What’s So Great About Ravelry?

By Rachel Choi – 28 Comments

I joined Ravelry a few months ago just to see what all the hoot and holla is all about. I was told it was an awesome site for knitters and crocheters. But till this day, I still don’t know what’s so great about it. It feels like I’m missing something.

I noticed that there’s neat features to electronically organize your stash, hooks and the projects you’re working on. My only problems is that I don’t have the patience to enter in all the info and keep up with it. But if you do it, then kudos to you!

My username there is “crochetspot” so feel free to add me as a friend. Also, let me know what you think of Ravelry!

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28 Comments

  1. Crissy says:

    I like it because it’s a good place to search for (free!) patterns and if I have a special kind of yarn, you can do a search for that yarn and find projects that people have done with it. Other than that, I’m with you on updating my stash… there’s no way I could keep an inventory of my ever-changing stash! I’ll add you as a friend soon!

  2. Amoena says:

    I like Ravelry too, actually, I love it. It’s my favorite site. I love it because of the free patterns, new ideas and for the community. I have added all my projects to Ravelry. It’s my favorite thing, too. I love to see what I have accomplished and when. And I have managed to update my stash too. I don’t know. I guess that maybe Ravelry isn’t just for everyone. I don’t like Facebook, for example, even though many people are crazy about it.

  3. Donna says:

    I kind of feel the same way you do, Rachel. I joined Ravelry several months ago because when I would click on something of interest, it would say you have to be a member to access that page/info/pattern. OK, so I join. Now what happens is… it tells me to sign in and when I do, I am NOT taken to the page with the information I was looking for. ?????? I am clueless how Ravelry works.

  4. Sarah R. says:

    I have a question – Is there a forum somewhere to just talk about crochet and knitting? Or just crochet even, since I don’t know how to knit.

    Don’t get me wrong, Rachel. I love your site, and you have great patterns, but there isn’t anywhere to post a picture and message saying and showing off what I’ve completed. 🙂

    • Rachel says:

      hey Sarah!
      This is my favorite crochet forum: Crochetville
      It’s the largest one that I know of and everyone there is pretty friendly (I’m “crochetspot” on there too)
      Also, Ravelry has some forums stuff, but I’m not that familiar with it.

  5. misssssy says:

    i love ravelry! what i love most about it is the forums really. i posted something asking about orange yarn, because i think the stores really lack in this color. i was looking for a specific orange, mets orange and i got like over 50 replies on it. its great if you need advice for anything. however, i feel that its more geared towards knitters than crocheters :[

  6. Kate says:

    You’re right about Crochetville, Rachel! The people on there have been very helpful to me.
    I’m quite excited about Ravelry, too, mainly for the free patterns. It’s also handy to see what different kinds of yarn people have used for the same project/pattern as I’m having lots of problems getting the right kind of yarn here in Scotland – the patterns I’m using are American and the choice of yarn seems to be much more limited here.

    What misssssy says is true, though. Ravelry is more for knitters than crocheters, which is a pity for us crocheters, but there are still lots of patterns and lots of help available.

  7. Kelly says:

    Well………… I’m so new again to crochet that I have no idea what you are talking about!! LOL!! But I’ll take the opportunity to say thanks for your great tutorials… they have been very helpful to me. 🙂

  8. Sarah P says:

    I just joined ravely, It’s not the best. I don’t really see the appeal x

  9. Zuleika says:

    I love ravelry! I don’t use it for much more than keeping track of what I make mind you. If I find an interesting topic in the forums I’ll join in, but I only check the site a few times a week.

  10. Rachel says:

    I use it but I only check in once a month or so. When I first signed up I used it to find a local S+B group but that’s it so far.

  11. wendy says:

    I feel the same way you do Rachel. I don’t have the patience to enter my projects. I use it for the free patterns.

  12. amy says:

    i LOVE ravelry! im more of a knitter than crocheter although i do crochet here n there. theres tons of patterns there, you can buy yarn off of fellow ravelers, organize stash, projects, needles hooks, etc. the groups on there help alot too to search for anything yarn or pattern related. i cant say enough bout the place lol

  13. WendiG says:

    I’m with you Rachel-I think of it as more of a social networking site than anything else-and it doesn’t hold a candle to your site, IMO!

  14. Carmel says:

    I am pretty new to crochet, and self taught. I do not know many crocheters in real life, and have a hard time getting out to meet any as my “job” (all three parts of it) keep me at home and busy.

    I have been loving Ravelry. I have access to a ton of patterns without registering with a lot of sites or spending hours in Google trying to find an easy granny square that involves a circle in the center (for example). Even more, I can meet other crocheters- there are several groups that are pretty much exclusively crochet, and I can meet other crafty type people that I have more in common with than crafts (fandoms, religions, etc.). I actually teared up when I found the Christian Geek group, for instance.

