FAQ
Below, I’ve compiled a list of the questions I’m asked most often. This FAQ is a work in progress and I’ll add answers as more questions arise.
If your question is not answered here, or you’d like any more information, please email me.
About PlanetJune
About PlanetJune Patterns
Buying Patterns
- I’ve bought a pattern – how and when will I receive it?
- I’ve bought a pattern – what may I do with it?
- May I sell items I’ve made using your patterns?
Commission Requests
Translations
- Are your patterns available in my language?
- May I translate your free patterns and post them on my blog/website?
Teaching
Reviews and Advertising
About PlanetJune
Who is PlanetJune?
PlanetJune is a one-woman business, run by me: June Gilbank. I design crochet patterns and write craft books, but that’s not the whole story: I also maintain the PlanetJune website and online shop, ship orders, answer questions, post tutorials and video tutorials, and much more. Basically, anything you see with the word PlanetJune attached to it is created 100% by me.
I try to answer questions as quickly as possible, but please be patient with me if I can’t reply immediately; I have a lot on my plate, but I’m always happy to hear from you and to help wherever I can! If you have a quick question, you’ll probably get a faster response from me if you ask me through Twitter (@PlanetJune).
About PlanetJune Patterns
I’m a beginner – where should I start?
I’ve created many step-by-step photo tutorials that you can use to help you out, if you need it. They are arranged, top to bottom, in the order in which you’ll need them. You can find them all at www.planetjune.com/help. I also have a growing library of video tutorials.
You might also like to look at my book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi. It’s a very useful reference book to keep at hand, as it includes:
- A primer on the yarn, hooks, and stitches best for amigurumi, plus fun embellishments you can use to personalize your ami.
- Easy-to-follow tutorials for getting started, increasing and decreasing, working in the round, changing colors, and more.
- Expert advice on adding eyes, hair, jointed limbs, clothes, and other fun accessories to your ami.
- Tips for following an amigurumi pattern, plus four start-to-finish patterns to give you a head-start on designing your own.
I’m a beginner – which patterns are most suitable for me?
Don’t be intimidated to try my patterns as a beginner to crochet: almost all my designs are worked in only single crochet (the most basic crochet stitch!) with increases and decreases for shaping. My patterns always explain any special stitches or techniques required with complete photo tutorials, and the few intermediate level patterns are marked as such in the pattern descriptions in my shop.
As a beginner, I would advise staying away from any of the ‘fuzzy’ patterns or patterns that include colour changes, as those techniques are a little more advanced. Get comfortable with making single-coloured amigurumi first, until reading an amigurumi pattern, forming a magic ring and making an invisible decrease are easy for you; then you can add to your skills!
For beginners, I recommend PocketAmi Sets 1 & 2. They are specifically designed for beginners as they are easy and quick to make, with three sweet pocket animals included in each set!
If you’d like to get your feet wet with a free pattern, many of mine are very simple no-sew designs, which makes them great for beginners! You can use them to practice the magic ring, increasing, and decreasing (the basics you’ll need to make any amigurumi). Some perfect beginner options are:
And here’s a small selection of examples of other simple choices from my pattern catalogue. These have more pieces, so require some assembly, but the crocheting is no more difficult than for the one-piece patterns above:
And remember, all my patterns come with unlimited support available by email, so you can always email me with any questions, both before and after purchase!
Buying Patterns
I’ve bought a pattern – how and when will I receive it?
All patterns bought from the PlanetJune shop (www.planetjune.com/shop) are automatically available for immediate download from your PlanetJune account as soon as you have completed your order and payment.
- If you paid using PayPal Express Checkout and did not create a PlanetJune account, one was automatically created for you. (If you don’t see the email with your temporary password, please check your Spam folder.)
- If you paid by PayPal eCheck (this usually happens when you send payment via your bank account or debit card instead of a credit card), your patterns will be avilable as soon as your eCheck clears through PayPal, which usually takes a few days – check your PayPal account for the expected clearing date.
If you bought a pattern from my Etsy or ArtFire shops, I will email your patterns to you within 24 hours, wherever possible. I recommend that you purchase from my own shop in future, so you won’t have to wait to receive your patterns!
I’ve bought a pattern – what may I do with it?
By purchasing any PlanetJune patterns, you are not buying a copy of a pattern; you’re buying far more: a perpetual single-user licence for the pattern.
Your licence entitles you to:
- Unlimited customer support from the pattern designer (that’s me: June Gilbank).
- Unlimited copies of the pattern (for your personal use only): if you lose the pattern in 1, 5, or 10 years and want another copy, just contact me and I’ll sort it out for you.
- Access to any errata or revisions to the pattern.
- Make as many items from the pattern as you wish.
- Do whatever you wish with items made from the pattern (if you choose to sell them, please give me credit as the pattern designer, as specified below).
Your licence is non-transferable and PlanetJune patterns may not be shared, passed on to others, re-sold, or redistributed in any other way.
May I sell items I’ve made using your patterns?
Yes, you may sell items made from my patterns, provided you comply with the following:
- The items must be 100% handmade by you, the purchaser (no production-line allowed)
- Any items for sale must state in the item description that they are based on my pattern (by ‘PlanetJune’ or ‘June Gilbank’ or both) and preferably with a link to my website (www.planetjune.com or www.planetjune.com/shop or www.planetjune.com/blog)
- Any items you sell based on my patterns must feature only your own photographs of the item you have made to sell. You do not have permission to use my photographs to help sell your work.
