|
FUZZY GALORE |
Comme c'est curieux ! Comme c'est bizarre! et quelle coïncidence! Ionesco, la cantatrice chauve, 1948.
|
|
| Mine! | Hers. |
If you got to this page, it's probably because you've heard the ruckus about my expressing my unhappiness at the striking similarity of all of Lily Chin's designs for the winter 02 issue of Knitters to previously published patterns, including of course, more painfully, to my own Vegan Fox. I started it I'm afraid, because I just wasn't enclined to shut up about it. And I still feel the same about it, which is why I'm not pulling my complaint from public view. I also don't really want it to interfere with the fiber part of what's meant to be a fiber blog, that's what I'm interested in. I'm afraid I outgrew net flame wars while XRX was still using IBM Selectrics :-), and I don't particularly care to devote a whole site to the Evils of anybody. So how about I use this more out-of-the-way page to inform anyone (all at once) who's interested about what may be going on?
You can of course write me if you have a comment, but please understand I can't promise answers to everyone. Alternately, if you feel inspired to send your comments to someone at XRX, you may do so here.
I got letters from Gail on Sheep Thrills saying I was misquoting her (in the 11/21 entry). Her public post was vague about when she actually saw a real item to do with a fox, it sounded to me like it was in August. But she tells me clearly (in private) that she saw photos of it in March. I appreciate her trying to inform me. However I have no idea who she could be, I don't even know her last name. Her being able to see previews that far ahead suggests to me a close relationship with XRX, working or otherwise. I've been at many Stitches as a regular member of the public and never seen any previews, the samples have always related to the current issue on sale.
So while I don't have any reason to assume anything one way or the other about this particular person, I haven't yet reached any positive conclusion about the far-fetched possibility that Lily would have happened to be stricken with exactly the same idea as I was at the same time by some sort of zeitgeist spontaneous combustion. If there was a public outcry of ordinary people who've seen early proof, that'd be one thing, but I see no trace of that, not before August at least. One person is a bit slim for me. Especially since the very first response to my post was a lie from Lily about our acquaintance, and every time I demonstrate that a specific claim of prior sighting is no technical hindrance to her copying me, the date keeps going further and further back. This does not inspire confidence.
In my opinion, Lily and XRX will keep coming up with more and more witnesses to earlier and earlier times, till we do pass the 1994 deadline they've set, as I was joking earlier. There are many not so visible relationships that can be drawn upon in times like this, sisters of assistants' exes, step-cousins, you name it. I don't have any friends I could check this with at XRX, in great part because I've actively avoided associating with them or their entourage. For instance I was one of the crowds that fled the original Knitnet when Amy Detjen took it over in the early 90s. I've heard enough rumors of ways in which they've mistreated designers, vendors, teachers and students in turn over the years that I don't wish to be associated with them. Naturally I tend to be friendly with people who share my views, so it'd be hard to find someone I already know and trust who could come up with something I'd believe about all this. Do write if you're one though :-).
Let me just reiterate that I hardly think I'm the only victim of this, or the first, I'm just feeling it more painfully and personally on this occasion. Beside the two other designs in this winter's issue of Knitters that I keep pointing to, a supporter who shall remain anonymous here pointed out that Lily published in 'Handpaint Country' (XRX 2002) on p.192 a 'pi in the sky' shawl-with-sleeves design that's dead on to the one published by Gayle Roehm as 'sleeves in your pi' in Knitter's no 61, winter 2000, p.78 (submitting deadline of March 99, as per XRX protests). That one was a truly original idea, allowing people who like the look of lace shawls to wear them as practical garments, and yet Gayle graciously acknowledged Elizabeth Zimmermann as a source. Would it have been so painful for Lily to do the same in turn?
Well, of course I had no direct response to my post from anyone till I got today the obligatory threatening letter from David Xenakis, the president of XRX Inc :-). Lions, slanders and bears, oh my!! But ve haf vays of course, and while I avoid large mailing lists I did get copies of Lily's post to the KnitU responding to someone's comment on the similarities.
Lily and XRX claim to have correspondence about the fox going back to March. No doubt if they look in their files long enough we'll soon see discussions between them dating back to at least 1993 :-). There is no separating them in this affair, I don't imagine Lily would ever attempt this scale of copying if she didn't feel backed up solidly by her publishers.
