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"It looks like a bought one."

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"It looks good enough to be a bought one, not like it's been hand knitted." I've heard it said loads over the years with my nan's and my own stuff. Has any one else and if you have, how does that make you feel? Personally, I find it a bit insulting myself. Or is it just me?

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Nope, it's not just you. I do know people who believe that shop bought is always best, that the act of going into a shop and buying something somehow validates the item even if it has half a dozen ends hanging off it and some of the seams are not finished. Even better is the line "you could sell this you know" and then you tell them how much the yarn cost ....

 

I don't knit for them.

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It is rather insulting, but maybe just shows their ignorance :)

 

I also find it insulting when people say the same thing about home-made cakes...

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It gets up my nose too. As does the "Hey you could sell these! I saw some hand knitted gloves and they wanted £30 for them! You could do that for cheaper couldn't you? " N.B. the gloves referred to in this conversation as being a "rip-off" were elbow length, cabled and a good quality alpaca. When I commented that in fact alpaca could easily come to half that price for those gloves, and there was about 10 hours work involved, the conversation soon ended! It is true that I personally could not afford to pay £30 for a pair of gloves but it doesn't mean they are a rip-off!

 

I also find a lot of (non-knitting) people are very quick to suggest that I knit for charities and seem slightly put-out when I say I don't have time...I actually do occasionally knit for certain charities but not very often as I have plenty of things I want to knit for myself and my nearest and dearest. I find it slightly patronising as I can't imagine them suggesting other hobbies or interests should be done for charity, like dancing or going to the gym!

 

I will admit that my earliest knitted things (in the '80's!) were done really badly and looked a bit rubbish. Maybe what people mean when they say things look "bought" is that they look professionally done rather than like my lumpy misshapen attempts when i started. Not ALL handknitting is good (I have scary photos to prove this!)

 

Maybe I am just a bit irritable. But I do think knitting/crochet attract more patronising or negative stereotypes than other pastimes.

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I must say that I don't get that because my work normally is with holes and looking a bit tatty ;) but I think that you should take it as a compliment, I know I would.

:)

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I find it more patronising than insulting but bite my tongue. I had a stall at a fair in Sheffield yesterday and heard comments of 'it's only knitted stuff', 'ask so and so and she'll do it cheaper' and one I have never heard before at any craft fair. 'Why is everything handmade?'.

 

My question to the general public is this. I am not deaf and I can lip read so why do you have to be so flaming rude and insulting in front of me?

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tbh i would assume that's actually intended as a compliment, given that people assume shop bought items to be made to a professional standard - which generally things have to meet a certain standard for the shops to buy them in.

 

A lot of people who make their own stuff arent always that skilled, so when people see something which looks of professional quality they might comment on this.

 

tbh i think you are all being a little bit stuck up over something intended as a compliment - at the end of the day they are saying your items look good, not that they arent! cant people just accept a compliment without picking holes in it?

 

I think the complaints over people thinking you will 'do it cheaper' because you're doing it yourself are fair though - people dont realise how much time and work goes into things, they dont realise shops have the buying power to get things cheaply mass produced and therefore those items are the cheaper ones in monetary terms.

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It's not necessarily what is said rather then the tone and attitude it is said in which is very difficult to express on the internet.

 

Also the items I was refering to are of a high quality and lower price than equivalent items in shops.

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tbh i would assume that's actually intended as a compliment, given that people assume shop bought items to be made to a professional standard - which generally things have to meet a certain standard for the shops to buy them in.

 

A lot of people who make their own stuff arent always that skilled, so when people see something which looks of professional quality they might comment on this.

 

tbh i think you are all being a little bit stuck up over something intended as a compliment - at the end of the day they are saying your items look good, not that they arent! cant people just accept a compliment without picking holes in it?

 

I think the complaints over people thinking you will 'do it cheaper' because you're doing it yourself are fair though - people dont realise how much time and work goes into things, they dont realise shops have the buying power to get things cheaply mass produced and therefore those items are the cheaper ones in monetary terms.

 

:thumbsup: Well said that woman!

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I have to say, it hadn't really occurred to me to be insulted by that comment! I take it as a compliment but I think I like people to notice when something's hand-made (for kudos, mostly) and they often don't...

 

The other possibility is that it's clearly something I've made but looks a bit rubbish so people politely say nothing. Definitely possible.

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