Social Media & Knitting: A Match Made in Heaven

It is easy to see that the omnipresence of the Internet, social media, and networking tools have drastically changed the ways in which people communicate with each other. Time and space become insignificant - if you want to see someone, you can use Skype. Hungry,  but don't want to talk on the phone? Order your pizza online. Improvements in technology have allowed us to communicate instantly with people all over the globe. This phenomenon has helped to bring together people with the same interests, and those people can easily create communities in which to share their passions.

One such community that has flourished over the past few years is the online knitting community. Once considered a solitary activity, knitting has evolved from a household task to a creative activity in which fellow knitters can share their creations. The invention of the knitting machine in the late 19th century eliminated the need to make basic clothing, and allowed knitters to create beautiful pieces for their own enjoyment. Naturally, if you create something gorgeous, you want to show everyone... right? Right. Enter Ravelry.

Source: Ravelry.com

The knitting community has clearly embraced the Groundswell in nearly every aspect. Ravelry, the largest online knitting community, currently has 1,323,934 registered users, with 86,414 of those users visiting the site in the previous 24 hours. This sheer amount of users is incredible in itself, but what Ravelry has done for the knitting community is even more impressive. Ravelry allows users from all over the world to collaborate on projects, ask for help and opinions, and provide feedback for designers and yarn companies. (For more on Ravelry, see my previous post.)

Many yarn companies have taken Li and Bernoff's advice: "Why build it if you can join it?" (p. 173) With such an active community as Ravelry, yarn companies have no incentive to build communities of their own, because they will not be as successful. Instead, yarn companies are creating presences in Ravelry groups, by adding their yarns to the database, creating fan groups, and listening and talking with the Groundswell.

For example, WEBS, the largest yarn store in the country, provides discount codes for certain yarns on their Twitter and Facebook. Only people who "like" WEBS on Facebook can use these codes. By providing an incentive for spectators to participate in the Groundswell, WEBS increases traffic to their site, which will eventually offset the cost of the discount.

Source: WEBS on Facebook

By participating in Ravelry forums, yarn companies can also provide an outlet for their customers to provide reviews on certain yarns, get customer support, and ask for advice. Most of the posts are from knitters who are extremely enthusiastic and passionate about their favorite yarns, so these yarn companies are also gaining free publicity from word-of-mouth.

Online knitters are also embracing other tools to share their projects, like Flickr and YouTube. My Flickr (also on the right side of my blog) shows photos of projects that I've completed. There are also photo tutorials on Flickr that will teach other knitters particular techniques or stitches. YouTube is also popular for video tutorials. To this day, I can't do Judy's Magic Cast-On without watching Cat Bordhi's video!

Source: frecklegirl on Flickr

Often times, the Internet is given a bad reputation for allowing people to become anti-social. However, in this case, I would argue that the Internet and social media have actually facilitated in-person group meetings. For example, the founders of Ravelry recently traveled from Boston to Wisconsin for the Madison Knitters' Guild Knit-In. Jess and Casey travel frequently, and they usually give presentations on Ravelry and how social media has impacted the knitting community. They also blog about their experiences during and after the conventions!

Conventions like the National NeedleArts Association's yearly trade shows and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York bring together knitters who would normally only interact via the Internet. Jess and Casey also facilitate Ravelry meetups, where Ravelry friends can meet in person!

Social media, including forums and rating systems, have radically changed the way in which knitting is viewed. Now, knitting is "in." The whole "do-it-yourself" (DIY) culture is extremely popular, and knitting holds a special place in that culture. Ravelry is like the online "home base" for knitters around the world. An old-fashioned activity like knitting could have faded away very easily, but the online knitting community has allowed it to flourish. I can only imagine it will become even more popular over time.

For more information on my sources, please see my Delicious homepage. And follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation on knitting and social media!

Social Media & Knitting

Where my stitches at?

I have been an avid knitter and crocheter for about two years now. I think the younger generation of knitters, such as myself, view the craft differently from those of older generations. For example, I use the Internet to look up patterns and techniques.

One resource I came across that I use every day is Ravelry. Ravelry is a virtual community for knitters and crocheters, which offers many resources, like forums to talk with other crafters, collections of patterns, and even a database of yarn! Ravelry is a great way to connect with other knitters and crocheters around the world. I use Ravelry frequently to ask for help when I get stuck on projects, and the members are very willing to help each other out!

Here is the Ravelry login page (Click on the photos for a larger view):

See the Boston Terrier in the middle? That's Bob. He's Ravelry's mascot! 

In order to use Ravelry's resources, you need to sign up for a free account. But after that, you can organize your own knitting and crocheting projects, yarn stash, and your needles and hooks.

This is my profile:

Profile pages are like your "home base" on Ravelry.

My profile page shows my username, my profile pictures, some information about me, a thumbnail of my blog, and a collage of some of my finished objects. It also shows how many projects I've finished, how many patterns are in my queue, how many projects, patterns, or yarns I've saved as my favorites, and how many friends I have.

This is my project page:

This is just a small sampling of some of the projects I have made.

As you can see, there are tabs across the top to navigate to the patterns, yarns, forums, and groups pages, among others. The links on the left-hand side correspond to my profile. People can see what projects I've made, projects in my queue (projects I plan on knitting but haven't started yet), projects, yarns, or patterns I have saved in my favorites, and patterns I have in my library. You can also hook up your blog to your Ravelry profile, so other Ravelers can see my blog posts, too!

The numbers underneath each project correspond to how many people have commented on my project, or have added my project to their favorites list. Cadmus, my angry cat, is my most "favorited" project, with 38 favorites!

Most people use Ravelry to search for patterns:

I spend at least an hour a day deciding what to make next!

Ravelry's search function is excellent. You can narrow down your choices to only knitting patterns or only crochet patterns, or you can choose to show only free patterns. You can search by category, keyword, or tags that other people have used to categorize their projects and patterns. Ravelry is also a great way for designers to post their patterns for sale or for free use!

Another great feature on Ravelry is the forums:

I ask people for help on the forums when I get stuck!

Ravelers love to chat. And they love to help and encourage each other too! I've used the forums many times to ask for help if I get frustrated with a pattern or don't understand the instructions. I've also used the forums to participate in "swaps," where I'm assigned a "swap partner," and we send each other themed gifts (usually yarn is involved in some way). I've kept a pen pal in Montgomery, AL from a journaling themed swap!

Another way Ravelers chat is through groups. The forums pictured above are actually the forums of specific groups that I am in. I'm in the "Yarnaholics Anonymous" group, the "College Knitters" group, the "We Love Lucy" group (a fan group for a knitting blog), and the "Boston Terrier Owners and Lovers" group. In the Boston Terriers group, for example, people like to post pictures of their dogs wearing handmade sweaters!

This is Jenny's dog, Franklin!

Ravelry provides crafters around the world with a great way to communicate and organize their crafting supplies. I even persuaded my mom to sign up! I love sharing my finished projects with fellow Ravelers, and I especially love that I can ask for help when I get stuck. I usually receive a response within an hour, since so many people use Ravelry -- 1,186,900 people, to be exact! That's a lot of crafters!

At the time of writing this post, 3,957 users were online:

There are even Ravelers in Pakistan, Romania, and Hungary!

Most of the users live in the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom. But Ravelry connects users all across the world. Ravelry also won a .NET Magazine Award for the Best Online Community, beating out both Facebook and Twitter for first place! This just goes to show that social media can help create specialized communities for any interest, not just general friend-adding ones.