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We have had another beautiful month in our new shop...and there are quite a few items added to the shop (with more exciting things to come!)
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STAFF KAL Progress
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If you joined in our Travelling Woman Staff KAL, don't forget to tag us / let us know how it is going! A few rows still to go on this one (thanks to the extra Chart A repeat or it would be finished by now!):
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THE GREAT PATTERN SEARCH
...and how to avoid being scammed by AI.
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One of the questions we most often get asked is "Do you have patterns?"
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The answer is yes...but mostly no!
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With a sheer abundance of patterns available online in this digital age, it can be quite overwhelming to search for and find the perfect pattern that honors your time and material investment in making the item/s on your dream list.
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We recommend, if possible, researching your pattern ideas ahead of coming into the shop if there is something specific that you would like to make. We will be more than happy to take a look at your chosen pattern and assist you with matching it to the perfect yarn!
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We are ever thankful that the pattern treasure trove that is Ravelry exists.
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Ravelry is a free pattern portal (signup required) and one can easily switch off messages if newsletters and emails are not wanted in your in-box, so no unwanted communications are received.
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We recommend Ravelry as it has a proven track record of patterns with user projects and notes to browse through...There are an abundance of free patterns, and paid patterns are safe and secure.
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You can also be sure that the patterns are not AI scams!
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The AI age - what this means for knitting and crochet patterns:
It is wonderful to find inspiration and fall in love with something one wants to make. Google searches and Pinterest are some of the inspiration rabbit holes we just can't avoid getting tangled in from time to time...but is what we are seeing, real?
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It has been a while since I played with AI tools, which I have done from time to time for amusement. I must say that when I was doing research for this newsletter, I was very surprised at how far AI has come in a very short time. AI generated images are becoming more and more realistic and difficult to distinguish between digital and reality.
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I used Spark AI on Creative Fabrica to generate the following AI crochet and knitted images, each in less than a minute, via search prompts as per the following examples:
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This generated a fairly convincing crochet cat. At closer inspection, there are some inconsistencies in the image - the tail doesn't seem to be connected convincingly and the stitch sizes vary quite a bit throughout the image. The nose is a clear give-away of AI.
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In this case, AI seems a bit confused between knitting and crochet, and has decided to blur the stitches as it clearly doesn't understand how knitting works! The shaping is too perfect, and there is some weirdness with the back leg and tail and the 'muzzle' which also give this away as AI.
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Prompt: "teenage girl riding a knitted dragon"
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AI doesn't seem to understand age as this is not a teenager!
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If one takes the stitches in proportion to the girl, they are HUGE...and it would be impossible for the dragon to stand up without an internal frame to make the legs not collapse under the weight of the girl. No amount of stuffing would hold like this!
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Prompt: "young man wearing crochet granny square suit"
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A lovely image...and fun suit, but on closer inspection, one can see that the crochet is behaving like suit fabric, not crochet fabric. The stitches are really huge, and it doesn't make sense how the buttons would fasten! The fabric would also be much bulkier with the size of stitch used.
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To attempt re-creating these images as an actual patterns or objects would be a labour of love... but more likely one of frustration!
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Pattern finds on platforms like Etsy, Amazon and links to random websites via Pinterest must be scruitinised as to their validity before investing money, time and materials.
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The general rule when falling down the Pinterest pattern inspiration wonderland is: Always be suspicious! Have your AI-dar on high alert at all times!
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Some of the ways you can identify when patterns are AI generated:
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- Does the pattern say somewhere that it is AI generated?
- Who designed this pattern? Look at the designer's Instagram and/or Facebook etc pages to verify if they have a track record of real patterns.
- Are there a few photos of the item from different angles or views? If your AI-dar is already going off and there is only one photo of the item, it is very likely not real.
- Does the image look 'too perfect" eg: the colours are too vivid... people are almost too attractive or look like they have beautification filters on them...
