INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS

I received a question from a reader (who prefers to remain anonymous, but thank you all the same for giving me the opportunity to weigh in on this very important NEWS ISSUE within the needlework community) late yesterday asking me to confirm or deny a rumor going around that popular thread company (certainly one of MY personal favorites!) Needle Necessities either has gone or is going out of business.

This rumor is COMPLETELY FALSE.

I spoke directly with Debbie BuSteed, Needle Necessities’ front Office Manager, on the telephone just minutes ago using the main Needle Necessities number posted on their website (714-892-9211). Debbie was very forthcoming and confirmed that while she has heard the rumor and received numerous calls about its veracity, it is NOT TRUE. If ANYONE would know whether or not this rumor were true, it would be Debbie.

Perhaps partly fueling the FALSE rumor is the fact that a few Needle Necessities’ employees have chosen to leave the company for personal reasons. Therefore, Needle Necessities has been running shorthanded, which has in some cases left them somewhat behind in filling orders.

However, they are catching up with all their employees pitching in wherever they can. Debbie herself is doing pretty much everything from answering the phones and taking orders right through to shipping — except the actual dyeing, she says, which she does not know how to do.

***************************************************************************

Now, on a somewhat different note, I would just like to refer you to another of my absolute favorite Internet resources. It’s called the Internet Tourbus, is written with intelligence and a generous dose of good humor by Bob Rankin and Patrick Crispen, and I have been subscribing to it for literally YEARS, even though I know the Internet pretty well by now. In particular, I would like to mention an archived Internet Tourbus issue concerning people who have spread false rumors which resulted in harming a company’s business … And THAT resulted in those people being SUED by a big company — Proctor & Gamble, to be specific … And the little people LOST the lawsuits — BIG TIME — because they had lied without bothering to check their facts, and thus were deemed to have willfully harmed Proctor & Gamble’s business.

So my personal advice to anyone who has been spreading this rumor about Needle Necessities which I have now FLATLY DEBUNKED is that you post immediate retractions everywhere you posted the rumor ASAP to CYA. Better to be as safe as possible at this point than sorrier than horse poop. Feel free to refer people to this article here on Independent Needlework News for the facts; the direct link to this article is:

http://independentneedleworknews.com/2007/08/21/nn-not-out-of-business/

or you can also use the TinyURL code: http://tinyurl.com/2gru83

And sign up (or as Bob and Patrick call it, get a free ticket) for the Internet Tourbus, too. You’ll enjoy it; I promise!

Technorati Tags: Needle Necessities, rumor, out of business, Internet Tourbus, Proctor & Gamble, lawsuit, sue, Bob Rankin, Patrick Crispen

As many stitchers are undoubtedly aware, The Goode Huswife stopped designing needlework patterns (at least for a while) some time ago, and nearly all of them are out of print.

To see which ones currently remain in print, check the radio button for The Goode Huswife using Hoffmandis’ Designer Search. The patterns which still show up here should still be available to order through your favorite needlework shop. Patterns which do not show up are officially out of print.

The big news is that The Goode Huswife has announced on her website the release of a new book in the fall, which will be a compilation of “ten old, favorite designs.”

In other words, people who want to sell The Goode Huswife patterns on eBay or other auction sites*** for ridiculous amounts of money might want to try to do their selling soon, as the old favorites they have for sale may be shortly available again at a much lower cost.

Simultaneously, people who want to have old favorite patterns by The Goode Huswife may just want to hold off from paying any ridiculous amounts of money on those same auction sites until you find out exactly which ten patterns are contained in this new book to be released!

I don’t know why The Goode Huswife is releasing this book of old favorites. Perhaps the designer is tired of seeing those ridiculous auction prices on eBay herself and would like to help stitchers who want to stitch or collect her designs out while simultaneously making a bit more money herself from her own designs.  I mean, it must be frustrating to see those kinds of prices on eBay when the designer herself didn’t charge that much for her designs and probably didn’t have any idea her patterns would become so popular AFTER they went out of print.  After all, most of the time, when a pattern goes out of print, it’s really because the designer feels the pattern is no longer in demand.  She must wonder where all these fans of her designs were when her designs were actually in print, and she was trying to manage a successful designing business.  Anyway, since she owns the copyright to her own designs, she can easily reissue them in a new format.

