goals as well.

M: Your background in big publishing houses suggests to us that you've had lots of lots of in-house resources—designers, copyeditors, publicists, worker bees, knuckle draggers, etc. Are the Pamphlet Guys handling these tasks with freelancers or what?

DB: We have a VERY talented pool of freelancers who do our design, copyediting, and publicity. But we also do quite a bit ourselves.

M: Aside from revolutionize publishing and the digital stream of consciousness on the web, have you got any big plans in the works? Because we think you are onto something. We think the fate of creative industries, and those that support them lie in the hands of the indies.

DB: As I alluded to earlier, we have big plans for the future relating to ebooks. Print and digital are going to continue to converge in ways that are difficult to predict, but we plan to be right at the center of it, creating a whole range of innovative products. Our logo says "The Future of Print in a Digital Age" which I think sums it up perfectly. Print is going to look different. Digital is going to look different, as our ways of accessing content continue to evolve as a result of new products and technologies. And I think the line between the two will just get blurrier.

Ideas Unbound: David Bernstein of the New Pamphleteer Part I

For some time we've been thinking about how the ever-expanding world seems constantly to be reeled in by indie minds and indie ventures and so far it has involved some of the most interesting people we've ever met. Most recently we've had a chance to chat with David Bernstein of The New Pamphleteer (or one of the Pamphlet Guys as we have been referring to him). A joint venture of David Bernstein and Adam Bellow, The New Pamphleteer started out as an effort to sift through the best of online writing and putting it into print. Fascinated with the way The New Pamphleteer mantra has lined up with the digitization of the craft world through online mags, zines and social networking sites, Marimello traded a few friendly emails. We'll post the rest tomorrow.
Sample their wares here.

M: A little background por favor: What's your inspiration for filtering the digital stream; taking blogs and putting them on the printed page?

DB: Initially, we saw value in preserving some of the most interesting online content in print for both commercial and archival reasons. However, over time we have become less interested in blog content than in we are in the bloggers themselves, many of whom are terrific writers and thinkers. The reason that blogs have become so popular as an outlet for talented writers is that there are numerous artificial barriers preventing these folks from publishing with mainstream outlets – from the need to get an agent, to having a media profile, to gaining the right contacts. What we want to do is open up the publishing process a bit, by allowing talent to find an audience over time rather than being beholden to the vagaries of the Barnes & Noblization of publishing – the trend that increasingly requires every book to be a “bestseller.”

M: Can you help elaborate on the difference between a zine and a pamphlet?

DB: Well, to me 'zines have this underground, haphazard feel to them. Multiple authors under one cover, no real point-of-view or consistency throughout. Not that 'zines can't be fun and interesting, but what we are doing is different – a pamphlet has a single point-of-view, a consistent voice, and a purpose in terms either providing concrete information or advancing an idea, argument or viewpoint.

M: Why'd ya pick a fashion blogger like Manolo [the shoe blogger] (aside from the fact that he is genius complete)? What's the submission process?

DB: Manolo is the ideal example of what we look for in an author – a rich blend of talent, a strongly passionate connection with a loyal online audience, and a mischievous entrepreneurial streak. In the case of Manolo, he was one of the first authors we sought out. But at the same time, we are very eager to see unsolicited submissions as well. One of our most successful, and I think best written, offerings is “Raising Wild Boys Into Men: A Modern Dad's Survival Guide” by Kansas blogger Tony Woodlief. Tony sent us about 6 pamphlet proposals by email before we settled on this one. We're also working on putting together a contest where we invite submissions, and we'll post them as ebooks and let the public decide which should be published in print.

M: Who are your target readers? What's the distribution process like?

DB: Our readers are the same people, by and large, who read blogs. We see the pamphlet as a physical extension of the online connection which top bloggers have with their readers. In pure marketing terms it's a “brand extension”-- like when you buy a Spider-Man t-shirt to go along with your closet full of comics. Currently, we distribute primarily through our own website. We sell a bit in independent bookstores, and we also have negotiated several bulk distribution deals with brick and mortar partners. In general, though, we have stayed away from traditional retail channels (and I count Amazon among those) because, first, they take too much of our money and second, we like having direct relationships with our customers, which is something you lose with retail sales.

M: Do you see these pamphlets as possible promotional tools for say a community effort? Say a publicist who reps a bunch of writers or designers? Or for that matter a bunch of writers who can't get it all together at Kinkos?

DB: The cool thing about the pamphlet format is that it can be purposed for pretty much any kind of content. We are looking at a wide range of opportunities and ideas right now, including using them for promotional purposes, reprinting classic or archival material, and even doing short graphic novels. So yeah, any ideas people have we're willing to entertain.

Smashing Darling: a new marketplace for indies

Speaking of interesting sites for indie minds, check out the interview with Trish Ginter and Julie Rorrer of Smashing Darling on PR Couture. Smashing Darling is another growing online community, resource and commerce site for the indie world. We even spied a few familiar Etsy faces. The Smashing girls tackle questions about what exactly indie is, how to more effectively use indie marketplaces and how to use multiple indie marketplace shops to your advantage.

