The generosity of knitters

In my 10 years as an artist I have met others in my profession who feel the need to be very hush-hush about their working process. There's a fear that possesses them, sometimes not without good cause, that someone else will start producing work in "their" style, thus stealing the living they might be making with their work.

I learned much of what I know through conversations (in print, online, and in person) with other artists so my work and teaching style is very open. My feeling is that, if someone is stealing my "style", I just need to keep evolving and come up with a new one.

So, a few months back (during the Acacia Park "Tree Cozy" project), I emailed an internationally known yarn bomb artist (KnittaPlease) to gush over how lovely I thought a specific project of hers was and to ask a few questions that related to that project and our trees. One of her staff members graciously answered my questions and alleviated a lot of the worry I was taking on myself.

Now with this new project, I emailed again. This time, however, I was sure that the information I wanted would probably be proprietary to their process. Apparently they don't feel that it is and again, many of my worries have been quenched. Not all of them yet, but since they invited me to ask any other questions I might have, I did.

I'm breathing much easier this morning. Thanks Karen!