dye for glory!
June 25th, 2009
We are really excited to announce a team effort that we have been working on with the creators of the upcoming Sock Summit event: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, and Tina Newton of Blue Moon Fiber Arts. We’ve all watched Sock Summit grow from a sneak peek of an idea on Stephanie’s blog to an incredible event bringing together inspiring sock-kniterati and thousands of excited yarn lovers (like us!) this summer in Portland for classes, community, and an amazing marketplace.
Here at Ravelry, we knew that we were going to Sock Summit, and we knew we wanted to have a meetup, but we also knew that the community spirit that was building around the event was going to be something really special, something that we would love to help bring to knitters and crocheters who weren’t able to attend the event in person, if we could. So we wrote to Stephanie and Tina, and it turns out they had the perfect idea for a Sock Summit/Ravelry teamup in the works:
They had been thinking about a contest to provide a showcase for dyers connected with Sock Summit. Tina, a hand-dyer, wanted to create an opportunity for dyers to come forward and strut their stuff to the global community of knitters and crocheters who admire their work. As knitters and crocheters, we are inspired each day by the work of dyers, soaking in their color choices and often choosing our patterns and projects based upon what would work best with the techniques they choose. This contest and showcase offers dyers connected with Sock Summit to create a special sock yarn colourway that fits into one of the categories listed below and display their work in front of the global Ravelry community, and it gives Ravelers around the world the chance to participate in this amazing event by voting for their favorite colourway in each category. Together, we can all Dye for Glory.
How do you participate? The first step is for the dyers. After that, the rest of us get to play. :) First things first: here are the rules:
is her best favourite, and gives you her express permission to write that on the label. We would advise you against hunting Barbara in the wild to get that endorsement. She’s a tough cookie.)
having fun, and helping other people have fun.
What kind of sock yarn colourways can be submitted?
The Dye for Glory contest has the following categories:
Kettled: The entire dye process happens in the dyepot (kettle); all manipulation occurs with the whole skein in the pot with the dye.
Watercolors: Any hand-dye process that uses any group of colours diluted and mixed to create a watery fluid effect.
Random Stripes: Any skein that is hand-dyed to create stripes by nature of the placement of the dye on the skein, no matter how you get it there.
Predictable Stripes: Any hand-dye process that produces a skein designed to generate predictable, intentional stripes, by nature of long repeats of colour.
Pooler: Any hand-dyed process that creates a skein that pools colour in delightful intentional puddles while knitting. (We hate that these pretty yarns have a bad name.)
Mosaic: Any hand-dye process that results in a skein with multiple colours, all existing in small areas and resulting in short repeats, usually the result of the use of multiple techniques on one skein.
Painted: Yarn that’s dyed outside of the dyepot, with the application of colour (using a brush, turkey baster, syringe, fingers…) to paint on the skein.
Dipped: Any skein that’s coloured by dipping parts of the skein in dye.
Machined: Any yarn dyed by a mill, rather than a person.
Printed: Skeins that are printed by machine with dye to produce a regular, predictable pattern over the entire length of the skein. (Regia Jacquard Colours or Opal Hundertwasser are good examples.)
Primary: A hand-dye process that uses only primary colours (Red, blue, Yellow)
Tertiary: A dye process that uses (or results in) only tertiary (look it up) colours.
Shaded solid: Any hand dye process that results in a skein that is only one hue, and gets its variance from the rate of absorption, or the addition of black, not other colours.
Out of the box: This category is for any other process (Machined or hand-dyed) that we didn’t think of. Yarn people are creative people. If the dye-process results in sock yarn, you’re on. Go nuts!
Dyers, in your stash section here on Ravelry, you will see the following fancy new button on any yarn that is not in the database but that is added by you or belonging to you (if you are a yarnie):
(This button is going to appear all over the place in Ravelry stashes, since we at Ravelry don’t have the info about who is eligible according to the rules. We know that the button is shiny and new, but please don’t click and submit your yarn if you aren’t eligible to participate! That’ll just make more work for Stephanie and Tina, who will be checking the booth information for all of the submissions.)
If your yarn will be sold at Sock Summit, when you are ready to submit your special colourway, you’ll start there in the stash section - enter your yarn (with all the information you can completed and filled out first, including colorway name and the information about the Sock Summit booth in which your yarn will be sold in the notes).
Very important dates!
