Ravelry -
Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.
The content here is all user- driven; we as a community make the site what it is. The Yarn Harlot wrote recently about Representing, showing the world the power of our community, and I believe that on this site we can really show the strength of our numbers and the depth of our creativity.
So what can you personally do on Ravelry? You can talk about your own projects, integrate that information into your personal website, and contribute to someone else's project a world away.
If you are not a blogger, we give you a great way to share and show off your projects, participate in -alongs, and socialize with other crafters. If you are a blogger, then Ravelry is the perfect complement to your online journal; it provides structure and organization. All of your information is easy to enter and easy to find. You will not need to update your own FO album again - it is all here on Ravelry!
Jessica's Fantabulous Ravelry FAQ
1. I know the site is being tested now but how much will it cost to be a part of Ravelry in the future?
The site will always be free for designers, independent dyers, spinners, crocheters and knitters! We want it to be an inclusive community- not just for those who can pay for it. Instead, we have tasteful and targeted ads for fibery products and companies that we as a community are actually be interested in and want to support!
2. How did this site come about?
Well, I have been knitting and blogging for a few years now and Casey has had to listen to me complain from time to time about how difficult it was to find concise information about patterns and yarns on the web. I would be searching for the right pattern to go with a specific gauge/ yarn that I have in my stash or looking for a good alternative yarn to make that perfect cardigan. I would spend COUNTLESS hours scouring Google, Flickr, knitblogs, and knitalong sites for a photo of someone's finished garment, trying to decipher what yarn was used and adjustments that were made. Most of the time these searches ended in frustration and I was fed up! What drove me crazy was that the information and knowledge was out there in our community but there was no clear method of finding it. As it is often discussed, knitting and crochet has just exploded in popularity over the past few years and we simply cannot sift through all the available information to find great patterns and yarns. No one has the time to read all the blogs in the world. So, we thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a place where you could organize your projects, stash and tools and at the same time help you find people with similar taste and interests? Couldn't this website provide a single location in which to search for pattern and yarn information from many different producers and publishers?"The answer, obviously, is yes. We figured no one else was doing it, so why not us? Casey is a programmer by day and he thought it would be a fun opportunity to work on something together as a couple, play with a new programming language (Ruby), and provide a service to artists and crafters all over the world. Plus, we thought it would be a heck of a lot of fun. :)
3. Why is this site not open to everyone? Are you being snobby or what?
We are inviting people in bits and pieces- not because we want it to be exclusive but because we only have one Casey code monkey to keep up with updates and bugs! We are still building the site and do not want it to blow up on you guys. So if you do post about Ravelry on your blog, please let everyone know we are adding new folks as quickly as we can from the invitation waiting list... we want to include everyone! Once you are signed up, you can check how we are progressing with your invite here. Everyone really is welcome on Ravelry!
4. I have an idea that would make Ravelry better but I bet you guys are too busy, right?
Please go to the forum and check out the For the Love of Ravelry board! Casey and I really do want to hear your suggestions- the forum helps us get the information organized so that we can get it into our To Do list. We have so many plans for Ravelry and can't wait to share them all!
5. You guys sure have a funny looking dog, huh?
Why yes... yes we do. And he doesn't even help with the coding.