05.02.07
Niftyness
Regular blog post to come soon…eventually…well, someday, anyway, but in the meantime, a quick alert to some knitting-related way-coolness on the Web: Ravelry.com.
Frecklegirl and her husband have created a site for knitters and crocheters that has the potential to be a central repository for the massive amount of information about patterns, yarns, and knitters that exists in the minds of crafters throughout the blogiverse. In addition to this macro-level functionality, it also works on a micro scale: it has tools that you can use to organize info about your stash, needles, and projects in one orderly place. And it’s all linked up, so a yarn in your stash is a click away from the projects that other people have made with that yarn. And a pattern in your project queue is automatically linked to all the other people who have made that project and information about the substitute yarns they used. There’s also great integration with people’s blogs and Flickr photos.
I could not be making this sound any drier. (”Functionality”? “Integration”? “Macro” and “micro”? What is wrong with me?) The key piece of information I am trying to convey here is that it is very, very cool. Really well designed and honest-to-goodness useful. And it’ll get more useful as more people sign up (hint hint), and they’re still adding features, too. It is in the beta phase right now, so you should sign up right away to be mailed a beta invitation. I believe it’s going public within the next couple weeks, though, so fret not if you don’t get your invitation immediately. I think current beta testers will also be allotted some number of invitations to send out directly, so start kissing up…err, I mean, let me know if you want one (though I do respond positively to up-kissing.) All this is assuming I do, in fact, get any invitations to send, of course. (I got my invitation from the lovely and generous Elinor — thanks Elinor! — and was further clued in by the super-cool Laura.)
By the way, I completely accept the fact that I’m going to have to get smashed and start cataloging my stash or something just so I can be one of the first to describe engaging in “drunken ravelry.”
My Ravelry handle is “redflyer” — see you all there!
Update: I changed my Ravelry handle to LicketyKnit because I’m indecisive like that. I hope this doesn’t send you all into frantic chaos.
Katy said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:35 am
That site looks very cool! I signed up on the beta list but would love an invite if you get some.
Nichole D. said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:45 am
I would love an invite as well! I’ll have to check it all out when I get home from work.
manda said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:54 am
oh wow, what a cool site! thanks for sharing it. i’ve signed up for an invite, so hopefully i’ll get one, or will at least be notified when it’s ‘live’ !! :)
Rebekkah said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:55 am
Ooh, that looks very interesting. And, what, since when are “functionality” and “integration” not sexy words? Come on, reclaim the geek!
I signed up to be a beta tester, but if I don’t hear back, I’d love to get an invite.
Zarah said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:03 am
I didn’t know you were on ravelry – I’m going to add you as a friend, okay?
Ashley said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:04 am
Aha! I got an invitiation too but couldn’t really figure out what it was, and then was too busy with work to look into if further. Thanks for the explanation!
Sonya said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:05 am
So cool! Ain’t it grand when knitdom and geekdom come together? I’d love an invite too.
Erika said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:11 am
Cool! I signed up for an invite. I wonder when Google or Microsoft will start getting interested :)…
frecklegirl jess said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:35 am
Thanks so much for all the kind words. It thrills me to no end that everyone is liking the site!! You put it all so well- Ravelry is seriously hard to describe in a quick sentence… believe me, I’ve tried. haha
Imagine trying to explain it to non- knit/ crochet people? Non- bloggers? People look at me like I am crazy. (”you sure this site is a good idea? okaaaaay.”) haha
Kelly said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:05 am
ohhhh sounds like an awesome site to me! I’d love an invite.
earthchick said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:06 am
Dude. That sounds so freakin’ cool. I’ve signed up for an invite.
You know, I think before long I can just quit my regular life and do all my living online.
stacey said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:08 am
Elinor invited me also – we must be in the same super cool club……I’ll look for you! I haven’t had time to really delve into it yet, but I’m looking forward to it!
nova said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:09 am
Thanks for keeping us informed. I signed up for the beta phase, it sounds like it puts the fun in functional…heh.
keanalee said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:22 am
Thanks for the info, I will pass it on.
MiniLaura said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:24 am
I can’t believe you and Ashley ignored this coolness until now. Your own coolness detectors must be on the fritz.
Liz K. said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:49 am
I’m so excited about this. Thanks for alerting me to it.
And, um, Rachel, I just wanted to say that you are, like, so cool. And I like, totally love your knitting, and, um, like your blog is totally awesome, and like if we were in high school I would so want to sit at your lunch table.
Is that enough kissing up for a potential invite?