Have questions? We’ve started a thread about this in the Sock Summit Ravelry Group. Please use that thread to ask any questions you might have about this! We here at Ravelry will be monitoring the thread, as will the good folks from Sock Summit. Together, we’ll be able to team up and respond to you quickly. (Please do not use the customer service emails of Ravelry or Blue Moon Fiber Arts, or Steph’s email address, or comment on our blog posts if you need help - we really will help you faster if you post in that thread! Plus, it’s likely that others will have the same questions you have and you’ll be helping lots of other people by asking it there, which is totally appropriate and good for this community event.)
We’ll have more details about the voting when we’re closer to the date on which voting begins - July 23. Until then - dyers - dye for glory!
Estes Park and TNNA: time flies!
June 22nd, 2009
We are finally starting to catch up on sleep after our travels to the Estes Park Wool Market and TNNA!
On June 10, Jess, Casey and I traveled to beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. There is an annual Wool Festival there, and, while we weren’t able to stay for the entire weekend, we would love to go back - just look at the amazing scenery!
Jess and Casey were greeted by the lovely secondsister, who had knit each of them a pair of cozy coordinating socks - such a generous gift! They’ve both worn them frequently since:
We came to the Wool Market to teach a class on Ravelry, called Ravelry: Unraveled. Classes were held in the local high school (our room had a Johnny Cash poster on the wall - cool!) and we felt quite official! The room was full of friendly Ravelers, and of course knitting, crocheting, and spinning in class was not only permitted - it was encouraged.
The class went quickly (for us at least… hopefully for the attendees, too!) and we really enjoyed sharing the details about how Ravelry got started as well as handy tips on how to use the site. It felt like we had just arrived in Estes Park, but early the next morning, we got up and headed to Ohio for TNNA!
When we arrived in Columbus, we met up with Sarah - our first meeting with her since she started working for Ravelry a month ago! Sarah was given such a warm welcome at TNNA - it was great. Lots of questions about “the new baby” and mentions of that silly stork image kept us laughing!
It was great to have the whole team together in person - boy do the ideas flow when we all get talking!
TNNA, our industry’s trade show, is always a whirlwind. There is truly no other way to describe it. From the moment we arrived until we left, it was non-stop activity. Our first event was the Keep the Fleece party organized by BuffaloGuy of Buffalo Gold yarns (mmmm)…
Keep the Fleece is a celebration of fiber in honor of the United Nation’s proclamation that 2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibers. The goal of Keep the Fleece is to raise $250,000 for Heifer International by organizing teams to knit and crochet on the world’s longest scarf! Our job at the party was to help at the front door and sign up shops to sponsor rows on the scarf (they will be sewn together at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this fall). Anyone can help with this effort - for more details and to participate and talk to others taking part, you can join the Keep the Fleece Ravelry group!
The party gave us the chance to start this year in a festive mood and talk to lots of other TNNA attendees. We met up with new and old friends, walked every inch of the conference center floor (next year I want to wear a pedometer - our feet take a pounding!) and saw an unbelievable amount of beautiful yarn and many exciting new books and publications coming later this summer and fall. The mood of the show was upbeat, busy, and invigorated - great news for all yarn lovers!
As much fun as we have at TNNA, it really is a lot of work (in a good way!). This year, we were even busier than usual, because we taught a class at the show! Together with Kim Werker, we gave a class for LYS owners called “Your Shop and the Internet: Working Together.”
Despite an early class time (8 am on Sunday morning - brutal!) we had a good number of attendees; shop owners with a wide range of comfort and experience levels with the internet. It was very exciting to have been selected to speak at TNNA about something we are so passionate about, and the class had great questions and feedback both during and after the session.
We were also honored to have been present for the outstanding (and hilarious) model-off between Cirilia Rose and Ysolda Teague. They explored all the “knitting + modeling” cliches we could come up with. These two are pros, indeed - just look at the “expert” way they hold their needles!
No post about TNNA in Columbus is truly complete without a mention of that most splendid of treats, Jeni’s Ice Cream. Many have spoken of its charms, and if you’ve never tasted it, I’m sure you are wondering: “seriously, is it THAT good?”
The answer is yes. Yes it is. Jess and I already miss the yummy “goat cheese and roasted cherries” flavor we got hooked on - it will be hard to wait until next year, but wait we must.
Thank you to everyone who we spoke with and met with at TNNA and Estes Park, and especially all of you who took the time to come and hear us speak at either event. There is nothing like a friendly crowd of Ravelers to put us at ease, and we’re honored that you were interested in what we had to share. Thank you!
