Back in the summer I wrote about the accessibility issues over at Ravelry in the wake of their site upgrade, and the decision I had made to transition my patterns sales over to a different platform - Payhip. You can read that post here if you missed it.
I originally set myself the deadline of doing this by March 2021 as that is when the Ravelry team have informed us that the Classic view will be retired. After this time, folks who are unable to use the new version of the site will be left just that - unable to use it.
As a result of some downtime over the Christmas holidays (thanks to Covid for cancelling our plans) I was able to move all patterns across sooner than expected and so I started the new year with no active patterns for sale on Ravelry, instead they are all safe in their new Payhip home.
I will continue to keep the pattern listings live on Ravelry and will also be adding new ones. After receiving some pushback on this (and not very polite feedback either) I’d like to address the reasons why. Partly so I don’t have to keep typing out the same comments every time I launch a new pattern.
Ravelry is first and foremost a pattern database. The purchasing function is very much secondary. Just because a pattern is listed on Ravelry it doesn’t mean it’s automatically available for purchase there. Books, magazines, LYS kits - so many listings in the database are just that, a listing.
Anyone can add a pattern listing to Ravelry. You are adding the information about the pattern, not the actual pattern itself. This means that if I remove my patterns from Ravelry (and I’m not even sure I could) someone else will invariably add them back in at some point. If I want to maintain any element of editorial control over my content and my intellectual property - and I do - then that means I have to maintain a Ravelry presence and list the patterns myself.
Listing a pattern in Ravelry is of benefit to the knitting community and to indie yarn dyers. I’m a huge advocate of supporting indie businesses and by listing a pattern which uses indie yarn, it’s a real benefit both to that business and to customers who find themselves wondering “Now what can I knit with this 100g of sock yarn”. Every pattern listed adds information and knowledge to the database which is arguably Ravelry’s greatest strength.
So there we have it. Yes I will continue to list my patterns on Ravelry, with a link to my Payhip store where the actual purchasing takes place - via Paypal - in the exact same process that would happen on Ravelry. I’ve written about what Payhip is here.
The only difference is that the pattern will be emailed to you and not deposited in your Ravelry library. If you would like a copy gifted to you so that you have a library copy, please just email me (the email address is at the bottom of your pattern PDF) and I will take care of that for you.
