#it's founded by trans lesbians and supporting tr*mp is considered bannable hate speech

[my-smial]

Another solution that I really recommend anyone new start with: buy from trusted sources! This is a little harder, because you have to do more work than searching "cute hedgehog pattern" on Etsy, but I promise it's not that hard. (it's also not a solution for the people selling cute hedgehog patterns on Etsy, sorry :/)

But if you're new to a craft or buying for a gift, picking out the little tells is hard - what does "impossible stitch" even mean when you don't know what a stitch is? Not to mention the many blind crafters out there who can't study pictures.

The #1 trusted source is a physical book from a physical shop. There are craft, quilt, needlework, embroidery, and yarn shops with tons of pattern books and learn-to-craft kits, and they'll vet books for you or even sell PDF patterns. And if they don't, because small shop owners are busy, good shops will be horrified that they sold you a non-functional book and help you out. You can even find good pattern books in many used book stores.

If you want to buy online, don't use a random search, use a trusted site. Ravelry is the site I will always recommend for knit and crochet patterns (not embroidery, unfortunately). It doesn't seem infested by AI yet, and every pattern lets you see completed projects - check to see how many people have made the pattern, and you can see real photos versus very staged designer photos. While you're learning, I wouldn't recommend trying patterns that nobody else has completed.

While I love using inde designers, if you're really worried - just use big brands! Look for names like Rowan, Vogue, KnitPicks, and Lion Brand in the yarn world.

Finally, a real human designer will have an online presence. This is the same vetting process as any other purchase - don't buy from a random shop, but from one where you can see the person behind it. Many designers, from all crafts, will have a website/blog, instagram, or youtube where they show new designs, podcast, and do life updates. Search "<Craft> Podcast" and look for designers whose style you like, then use their designs or watch videos and use the patterns they recommend. I know that embroidery designers often call themselves FlossTube, and knitting podcasts are a dime a dozen. Look for real people, and buy from them - not a google search.

None of this really solves the ultimate problem of slop getting thrown out in the environment, but while it's there, buy from trusted sources.

Hey, if you do crafts (especially things like crochet, knitting, embroidery, etc), make sure to look up how to identify when a listing is AI generated. You do NOT want to waste money on an incredible looking kit or pattern that is physically impossible to make, especially if you're on sites like etsy hoping to support an actual artist.