Updated! Two important, burning issues from the comments:
1) What is the blue shawl that Jess is wearing? The pattern is Andromeda, by Miriam Felton. One of these days we’ll learn that any handmade items we post on the blog require pattern names and links! ;) (To that end: the purple that I am wearing wearing is Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague, and the deep red shawl that Sarah is wearing is the lovely Cleite by Miriam Felton.)
2) When I wrote about “the new baby,” it was a silly reference to the stork image that we used to announce Sarah’s hiring (if you click on the link where I joked about the new baby up above, you’ll see it); lots of people at TNNA thought the image was funny and commented about it. Nobody on Team Rav is pregnant. :) (Sorry, Frecklemom, Mama Forbes, Grammie Philips, and Rainydaygoods’ Mommers. No grandbabies yet… but you have very cute grandpuppies.)
Carry on!
Bliss at Squam Art Workshops!
June 13th, 2009
Last week, Casey and I spent a few lovely days up in New Hampshire at Squam Art Workshops. (Ravelry event page!) I am sure you have heard about it if you know anyone who attended- we all can‘t stop talking about how wonderful it was! We were so blessed to be invited by Elizabeth, one of my longtime blog friends and organizer of SAW, to attend.
So what was it like? Sort of like combining all the things you love about summer camp: the woods and nature, cabins, beautiful lake views, friendly camaraderie and then adding in all the things that we adults need to have fun: thoughtful organizers, good warm beverages in the morning, amazing food and cozy beds! (Take a look at other peoples’ photos on flickr if you want to see what I mean- they say it all better than I ever could!)
Then, of course, there were the incredibly creative and friendly people- I spent a lot of my time there just being happily overwhelmed by genius- Jonatha Brooke singing, an impromptu hooping session with handmade hula hoops, inspiring teachers and enthusiastic fellow students!
Casey and I were able to take some great classes! I took ‘Combination Knitting’ with Annie Modesitt and ‘Knit to Flatter and Fit’ with Sally Melville- both were really excellent. (My first knitting classes actually!) Casey took the Color Class with Lizzie House, which he said was awesome. Next year, we will be taking more!
There also was the gorgeous location of the Rockywold- Deephaven Camps. I love getting out of the city in the summer and, really, it is impossible to not relax at Squam.
And on Saturday night, we got to participate in the great art fair! Here we are getting hugs from Elizabeth next to our booth:
We brought some beer and waaaaaay too much pizza- I spent most of the time making sure that everyone was fed. ;)
We were so lucky to have great vendors that joined us:
Shepherd Susie and Erin from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm:
Lisa from Tsarina of Tsocks, Jennifer from Holiday Yarns and Heather from Sereknity Yarn and Fiber.
Caro from Splityarn and Debbie from Stitchy McYarnpants (or if you prefer, Splityarnpants- haha)
Kim from The Woolen Rabbit and Jessamyn from Jesh’s Spindles:
Thank you so much to everyone who planned and participated at Squam this year- we’ll see you next year!
A new arrival!
May 19th, 2009
We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our little team!
…drum roll please…
onestitchshort Sarah!
Before we let Sarah tell you all a little about herself, we’d like to send a final thank you out to everyone who applied for the Community Support position. So many *amazing* Ravelers applied for the position and although 1500+ applications were a lot to go through, we truly enjoyed learning a little bit more about each of you. Thank you all for the time and energy that you put into applying. The process was a lot of work for both us and the applicants but it was also fun and educational. Our only regret is that choosing one person meant that we had to turn so many great people down. We were so lucky to have so many incredible, enthusiastic candidates.
Sarah is a creative and dedicated customer support professional. She’s a fantastic communicator and is joining our team with fresh eyes and new ideas, but is also a long-time Ravelry user who really understands the vision and tone of the site. We are so happy to welcome her to Team Ravelry! Once Sarah gets settled and has helped us out with a few immediate things you can expect to see a lot of her. She’ll be actively involved and talking with you all in the forums, email, and other spots just like the three of us.
Without further ado - here is a video message and a short bio from Sarah:
Sarah:
A little bit about me…
I grew up watching my mom crochet and knit, but I resisted learning how until about eight years ago when I decided to try crocheting. My mom spied my crochet project when she was visiting and decided that I should learn to knit, too, so I can help her with the family stockings that she knits each new member of our family. The rest, as they say, is history. I was completely hooked! When I’m not playing with yarn, you can find me chasing my toddler around the house or the playground, cycling with the husband or snuggling on the couch with my miniature schnauzer, Mr. T-Bone (pictured below). Yes, while it wasn’t a requirement, we have a new cute dog on Team Ravelry! I love Ravelry and I am super excited to get to work with each of you in this new role!
