[NFB-Krafters-Korner] Ravelry

[Courtney F. Smith]

Some have mentioned that Ravelry is not very accessible. Below are some directions for finding out information about a pattern & downloading a pattern.

“Ravelry is sort of organized. Start with H for the heading that starts the pattern. It gives the name. Then you can arrow down to find the designer, then what it is, next the yarn, gauge and needles, amount of yarn, and one or two word descriptions of the pattern type like drop down shoulder or in the round or written instructions, then there is the line that says if it is free or costs. Press enter here. Then go to the bottom of the page after waiting a moment to let it come up and arrow up and press download and a pdf will open. You could also press h for heading to get down to it too.

There is more information about the pattern under the place where it says if it is free or costs. Some of that includes a designer's description of the pattern, materials used, sizes, and sometimes even which skills you will need.”

If you don’t have a Ravelry account, I encourage you to set up an account & then poke around to see what you can find. It doesn’t cost a thing to set up an account.

One feature I like is the “Favorites”. This is kind of like my wish list for patterns. If I find a pattern I like & it’s not a free pattern, I put it in this category. Another cool feature about Ravelry is you can gift patterns to other Ravelry members. An example would be: Jane Doe’s birthday is coming up & I want to surprise her with a small gift. I can go to Jane’s profile, look at her favorites, pick out a pattern or patterns that she likes & what fits into my budget. Then I follow the directions, pay via PayPal & I have just sent Jane a gift & I didn’t have to go to the store, I know it’s something she wanted & I didn’t have to leave home!

This would be a great idea for our Christmas Gift Exchange.

Just a few thoughts.