This seems a good time to go over another very important copyright issue: No, it is NOT okay to make a copy of an out of print pattern (so that you have a working copy of the pattern and can return a library book, or so that you can keep your own book and give your friend who really wants to stitch the design a working copy, etc.) simply because it is out of print. You MUST request permission from the designer to make a copy — and some designers WILL allow it, so it does not hurt to ask. One of my good friends recently received permission from the author of a quilting book which has been out of print for several years to make twelve copies specifically to be distributed to students in a quilting class she was planning. The terms of the agreement between my friend and the book’s author were very specific, right down to the number of copies and the reason for making the copies. That is the author’s prerogative because the author owns the copyright to the book he wrote. But if you request permission and the designer says, “No. You may not make a copy of my design from that out of print book,” then you cannot legally make a copy. To do so without asking at all, or to do so after having been told you may not, is copyright infringement — and it is NOT worth the legal costs and fines you could incur by taking that chance. Just don’t do it. Stitch nothing else but the design from the library book until you’ve finished it, then return the library book, and perhaps pay a few dollar in fines to the library; it will be money well spent. Loan your friend your book — or if it’s a book you’re unwilling to allow out of your sight, then allow your friend to stitch the pattern but tell her she has to come over to your house one night a week to work on it. Find another way — a legal way — to solve the problem. Or go look through your stash — there’s plenty there you’ve forgotten about anyway!

Back to the subject of The Goode Huswife releasing a collection of her old patterns … Clearly, for the needlework designer, eBay and other auction sites provide fertile ground to study which of their out of print designs are favorites and would do the best in a new release. There isn’t a much better opportunity for market research than that, actually.

So, we stitchers can hope The Goode Huswife has used eBay as a research tool to choose the ten favorites as indicated by ridiculous very complimentary prices to release in this upcoming book … and fall is just around the corner, too!

***WHAT other auction sites? They all seem to be going away and leaving the one big eMonopoly in their wake … Yahoo Auctions closed its doors in June.
Amazon Auctions are still in business, though a search for “cross stitch” produces a sad, sorry four auctions that are barely limping along. Boohoohoo! A lack of competition is bad for business all the way around; the proof is in the ridiculous eBay seller fees, which we all know only have to get added into the prices on the consumer’s end!

Sorry, my politics are showing. (Good thing this site is all mine, and I’m the boss! ) Walmart just opened a store in my little town of about 13,000 yesterday, and so now I’m just counting down the days until all the other businesses in town close their doors, and watching more of the people — single women with children, especially — in town to go to work for Walmart thinking they’ll work full time and have health coverage only to find themselves suddenly requiring public assistance they didn’t even need before.

Sorry again; I really didn’t realize when I started writing that eMonopoly and then Walmonster were going to hijack your regularly scheduled post. (But look at that … not even a warning from the boss! THIS is the life for me!)

Technorati Tags: Goode Huswife, eBay, cross stitch, auction, out of print, OOP, Hoffman Distributing, Yahoo auctions, Amazon auctions, auctions, eMonopoly, lack of competition, bad for business, Walmart, copyright, quilt, quilting, copyright infringement, library, market research

Hi! I’m Heather, previously CraftGossip’s very first Needlework Editor. In fact, the posts which pre-date this one were first published on CraftGossip. You may notice I have posted some of my archives, and I am still working on getting the rest of those posted. It’s a big job, so I’m keeping only the relevant archives to help facilitate the process and also allow me time to start posting regularly again.

I’m sorry I can’t automatically put up all of the wonderful comments I had received from all of you while I was at CraftGossip — you each had brought some very unique and interesting ideas and information to the discussion — but since you each own the copyright to what you individually wrote, I actually need your permission in order to repost your comments here. In many cases, I do have copies of your comments, as well as your email addresses, so it’s likely you’ll be hearing from me over the next few weeks seeking permission to repost your comments — or asking you to repost your comments yourself.

Anyway, after learning a great deal from a successful six month stint with CraftGossip, I decided it was time to venture out on my own for a number of reasons. So, welcome to my very own dedicated needlework news service:

INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS !!!

Before I forget, the name Independent Needlework News was the brain child of one of my favorite needlework designers, Lady Periphaeria of Periphaeria Designs. I must very publicly express my heartfelt thanks to her for so graciously granting me full use and ownership of it after she suggested it. I am also honored that when she said the needlework world needed Independent Needlework News, she felt I fit the necessary requirements to provide that type of service and had been providing close to that type of service while at CraftGossip.

I also want to thank everyone who contacted me in the last couple of weeks with messages of support. You all know who you are, and some of you are even working on special things which will be unveiled here at a later date — for which I thank you in advance!

It is an absolutely amazing and completely overwhelming experience to set out to do something, and then at the end of that journey to discover that so many people felt you not only accomplished what you set out to do, but that you did so with intelligence, humor, and flair. If everyone received this kind of credit for the things they DO regularly accomplish — as in on a daily basis, or at least on a monthly basis — this world would be a far better place than it is. I certainly hope each of you receives this kind of recognition someday. You deserve to know how much you are appreciated for what you do really well, most especially when you think it is something you do only because you have to and that no one else really notices or cares.

