JasonTTK – The Yarn Bearer

Woo-boy, the past few days on Ravelry have been a real treat. I was alerted to what was thought to be yet another person on Ravelry trying to scam the fiber tribe. With so many previous experiences, I think Ravelers grew a sixth sense for this kind of thing. The hair stands up on the back of your neck, you smell it coming in on the wind. What’s that? Ah, the distinct smell of bullshit.

A man, named Jason Weidner, came to our humble corner of the internet because his initial statement of “I think all patterns should be free” so send in your patterns to his new website, tangledknot.com, and he’ll be able to make you lots of money. By distributing your free patterns. Free patterns. How does that make money for the designer?

Well, I don’t think even he knows how to make money for the designer. Although, I’m sure he has already established how he will be making a profit. The group he created on Ravelry, The Tangled Knot, was created to promote his business venture and answer questions from curious crafts.

And let me tell you, did he get questions. I’ll let you head over there and read through the threads where he contradicts himself and dodges questions about payouts, which advertisers he’ll approach, and any requests for market research that provides proof for claims he has been making about his “new”, big idea.

But before you go, you might notice some edits and deletions in the threads… Curious, huh? Well, Jason says it’s because “some people were being rude”. Apparently, I was considered “some people” because I made mention of the sock puppet/wing man account his mother made in attempt to defend Jason and bring sunshine and rainbows to what had become a failing business before it even launched . Yes, that’s right. His mother (threadnerd on Ravelry) entered the scene as a new member of Ravelry and did not disclose their relationship as she jumped in threads to defend this business that she claimed she had no knowledge of.

Again, Ravelers have seen it before and she was outed immediately. Jason finally admitted it was his mother, she went in mass delete mode (but there are a few block quotes, so you’ll still get an idea of her deception) and deleted her account. Omfg, you guys, it just keeps getting better.

Back to me getting banned and deleted (some of my posts are still there). He was upset because I referred to his mother’s sock puppet account, told me to edit/delete my post, and I wouldn’t. Delete. Banned. But not before I took some screen shots!

The second part was interesting, because he was completely cool with his mother’s sock puppet account until we called her out. So now, we’re supposed to forget that a deception was attempted because he eventually came clean about it when he got caught.

My response, which was later deleted and I was banned because he said “some people” were being rude. More mass deleting ensued, bannings, revival of his sock master mom (yeah, that’s right, mom returns, don’t miss that one), and an attempt to keep his cool when all of his plans continue to collapse in a heap around him.

If we’ve learned anything, it’s how to spot a potential scam. Actions such as: patronizing your potential clients, not actually having a business plan, no market research, not actually being involved/knowledgable in the industry you’re trying to profit from, quickly deleting any truths that make you/your business look bad instead of acknowledging the mistake and moving on, and finally, making references to “lawyers” repeatedly in what may be an attempt to get people to back off.

You’ve probably run out of popcorn by now. Go pop some more, grab a comfy seat, and take a potty break for diving back in. Don’t forget to get up and stretch your legs occasionally.