- Spot the difference: Scrutinise whether everything in the image looks and behaves as it should in reality (don't neglect looking at how the background and how objects relate to one another).
- Do you recognise all the stitches used? ...and are they blurry?
- Look for inconsistency in stitch sizes and fabric textures...do the stitches look like they match the thickness of the yarn used.
- Examine the lighting - are the shadows falling in the correct places at a realistic depth?
- Look for yarn colours that look painted on afterwards instead of colour that would be possible to achieve from dyed yarn.
- Notice if fabric texture is behaving as it should.
- Look carefully at the stitches to see if they create the shaping or if shadows are used instead to create the illusion of contours.
- Think about whether items such as toys would need to be stuffed with impossible amounts of stuffing to get the item as firm as they are represented.
- Do the hands - particularly fingers - look right?
- Look deeper to see if patterns have a project history (and notes from others who have made the item are very useful!)
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How to source genuine patterns:
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We recommend Ravelry as it is a reputable, dedicated knitting and crochet pattern platform. When patterns are submitted, they are held for examination by moderators before going live on their website.
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I dug around a bit on the Ravelry forums and easily found the following information :
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AI generated photos are not accepted - editors are told: "treat it the same as someone passing something from Google Images off as a pattern photo - fake, misleading, not acceptable."
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"AI generated “patterns” are not acceptable because they aren’t actually patterns and do not produce a finished item."
Source: Snippets from an editor's chat thread on Ravelry
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Lots of new goodies in the shop!
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We are always adding new items to the shop -- here are some of the latest:
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STELLAR FIBREWORKS spinning fibre
The Stellar Fibrworks dye studio is up and running at Jubilee House and we have some new superwash spinning fibre available.
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NATURAL YARNS
Our new shoppers
We are so excited to introduce our brand new Natural Yarns @Jubilee tote bag design...
They are now available in our shop and online shop.
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NATURAL YARNS
limited edition yarn
These beautiful single ply yarns are limited edition - R50 / 50g with approximately 100m. Wonderful for festive season gifts / gift making.
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STELLAR FIBREWORKS
new Vidia Sock
We have added some very pretty new speckled and tonal colourways to the website - great for socks and other garments!
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NURTURING FIBRES
brand new colours
have been added to the range! Teal, Turquoise and Sea Foam make up the pretty new blue trio for those who adore the blues!
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FIBRA NATURA
Bamboo Bloom Handpaints
Thick and thin, matte and shiny for fun textures. Work on it's own or in combination with a single textured yarn.
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New pretty colourways from LilyRose Dyeworks
We have just added new LilyRose Dyeworks Fezziwig Fingering colourways to our website and we are in LOVE!
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Liesl has created this very romantic colour story in her signature 'vintage' colourway style.
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Knit & Craft Fridays & Social Saturdays - our balcony beckons!
Every Friday from 11am till closing (4pm) and all day on Saturday, you are welcome to join us with your WIP (work in progress)! Please let us know if you're arriving with many friends so that we can ensure we have set out enough space for everybody.
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...and be sure to bring your shades and sun hat on sunny days!
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Heading towards year-end gifting...
Are you making hand-made items for gifts this year? If you haven't started yet, it's just about that time!
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We have been brainstorming new gift kits and festive season surprises for the festive season break. We hope to have those up on the website for you very soon - please watch our social media pages for announcements.
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As always, happy yarn and fibre crafting!
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The Natural Yarns Team
Gina + Liesl and Sara
xxx
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PS: We LOVE to see what you have been making!! You're welcome to share your projects with us - tag us at @naturalyarns or hashtag your projects with #naturalyarnsa on social media, or send through an email with a picture of your FO to [email protected].
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NEWS AND UPDATES:
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SHOP HOURS AT OUR SIMON'S TOWN SHOP
Monday: 10am - 2pm
Tuesday to Saturday: 9am - 4pm
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120 Saint George's Street
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