This is gonna be the thread where we talk about stuff

Hello I am a person that has bought patterns before (all those octopi, squid, and cuttlefish I made? Someone else's patterns that I purchased) and it's basically the same as any other trade or sale of a non-tangible good. The value's only what the maker and seller agree to. If I look at an Etsy page for a pattern and what the seller's offering and all of that is worth the asking price, then sure I'll buy it. That'd be metrics like:

• whether the content's relevant to my interests (would buy a cute little nudibranch pattern, would not buy a vest-making pattern because big projects bore me eventually)
  
• content I didn't know how to make myself in a satisfying way (the octopus "shape" without it just being a ball with eight legs)
  
• how good/useful/helpful the pattern is beyond the simple notation (photos of each step, recommended yarns and hook sizes and possible adaptations, detailed explanations for unusual techniques)
  
• all at the right price

Selling patterns is also valid when you consider how damn long it can take to make something. You probably think one hundred bucks for a hand-knitted/crocheted sweater or whatever is egregious, but pure wool and other materials are surprisingly expensive. There's a reason the stereotyped knitter/crocheter is an old/retired lady; a sweater can take months.

A crocheted octopus might not use pure merino and I might have demonstrated you can knock one out in two evenings if you're really bored, sure. But I did want to move onto trying something new after making half a dozen of them, and I imagine the pattern-maker felt the same way. It's not very fun to make the same pattern after the twelfth time, and they're still probably not making a huge profit per cephalopod. Enough to fun their hobby, maybe, but not enough to warrant spending ten hours a day on it.

Intellectual property is totally a thing with value - it's not much different from music. An artist could earn their keep through nothing but live performances, but realistically they should sell their music in a hard copy as well, and it's a more sensible way for the fan to financially support the creator. Much like the fact I (mostly) won't upload/distribute music I like online for simple respect of the creator's wishes*, I'm respecting Rubysubmarine's request by only giving my squids away or trading them for other art/craft pieces. I don't have to, she can't find me if I wanted to sell squids. I thought she made neat things, and supporting her continuation of making a living by making neat things was worthwhile - the same way you'd feel about a musical artist.