Knitters, Take Your Needles And Yarn Online

Everyone has his/her own thing. Music. Movies. Sports. Extreme sports. Even knitting. Yes, knitting. The practice that involves massive needles, lots of colorful thread, and a great deal of patience – not to mention a good old wooden rocking chair (to all the knitters out there among the our readership, I kid, honestly I do) – is a hobby for some and still an occupation for a few. Some say their numbers are growing, too. Which is nice, because anything handmade is a scarcity these days.

That said, there was bound to crop up a site of the social networking variety that was meant to bring these “fabricators” and their creations online to commiserate about the webs they weave. Literally.

Ravelry is its name. Currently a private beta accessible through invitation only – Michael Arrington of TechCrunch says the folks working the strings behind the scenes (sorry, the puns just keep coming out) have allowed about one-third of requests inside to date – the site is full of people (who’ve already formed unique groups, following in the tradition of the knitting circle) and their patterns.

Ravelry’s community - a growing one - is a group that likes to show off their crocheting skills. And their Web-based home doesn’t look half bad. The layout is…fitting. No tacky patterned theme present. Members’ “stashes” are where you’ll find the genuine stuff. Don’t know whether you can change it up, but I presume they’ll add stuff as they go.

(By the way, knitting and crocheting are not one and the same. Don’t try to pass ‘em off as synonymous. They’re not. Just a word of warning. Remember, they’re working with needles, folks.)

Three main ingredients are what the makers of Ravelry are currently trying to perfect as they develop the network:

Organization - to keep members’ projects, “stash”, needles, friends, books, and all the stuff in between categorized;

Sharing – to, you know, share stuff. Ideas. Techniques. And complete pieces, of course;

Discovery – to find new people, and the new things they create.

If you like what you see, do add your name to the invite request list. According to a front page memo at Ravelry, they “just aren’t ready” for all interested to join at once, but they are “going down the list and inviting more people every day.” So sit tight. In your old wooden rocking chairs. The door will open up for you soon enough. In the meantime, knit some more. Or crochet. Whichever.

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