Now … let’s get back to stitching news as usual. I’m here to help you in any way I can, so please let me know what you’d like to find in your Independent Needlework News. If I don’t know the answer to a question you have, I will do my best to find out or direct you to someone who can better help you.

Please feel free to contact me any time with suggestions, questions, or comments — either by email or by posting a comment.

Technorati Tags: Heather Orn, Heather L Orn, cross stitch, needlework, Independent Needlework News, CraftGossip, editor, copyright

Halloween? But that’s not for another three and a half months yet!

I’m not referring to buying your chocolate yet. It would either go stale or be eaten (the second, more likely ) well in advance of Halloween.

Do you recall my telling you about the new YahooGroup called Wonderful XS World which Helga Mandl of Helga Mandl Designs recently created? As a way of increasing the group’s membership, Helga came up with a brilliant idea. In order to encourage other designers and many more stitchers to join and participate in the group so that it can help forge successful relationships between stitchers and designers, wXSw is hosting a stitch-a-long (SAL) to create ornaments for a Halloween tree.

The Halloween tree SAL with Wonderful XS World will begin on August 1, 2007, and stitchers may participate for FREE in the SAL, which will take place over an eleven week period every weekend from August 1, 2007, through October 14, 2007. However, stitchers must be a member of wXSw, and need to contact Helga to enroll in the SAL. Also, stitchers must agree not to give the charts for the SAL designs to anyone else; these SAL charts are exclusively available to members of wXSw who have registered with Helga for the SAL. Further details about the SAL are available in this .pdf file.

To add another element of fun, at the close of the SAL on October 14th, there will be a competition (with prizes!) hosted right here on INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS! Stay tuned to wXSw for further details (a number of which have yet to be determined).

Helga and another of the first needlework designers who joined the group, Lady Periphaeria of Periphaeria Designs, have been hard at work this week creating ornament-sized Halloween-related freebie designs just for this very special SAL and competition. So far, Helga has put up twenty-five designs with more to come, while Lady Periphaeria has contributed fifteen and plans on more.

I am terrifically impressed by all of the Halloween designs each designer has created so far! I think they’ve set the bar very high for any other designers who may join this fun project, which will only make it even more fun!

Helga knows I am already one of her biggest fans, and her designs for this SAL project have once again proved just as charming as I expected. I particularly adore Spider Flops; I think the spiders would be great stitched with one of those fuzzy fibers, so the spiders turn out really big and hairy — but still cute, of course — and perhaps with big beads for their eyes! Meanwhile, my stitched witch collection will grow larger thanks to Guess Who Day, Witches Hat Day, and If the Broom Fits. Helga has also done several terrific frog designs for the SAL which could be of use to a stitcher at any time of year.

Lady Periphaeria viewed designing patterns for Halloween as a challenge because they are a clear deviation from her usual style. Well, in my opinion — and although I am just a stitcher, I am a stitcher who loves to stitch Halloween designs, who especially loves to stitch fun/cute Halloween designs (as opposed to ugly/scary ones), and who REALLY loves to stitch WITCHES (hint, hint! ) — she more than met the challenge she set for herself. Raving Radish is radiantly ravishing, and I cannot skulk away from Skull Pots. By the way, skulls and skeletons usually creep me out, but both designers created some really, really cute ones which I’ll truly enjoy stitching and hanging on my Halloween tree — which I’m leaving up year round! With Lady Periphaeria’s artistic talent, the slightly icky inside joke of Cook-Eyes is amazingly CUTE! Happy Hal-lowe-en captured my heart, too, with the romantic monsters lovingly using straws to sip the same drink … ew … oh … ha ha ha ha! Monster Kitchen is also darling, with more cute spiders, and Bones Crossing is simply awesome!

Really, really great job, Lady P! I just have one complaint request: Please work some of your designing magic on a witch or two! Pretty please!

I want to stitch them all at once! I also love that so many of these can be finished in different ways … I can see not just ornaments, but also biscornus, key chains, scissor fobs, pinkeeps, needlebooks, and so on … And the frogs are applicable all year for us stitchers, except that perhaps these frogs are so cute we might WANT them around!

Helga is still welcoming designers interested in contributing free designs to the Halloween tree SAL with Wonderful XS World. If you’re a designer who is interested in being part of this fun and unique project, please contact Helga.

Stitchers may become members of wXSw at any time and are encouraged to register for the SAL by contacting Helga. Also, consider contacting your favorite designer(s) to ask her to take part in the Halloween tree SAL with Wonderful XS World, too — the more, the merrier!