Commission Requests
Can I commission you to design a pattern?
I do accept commissions for new crochet pattern designs. The cost varies depending on:
- The size and complexity of the design
- Whether you want exclusive rights to the pattern (very expensive!) or if I can also sell it in my shop
- How popular I estimate the pattern will be (I’ll reduce my price if I think I’ll be able to sell lots of copies)
Before you contact me, please consider these points:
- Please don’t ask me to design a pattern for a trademarked character (from film, TV, video games, comic books, etc) – it’s illegal to sell patterns of trademarked characters without a licence from the trademark holder. (If you’re the trademark holder and would like to commission an official crochet pattern of your character, that’s a different matter, of course – please do get in touch!)
- Patterns I create will be in my style – realistic, cute, clean lines, understated. Please look at my existing designs to get an idea of my general aesthetic and see if you’d like to see your idea crocheted in my style. If not, I’m not the right person to commission to bring your idea to life!
- I value quality over speed: I won’t release a design until I am 100% satisfied with it. From research, through design, crocheting, pattern writing, photography and editing, it will typically take at least a month for me to bring a new design to life, and potentially longer if I have prior commitments.
If all this sounds good, please email me with your ideas and we’ll start the conversation!
Can I commission you to crochet something for me?
I am a designer and writer, and my time is more than filled with creating new designs, running my shop and blog, and providing assistance to my customers. My process is very time-intensive as I take so much care to make my animals to a very high standard and to give the finished animals the cutest face and personality possible. I refuse to compromise on quality, so, unfortunately, I can no longer accept any commissions for finished items as there aren’t enough hours in the day!
As I do allow sales of finished items based on my designs, you may be able to commission a piece from one of my customers. I’m compiling a list of customers with online shops selling PlanetJune-designed toys that they’ve crocheted, so I suggest you look there! (Please note that although other people work from my patterns, they will not create exact replicas of my work – this is the nature of handcrafts, that no two pieces are exactly alike. Please also note that I make no claim as to the quality of their work or how it compares with my original designs; I cannot be held responsible for others’ work, so I suggest you look carefully at the crocheter’s previous work before deciding whether to commission them.)
Translations
Are your patterns available in my language?
Quality control is very important to me, and, until such a time as I am able to provide official translations of my patterns that are guaranteed to meet my standards for quality and accuracy, my patterns are only available in English (with standard/US crochet terminology).
May I translate your free patterns and post them on my blog/website?
You are very welcome to translate any of my patterns for your own personal use, but you may not share your translations with anyone else, either online or offline. I make my living from selling my crochet patterns. My ‘free’ patterns are not entirely free: I provide them as donationware (so that you can choose to compensate me for my time in creating and sharing these patterns), and to introduce you to my work so you can be confident of the quality and clarity of my patterns before you choose to buy more patterns from my shop. As such, I cannot allow my patterns, or translations of them, to be published anywhere apart from on my own website: www.planetjune.com.
Teaching
May I teach a class using one of your patterns?
Yes, you are very welcome to use any of my paid or free (donationware) patterns to teach with, provided you notify me in advance and comply with my terms below:
- Paid patterns
You may use my patterns to teach classes, provided either: - You purchase the pattern, and instruct each student to also purchase a copy of the pattern from www.planetjune.com/shop prior to the class.– or –
- You purchase one copy of the pattern per student plus one for yourself and provide each student with the PDF file of the pattern and/or a printout of the entire PDF file, with instructions that the pattern may not be shared or passed on after the class.
- Free (Donationware) patterns
You may use my patterns to teach classes, provided either:- You instruct each student to either purchase a PDF copy of the pattern from www.planetjune.com/shop or see the pattern at its web address prior to the class.– or –
- You donate a minimum of $1 per student plus $1 for the pattern, and provide each student with the PDF file of the pattern and/or a printout of the entire PDF file, with instructions that the pattern may not be shared or passed on after the class.
You may not share excerpts from the pattern or printouts of the web version with your students.
Reviews & Advertising
Will you review my craft product?
I’m very happy to review craft books and products that may interest me and my readers. Please contact me prior to sending items for review and/or if you’d like to know about my readership statistics (I won’t post them here, as they change over time!).
Please be aware that my reviews are well-respected because I write honest, thorough reviews, stating my real opinion about the product; both good and bad points. I will not accept payment to write a review, or recommend a product I do not believe in.
Can I advertise on PlanetJune?
To avoid misleading my readers, I do not accept any paid advertising on PlanetJune. Any websites, products, or services that are mentioned on PlanetJune are done so as personal recommendations from me. If you’d like me to review your product/service instead, please see my Reviews FAQ answer.
Other Questions?
Please contact me with any other questions and I’ll add them to this FAQ!
2 Comments »
Leave a Comment
I read and appreciate every comment I receive - thank you! Please note that I only respond to comments here on the blog, so please return to this post to see my reply, or check the above box to subscribe to comments on this post by email. -June
Cody said
Hi June,
Your patterns are amazing. I’m wondering how simple your patterns are. My wife and I have no crocheting experience but we’d like to give your designs a try. Would you suggest working on something easier first, or is it typically simple enough to jump right in to?
I understand this is a completely subjective question, just thought I’d give it a shot.
Thanks,
Cody
June said
Cody, you’re not the first person to ask this! Thanks for giving me a reason to make time to write my answer up fully for my FAQ
You can now find the answer to your question here: http://www.planetjune.com/blog/faq/#patterns