ravelry

[luckyleah]

oh I am always so flabbergasted and beyond words when I look on t here.  There is so much talent on there it is incredible.  WHy do som many look like professionally taken photos though? 

[LaraKN]

Some of them are.  There are tons of pattern links & lots of them are free patterms from sites like Lion Brand & Bernat & all the yarn manufacturers, so lots of times the pictures are the same ones that are posted on the yarn website.  Plus a lot of the patterns are from proffessional designers, most of these you have to pay for, but if this is what they do, so if they want to sell the pattern they either hire it done or have had enough practice & the right equipment to do it right. 

If you see a patttern you like, look at the projects tab for that pattern.  That is where the user links are with the user photos.  Most of these aren't professional, but you can get a lot of good ideas.  You can see what yarns people used & if you see something you like check out the user's project page for all the details & their comments.  I've gotten a lots of good ideas doing this, not always duplicating what they have done but the taking it as a base for my own twist.  Plus you see what doesn't work, like if you used varigated yarn you completely lose the texture or pattern, or stripes don't work.

I use Ravelry a ton, I joined right about the same time I joined this forum.  All my projects since are documented & photograhed & organized.  I no longer have chicken scratch on pattern print outs, or god forbid a postit (which get knocked off & adhered to a different pattern).  I don't feel the need to print out every pattern I like, so they end up in a big pile with no organization & mixed up with patterns I have made.  I can go & see what I did & how I did it notes, changes I made in a pattern, colors, hooks, yarn, all in one organized place, so even if I have given it as a gift I don't have to go back & recreate the wheel with guesses if I want to do it again.  I also put things I like in my queue rather than printing them, that way when I want to start a new project I go to the queue & see what strikes me at the time.

My username on ravelry is "LaraKN" just like here, feel free to check out my page.

Lara

[luckyleah]

yep I am just amazed.  I will definitely check out your stuff!

[debsydoo]

there are lots of great free patterns on ravelry and many talented people

i am a mod in one group so if your interested look for luxury crochet - small group at the moment but i hope it gorws

[dlfoxy]

I like Ravelry too.  I've used a couple of their patterns like the earflap hats I made for my son and my nieces.  It is a really great site to get really nice patterns off of.

[luckyleah]

Ooh I will definately check it out and help it grow!
WOw I am just now figuring out ravelry.  It wasn't the easiest to figure out.  I love that it connects people that have done the same pattern so you can see their variations, what other colors would look like, and their patterns.

[Manda]

I do like ravlry but sometimes it is too big and doesn't have the close feeling this forum does.  Love all the free patterns!

I'm MandaR   on there if you want to have a look!

[Buttercup]

I like Ravelry too, but I only really use it to find great free patterns.
I much prefer the community here!

[Lisa]

I like Ravelry too, but I only really use it to find great free patterns.
I much prefer the community here!

Me to

[LaraKN]

I do use Ravlery a ton, for patterns, ideas & documenting my work, but will admit to never really using the forum side of it, I have looked & read some, but it is so huge, & there is so much beyond crochet, that I think this is the better forum by far.

[luckyleah]

I totally agree!  I love it here for very different reasons, I don't even look on their forums. 

[LaraKN]

I do read the "Forum Funnies" when they post the newsletter, this one was particularly entertaining.  It is a boyfriends observations of his knitting girlfriend, but several of the points cross over to crocheters too:

Here is the link if you want to read all the replies:
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/remnants/970491/1-25

That's right I said it...
I am not a knitter. I joined Ravelry to see where my girlfriend spends her time on the internet lol. In the 10 or so months that she’s been knitting I’ve been secretly/overtly observing and documenting this crazy thing called yarn and what it does to people. These things I know to be true.

1. Yarn is NOT string and should not be referred to as such.
2. Knitting needles are not sticks,stix, or styx.
3. Casting on is NOT a fishing metaphor.
4. Yarn comes in different weights, colors, styles. Kind of like drugs.
5. People dye their own yarn with varying degrees of success.
6. Knitting is taken everywhere. No exceptions are to be made.
7. Fun fur is frowned on by “real” knitters.
8. “Lemme just finish this round” is a lot like me saying “Lemme just finish this round of video games” fair enough
9. A collection of yarn is a “stash” much like drugs.
10. Yarn barf is actually a thing.
11. Ravelry has a weird economy of bartering. Yarn can be exchanged for other goods not related to yarn. ?? Weird.
12. There are knitting groups, where other like minded knitters knit together and (this part is an assumption) talk about how knitters should rule the world.
13. Do NOT sit on or around yarn left on the sofa. This will cause knitter in the other room to jump up and rescue said ball of yarn from your evil ass.
14. Thank goodness there are no shows about knitting on Primetime TV.
15. Stitch markers are NOT earrings.
16. Lots of knitters have kittehs. You know who also had them? Witches.
17. If I want something, “Did you want to go to the yarn store?” are the first words out of my mouth.
18. Yarn stores are populated by alpha knitters. Some stores are better than others. Michaels is not a suitable substitute for a yarn store.
19. The needles that are attached with wire to each other, do not make good nunchuks.
20. Kitteh won’t chase a ball of yarn no matter how many balls you throw at his head.

These things I know to be true.

[Buttercup]

That is so funni! love it.
Have emailed to hubby, might give him some answers to this "strange world of yarn"
Thanx for sharing, will have to look up the others now.

[luckyleah]

I agree with all of it except the Michaeils'; comment!

[LaraKN]

I too agree that the Micheals comment is off.  But there are those yarn snobs. 
Actually I don't like our local Micheals, their yarn slection is horrible, but when we travel I notice other stores are much better. 
I am a Hobby Lobby girl, which would freak out the yarn snobs too. 

I do agree with the comment about "Yarn stores are populated by alpha knitters"  I've also had the unfortunate acquaintance at a yarn store of meeting a alpha knitting snob, who let me know crochet was beneath her & her yarn store.