Click to join wXSw

Technorati Tags: Halloween, Helga Mandl, Spider Flops, Guess Who Day, If the Broom Fits, frog, Witches Hat Day, cross stitch, wXSw, wonderful XS world, tree, ornament, SAL, stitch-a-long, Halloween Tree SAL, HMDesigns, exclusive, free, freebie, Periphaeria, Lady P, Skull Pots, Monster Kitchen, Bones Crossing, Happy Hal-lowe-en, Cook-Eyes, Raving Radish

Are you aware that Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams and Teresa Wentzler of TW Designworks teamed up with each other and released two sets of designs available only through PatternsOnline.com? Well, now you know!

Moon Dragon and Sun Dragon are a stunning pair. The heavenly matched Celestial Sun and Celestial Moon would be perfect for a scissor fob or needlebook.

Teresa Wentzler also has released another design called Miniature Autumn Sampler exclusively through PatternsOnline.com, and she appears to be making all of her out of print designs, including those previously published only in magazines, available through PatternsOnline.com … So check this resource before spending a big chunk of change for an out of print TW pattern on eBay or another auction site!

And the best thing? Purchasing through PatternsOnline.com means instant gratification! So you can buy your chart and be stitching it within just a few minutes if you already have the threads on hand!

Technorati Tags: Jennifer Aikman-Smith, Teresa Wentzler, Dragon Dreams, Celestial Sun, Celestial Moon, Sun Dragon, Moon Dragon, Patterns Online, cross stitch, TW Designworks, TWDesignworks, eBay, Miniature Autumn Sampler

In response to an earlier post on copyright law, a reader commented:

Just because you wrote some thing doesn’t mean it’s copyrighted. You have to file for a copyright through the Library of Congress and have a copyright number for there to be any copyright infringement.

I hope your legal team tells you that.

My commenter is wrong, of course. If she were a lawyer or had asked her own legal team, they would have told her so in order that she not come across as misinformed.

According to the US Copyright Office, copyright exists from the moment the work is created. Registration is recommended, but not required. Additionally, expect to see the recommendation for registration to change due to the Internet. The world is a different place now, and the laws must change right along with it. But the definition of what is theft will NOT change.

Copyright law has been the way it is now for some time.

Back when I finally finished writing my master’s thesis in 1998, I did not have to file for a Certificate of Registration in order for my thesis to be copyrighted. In fact, all the time I had been writing my thesis (I started writing in … 1992), even before it was finished, even before it was published, even before it was read by any of my professors, even before it was read by any other individual at all, it was copyrighted. That’s because copyright covers unpublished works as well as published ones.

If I keep a diary intended for no one’s eyes but mine, it is copyrighted, and I own the copyright.

I DID file for that Certificate of Registration on my master’s thesis, though (you’ll have to look me up under my maiden name, Espie), just because I wanted the nice piece of paper from the Library of Congress. I’ll admit I was more easily convinced to part with the registration fee because, should I ever need to go to court if someone steals my original work and claims it as their own, I wanted that piece of paper as proof. That will make the court case EASIER, but it wasn’t REQUIRED. The copyright always existed, it always belonged to ME, and anyone who might try to pass off my work as their own is STEALING.

By the way, it sure is a good thing copyright exists from the time the work is created. Here is a story about red tape. I mailed my application and the required fees in April of 1998. I finally received my Certificate of Registration from the Library of Congress in March of 2000 — and the Effective Date of Registration is stamped January 14, 1999. So the Library of Congress wasn’t all that behind in processing the Certificate of Registration, but they were well over a year behind in mailing their outgoing mail.

Can you imagine the implications to the needlework industry if copyright weren’t actually in effect the whole time? My, my, that could present quite a conundrum, couldn’t it? Imagine all the unhappy needlework designers unable to release their new designs until they finally received their Certificates of Registration … Think of all the shops who would have no new designs coming in to offer their customers … All of us stitchers would have nothing new to tickle our fancies. Good grief, we might all have to stop with the retail therapy! We might actually be stuck with just stitching!! Or, gulp, even stuck doing something else, like reading, or sleeping, or WORKING!!! It gives me nightmares just thinking about it. Thank goodness for copyright. Whew!

So, yes, everything I write is copyrighted from the second I write it. Period. It’s the law. Buckle up, be grateful, and keep your hands inside the car at all times. Thank you, and enjoy the ride!

Technorati Tags: copyright, infringement, theft, Certificate of Registration, copyrighted, stealing, needlework, Library of Congress, cross stitch, Heather Orn, Heather Espie