I'm not going to tell you exactly who this reminds me so strikingly of, because I don't want to get in more trouble on a totally different plane, not to mention hurt innocent bystanders :-). Suffices to say that Lily in her response uses what is actually a very effective lying method - you make much of a small, almost irrelevant but true, detail and let the audience's mind leap to its own unwarranted conclusions. Which is much more effective than spelling it out for them, as any psychologist would tell you. Another big advantage is that if you get caught red-handed, you can always virtuously exclaim "I never said that!"
So Lily looked me up in her records, and figured out that I'd taken a class from her. Nothing very strange here, and we should commend her on her good record-keeping, certainely much better than I'm capable of :-). Maybe being a New Yorker she never moves? Anyway, I can't remember the year exactly, but I did take not one but two workshops from her that weekend. They were on sweater design and on reversible cables, and were good enough that I've been complimenting Lily's teaching abilities ever since, and meant to take more classes from her.
Lily's cleverness here is in implying that this one-shot, group-based acquaintance might have been the start of a real relationship. Ah! thinks the reader, there you go, she knew Lily, of course she'd be tempted to steal the fruit of her noble genius. And so on, plugging in their own thing and fantasizing further about a cozy evening by the fire, hot cocoa at the ready, knitting together and gossiping about one's projects "and I just sent ol'Alexis something my dear grandmama had, a fox stole, do you remember those?" Or simply a careless email with a first shot for friendly critique, it'd be easy enough.
All too cute to be true however. In the late 90s, I had actually managed to sign myself up for one of Lily's workshops on finishing, pay up and everything. Only at the crucial time I was felled by one of those killer flus, hardly able to even swallow my chicken soup. I'd seen the Stitches organizers screw too many people over those workshops already, and didn't want that slot to be wasted. So I called my friend Priscilla, and sent her over with strict instructions to learn to do good seams. She registered as me, and duly attended the workshop, name tag flapping openly. I still haven't learned to do good seams and she still hands me her kitchener stitch, something about 'hands-on classes' with hordes, hundreds, of people, which is why I lost the impetus to ever try again. Although I love Priscilla like a sister :-), and sometimes we're so alike it's uncanny, this doesn't extend to the physical realm. Well, we're both women, and close to the same height, and... wear (different) glasses, and... that's about it. There is an intimate friendship there, but it sure isn't between Lily and me, who've never even laid eyes on each other since.. 1994 if she says so.
Much is made also of this issue deadline thing, and how she had to get her stuff in before I even thought of mine, so there. But let's get real here kids, if you were a publisher, and the self-proclaimed Diva of the Knitting Universe came to you and said 'hey, I want to get this cool pattern in the next issue, now', would you make a fuss and turn her down?? I wouldn't think of it, personally.
They're also emphasizing a romantic vision of publishing as if the guy with the green visor is still setting lead type by hand. This is the vision that allows them to enforce these very long-term deadlines, which are now merely traditional. But I do know real publishers, and let me tell you that these guys have word processors, and how. If you've used one in the last decade, you're probably familiar with automatic page numbering, table of contents, indexing, blah blah blah. Changes go in right up till the printing deadline. In fact, often way beyond that since all printers have email now too ;-).
So let's review the timeline here. XRX could in fact have made changes to the winter issue into October. They're not likely to turn down any request by Lily. An earnest and no doubt sincere Gail person on Sheep Thrills reports seeing photos and models of the fox in August. That's all very well and good, but I posted an extensive description of the project on July 23rd, at a time where my blog already had quite a respectable daily readership. It took me about a day to get the final version done, me, the slowest knitter in the West. Do you think Lily would be at it more than an hour and a half??
Now I will concede that it's possible that she had a model done before I turned in my own final version in late August. I didn't show a picture of that on my site till knitty came out, because of course I didn't want to interfere with their publication. That would explain why mine is so much better (imho :-)). And Lily may not have realized in July that the pattern would be published beyond my site, and/or underestimated just how many thousands of people would take a look at it and comment on it to each other. XRX in turn might have decided to take a chance on it in October, as I explained before it didn't seem likely that anyone concerned would squawk.
But if you want my opinion, I think all this noise about deadlines and technologies is a smokescreen for the more important issue. Of course I talk about the fox because that's mine, that's what I know best. But don't forget that my real complaint is that Lily appropriated every single design in that issue. Naturally they'd want to focus on the tight timeline on my fox, not on the 2 year lead time for Cheryl Oberle's shawl, and who knows how long for the one-arm shrug, which is not in a current issue. What I'm denouncing here is a pattern of misbehavior, and I don't think anyone would deny the overwhelming probability of my being right if they look at all 3 pictures as a whole...
