Sunday, September 29, 2013

How Well Do You Hide Your Tail?

Sort of a funny question ha?  Seriously, related to crochet, this tedious task must be done for the following reasons:

  • So that finished work looks neat.
  • So that the work (garment, blanket, home decor, etc.) does not unravel during use or laundering process. 
 It is easy enough to hide tails on a project that is made up of  crochet stitches worked closely together; but what about hiding tails on crocheted laces?

My favorite hiding places for tails on a crocheted lace are the center of a motif or any loop where stitches are worked so closely together over them.   If I end my round or row on a mesh, filet, or other areas that consist of chain stitches, I would weave the tail, using appropriate yarn needle, towards the nearest center or loop with the most dense stitches on them, and then bury the tail within them.  See photo A below.

 
Photo A


The red arrow indicates the route that the tail is to be weaved toward the nearest loops.  The tail is buried within several loops or rose petals to ensure that it remains hidden.  Notice that the beginning tail is already hidden within the center of the rose motif.  Always hide tails on the wrong side of work (if there is a right and wrong side).  Some projects, do not have wrong or right side at all.  In this case, it does not matter which side the tail is hidden.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Vintage Patterns, Copyright Laws And The Public Domain

I do not understand how some people/entity interprets  Copyright and Public Domain materials.  The scenario is like this:  A vintage crochet pattern that is now on public domain is scanned by someone (or a business/charitable entity).  After scanning, this person or entity claims copyright to the said pattern just because the pattern was compiled in a book that contains all the scanned public domain patterns.  The way I understand it, is that, a published written pattern is either public domain or copyrighted and cannot be both.  If this scenario were true for a pattern that was mass produced and gone to public domain, there could be several copyright claimants for the same pattern.  All they have to do is scan the documents and compile it  along with other scanned public  domain patterns and tell the public they own the copyright.  As far as I know,  Only one person or entity can claim copyright to the same published material or book. 


I found an interesting article and discussion here Although the article is about a photo, same logic should be applied on written materials as well.

Public Domain materials are supposed to be  used by anyone and everyone in "any way they want to use it", .  Sadly, some people and entity interprets "any way they want to use it", to mean, they can use it for their benefit or profit alone and hinder the public from having access to the public domain items.  For more information regarding copyrights and public domain, I found this
and this

After reading the above articles, my conclusion is that no one has the right to claim copyright on materials that are in the public domain.  These materials should remain accessible to the public and use for the benefit of the public and not individual or private enterprise.