And a quick word on PR Couture; it's a hot site for fashion PR, but it's also a good resource for crafty minds who might be in need of a little self-promotional advice.

Marimello Hearts I Heart Rummage

Here in LA the Crocodile Cafe is a shitty chain restaurant we haven't seen in a while and are not sure if it is still in business. However in Seattle the Crocodile Café is muuuuch cooler and every first Sunday of the month, they host I Heart Rummage.

According to Marimello's Seattle correspondent, "it's the cute craft fair that your mom would drag you to as a kid but has all the stuff you want. Like Etsy come to life…and with you can get breaky before or after you shop if you find yourself famished." Check out the vibe on the new video here.

Food? Crafts? How could we resist? But not being in Seattle we hit the internet and met up with Cassandra Lanning who has been running a one-woman show for the last year.

IHR though has been around for almost six years, throwing events on the first Sundays of almost every month. [CORRECTIONS ABOUND!] You can catch them next at Bumbershoot.
That's right, Bumbershoot. Craft+Food+Music. It's like Heaven except it still costs money.
The next regular show at the Croc is September 16.

But IHR isn't just a pretty craft fair. Says Cassandra, "We are currently offering a series of free summer craft classes to our customers as well as other vendors. The classes are being taught by several of our expert vendors in the areas of jewelry making, needle felting, card making, sewing and home-brewing (yep, that means BEER!)." They're building a full-fledged crafting (albeit a little tipsy) army.

Contact Cassandra and check out their site here. Stay tuned Mello readers, for more IHR events.

(And P.S. Seattalians or Seattlites or whatever you are calling yourselves these days, Marimello's got a craving for some clouds. You never know when we'll be invading!)

Crafters in Wonderland: Renee Garner and Wonderland Retreat

Marimello sent out the word about Wonderland Retreat back in April and we're happy to report that Alison of Wonderland Q is doing well and the Etsy benefit was a huge success. Of course the sad news is that Alison isn't the only crafter in need, so recently Wonderland Retreat started helping out Elijah Wyman who needed a kidney transplant.
We recently caught up with Renee Garner of Wolfie and the Sneak and chatted her up about creating Wonderland Retreat, the altruism of crafters, and the scary leap from a steady 9-5 to full-time crafting. We also did a little shopping and picked up that cute bear on the left. (Get it? it's a kidney bear from Sappy Moose Tree)

M: How did you decide to start up Wonderland Retreat?

RG: I've always been a firm believer in the "it takes a village" philosophy, in a more general sense, not just with raising kids but in the sense of community spirit. We all have to give in the ways we can. When I heard about Alison Gordon, a fellow crafter and entrepreneur extraordinaire, having surgery without health insurance I felt like I needed to give, but I wanted to do it in a way that would have a greater impact than the little monetary help I could offer. The name came as a spinoff of Alison's great shop, WonderlandQ, and voila! Wonderland Retreat was born.
Setting up a shop seemed like the way to go, that way people that are less inclined to give a donation of money could buy an item, receive a great handmade product, and help out a great cause.
Etsy was a given, it's so easy to set everything up and get it going in relatively little time. It's an affordable option and offers less hassle and red tape than setting up a benefit through somewhere like eBay.

M: Who are the brains behind the op? Do you have help?

RG: What a tough question! The main team is Ileana of India Romeo, Marie, the Sampler's Queen Bee, Neesy Pea of Heyday Fashion, Tess of Made By Tess, and me. But we had about 300 crafters offer their wares as in-kind donations to the shop so the "profit" went (and now goes) to the crafter-in-need. Of course, then there was Etsy and all of the great bloggers out there who spread the word. Without going on too long like an Oscar recipient, all of these people helped out in a very essential way!

M: Is this your first time organizing a craft charity?

RG: This was the first time doing a craft charity of that magnitude. I'd never imagined how wildly popular the shop ended up being! Like I said before, I'm a big fan of contributing as much as possible towards community, so I usually try to do a little something when I hear of a need that hits close to home.

M: How has the customer response been?

RG: Originally the response was incredible, the first few days were a juggling act for all of us to get things listed and keep up with sales, despite the fact that as an organizational group (I'll brag a bit here) we were an all-star team. We've had over 200 sales in just a few months, people have really been so supportive!
Since then, things have slowed down drastically. Alison is much better now, so we've switched gears and all the sales benefit a different crafty fellow named Elijah, who underwent a kidney transplant (can you imagine?!?).

M: How did you choose Etsy as your shop window?

RG: Etsy is just so dang easy to set up, affordable and very visible. It was a natural choice. The funny thing is lot of people thought it was Etsy that set the shop up; I'm here to dispel the rumors! ha ha ha!

M: How do you pick your sponsees?

RG: The sponsees have both had problems that hit so close to home. I'm trying to transition out of the 9 to 5 world, and the biggest thing keeping me from doing that is health insurance. In the mean time I'm walking around like a zombie working 2 full time jobs (the 9 to 5er and my own creative business) looking for a safe solution. So obviously I can relate to issues surrounding being an artist/craftsperson, and, in the US in particular, health care costs are so exorbitant, not just procedures or doctor's visits, but the cost of medicine. So far both of the recipients have had surgery (=$$$$$$), subsequent treatments and follow up visits. You're talking a lot of money at that point, and, as I've said before, we all gotta pitch in and help out in what ever ways we can!