Ravelry Revelry! Party at Squam Art Workshops this June!
May 15th, 2009
May is just flying by and we are almost to June and our festivities at Squam Art Workshops!
Casey and I will be participating in the Workshops as well- I am so excited about the classes that I am taking! After our very busy spring, relaxing by the lake and being creative sounds like a perfect way to start off the summer.
And YES! There are still spaces available to attend the Workshops- please come play with us!
(This June is the first fiber- focused SAW so they’ll have more fiber photos for their video next year! ;)
The registration info is here but Elizabeth says that if you have any questions to not hesitate to contact her! ( elizabethATsquamartworkshopsDOTcom or call 603.677.2157)
Also, we are going to have our very first Ravelry party in New England up at Squam on Saturday, June 6th. The party is open to all Ravelers and friends, not only those attending the Workshops!
We are very excited to have some amazing vendors help us kick it off:
- Caro from Splityarn
- Debbie from Stitchy McYarnpants
- Jessamyn from Jesh’s Spindles
- Kim from The Woolen Rabbit
- Jennifer from Holiday Yarns
- Lisa from Tsarina of Tsocks
- Susan from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm
- Heather from Sereknity Yarn and Fiber
Please help us get a headcount by RSVPing attending on our Ravelry Events page for this event!
There is also a Ravelry group for SAW here if you are attending and would like to get planning for the fun!
Maryland Sheep and Wool: Muddy Fun!
May 6th, 2009
Casey, Mary-Heather and I traveled down to rainy Maryland for the awesome Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend!
We met up with my mom, Ysolda and Laura and had some lime fizzes!
Saw, and were kissed, by some cute animals!
Had two great meetups, on Saturday and Sunday, with tons of friendly Ravelers!
‘
Gave out some special MDS&W buttons:
Enjoyed Guido’s After Party!
… and we ended the weekend sleepy and muddy but very happy!
(Like the Ysolda Teague / Laura Chau / Mary-Heather Cogar traveling trunk show? We were warm goshdarnit!)
Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello!
If you have photos from this weekend or any other Ravelry meetup or event, be sure to add it to our Flickr Events Pool!
(Edited to add details of knitwear, since we are being flooded with emails!)
Mary-Heather is wearing Ysolda’s Verity:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/verity
Ysolda is wearing her Ishbel beret and shawl:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel-beret
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel
Casey’s hat is Ysolda’s Cairn:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cairn
Laura is wearing Mary-Heather’s Simple Things shawl (pattern coming soon to Ravelry!)
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/rainydaygoods/simple-things
She also has her Lucy in the Sky Cardigan:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lucy-in-the-sky
I am wearing Ysolda’s Ishbel shawl knit in Fyberspates laceweight silk. It is scrumptious.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel
Maryland Sheep and Wool - this weekend!
April 30th, 2009
It’s warming up here in the US, which means that festival season is here! This summer, we’ll be traveling quite a bit, and it all begins this weekend with Maryland Sheep and Wool!
We have our official MDSW Meetup times and locations! On Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3, we are meeting in the Rabbit Buildling from 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Click on the dates to check out their event pages right here on Ravelry, so that you can RSVP!
You can check out the location of the Rabbit Building on the Fairgrounds Map page of the MDSW site; here is a little closeup:
If you haven’t yet, go ahead and mark that you were attending MDSW on its own Ravelry Events page! :)
The Maryland Sheep and Wool volunteers are always so helpful in finding a space that is accessible to all, available for use, and large enough to fit a whole bunch of Ravelry members and curious Ravelers-to-be in between their other scheduled events. We’re so pleased to be able to have a good spot for our meetup! Last year, on Saturday, we were pretty crowded (heh) when trying to fit everyone inside the Rabbit Building, but there is a lot of space on the lawns all around it so we’re able to spread out, which is great.
We’ll have buttons to hand out at the scheduled meetups and sharpies so that you can write your usernames on them. We really can’t wait to meet everyone and say hello!
A video message on a special day
April 10th, 2009
Ravelry has been around for nearly 2 years now but the idea was actually dreamed up on April 11th, 2005. You can see the original baby of an idea over on Jess’ blog.
