More owls in 2015

In my capacity as “I’d love to be a trend-setter but haven’t been able to reinvent a single trend yet,” I figured that owls will probably still be all the rage in 2015. Is there actually any technique that hasn’t been used with owls yet? We’ve already had mini owls, owl squares, owl amigurumi, hats—owls are just everywhere. Shouldn’t the market be saturated by now?

I don’t think so—they’re just timeless.
For a while now, people have been trying to push the fox as a new trend, and since the beginning of this year, stores have been trying to implement it with all their might.
But I think a trend emerges organically from people, not because the industry wants it to.

Personally, I don’t see owls as a trend anymore—they’ve been around for far too long for that. Instead, I see them as an integral part of the world of handicrafts and crafts, one that’s impossible to imagine without (just like teddy bears, for example)
It’s like with our little angels: it’s becoming difficult, if not nearly impossible, to create something new that even comes close to matching their enduring success.

In the shop at crazypatterns, there are a few sheep amigurumis that I think are absolutely adorable. There are several sellers offering sheep amigurumis in the shop. I can’t say whether that’s enough to start a trend of its own, but they’re definitely eye-catchers.

@haekelkeks
What you’re saying—that owls are a staple of the crafting world—makes sense when you look at how many different patterns there are now and how long this owl trend has been going on. In that other thread over there, the mod linked a pattern with owls from the English-speaking world, and I’ve also seen owl patterns from the U.S. on Facebook. So it’s a global phenomenon.
I just still don’t quite get what’s so interesting about owls. I like looking at them every now and then, but owls aren’t really my favorite animals. Mainly because, for example, you probably couldn’t cuddle with a real owl very well. You probably couldn’t do that with a real bear—a wild bear, that is—either. So that can’t be the argument.

The question that’s been on my mind is how these trends in the DIY world come about. Deliberately kickstarting trends rarely works, as Haekelkeks also points out. If you want to make something previously unknown widely known, you’d probably need, for example, a movie featuring a little animal that’s as cuddly as possible, a really big budget for marketing and advertising, and, of course, lots of cute merchandise. Then you might succeed in making it well-known, but that’s different from a trend that just sort of develops on its own and then everyone jumps on board.

I do believe, however, that it’s rather rare for a trend—which is, by its very nature, short-lived and seasonal—to actually become a classic that stands the test of time.

Maybe we should ask a sociologist what it is about owls that draws people in. But unfortunately, I don’t have a sociologist on hand right now.
The fact that owls, for example, symbolize wisdom is probably something most people are vaguely aware of—that’s how owls are portrayed in movies or books, for instance.
But there has to be more to the owl motif than that. I think I’m just overthinking this.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the fox trend. It’s just not my favorite animal—or rather, I can’t relate to it at all.
But since it’s a trend, I guess we’ll have to put up with it for a while. :)

As Hamster also mentions, there are quite a few sheep in the shop that are totally cute. But I don’t think I’d go so far as to call it a trend. Sheep are just too obvious when it comes to stuffed animals, with their soft wool and everything. They’ve been around in the stuffed animal world forever.

I’m really curious to see which motif will stand out in 2015.

I was totally surprised by the little guardian angels. I wouldn’t have thought that so many people these days would still be into the guardian angel motif. Whether that falls more under the “cute” category or if people actually believe in some kind of positive effect, I don’t know, of course.
 

Hi. I think the owl is a hit because it's easy to make. It comes in many sizes. It can be made using different techniques (amigurumi, from granny squares, with yarn and fabric together, ...)
And there are no limits when it comes to colors.
You can't do that with every animal.

I think the fox is great in itself. It just probably won't become as popular as the owl.

Let's wait and see what the next real trend will be.

Best regards, Nicole

Is pink/rose still a trendy color, or is that phase over?

I love pink and rose. That’s why it’s a lasting trend for me.

I think pink is still a trend among young children and will surely always remain so (see Barbie, ...). You can already see it when you go to KIK and look for a pair of pants for your niece that aren’t pink or don’t have pink elements—no chance :D

Pink/rose isn’t my color ;)