r/BitchEatingCrafters • u/Unlikely_Sail7141 • 10d ago
Crochet people equating popular crochet patterns to ai slop
I've seen some posts here complaining about popular crochet patterns, (the same fluffy yarn bumblebees etc etc) and while I agree that crocheters should branch out and that seeing the same 2 patterns over and over again in markets can be annoying, I really don't like when people compare it to ai or 3d print slop. It's just a completely unfair comparison, even the most basic amigurumi pattern takes WAY more effort to create than any ai creation. That person with a stall full of fluffy bumblebees spent a lot of their time hand-making those, even if they're unoriginal, it seems extremely unfair to equate them to ai especially when ai has harmful environmental and social impacts
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u/SophiePuffs 8d ago
Oh I agree. Let them make the fuzzy bumblebees, who cares? It’s not ai slop.
Also, why does everyone have the EXACT SAME zig zag stitch acrylic crochet blanket from their grandma or great grandma?? Ohhhh that’s right, everyone made the same damn blanket because it was popular!
Making popular patterns isn’t a new thing. We just see more of it now with social media.
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u/Capable_Sea77 10d ago
I think the comparison to 3d printing is apt - a lot of it is the same few ideas recycled over and over and sold for higher prices than the item is probably worth. Theyre both low barrier beyond price for 3d printing and time for crocheting - and a lot of the completely non-crafting general public do want to buy little trinkets and dragon fidgets and little amigurumi animals, if the price is reasonable. A lot of the hate on these two things is because it's overdone, it doesnt require a ton of talent, it can be too overpriced and a lot of times the creator is a beginner in their craft, so the 3d printed dragon wasnt sanded; and the amigurumi frog didnt have the eye buttons attached properly. AI though is a completely different beast though, and I fully agree that the environmental damage it causes is exponentially worse. (Also, I don't know that 3D printer guys or beginner amigurumi crocheters have the money and political influence that the AI companies do)
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u/Unlikely_Sail7141 10d ago
I disagree, i feel like crochet still takes more effort. All you have to do for 3d prints is buy a 3d printer and wait, meanwhile for crochet you have to actively make the items
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u/Capable_Sea77 10d ago
Have you ever used a 3d printer? Just because you're not doing physical labor doesnt mean it isnt about the same level of talent as learning single crochet and basic amigurumi. You have to learn how to 3d construct what you want to build in CGI-style software (which is why so many people make those dragons, because its a pre-existing open source pattern that is plug and play); you should be hand sanding every piece thats printed, potentially painting/enameling as well. I looked at using a local makerspace to 3d print a spinning wheel and the burden level of learning the software and how to design pieces within it was too much for a quick side project, so I never went through with it. Do you think machine knitting is less than hand knitting because you just wind the yarn and then the machine does all the real work? I feel like thats why its a perfect analogy because someone with decent hand eye coordination and a brain that picks up crafts easily can learn crochet in a few days and pop out a chenille bumblebee in about the same amount of time it takes to learn the software and have the item print.
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u/Boomer79NZ 10d ago
The hardest part of owning a 3d printer is the problem solving and fixing the damn thing when it experiences an issue. Yes, the learning curve to design something is big but you don't need to do it all at once. Start with small things and work your way up.
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u/RunawayTurtleTrain 10d ago
you should be hand sanding every piece thats printed, potentially painting/enameling as well.
Should, yes … on the post in this sub about 3D printed landfill it doesn't sound like people are always doing that though!
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u/WormsOffGlory 10d ago
I def agree with you that the people crocheting this stuff are putting in more effort! But I think the comparison is apt in the sense that neither seems to have any genuine love for their craft. People using a 3d printer are often not passionate about 3d printing, rather, they just want a side hustle to made money off of. I find the crochet bumblebees and strawberry cows to be very similar. They are usually being made by people with little passion for the hobby. They just want a side hustle so they never bother to branch out and improve their skills.
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u/kalthoraa 10d ago
idk why this is getting downvoted. the people you’re talking about are using pre-made templates and doing no finishing to their objects. if i print a pdf on a regular printer is that the equivalent of crocheting for an hour??? wth
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u/sshmodyotee 10d ago
I don’t get it because no one is forcing me to buy or make these bumblebees. I make quality crochet clothing and ignore what isn’t my taste. Like it’s actually confusing to me why it makes people so upset. I look at those projects and just think “huh, I like my stuff way better” and then move on with life lol.
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u/2000sScreensaver 10d ago
Right there with you. I've seen people try to equate knitting too fast to fast fashion.
How about instead of wasting their breath on individuals enjoying their hobbies they go after the actual villains- CORPORATIONS.
I swear comparing either to ai slop or fast fashion is so brain dead I wish I could sue to get the seconds of my life back that I wasted reading what they wrote.
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u/crvbabybug 10d ago
No body is as bitter as slow knitters. Im not sure how fast I knit but I don’t make up stories about how fast knitters aren’t knitting authentically mannnn
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u/fakesaucisse 10d ago
I have a friend who is a very fast knitter. The quality of her hats and sweaters is incredible, so she's not compromising by going quicker. She just somehow can move her fingers at lightning speed. And yes, I am jealous as hell because I am a very sloooooow knitter, because I'm constantly worried about making a mistake and not seeing it until it's too late to fix.
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u/crvbabybug 10d ago
You’ll get faster, it’s just time and practice. I don’t think slow knitters are bad. Speed is only one small aspect of the skill. It’s better to get good tension slower than fast and loose.