What do you know? A mere 2 months after my
Vegan Fox
comes out, more if you count the extensive
July discussion
in this blog, there's a
new fox on the prowl. Not a vegan one at all though,
this one has as many teeth as Little Red Riding Hood's fur-wearing grandma,
and her fangs are all the way in my hide..
I guess we're supposed to feel honored that someone as famous,
as awsome, as fabulous, as the great Lily Chin herself would condescend to
notice our piddly little creation... and be "inspired" by it,
in a non-credit sort of way.
Pretty low. Pretty pathetic actually, since the two other patterns she published in the winter 02 issue of Knitters are also.. let's say directly inspired. The shawl on the cover is the "aran pocket shawl" from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle (Interweave 2000), she hasn't even bothered to change the color. And we can't quite put our finger on it but we're certain we've both seen the one-arm shrug in some European magazine quite recently. Now I can understand the pressure of deadlines, the middle-aged desire to be hip, the burnout from decades of industry work. But can't she just take a little leave of absence or something, go get her inspiration from Tahiti like many before her, and leave the unwashed masses to struggle on their own for a bit? Concentrate on the teaching she does so well instead? Her recent book Urban Knitter (Berkley, 2002) is quite good, (I must have that bra in cashmere!) but every single design is from a group of young knitters on the net, who were all too happy to contribute their creative juices for a byline. At least they were acknowledged.
Equally responsible of course are the editors who let her publish such a mess of copyright carnage. XRX, the Knitters company, has a 20+ year history of publishing various textile publications (including the much-regretted Weavers). It seems out of the question that they wouldn't know what Lily's up to.
Actually, as I think about it I would imagine there may well have been some explicit discussion of the fact that Cheryl Oberle already works for the competition (so won't be any loss), that the Europeans won't even know and won't bother, and that we're utterly insignificant - knitty is very new, its editor expresses a touching desire to work in the publishing industry that would effectively muzzle her (XRX is the Microsoft equivalent for knitters), and we at Fuzzy are nobodies... They had no way to know that I'm a nobody with no ambition to become Famous Designer, or to be published by them in any way, and worse that I'm not generally inclined towards shutting up :-). I've nothing to lose by venting a bit - hope you forgive me!
It's a nasty vicious circle when the magazines setup a star system that leaves them dependant on whoever is bringing in readers, and they then condone ripping off precisely the younger and newer designers who could break that dependance. Knitters did mess up badly in letting go last year of Nancy Thomas (editor of Vogue Knitting in its heyday, now at Lion Brand). I'm sure I'm not the only one to have let my subscription lapse recently because I was so bored with recent offerings. But that's little excuse for filling issues with copies of anything original they can find, without permission. The only truly original thing in the entire issue is that incredible triangle hat. And "quelle coïncidence!" it's by Annie Modesitt, another knitty.com designer...
I'm not saying that XRX is the only one with a copyright problem in the industry. About 10 years ago I saw very closely the process of my roomate being elated at having her first published pattern, and then getting it ripped right off in another magazine from the same publishers. Since the offender is one of the editors, there was little recourse and not even a private apology, just legal hair-splitting. Do you wonder this was the last pattern my talented friend published? Is this a way to nurture the industry you're a major player in? Lily may be the major offender here, but there's a deeper problem lurking under those fluffy skeins, and it's not in our interest as knitters to ignore it.
And it does rankle especially that Lily's not even trying for a bit of historical accuracy - fox stoles were popular in the 30s, and the only people wearing them in the decades credited were fossilized old ladies. See for instance the great American Mullet movie if you think regrettable fads ever die. Baby Boomers all saw real foxes because their grandmothers had them in their cedar chests, not because they wore them themselves. Well yes, I am a most annoying person to see so-called historical Hollywood movies with, why do you ask :-)? Only Alfred understands me... [ed: but I'm the one who has to put up with it - Rose].
So anyway, check out for yourself what's in my summer blog. Directly relevant entries are 7/23, 7/29, 8/27. Although by all means go ahead and read the whole thing! I am still kind of proud of the handspun vest, not to mention the hairy bag, and I was having a very good streak of sewing, if I say so myself :-)...
Back to current blog
Blog archives
Previous Next Random List |
Previous Next Random List |
Previous Next Random List |
Previous Next Random List |
Previous Next Random List |
Previous Next Random List |
All rights reserved. © Fuzzy Galore 2002-2006.