    Yeah, it is a little hard to keep up with entering everything. I have been doing a lot of small projects, so they do not always get entered. I have only bought a skein or two of yarn at a time, so the stash stays pretty up to date (just not the quantities, since the projects don’t get entered!).

    On the other hand, I have made new friends in my town who crocheted and I did not know it- in fact, they found me, and one of them might be my daughter’s preschool teacher next year!

    I have also been able to learn a LOT about different yarns- being new to the fiber world in general, not just crochet. I am making a shawl for my SIL for Christmas and when I was trying to decide on material I was able to look and see what other people are making shawls in, because I did not know and cannot always get to my LYS to ask!

    Lastly, Rachel, I have to point out that I came to this site because of one of your free patterns that had been linked on Ravelry. It would have been a lot longer before I found you, and I am grateful for that- I like your site. 🙂

  15. Carmel says:

    p.s. sorry I talk so much!

  16. Cami says:

    I love Ravelry. It’s a great way to keep my projects organized!!! I have used it to get valuable information when I had questions on patterns, and even the designer herself chimed in to help us out with it! And I do post my stash up there when I get something new. It also helps me to remember what I want to crochet next. If I am going to a yarn store I can check my queue to see what kind of yarn I should buy and how much. It also does all the math for you if you are substituting yarn. I’ve also met people in person for knitting meetups! Everyone’s been really nice. It’s good good good!!

  17. Shelli says:

    Ravelry isn’t as appealing to me either, I like crochetville and crafster
    They have a specific place just for crocheters. I think the only thing about crochetville that I don’t like is you can’t see the picture before you go into the thread, which me being short on time, is a tad inconvienient.

    I’ve found good things on ravelry, it just, it seems really geared towards knitting…..

  18. Nicole says:

    Hello Rachel –

    I’ll be sure to add you on Ravelry! I love the site for the free patterns and I like posting pictures and showing off my work 🙂

    Take Care,
    Nicole

  19. Marty says:

    I agree about Ravelry. There are tons of groups and sites to explore and join, and at first I thought it was a great way to keep track of your stash, projects you’ve completed, projects in progress, etc. but I’d rather spend my time crafting! It might be more helpful to those who sell items on Itsy or who want to be very organized. I’m not there yet, but it’s still fun to talk to people around the globe who share your love of fiber stuff.

  20. Geri says:

    I just joined ravelry this morning but can’t figure out how to add friends.

  21. Carmel says:

    Geri, if you go to a person’s page (in this case, click on “People” at the top of the page, then search “crochetspot”- Rachel will be the only result. Click on her and you will be on the page I am referring to.) you will see a button near the top right that says “Add to Friends”. Click on this button and the person will be added to your friends. 🙂

  22. Julie says:

    I really like the groups on Ravelry. I’ve gotten a ton of useful info from the Tunisian Crochet group, and the Crochet Liberation Front group, to name a few. I also like being able to search a particular pattern or a particular yarn and see what other people have done. Gives me lots of inspiration! I doubt I would take the time to enter all my stash info tho.

    The Crochetville forum seems a bit unorganized to me compared to the Ravelry groups, but I’ll have to spend a bit more time at Crochetville and maybe I’ll like it better.

  23. Cat says:

    I guess I’ve gotten so used to Crochetville, that I just don’t want to spend the time to figure out how Ravelry works. I’m w/ the earlier poster, I’d rather spend my time crocheting than “organizing”. I post my finished projects on Show & Tell on the ‘Ville. The only thing I’ve used it for was a ‘Ville member said her pattern was available on Ravelry, so I went there to get it.

    OBTW Rachel, thanks for your site & weekly tips. Nice for a “young” person to be so excited about an old craft. We need more like you so our craft continues on.

  24. Claire says:

    I love Ravelry!

    I mainly love how easy it is to communicate with other crocheters. I remember sending a message to an author of a book I own and love. I got the tingles when she replied! I felt humbled and starstruck and unworthy.

    And OF COURSE the FREE PATTERNS! I love seeing other people’s work, specially if they added embellishments or changed up the patterns beautifully.

    Rachel, you should totally ADD PICTURES of the patterns you’ve uploaded. They don’t turn up on the patterns page, if people have the screening option on.

    Add me up, I love meeting new people… My user name on Ravelry is clairethere.

  25. Michi says:

    I just joined, like a minute ago. Just started checking it out, not sure what I think of it so far, but organizing everything sounds awesome :D. Username on there is Lollish for anyone who wants to know.

  26. Ang says:

    I love Ravelry, if only because of all the free patterns. I do have intentions of entering my projects but don’t have the patience or the time

  27. S.J. says:

    I agree with alot of you raverly is a great spot to view others works but I can’t find patterns it seems complicated .Thank you for giving us another option,and a great site to go to. S.J.

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