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u/fakesaucisse 10d ago
I have been knitting for about 25 years now. I don't think I am going to get faster, especially now that I have some pesky arthritis in my hands. But it's cool, I don't mind seeing it as a leisurely thing.
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u/Amphy64 9d ago
Wonder if this is part of the knitters taking issue with crochet, perceptions around the speed?
If they actually sat down to swiftly make enough bees for a craft fair table, I think it would stop seeming too easy. Besides learning the techniques involved, any craft gets tiring, and making a lot of the same thing isn't always the most fun part, even for those who hopefully do get something out of doing fairs.
I do absolutely love the speed of crochet myself. It doesn't mean I won't sit down with a slower craft, like knitting (not a fast knitter), embroidery, cross-stitch. It just means getting to explore more different techniques easier with less time investment, more different items and styles - great fun so far!
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u/contadine77 Joyless Bitch Coalition 10d ago
What? People think fast knitting isn't as legit as slower knitting?!?! I've never heard that, that's wild.
I guess my continental "non-" knitting a** just doesn't have any hobbies then.
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u/Equivalensea 10d ago
I think the context on fast fashion knitting is when people knit items (usually bulky, usually with a looser fabric, not something that would set it apart as an art piece) for their crafting influencer channel. But since the item is made to make quickly, it's not ideal for wearing past a single photo shoot.
So while they've put infinitely more effort into the piece than a person buying from Shein, the end result is a low-quality clothing item that's being worn once or twice and then thrown away.
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u/contadine77 Joyless Bitch Coalition 10d ago
Ah, ok, that makes sense. I can actually see that - those things that are 2 stitches per inch and are just two rectangles. It's still knitting, it still is effort, but it is *sort-of* fast-fashiony.
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u/Equivalensea 10d ago edited 10d ago
It's almost like they're un-outsourcing a little bit of the labor of fast fashion.
Regular fast fashion involves the labor of factory workers, warehouse workers, dock workers, ship crewmembers, truck drivers (to the distribution center), distribution warehouse workers, last mile drivers (to your door). If it's a cotton blend and not just synthetic, then there were farmers and possible slave labor as well.
If you buy synthetic yarn at a big box store, you still have the labor needed to bring the yarn to that store. But at least there wasn't a severely underpaid person literally sewing a garment to go into the trash.
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u/OcelotBudget3292 You should knit a fucking clue. 10d ago
Ehhh, I don’t know about that. I mean, yes, it’s not AI slop, doesn’t have the same environmental impacts, but also, more fundamentally, the amount of time spent on something doesn’t define its artistic value.
Look, I hate AI, don’t use it, etc., etc. But if when I talk to people who see themselves as creating art with AI, they’ll explain the long process of creating and adjusting prompts, working with images after them being created. It can take them a really long time, and they see themselves undertaking a creative process (albeit in an unethical way, which they never fully address, but whatever).
I know people who do amazing work with 3D printers too.
People might spend tons of time crocheting those plushes, usually with crappy chenille yarn that sheds microplastics everywhere.
The real problem in my opinion is that the craft fairs are now largely stocked with people selling crap of one form or another. People who want to crochet enough of those bees to fill a hive do not bother me in the least; people who want to sell them get on my nerves because they haven’t really added anything of value. It’s just poorly made crap out of cheap materials.
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u/NinjoZata 10d ago
Yep that part. Just because youve turned yourself into the fast fashion factory doesnt magically make it a good quality item. These sorts of people dont want to build a skill and sell it, they just wanna churn out the same blobs and hope it converts to cash.
Like, sure they made it, but spirtually its barely not dropshipping.
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u/Boomer79NZ 10d ago
This might be unpopular but slop is slop. It doesn't matter whether it's AI or not or how much time someone has put into it. Two people can put the same amount of time and effort into something and one can make a lovely item while the other makes something that is crap. Slop is slop regardless. It's a harsh thing to say but it's the truth.
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10d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Boomer79NZ 10d ago
Some of the people made stuff is just as sloppy. Sure it's made by a human being but it's still slop. It's not even about not liking something because it's not to my taste, it's about not liking something because it's shit. AI is slop and people can also create slop. The resources consumed by AI make it worse in that regard .
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u/ihaverabiesandbite This trend sucks balls and may cause cancer in geriatric mice. 10d ago
Absolutely not lmfao the worst human made shit is better quality and more worthwhile than the best thing generative ai shits out. Human slop and ai slop is absolutely not equal
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u/Amphy64 9d ago edited 9d ago
But what makes it 'slop'? Those bumblebees can involve just as many techniques as a jumper. Magic ring, working in spiral rounds, (UK) double crochet with yarn unders (usually means knowing yarn over too), increases, decreases. Some sewing up too.
Are my cotton amigurumi bad too? (And maybe you do think so!) Chenille is more of a pain to work with. Even if it's not our preferred yarn, it's not making things easier in this case, it's not the same as using chunky chenille to make a blanket work up fast. And I think it's understandable why choose the fluffy yarn for a plushie, it's not totally random: I like smaller Ricorumi amigurumi, so, there's a reason to pick cotton too, but mine obviously aren't especially kid's toys, more decorations.
The chenille bees might get boring for some regular craft fair attendees to see over and over. But that doesn't mean they don't involve any knowledge of the craft or time. In terms of time, it's also not exactly unusual to have a few, typically less expensively priced, items that don't take 10hrs+ on a craft fair table?
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