M: Obviously there are a lot of freelancers/crafters out there with out health insurance. There are also a lot of altruistic crafters running around out there. Where do you see this type of effort heading?

RG: That's such a foggy area, it's hard to envision. As the field of crafts gains respect as a viable career, I'd hope more insurance companies would realize the trend and offer suitable options for crafts people. Some do, and sometimes it depends on the state laws (again, here in the US). The Graphic Designer's Guild offers great insight into the laws and options available. So I guess part of the effort is to educate and share information about options so crafters aren't stuck neck-deep in debt when health care issues arise.
At the same time, I hope more non-profit groups rise up as a collective (even simply grassroots efforts like Wonderland Retreat) to help the crafting community out when one of "ours" is in need.

Marimello hearts CROQ: interview with Heather Mann

To be fair, we here at Marimello heart all magazines. But, our newest fave is CROQ, a fairly new, independently published zine devoted, and we mean devoted, to the new crafts scene and indie business. We also had the honor of chatting up Heather Mann, editor and publisher, about CROQ and about zines, magazines, promotion and why it’s OK for DIY not to mean DI-all-Y

Like most great ideas, CROQ is the child of necessity. Two years ago that Dayna Mankowski of CraftyScientist.com popped up on the Sampler LiveJournal voicing a need for a collaborative print zine about crafts and the crafty lifestyle. There simply wasn’t such a thing in existence. Heather says, “The idea for CROQ came out of the excitement of the crafting community that had emerged online -- we wanted to use that excitement to create something that wasn't just an online thing, but an actual print zine. Also, there weren't really ANY magazines out there at the time that focused on the hip/indie craft crowd, so we wanted to make the magazine that we all wished existed.”
“A zine is basically just a self-published magazine. We do everything ourselves, thus the distinctive "zine" instead of just the ubiquitous "magazine." And, we are an actual in-print on-paper publication, not just an internet-only publication therefore, we're not the same as a blog. We wanted to be on paper, not just in cyberspace.”

M: Agreed! What’s the significance you see in moving from online to print. How is that important/significant? Why not just start another Web site? There’s been some hemming and hawing about the decline of print media.
H: A magazine is a self-contained work that is put into print, and then becomes the definitive version of itself. CROQ #4 will always be the same in future print runs as it was when the very first print rolled out. A website is more amorphous. The look gets updated, the content is edited. Things are tweaked. If a print publication is a still-life, then a website is a temporary art installation. Here today, gone (or different) tomorrow.

M: Do you see CROQ growing from “distinctive zine” into a ubiquitous” magazine? Do you think that is a natural progression, or something different?
H: Yes, CROQ has the potential to grow into a magazine. We have a unique point of view, and we are covering some topics that nobody else in magazine publishing is covering. Our potential audience are the young crafters who are on the internet looking for the next big inspiration. So hopefully what you said about some people rejecting print media for the internet exclusively isn't true of those young crafters out there who are our potential readership! I think a jump from zine to magazine would help older readers (those who aren't familiar or comfortable with the sassy 'zine, or who don't find info on the internet) find our publication. So, zines are "distinctive" because they are much more specific and narrow in focus. Magazines become ubiquitous because in order to appeal to a larger audience, they broaden their focus.

M: You use the word integrity in reference to growth. We think integrity is a huge word. For whatever definition you use, integrity is something to maintain. We too think it is possible to maintain that integrity, voice, creedo, whatever too, but we sense an implication that integrity can be lost through the process. What are your thoughts on this in relation to CROQ's and in the larger picture, the craft culture's growth?
H: It's the age old punk rock argument of "selling out" versus being "punk rock." If you maintain any measure of success, those who are still stuck in obscurity call you a sellout. In reality, if the same team is planning, writing, and designing CROQ, then does it really matter if we staple it ourselves? It doesn't fundamentally change our voice or our message.

M: So then what of self-promotion? Is self-promotion DIY—like DI-all-Y—an essential part of the process, or it is something you can farm out?
H: Well, we're getting to the breaking point as far as doing it ALL ourselves goes. Our staff is located around the country, and nobody is close enough to team up to do the physical labor part (printing, stapling, folding, packing orders). Order volume is getting to the point where it might be nice to farm some of it out - either have it printed somewhere else, or just hire someone to help with the assembly. I think the publication maintains its integrity regardless of how much of the physical labor is done in-house.

M: So with all this growth, how are you promoting CROQ now?
H: Right now, we advertise on the internet, we sometimes sponsor events (like the Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta), we swap promos with other indie businesses, we receive press coverage from magazines and websites, and we do craft shows. At the moment, that's all we can do.
Plans for growth include a better compensation plan for our writers. We would like to increase our circulation, too. I would love to tap into some of the 85,000 registered members of Craftster.org. Do you hear me, girls?

We hear you, Heather. Here are some CROQ submission guidelines. Submit to it. Subscribe to it. Love it. Read it three times before you go to bed like Marimello.