; )
Maryann said,
May 2, 2007 at 1:20 pm
oh wow, this is super cool! I’ve just signed up to be a beta tester and hopefully I’ll get an invite soon. I’m getting excited already ;o)
knitlit kate said,
May 2, 2007 at 3:03 pm
great post. and i heartily concur with all of the above. ravelry is one of the smartest knitting sites i’ve seen. maybe THE smartest. awesome functionality and a great design to boot. plus, totally intuitive, which is perfect for a total non-geeky techno-knit-geek like myself.
girl farts » Blog Archive » Loaf of Bread, Stick of Butter, Gallon of Milk… said,
May 2, 2007 at 3:42 pm
[...] to go on about it today. Instead I’ll point you to two other mash notes: Adrian’s and Rachel’s. (Aaaand there are more every hour or so.) I’m also going to brag and say that I was in on [...]
Elinor said,
May 2, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Oh, I’m so glad you came over! I am going to post a plug today but I’ll probably link to your plug because I’m lazy and you have screen caps. Rock on! I hope Jess and Casey are successful with this – I think it’s the coolest thing since Knitty!
Amy said,
May 2, 2007 at 4:49 pm
kiss kiss smoochie smooch
I’d love an invite if you have any left.
Amy
Theresa said,
May 2, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Even though Elinor also sent me a link and I signed up, it wasn’t until your post that I really saw how cool it could be. I’ll have to play some tonight when I get home. Thanks.
hpny knits said,
May 2, 2007 at 5:42 pm
this is COOL!! I signed up. this will motivates me to catalogue the stash! yes!
ya’.
thanks.
Debby said,
May 2, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for sharing! I’m going to go check it out! I like the idea of matching your yarn to patterns, etc. So helpful!
laura b said,
May 2, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Oh my gosh, this looks so cool! Thanks for keeping us all up to date on what’s going on out there! What an incredible tool!
Sue Hird said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for the tip, I’ve signed up for Beta testing. Already the site looks great, and I really looking forward to finding all the patterns I’ve been wanting to try.
knitography said,
May 2, 2007 at 10:35 pm
That site looks awesome! I love the way all these new fangled technologies (thanks Al Gore!) have contributed to a craft that goes back so far, and has such a rich history. It’s the ideal blend of the old and the new.
Erika said,
May 2, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Woo-hoo! I’m all signed up!
Faith said,
May 3, 2007 at 1:05 am
It’s about time something like this came around! Bravo! I’m psyched to see how it unfolds. Is this something we should be blogging about, or would we rather wait until it’s been tested?
Faith said,
May 3, 2007 at 1:07 am
that “we” was a typo- didn’t mean to sound all third personish. I got over excited!
s t a c i said,
May 3, 2007 at 8:10 am
You’ve done a really good job describing it. I was wondering how I was going to explain it, but I don’t have to anymore. I’ll just link to you. :)
Emily said,
May 3, 2007 at 9:21 am
Oh cool! And how clever! And what a useful tool!
And ohmygod it would/will take me forever to get everything sorted out!
Anna-Liza said,
May 3, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Wow, what a great idea! I’ve signed up for a beta-tester invite-hope I get one! If not, I’ll come around making kissy noises.
Jaime said,
May 3, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I always thought you were Redflyer! ;-p
That site looks to be very cool once it’s completely up and running.
lomester said,
May 4, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I love this! isn’t it the best? glad you changed the name to licketyknit… i was getting confused… doesn’t take much :)
Adriana said,
May 5, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Oh no! Not another delicious distraction! (I just got addicted to Facebook. It doesn’t bode well for my knitting time)
Knittypants said,
May 5, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Oh, this looks like it will be lots of fun, thanks for sharing.
Scribbles & Bits said,
May 8, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Ha! Drunken Ravelry! I hope you don’t mind if I add you to my Cool Kids List of reads. You have just my kind of humour! Thanks for visiting me!!!!
Emily said,
May 8, 2007 at 9:00 pm
You sure make it look good… though I think my brain is still the repository of choice for my personal massive amount of information about knitting. I am too lazy for anything with a more complex input mechanism than the whole “looking and remembering” OS.
Laura said,
May 9, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Oooh! I put in a request for a beta invitation, but haven’t heard anything yet. I wish it would go up already…it looks like BIG FUN!
Rain said,
May 12, 2007 at 8:35 am
*Stamps foot* I wanna play too!
It looks really cool. Will you shout up when it goes live please as I know a few peeps who’d be interested too.
Nora said,
May 13, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Oh, I can’t believe I’ve JUST found your blog! Love it. Love your talent. I’ve subscribed – will be back!
Jessica said,
May 21, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Thanks for describing some of *what* Ravelry is. While there has been a lot of hype there hasn’t been much talk about the content. I’m much more interested after reading your review.
Karin said,
May 24, 2007 at 12:45 pm
though I just signed up to be notified, if there’s still invites left, I’d gladly accept one ^_~. Looks like it has a lot of potential