Earlier this week I wrote a little about my knitting: when I started, when I gave it up, when I picked it up again, and what it means to me now. If you’re a fiber artist, you probably recognize the name Ravelry. If you don’t, this post will serve as a brief introduction.
This is not a sponsored post. I’m not being paid to write about cool stuff that makes my life easier.
Ravelry is many things to many crafters. For some people, it’s a handy online notebook and project tracker. Others use it as sort of a crafty Facebook. In my case, I use it for both of the above as well as the pattern library.
I signed up for Ravelry in December 2008. I started out using the tracker functions. I entered my projects to date (not very many at that point). I added photos and other information about my stash (the yarn I’d bought for projects). I even started entering in each of my needles, though I later abandoned that as being (pun intended) rather pointless.
Then I started diving into the other offerings. The pattern library. Oooh, the pattern library. I love that I can search for a pattern based on the sort of object I want to make, or by the sort of yarn I have on hand, or by the designer, or by free pattern vs purchasable, or by some combination. Pretty soon I had hundreds of patterns in my own private library, patterns I’ve made, patterns I want to make, and patterns I never will manage but hope to be brave enough to try some day.
But I think my favorite feature is the forum. There are groups for just about every kind of crafter you can think of. Do you like to knit while you’re watching Star Trek? Are you new to crochet and looking for help? Are you a fan of Stephen West Knits or the Yarn Harlot? Are you looking for other crafters in your area? I could list dozens of questions and still not cover all the kinds of forum groups available.
Ravelry is also responsible for my appearance on this blog, because it’s where I met the resident geek of Not Making, who invited me to write for this blog. Thanks, Lew!
Rachel
I'm a writer, a knitter/spinner/weaver, a young stroke survivor, and a type 2 diabetic.
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