I’m having a bit of an “issue” around the THOUGHT of crocheting right now, due in part to losing my “Crojo“, but also due to some of the negative behaviors I have been encountering on social media, specific to crocheters. I have wanted to engage in fiber arts activities but cannot, for the life of me, pick up any of my crochet WIP’s right now, so I am continuing on my knitting project of making a variation on leg warmers, with an existing (in my stash) skein of Noro yarn.

It’s one of those GIANT Noro balls, so I am projecting that I will be able to get 2 Ankle Warmers (my term) out of the same ball. I took a pattern for a pair of knitted LEG warmers – found in a book I borrowed from the local library – and decided to forego the lacy pattern, and stick with a straight stockinette stitch for the main body of each, with 2″ of K2P2 ribbing at the top and bottom of each piece.

If all goes as planned, these will be done well ahead of the cooler Fall temperatures here in the American North Atlantic region.

Back to my current concerns around the online crocheting community. I decided to do some light “research” on these behaviors, which I am certain are not limited to my experience.

Here’s what I learned:

Reddit amplifies some specific dynamics that make fiber arts spaces harsher there than elsewhere:

• Anonymity removes social cost. In local guilds, members see each other again. On Reddit, they can pile on and disappear. The absence of real-world accountability changes how people behave.
• Upvote/downvote as mob mechanics. A snarky comment gets upvoted, which signals that snark is the currency of the community, which attracts more people who traffic in snark. The culture self-selects over time toward people who enjoy the edge.
• Some spaces are just dedicated to snark. They exist to mock and criticize, which it the stated purpose. Communities built around criticism tend to develop a taste for it that bleeds into everything, including judging work that was never submitted for critique.
• The “we’re just being honest” rationalization. A lot of harsh fiber arts criticism gets framed as anti-snowflake realism. Comments like “people need to hear the truth about their work.” often arise, but there’s a meaningful difference between honest critique and contempt, and online communities often blur it.
• Perfectionism culture. Crochet has a strong contingent of technique purists. When one’s identity is wrapped up in doing it “right,” other people’s shortcuts or unconventional choices can feel almost offensive.

The great irony I find in all of this is that people often engage in fiber arts for comfort and creative expression. Winding up in a group or space that treats a wonky granny square like a moral failing isn’t what most of those folks were likely seeking.

I think that the seeming increase in these behaviors is partially due to the uptick in general snarkiness that has permeated the larger society. We have high profile individuals calling women “piggy“, and low-level “wannabe” stars deriding people in other ways. It’s more and more acceptable to publicly be a jerk, and I’m not sure that is going to end well.

I fully recognize that there are communities and groups where this would not be tolerated, but the optimist in me hopes that some of these things will be excluded from the fiber arts community.

Even as I type that last sentence, I am well aware that it’s a futile hope. Wherever there are PEOPLE, there are opportunities for bad human behavior. Churches have shown this over and over, as have workplaces, and parent groups in kids’ sports, dance, gymnastics, and other activities. I’ve even observed it among residents in long term care facilities, which tells me that these are human issues – not fiber arts issues.

I will continue to engage with crocheting as well as knitting, sewing and quilting, and will focus on the MANY positive and affirming interactions that I find along the way. In addition, I will work to keep my reactions to that negativity to a minimum, and where possible, add something positive.

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