I think that one of the best things to come out of the internet is thoughtful discussion, albeit few and far between, but those rogue moments of principle sure are great. I experienced this over the weekend, when in a bit of a mood, I decided to pick up a fiber art project and queue up a Mark Vogel video. I love his content, he is as wordy as my grandma, with the love of music to boot. He has this way of challenging without being confrontational, and inspiring me to want to keep improving on fiber arts and interpersonal communication, just like she did.
This video though, challenged me in a way I did not see coming, and helped me synthesize some petty feeling I was carrying, that were rather useless. A few years ago, when I began this blog, hot takes were still a bit of a novelty, but now it feels like hot takes are the way we communicate in 2026, with common sense and self-control the delicacy appreciated by a few. How did a few years take something we all grew up knowing how to do, having common sense and self-control, and turn the behavior on its head to be an acquired taste?
That is why, I don’t share all the opinions I have anymore, some of my takes are straight up dumb and I don’t want to make a fool of myself. I did this in the beginning of my blogging, and now I cringe to think of the catharsis out there on the internet, which is why some of my posts have been changed to private. Anyways, writing is a journey. But, one thing I have shared, at least I think I have, is my indifference to PetiteKnit patterns. Not that I have purchased one to know if they are good or not, just that the ubiquitous PetiteKnit patterns have cluttered my feed and have become odious to me by how many people are making them. Yes, that is a very petty opinion, and I say, yes I agree with you. I don’t think I am correct, but it’s how I feel.
When I first discovered knitting Youtube and knitting podcasts, I was inundated with PetiteKnit this and PetiteKnit that.
This was around the time of the Cumulus O-neck blouse, the Sophie scarf, the Frankie, the Olga, the Ivy, the Maggie Cardigan, etc. The Sophie scarf in all its iterations and the Frankie are the two trigger points for me where I began to have negative feels towards the name PetiteKnit, I could feel myself tuning out or rolling my eyes when I heard someone talk about the next cast on being Sophie or Frankie. But I never sat with myself to figure out why had this reaction.
I think deep down I was concerned it was jealousy from her success, and I mean envy for the incredible careers Mette Wendelbroe Okkels has had would be reasonable. A doctor and the biggest pattern designer of this decade? Yeah, that is intimidating!
I think there is a lot of confusion too about where then name comes from. You see this very thin, white woman, from Sweden in these picture perfect places and it feels like another rich influence flaunting their privilege and a possible fascist ideology in this post-2024 US election landscape. But that’s not where the name comes from, she began designing baby patterns. Petite referring to small humans. She is not a Taylor Swift, she is just really good at what she does and the 2020 lockdown boosted sales.
So if it’s not jealousy, than what is my gripe? Well, when Mark Vogel was musing on an odd comment he received about his stockinette project. Specifically, that if it’s “stockinette” no one needs an update, he shared some thoughts that convicted me and clarified for me where my PetiteKnit burnout was coming from.
(For context, a lot of PetiteKnit patterns have stockinette, it’s a timeless finish and something I like in my own projects. Especially since I am not yet versed in cabling. Stockinette is common, but not boring, as the commenter supposed. Most store bought “professional” knits utilize stockinette.)
There is a trend in particular with knitters who share their work on the internet to be focused on “store-bought” looking knits. Which is not why I knit, I knit to create things I can’t find at the store. But for a lot of 2026 knitters, they want it to look store bought, and they want to make things that are trendy. This has created a boom of projects from just a few pattern designers flooding my feed, and everyone’s knitting feed realistically, with a repetition of names:
- The Lakes Pullover by Ozetta
- My Favorite Things Knitwear
- PetiteKnit Frankie or PetiteKnit Olga
- Andrea Mowry
- Ranunculus Sweater by Midori Hirose
- Kutovakika by Veronika Lindberg
- Sari Nordland
- Caitlin Hunter
The popularity is not the fault of the designers, it is their success for their hard work, what is actually bugging me is the sheeple nature of humans. When I hear one of these designs being mentioned it is usually with the intention of making it exactly as the designer did for their sample, like down to the color, the yarn brand, an exact replica. Over and over, and over again, as the algorithm spreads these trends, and we see the same project replicated ad nauseum, until our minds snark at the mention of these designs and their creators.
I’m not the only one who feels this way, a lot of the snark you see online about these designs echoes this sentiment, particularly when it comes to Rhinebeck, a sea of the same sweater, but instead of approaching this feeling with thoughtful contemplation, the snark is turned into vicious critiques of the creatives who made the patterns. We as humans are so good at tearing each other down, and getting upset at the pattern designers instead of being frustrated at the knitting influencers and overly-online knitting culture that is algorithmically flattening the creativity of the craft, is misguided and wrong. Like most good things, internet trends and virality, followed with this longing to be apart of something is making us make the same things.
That’s what I have caught myself doing. I am so bored and resentful, I don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. I want to see some original thought! Try a new yarn, or color! Experiment instead of copy and pasting the crumbs of the sample until there is no flavor left to behold. Be creative! The pattern was supposed to be a tool for that, not an AI prompt for you to shut your brain off and steal someone else’s work.
Quiet Luxury and store bought quality knit patterns, now merging with the need for basics in a recession is influencing the sad beige knitting trend we snark about, not PetiteKnit. I’m not afraid to say I had it all wrong. I’m glad there are positive and respectful creators out there like Mark, who encourage us to think deeper and respect one another. So let’s be kind knitters, and stop snarking on PetiteKnit from a reformed snarker, who has grown. Because you know what I learned while researching this post? PetiteKnit has a ton of interesting patterns that I’ve never heard of before! There is personality and variety, that social media drowned out and that’s a shame, so go forth curious my friend to make something new!
