Crafty Bummer: MagKnits closes up shop

Marimello strives to be a resource and to provide you dear readers with calendar and job info. It's tough stuff, but not as tough as some of the other crafty services being provided out there in the internet. So tough in fact, that it can be overwhelming and it is with sadness that we read about MagKnits closing up shop after a four year run. It is with even greater sadness that the reason stems from a surge of negative feedback about the site:

"Lou and I have thought long and hard about what kind of action to take, and as hard as it is for me to give up MagKnits I know that it is the right thing for us to do. The amount of negative feedback we have been receiving has hugely increased this year and to be perfectly honest there is only so much of ourselves that we can give to the site. Someone made a comment about us earlier in the week that we would be stupid to run a business that didn't pay us a salary, this made us sit back and think 'Yes, you're right. We would be stupid to carry on giving so much and getting little in return.'"

Bummer. The silver lining is of course that the designers whose patterns were published on MagKnits own their designs and we expect to see a bunch of them posted on blogs. And also we're glad to hear of Kerrie's continued efforts on the big old supply site, Yarn Forward.

If you are really too bummed, go brighten your day with the neatoness in Amanda Sainsbury's shop.

Craft in the News

So many new friends from Craft Con this last weekend! It's nice to see their shining faces popping up in the news. Yesterday, Sacramento Craft Mafia was the Lifestyle/Scene feature in an article titled Handmade With Attitude. The article points out something Marimello is particularly fascinated with--that this group, like so many other crafty groups, germinates online before moving out into the three dimensional world. The article also touches on a major talking point of Craft Con--that be they local, like a craft mafia or global, like Etsy, having our networks online enables us to participate in the creation of a new "think global, act local" movement.

"Such global dreams are part of the crafting phenomenon's social-movement dimension, complete with a countercultural, political tone that appeals to those interested in living more simply and greenly (many popular crafts use recycled material). Its earnestness shows up in terms like "craftivism" and the online circulation of 'buy handmade' pledges."

Check out the rest of the article here, and congrats on the press Peptogirl!

Craft Con Round Up...Tomorrow

Marimello's taking the day off before giving you the lowdown on Craft Con. Suffice to say it was a blast!

Marimello is hittin' the road: Craft Con 2008

Big doing have been afoot all week at Marimello HQ. We've all been running around like chickens with our heads cut of in preparation for Craft Con 2008.

In case you're in the Bay area this weekend, come stop by and say hello!

Tomorrow, Friday April 4:
Things will be kicking off about 2:30 at La Boulange where we'll all meet up and head out for a tour of the city. We'll be checking out the Rag Co-Op, Rose and Raddish, Dark Coast Garden Corsets, Stitch Lounge, Rare Device, Pandora's Trunk, and Doe before we rest our tootsies with ReadyMade Magazine at Danny Coyle's.
Dinner at Cafe International is going to look reeeaaally good after that hike.

Saturday, April 5:
If we survive the tour, we're kicking crafty things off on Saturday at the Brava Theater. We've planned a whole load of sessions on Social Networking, Brick and Mortar shopkeeping, Crafting Green, Getting Published, Extreme Craft, Product Development, Altruism and Project Management. In addition, we all get to peep the new Handmade Nation trailer and have a little Q&A time with Faythe. We're really looking forward to the evening discussion on High vs. Low Crafting. Marimello got a sneak preview of the discussion from Garth Johnson of Extreme Craft and you can bet it's gonna be good. (You may remember the recent stirrings on this topic over here on imogene.org.)

In the evening, we're kicking up our heel at the Crafty Style Gala. Even if you didn't come for the sessions, you can still get into the Gala.

Sunday, April 6:
Marimello will surely be pooped at this point, but you can be sure our dragging feet will be headed back to the Brava for sessions on structuring a Craft Business, finding Sponsorship, getting Healthcare and peeping a case study in Craft Gym.

Stay tuned for more blogging from the actual event!