craftgrrl | Little picky things that bug.... (Reply)

Evening all. I've got a moany moany question about a friend. I'd really appreciate it if someone tells me I'm being completely unreasonable or I have good grounds to say something.

A bit of background

The friend in question is someone I love dearly, she was my bridesmaid and we lived together for a number of years. We'll call her M. She knits hats and sells them and I crochet hats and sell them. There's never been any competition as we both have very different styles that lend themselves towards eachother very nicely on stalls etc.

The situation

M called me earlier and asked if she could borrow some of my chrochet hooks and a book full of funky hat patterns (some I made and some I found). She's a knitter and doesn't ever crochet, but for this particular hat pattern she needed a good sized bib (peak) and thought that one that I made previously would work really well.

She knits incredible hats and makes quite a bit of money from commissions and word of mouth jobs.

So, I agreed to let her borrow the book so she could use the pattern for a crochet peak.

The Problem

She called me just now to say she was having trouble making one of the hats from the book. This is NOT what she asked to borrow the book for. She nonchalantly said that a pattern in there would be perfect for a hat request and is going to make it and sell it.

I was apprehensive about letting her borrow the book, as I had a feeling this might happen.
I almost feel like she gave me some bull***p excuse to get me to part with the book AND MY HOOKS so she could use the patterns out of it to make and sell.

Am I being completely unreasonable?
Do I sound bitter that she's going to make money from something I let her use?
Am I within my right to ask for the book and hooks back?

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Help!

EDIT:

I want to say a MILLION thank yous to everyone who took the time to read and post here. I truly appreciate it. It was much needed to get some stern advice and I'm really greatful for people to look at both sides of the story. M doesn' mean any harm, she really doesn't, she just takes liberties sometimes. It's something I will keep in mind for the future!

Here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to let he finnish the hat. I know as well as everyone that your first crochet project NEVER turns out how you want it to. Especially with a complicated pattern like the one she chose. I know it sounds mean, but she's probably going to be disappointed with the result and realise that SHE knits and I crochet and the reason we do these seperate crafts is that we're better at one than the other.

When she's finished, I'll offer constructive criticism and advice and simply take my stuff back. That way, if she wants to start crochet, she'll have to buy her own supplies and make her own patterns.

She's not a person to confront. She gets very upset and it's a horrible situation. Trust me, we're been there before!

Thank you a million times over again for everyone taking the time to offer advice. I really appreciate it. She's my only female friend and none of the boys would ever get why I'm so upset about some hooks and a book!

Thank you thank you thank you xxxx