Why I don’t answer questions (via email)

You are probably reading this because you sent me a knitting question via email despite my contact page specifically saying to comment on my blog instead. So, here’s the deal:

I answer questions from readers more or less every day of the year – no matter whether it’s a weekend or I am on vacation. Especially during the winter months, when more people are knitting, it can be a hundred or two hundred comments per day. I even read every single comment on my YouTube channel. Every. single. one. (and if you check out other YouTube channels, you might realize how very rare that is.)

And maybe this deluge will give you a first inkling of why I have the hard rule that I never answer questions via email or direct message.

Here’s the thing: I earn money whenever you see ads. Either here on my website or when you watch a video on YouTube. That’s how I pay my bills. I do not earn a single cent for answering questions. Not one. Not directly, not indirectly. It’s simply no factor and if, from henceforth, I didn’t answer a single comment, I would possibly earn more and not less money.

Still, I am a genuinely caring person, and even if I weren’t, not answering questions about my tutorials or patterns would be a kind of asshole move. As a creator, you have to take some responsibility. You cannot just reap the rewards.

On the other side of the coin, I have to pay my bills. Working on projects that lead to tangible monetary returns has to be a priority for me. As a result, I have a limited number of minutes to answer questions. I wish I could answer all questions but there are not enough hours in a day to do that.

Thus, I do feel it’s my responsibility to use the time I have efficiently. That’s the main reason why I only answer questions in public. If I reply to a comment on my blog or YouTube, other people have the chance to benefit from the solution as well. Plus, these public responses are something the algorithm notices and they will give my website/channel a tiny little boost. It’s not much but I guess every little bit counts.

It also streamlines the effort. Instead of being all over the place, I have this one spot I need to check every day.

This might also explain my second hard rule: If you ask a question twice in separate places, I will not answer it. First of all, it can be very confusing. I might answer blog comments early in the morning and YouTube comments in the afternoon, and by then, I am not sure anymore if that was the same person or if I need to answer it again. Then, I spent five minutes cross-checking instead of actually solving problems.

Plus, in a way, I feel it’s clamoring for my attention. A bit like when there are multiple cashiers with long queues and you send your husband over to the other one “in case that one is faster”. Our society works because we respect each other and we all have equal chances.

My last rule is that I never comment on other designers’ patterns or videos from other creators. It is not my turn nor my job, and it will keep me from answering questions I am responsible for. Let me explain:

First of all, I simply don’t have the time to read or watch that material. The video might be 5 minutes long, or the pattern has 3 pages. I simply cannot invest half an hour to formulate an answer to your question. Secondly, how should I decide whether a certain line in a pattern is working as intended or is indeed a flaw? Maybe the designer wanted that line of purl stitches because she thought just stockinette stitch looked boring. How would I judge?

Thirdly, if you bought a pattern from a designer, then they need to answer. They received the money, not me. Even if the content was free, you paid via viewing ads, providing your email address, or other forms of non-monetary compensation.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to respect. If you value and respect my time, then I can value your question as well. If you just asked a question because I was the first person to pop up and you didn’t even use the search function on my blog to see if I have written about it previously…well…

Mind you, that is the very reason I had to write this post in the first place. All my contact pages, bios, etc. specifically say, “no questions via dm or email”. All my patterns mention a specific streamlined place where you can ask your questions. If you ignore that or didn’t even bother to read that in the first place, I am forced to come to the impression that you are valuing your time or convenience more than mine.

Besides, emails are notorious for ending up in the spam folder (especially when they come from someone like me who literally sends tens of thousands of emails with links each month). Direct messages on Instagram are even worse because they end up in my “spam” folder by default (well, the request folder, along with 30…uh…”voluptuous” women with non-ambiguous profile pics). Here on my blog, I am in control, and I can guarantee that your comment and my answer get seen.

Thank you for your understanding. And if you are still with me, here are some rules for a good question:

1. Formulate your question in a general way. Don’t ask, “I am working on pattern xy how should I knit row yz. It says SSK but that seems wrong”. Instead, ask, “How can I achieve a neater left-leaning raglan decrease line?”
2. Be specific. To answer a knitting question, I need all the details. The more, the better. “It looks terrible” won’t really tell me anything. Instead, write something like “I am using 3mm needles and yarn XY. My 2×2 ribbing has a weird left-leaning bias. Why is that? I tried blocking, but it didn’t really help.”
3. Don’t ask for cast-on recommendations. It’s simply impossible for me to tell you how many stitches you need to cast on for any given project. Simply because I cannot know your very own specific gauge. A swatch has the only correct answer.
4. Don’t ask for preferences. I cannot tell you whether you like a slip-stitch selvage better than a garter-stitch selvage. There simply is no best edge/cast-on/bind-off/etc. for any given pattern or project. The same applies to knitting needles. I like dpns but that doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy bamboo circulars.
5. Don’t assume I (or anyone else) know every single yarn or every single pattern.
6. If you need to provide a picture, you can easily upload it to any picture upload site and share a link.

Norman

/rant off

PS: And please, if you have a question, comment on the very same blog post or YouTube video the question relates to. Very frequently, I get emails asking which needles/yarn I am using in my videos. And my only reply to that can be, which video? I have hundreds of videos using 20 different needles/yarns.