8 Things To Know About How To Use Ravelry

If you are a beginner knitter, you may be wondering how to use Ravelry. Perhaps you haven’t ever heard of it, but it is about time you did. The truth is, Ravelry can become a lifesaver for amateurs and professionals, and it can also be a great place to connect with other people.

What is Ravelry?

Before we get any further, let’s break down exactly what Ravelry is. Ravelry is a free site for knitters (and other crafters) and those who use fibers, which offers a wide pattern database, inventory, discussion boards, marketplace, project tracking, and even social media. To access this community, you do not need a membership, but you should create an account so you can access all the free services and data.

Here are the 8 things to know about how to use Ravelry

Tip #1: You can keep track of your projects

As mentioned above the Ravelry is a great place for you to keep track of every project, fabric, tip, and conversation you like. To do so, you can access the option in the upper-right hand corner labeled as “my notebook”. This is the place where you can keep everything you like.

Tip #2: Store your projects safely and accurately

Unlike other old-school methods, Ravelry allows you to store a detailed collection of what you are knitting. For some people, this means the type of yarn, and the pattern used, the needle size, gauge, and color.

Other things to include in these projects are whether the project is a gift, the amount and sizes of the needles you need, the dye of yarn, the color yarn, and where and when the yarn is purchased. You can even categorize your projects based on whether they are personal, gifts, or sales.

If you are organized and love to keep track of things, this part can help you document progress by adding photos and even comparing past projects.

Tip #3: Ravelry allows you to keep an inventory of yarn

There is nothing better for those that like to knit than knowing exactly what brand of yarn worked and for what projects. Ravelry is a great place to keep all the information you need on every yarn, which could include the name, collection, color, dye, seller, and price.

Tip #4: You can also keep track of your favorite projects

While not everyone does this, another advantage of Ravelry is that you can keep track of everything you admire and like. Some favorites could include patterns, projects, designers, posts, pictures, and sellers. If you want to, you can bookmark the things you admire the most.

You can also use your favorites page to show someone else that you like or appreciate the work they have submitted. This may be a good way to start making connections and exchanging tips and tricks.

Tip #5: Make sure to check out the needles and hooks section

This feature is a great tool for organizing your knitting needless by size, type, and length. You can even include crochet hooks too. This is a helpful database for when you are researching new projects and need to find a specific needle size. If you need to find that needle quickly, Ravelry will help you find it without leaving your house.

Tip #6: This site is also a great place to make friends

Not everyone joins Ravelry for the friendships, but it is a bonus. If you add someone as a friend, you can then follow their work, but they won’t necessarily see your work unless they friend you too.

As a tip, you can also organize your Ravelry friends into groups or sections to keep things organized.

Tip #7: The message board is a great feature to discover new tips

Many of us join Ravelry with the sole purpose of finding a solution to a problem or a new project to start. The groups and forums on this page work like a message board, where you can find many topics. Some of the common topics include designs, knitwear, yarn, fandom, sales, locations, knitting activities, and other hobbies that relate to knitting.

Tip #8: Share your Ravelry number to connect with other knitters

As with social media, your profile is unique, and everything you share is personal unless you share it. To do so, you will need to come across your Ravelry number. This number is the key for people who want to find your profile page, and it will appear whenever you share something.

What are you waiting for?

The time has come to join the wonderful world of Ravelry! Now that you are aware of all the secrets to this site, why not get started? You will soon find inspiration, a community, new ideas, and much more. If you like, you can even keep tabs on your projects and progress to become a better knitter.

Now that you’ve read about Ravelry, the next step would be to know your knitting skill level. Discover what your knitting level is in this article: Do You Know What Your Knitting Skill Level Is?