happy love co

Category: Blog

  • Stealing of My designs

    Stealing of My designs

    First off, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a great start to what will be a fabulous year for us all! It’s been such a whirlwind of events the last few weeks and now that everything is kind of settling down, I have a few things I’d like to mention. If you follow me on Instagram, you’re already going to be familiar with all of this.

    For the past few years, I have had my designs stolen again and again. It first started with actual pattern companies. A few big name ones even. The first experience I had with actually taking to one was the company Phildar. I had received a message from a follower showing they were selling a pattern nearly identical to one of mine. When I posted on my Instagram about it, many people were tagging the company, upset about it. So Phildar contacted me, wanting the post taken down and they were taking about compensation and what not. Maybe working with them on a collaboration for a new design. Lesson learned there. I took the post down and after a couple conversations via phone with the company, I never heard from them again. I received no compensation, nor did any collaboration come to be. What came to be, is they profited off of one of their designers copying my work.

    I have had customers of mine find my knitting patterns on other Etsy shops, along with my pattern photos, selling the pattern as their own. With those, I am able to contact Etsy and they take them down.

    I’m not going to mention them because I really don’t like accusing people of things, but I have seen other knitwear designers on Instagram publish work eerily similar to mine as well. I love designing knitwear and one of my first thoughts when I started, was that what’s going to stop others from copying my work? I love the creative process of it all and bringing something I imagine to life is one of the best feelings! So it’s a lot more than just money. That being said, I mix colors, stitches, patterns, to something that is unique and my own. I know it’s definitely possible for others to create similar things without ever knowing me or my work, but when it’s people who follow me and are familiar with my designs, I find no coincidence.

    The recent Temu incident is the one that finally got to me. Temu is using my photos of my summer daisy sweater as advertising for Pinterest ads. They’re using my photos to sell copycats of the sweater on their site. I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but I have had so many people suddenly finding my sweater on there and sending me images, links, etc. I even had an email from a media company in Germany wondering if I would be open to an interview regarding my stolen work on Temu.

    This is so disheartening to me on so many levels. While I love working with customers and making my own money doing something I love, I’m tired of my work being stolen. These bigger companies stealing from me, are making much more money from my work than I am. I’m not quite sure what this year will look like moving forward with publishing my patterns. There’s no stopping these companies, as far as I know.

    I will never quit designing, that’s for sure. It is a love addiction that is a part of me.

    So just a heads up there! I’m working on trying to figure out a way to share my work with you all and will keep you updated as I go along.

    Make sure you sign up to receive emails from my site here, as I’m going to be primarily sharing information and fun stuff here instead of Instagram! There’s going to be video tutorials coming, a design class, just pure fun things.

    Regardless of it all, I’m excited about what this new year will hold for Happy Love Co!

  • Best Knitting Patterns for Beginners

    Best Knitting Patterns for Beginners

    So you’ve decided you’d like to try your hand at knitting your own sweater, but you’re a beginner and don’t know what to start with. I hear you. When I first started knitting, I spent months and months just knitting blankets and scarves. I decided I didn’t need to knit anything else. But after some time, I was like you know, maybe I’ll try a sweater. I ordered a Simone cardigan kit from We Are Knitters and whipped that out in fairly decent time. It had a whole bunch of techniques I’d never tried before, but I did it. I was so pleased! After getting a few more kits from multiple sites, I got frustrated. They were all rated easy or beginner, but I nearly cried with some of them when I couldn’t figure it out! After that, I decided to try out my hand at designing my own. I had all the basic skills down, I now knew how to seam and shape sleeves. My first ever sweater pattern, the Kyla cropped pullover, was a success.

    My designs have all been knit with basic skills. I wanted to implement more of the yarn and color choices over difficult techniques. You can knit a beautiful sweater without any tears! The funnest part is choosing the colors! I give you an easy pattern, you pick your favorite colors to knit it in. Make it yours!

    Over the years of designing and selling patterns, I’ve had many people ask what’s the best for a beginner or tell me after they’ve knitted a pattern, that they’re a beginner and this was perfectly easy to follow and they had no problem. It’s the best feeling to finish your first sweater and be in love with the result! And then when you start getting compliments on it in public, you’ll be on cloud nine!

    Here are my top patterns to try if this is your first sweater! You’ll need just the basic skills and you’re good to go!

    1. The Kyla Striped Pullover Sweater Might as well start with my first ever sweater! You’ll need to know garter stitch and stockinette stitch, increases, and seaming.

    2. Winter Blues Pullover Sweater. Big needles, big yarn, basic stitches as well. This one is a top favorite of many. You can do stripes if you want, color block, whatever your heart desires!

    3. The Cropped Striped Winter Sweater If you’re not comfortable yet with doing stripes on your own accord, scoop this pattern up! It will take you absolutely no time at all! P.s. a famous singer from the UK knit this sweater pattern once!

    4. The September Dreams Cardi Big, cozy, wearable with everything. I love this sweater! Basic stitches plus a little extra techniques to broaden your horizons. If you want a good piece for practicing your stockinette stitch, this is it!

    I will just add in that almost every single pattern I have, has been knit as a first time project for somebody. So if any of these aren’t what you’re looking for, there’s many other options!

    I hope you enjoy! And remember to subscribe to get exclusive discounts plus be the first to know about new patterns!

  • My 5 favorite knitwear pieces for summer

    My 5 favorite knitwear pieces for summer

    With summer pretty much in full swing, I thought I’d share my fav summer go to knitwear pieces! These are the ones that get the most use and are so perfect for all the summer things. Morning coffee dates, farmers market shopping, garage saling, evenings out on the porch, and travels! That’s my favorite time to wears knits. A little something special for a special trip! The feeling of sipping that morning vacation coffee in a cute cozy sweater you made yourself is an experience we all need.

    1. The Inez summer sweater. This one is a fan favorite! So many people have messaged me to say that they get so many compliments wearing their Inez sweater! It’s easy, breezy, and just has the good summer vibes. Make it using your favorite cotton yarn in some gorgeous colors and you’ll be accepting the compliments in no time!

    2. The Bring Me Coffee cardi. Super chill, airy, and cozy. This is the ultimate for enjoying that summer coffee. Slip it on with a tank and shorts, and you’re ready for all the coffee feels.

    3. The Mustang tank. The ties on the shoulders, the drapey silhouette, this one deserves to be made in many different shades! It’s your basic tank with a pretty and feminine twist. I’m already starting another in red!

    4. The Summer Daisy Sweater. Big and oversized with lots of fun stitches, colors, and the little “flower” details on the sleeves, make this a perfect throw on and go piece! Wear it over your swimsuit after a long day of swimming while you chill around the fire.

    5. The Freya Summer Sweater. Another top with tie details. Can you tell I like them?! I love how easy and fun they are. This top features an open shoulder, perfect for those cooler times of day.

    Click the shop link in the menu above to shop these style patterns! Make sure to share photos of your finished pieces with me on Instagram or via email.

    Love, Bethany