My 'Original' Rant

So as I mentioned recently, I’ve put my Cthulhu toque pattern up for sale. Pattern sales seem to be better than the actual completed item, which is ok by me because it gives me more time to work on other things instead of making a lot of crochet Cthulhu toques to have available on hand. I was able to get into the recent batch of those activated to sell patterns on Ravelry, so I of course put the pattern up for sale there. I noticed the very next morning that there was a blog post attached to the pattern so I went to check it out:

 

“I read the description of this pattern original cthulhu toque and tried to decide whether I should be offended. Not at the ACTUAL pattern because it’s very cute but because it’s incorrect and I published a crocheted cthulhu beard hat (or toque if you will) back in december. I think I’m not going to worry too much, but at the same time I was irked because I had that original idea long before. sigh”

Truth be told, I’M a little offended by her post. Mostly because my crochet design IS original, and it IS the first of its kind. The concept of mixing Cthulhu with headgear is NOT new, nor was she the first to think of it, as there have been many forms of various Cthulhu headgear created long before her. When I had the idea for my crochet Cthulhu toque, I did a lot of searching — both on Ravelry and googling — to ensure that it was an original idea. I’ve seen several Cthulhu toques, but none were like mine. I’ve seen fleece toques with tentacles that hang down (Sewn, though, not crochet) and I’ve seen both knitted and crochet toques that have the image of Cthulhu’s head outline done in a pattern that repeats around the hat like a band, chart style… but nothing crocheted as just a true toque with eyes, wings and the tentacles that hang down on top of the head like my design. I even saw the pattern in question that the person above is referring to of their design — but again, her design is not the same as mine. She created a bearded facemask… not a ‘toque.’  Her crochet design is a facemask that has tentacles hanging down like a beard, which transforms the wearer into Cthulhu.  My crochet toque design is a beanie style hat (not a facemask) and the tentacles I used are not like the bearded facemask design at all… not in how they are designed and not in the way they are positioned within the scope of the garment. The tentacles of my toque design are on top of the head along with eyes and wings, so the toque itself creates a little Cthulhu creature sitting on top of your head… which does not transform you into Cthulhu himself when worn and does not make the wearer sport a beard of tentacles. To me, there is a huge difference between a toque and a full facemask. The designs are NOT the same functionally nor aesthetically, and so her post makes me mad, as her comment “I had that original idea long before. sigh”  is completely irrelevant — she did NOT have/make the same idea as me.  The definition of ‘original’ is as follows:

While I understand that the concept of creating Cthulhu headgear in general is not my (nor her) original idea, my particular crochet design IS original, as there are no other crochet designs out there like it. Because there are no other designs out there like it yet, that makes my design original in the sense that it is the first of its kind. This person’s crochet design of a tentacled bearded facemask is original, just as my design of a crochet beanie that creates a Cthulhu creature on top of your head is original. I could understand her frustration if I had created a crochet bearded facemask like hers and tried to pass it off as the original of its design… since she clearly created the crochet bearded facemask before me. But we’re talking about completely different headgear here that creates a very different aesthetic and functional result.

*grumble* Just had to vent.