Ravelry Reflections

It's hard to believe I've been on Ravelry an entire year now.

For the most part, I LOVE Ravelry. It has put me in tune with so many people, both live and virtual, that I NEVER would have met in real knitting life. I have now reached the point that I have over 100 Ravelry "Friends" - of course, the term "friend" for the most part over there just means I like to watch their work and am interested in their projects etc., I follow their knitting in some respect.

I am a member of over 20 Groups. The Groups thing is much more changeable for me. There are a few groups I've kept the whole time, such as the KC Groups and the Lace Group, Shawl Group, Sock Group, etc. but overall, the Groups I participate in regularly really change as my latest areas of interest change. I join and leave groups fairly often, especially the Knitalong things. I've recently joined in several Spinning groups, because I'm trying to learn to spin.

I'm absolutely AMAZED that I've posted over 600 messages in various Forums and Groups. The Forums are one thing I didn't expect to participate in much. But I find myself drawn in. I still avoid (like the Plague) any areas of controversy or non-knitting related stuff, because I just am not there to get involved in a flame war.

Personally, the most useful thing about Ravelry are: 1) The Notebook where you post your project information. That is a blast. I've found myself getting excited when I'm nearly done with a project, because I can post it on Ravelry - and I also REALLY enjoy following other people's projects as well and seeing the modifications they've used on yarn selection, pattern changes, errata and most of all, how the projects fit on "real people" when the knitters are nice enough to try the garment on and post a photo of themselves modeling it.

2) The pattern finder - being able to search for specific patterns, finding the source and reading about how it is playing out among the knitting public. Also giving me ideas that I never would have thought of or been exposed to on my own.

3) Knitting Queue has been Great! I love keeping a little live, ongoing list of projects that I'm wanting to knit and to be able to shuffle the order as my mood changes. Very fun!

The only downside to Ravelry is the time spent on it - but even that part I'm managing better now that I have my Notebook set up and the novelty of it has worn off enough that I'm able to jump on and off quickly without getting lost. The only danger is time like tonight, where I get a bit too much free time frittering away on dreaming of future projects instead of knitting on present ones. Which reminds me, I need to get back to Margo's shawl . . . . right now!