Three years ago, 25-year-old Emma Ujifusa, who uses they/them pronouns, was graduating from college at the height of the COVID pandemic with a degree in opera singing and working a full-time nannying job. Now they’re a full-time knit influencer.
Ujifusa’s friend had an Etsy shop for her crochet pieces and encouraged Ujifusa to try it out. They began crocheting in 2021 and later made her Instagram account, @made.in.the.moment. From there, they expanded her social medias and began writing crochet and knitting patterns. Now her combined social media accounts amass over 228,000 followers.
With the extra free time the pandemic created, a lot of people like Ujifusa became familiar with mediums that fall under the umbrella term of the fiber arts. So much so that knit and crochet clothing has integrated itself into mainstream Gen-Z fashion and internet culture. Even Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, has a knitwear brand. For influencers who have built their brand on their artistry, the oversaturation has made some users feel entitled to their work.
23-year-old fiber artist Emma Stone said she thinks that the abundance of creators has created “some like inherent competition.” Stone, who has over 191,000 followers across her social medias said “[she] had some people like DM [her] in the beginning…upset that some of [her] works blew up.” Since buying handmade goods is considered a luxury to most, creators feel like they need to be in self-preservation mode in order to maintain customers.
It is the consumers that have created the majority of the issues within the fiber arts community. For the insiders, they’ve created what they consider to be a supportive space. Stone said her favorite thing about her job is that she gets to create “something that makes somebody feel beautiful.” She said she’ll often show her mom the pictures people post online recreating her work. For her, it’s such a “cool” feeling. Ujifusa agrees and said they love “just getting to know and connect with people.”
However, with knitwear becoming mainstream, many fast fashion brands have begun producing an overproduction of knit and crochet clothing that fiber artists like Ujifusa and Stone cannot keep up with.
Companies like Shein can sell a crochet tank top for less than $15. But Emily Sher, a 20-year-old crochet influencer said, “crochet is something that can’t be machine-made.” Sher, a Wellesley student with over 113,000 followers on social media, continued, “someone had to have handmade it,” thus “ they’re obviously not getting paid.”
In simple terms, if a crochet artist made a top in 20 hours, calculating based on New York City’s minimum wage, the top should cost $300 in labor alone. Thus, fast fashion companies offer consumers less of an incentive to buy from artists.
These unethical practices are one of the reasons why a lot of fiber artists got their start. Ujifusa said, “things are not sustainable when they’re produced at such a high quantity and they’re not ethical when people are not being treated well.” They continued “I didn’t want to keep spending money on things from brands that I didn’t want to support.”
Due to the accessibility of crochet and knitwear in stores, Stone said “people don’t understand the time it takes to hand make something, the materials it takes.”
This is a common sentiment shared across fiber artists. Oklahoma City-based fiber artist Kendall Ross thinks this belief is rooted in sexism. She told TheSuperLoop, “something I’ve never understood is why people think knitting is easy. It is genuinely so hard to do and to do well, but people think it is a frivolous thing because it is so associated with women, and everyone thinks anything women do is easy.”
Additionally, something that is distinct to the fiber arts community is the aspect of selling patterns. This is not a new practice. Knitting books have been sold for ages but what is new is the ability for anyone to create patterns. Influencers design instructions on how to recreate their design and sell the document for a small fee. This is a way for them to get around having to sell garments for hundreds of dollars.
Since creating patterns and tutorials has become such a key aspect of fiber arts internet culture, artists often get bombarded with comments on their work to release a pattern. Stone said she once spent a month making a dress that she was proud of and excited to share but all of her comments were merely requesting a tutorial on how to replicate the dress. She recalled thinking, “can [they] just look at it?” This is not a common scenario that surrounds other art mediums.
Simultaneously, there are many of online fiber artists that create patterns. This abundance has made users feel they’re owed a pattern anytime an artist shows off their work.
Ujifusa, who makes knitting and crochet patterns for purchase, said people have commented on advertisement posts for her patterns, “does anyone know where I can find this for free?” Many creators have expressed frustration over this phenomenon.
Stone added, “I don’t think people realize that making patterns and tutorials takes a lot of time and money because you have to rebuy all the materials … spend like another month making it. And if you’re going to do a pattern, you’re going to have to get it tested, which requires a lot of help from people.”
Testing is another aspect that off-handed commenters don’t know about. When designing a pattern for purchase, creators need to have people try out their pattern in advance of the release to check their calculations. This takes time and usually, the testers aren’t paid.
Moreover, there’s a common misconception online that influencers make a lot of money, which in general does not apply to every creator but especially not to small fiber artists. Ujifusa has made several posts expressing their frustration with brands that will offer free yarn in exchange for advertising their company. They said in an Instagram caption
“for some reason, a lot of craft companies have collectively decided that gifting yarn or supplies is enough “payment” for content. While it’s great to receive things for free (trust me, I love getting free yarn), I don’t think you should be required to complete a project (which takes A LOT of time) or follow a brief without receiving actual financial compensation.”
Some creators believe brands think they can get away with this kind of behavior because it is mostly young women that are dominating the fiber arts online community. Ross has made several garments that express her resentment toward the undervaluation of women. She has a vest that reads “It’s Just A Craft Until A Man Says It’s Art.”
Ross said in a Tiktok that she doesn’t respond to being called a crafter because “most of the time when people say it to people who knit and crochet it’s like ‘oh look at the little girl doing her little crafts.’” She continued to say that she doesn’t “think that [it] makes you any less of an artist if you like are following a pattern, or like do it as a hobby. Like why do we still call it craft?” Ross believes it is these small word choices that cause people to overlook artists.
Overall, it comes down to whether people believe it requires artistry to knit, crochet or do any other form of fiber art. But creators don’t think it is their job to change anyone’s minds. If people want to buy their products and consume their content they appreciate it but if not, they’ll happily hit that “block” button.
Hey Gise 
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