Unraveled

As 2015 draws to a close, we wanted to take the opportunity with our last Eye Candy post to show off some of the amazing things that Ravelers have done this year! Over the years, I’ve learned that if there’s one thing that Ravelers enjoy almost as much as knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, dyeing, and yarn and fiber in general… it’s stats. ? So without further ado, please enjoy:

Ravelry’s 2015 Superlatives!

Most Knit and Crocheted Patterns Published in 2015

In 2015, Mystery Craftalongs were incredibly popular! Mystery Knitalongs and Crochetalongs are events in which designers come up with a pattern and release it to participants bit-by-bit, often in weekly installments. This year, our two most popular new patterns – those published in 2015 that have the most projects – were Stephen West’s The Doodler, and Dedri Uys’ Sophie’s Universe CAL, both originally published as Mystery Craftalongs.

Most Queued Patterns Published in 2015

Dedri Uys’ Sophie’s Universe CAL was also the most-queued new crochet pattern this year! The most-queued new knitting pattern is The Baa-ble Hat, by Donna Smith, which we noted in our Rhinebeck Eye Candy post was very popular at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.

Most Used New Yarns and New Indie Yarn Brand

As crafters, we are lucky to have so many beautiful yarns from which to choose when we make our projects, and this year several new yarns were released that Ravelers clearly just couldn’t wait to try!

We took a look at the yarns released this year that have the most projects – for commercially dyed, Schachenmayr Regia’s Design Line by Arne & Carlos came out on top! For a hand-dyed yarn, Malabrigo’s Mechita inspired the most people to start using it right away.

The brand-new Indie Yarn Brand with the most projects is the lovely Kate Davies Designs Buachaille.

2015 Projects with the Most Favorites!

pooki’s Lace Boxy and coffeebug’s Wanderwellen 4ply take 2 stood out as the 2015 knitting and crochet projects that received the most favorites from other Ravelers.

Among 2015’s spinning and weaving projects, stormyautumn’s Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep 2 Shoe Kit and LizChristina’s opalized wood shawl received the most hearts!

tewshortforu’s Summer Berry Gradient Hitofude, knit up in her berry hunting handspun, was the handspun project that received the most favorites this year.

Most Helpful Project Completed in 2015

Some project notes on Ravelry are full of great information, and stand out as being especially helpful, so at the bottom of each project page on Ravelry, we have a button you can click to show if the project’s notes helped you. (We can then use this information to help others around the site by showing in among other projects marked helpful on pattern pages, and even linking it for you on your own project page if you make a project from the same pattern.) 2015’s most helpful project was PaperDaisy1’s Lisa’s Rowe, which 145 people marked as helpful – and judging from the comments, her detailed notes (and of course, her gorgeous FO!) inspired others to try this pattern, as well!

Most-loved Forum Post with an Image

The Ravelry forums can be such a wonderful resource and a great place to find help, as well as a place to connect with friends near and far. We looked for the forums post containing an image that had received the most love button clicks in 2015, expecting to find an image of a beautiful project, and we did! MrsSasha’s post in the Lazy, Stupid, and Godless group, sharing her beautiful Tiger Eye Lace Scarf, knit in Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveller, definitely deserves a lot of love clicks… and not just because she revealed in her post that her MIL, who she had given the scarf to, had thrown it away. Y’all. ??? Please go give this beautiful project some love in MrsSasha’s Ravelry notebook, won’t you?

New Yarn Shops with The Most Patrons

Where would we be without yarn shops? Whether they are a crafty community hub in our town, or shipping us yarn from far away, yarn shops are where we turn for our supplies as well as assistance and even friendship! We looked through our shop directory for shops that opened in 2015 and had the most Ravelry patrons (that is, users who added yarn to their Ravelry stashes and noted that they had bought it from the shops). Among online shops, BritYarn in the UK took the top spot here! For local “brick and mortar” stores, Circle of Stitches in Salem, MA had the most patrons. We are so happy to see Ravelers supporting yarn shops!

I hope you enjoyed this look at some of the patterns, yarns, projects, posts, and shops that stood out among our users in 2015! This will be our last blog post of the year, as the five of us on the Ravelry staff are heading into vacation and holiday time. Wherever you are in the world, we thank you for being a part of the Ravelry community. Our members – you! – make this site a joy to work on every day, and we are thrilled to get to continue to improve things and make new features for us all. Casey, Jess, Sarah, Christina, and I all wish you a very Happy New Year, and a safe and fun start to 2016!