Ravelers have since dubbed April 11th “Bobmas” which means that today is Bobmas Eve. Last year, yarn shops and knitting and crochet groups got together and celebrated with yarn, cupcakes, bobtinis (really!), pints, and um… silly hats?
This time we put together a short video message for everyone. It’s a little hello from the 4 of us (+ dogs) along with some photos from some meetups and events from the last year. Thank you to redplaid Kellie and The Superior Crafters of the North for giving us us the idea!
Thank you all so much for spending time with us and Ravelry this year!
– Casey, Jess, Mary-Heather, Erica and Bob
wow!
March 30th, 2009
We are overwhelmed with the amazing field of candidates we received in response to our job listing - nearly 1500 applications in all. To say we were blown away by the response would be an understatement! We have an amazing field of applicants to review this week. With every email we read, we are more and more impressed with the talent and skills of the applicants, and passion that shines through in the letters, videos, blog posts, and slideshow presentations that have been submitted! To everyone who applied: thank you so much!
We want to remind everyone that the nominations for the Bobbys are going to end on March 31! If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to check out the categories and nominate some of your favorite Ravelry posts, patterns, projects, stashes, and more! You can find more information in our previous blog post about the nominations process. Soon, the Bobbys will be open for voting!
Nominate here!
Want to work for Ravelry? Community Support position available!
March 20th, 2009
Hi Ravelry! Erica the Email Fairy is moving on, and Ravelry is looking for a new team member! This is a part-time (~20 hours per week), work-at-home position with flexible hours, and a definite possibility of growth with the company over time. :) We are looking for someone tech-savvy, friendly, and positive who is very familiar with the Ravelry site and community.
essential responsibilities include:
- Provide the first line of helpful support to all emails coming in via our contact-us page, the shopping@ravelry.com, and the advertising@ravelry.com email addresses (and alerting the rest of the staff to potentially important issues that come in). Topics in these emails can cover anything under the sun - designer/yarnie issues, confidential forum issues, happy people, Ravelry mini-mart questions, advertiser help, and more!
- Hook up designers, yarnies, and design teams with their Ravelry profiles and answering basic questions or directing to helpful on-Ravelry resources as needed.
- Assist users with Ravelry invitation issues.
- Provide help as needed on the Ravelry “work” forums: For the Love of Ravelry, Help!, Ravelry Shopkeepers, Ravelry Editors, Advertisers’ Caboodle.
- Assist Jess and Mary-Heather with ad approvals (image feedback, checking groups for competitors, etc.).
- Must be familiar with Ravelry’s site, vision, and tone!
- Must be able to stay motivated, level-headed, and work both independently as a self-starter on your own tasks, and as a part of our tightly-knit (har) team.
- Ownership of cute dog not required.
To apply for this position:
Please email jobs@ravelry.com with your resume and an email telling us more about your experience and why you are interested in the job. Please include your Ravelry username! We will need to receive it by Friday, March 27. You don’t need to write a formal cover letter… heck, you can make a video, upload it to the internet somewhere, and send us the link. :) Whatever works!
We do have some questions we would like you to answer:
1) Why do you want to work for Ravelry?
2) What qualities, technical experience (computer and crafty!) and skills could you bring to our little team?
3) If you were a yarn-producing fiber, what would you be and why?
Go Team Rav!
p.s. if you have questions about this position, please email jobs@ravelry.com. Thank you! :)
Updated Monday, March 23 - Frequently Asked Questions!
Can you apply for this position if you live outside of the United States?
- Sure! International applicants - please go ahead and apply, and thank you for your interest! We are checking out all the labor law and employment tax details we would need when it comes to hiring a non-US-based person, but we are open to the possibility! :)
How old do you have to be?
- You must be 18 years old to apply.
What do you mean by “tech-savvy?”
- You don’t need to be a computer programmer to apply by any means - Casey does all the code here. :) You should be very familiar with Ravelry and the way the site works; we will help get you up to speed, of course, but familiarity with The List, the Ravelry wiki, our Community Guidelines, and how to “work” the technical things on the site (uploading photos, linking blog posts, etc.) is important. You should be very internet-savvy in general. The customer support emails are handled through a web-based email system, and you will often be helping users with very limited computer experience with a very wide variety of tasks, so proficiency with basic computer tasks (in both Mac and PC operating systems) is needed.
Is this position paid?
- Yes! This position is paid an hourly wage and requires about 20 hours a week. Pay is competitive with customer service and administrative jobs in the Boston area.
