Moving forward

Fuss Free Festival Shawl

At the time of writing we are now 2 weeks since the launch of the new Ravelry site. Apart from a very inadequate non-apology no substantial progress has been made on accessibility and a significant number of people are either unable to use the site or have to use extensive modifications (using 3rd party coded skins, browser modifications or ‘classic Ravelry’ - note that the latter still has issues and is most definitely not the true ‘old’ Ravelry.)

So, we are where we are. Ravelry have issued a readability survey to selected users and have also issued a general feedback form (the latter is available on the homepage).

That’s about it. No acknowledgment of the impact this has had, or apology to the many people for whom the site is now unusable. But at this point I’m of the view that I have expended enough energy on this. Ravelry will either listen, apologise and implement meaningful change in an appropriate timeframe or they won’t.

I, like many other small-time designers have had to make alternative provision for pattern sales for customers who can’t or won’t use the site.

All of my most popular patterns are now available on Payhip - a clean and simple web interface for buying digital or physical products. It allows for the use of coupon codes so I’ll be able to conduct pattern sales in the usual way and also for the issue of revised files in the event of errata or pattern changes. It also takes care of the EU VAT system automatically, which was always one of my main reasons for sticking with Ravelry.

In terms of my day to day activities, all of my marketing links and links within my blog will be directed to my Payhip site rather than my Ravelry store. Until such time as the site is deemed safe for people with epilepsy/migraine to use I do not want to run the risk of a link from my social media inadvertently triggering a reaction in an unsuspecting knitter.

My Ravelry store is still intact and open for use should people wish to use it. I have taken the decision to use the site purely as a commercial rather than a community-based one however. I have left the groups I was previously a member of (albeit a very inactive one) and deleted my personal projects. My projects and stash will now be cataloged on a personal Airtable page - although I will share links to this as and when appropriate.

Do I want Ravelry to fail? Absolutely not. It remains an invaluable database and repository of information. Do I want to take part in it as a community member? No, or at least not in it’s present form.

Communities should be available for everyone, especially one which proudly badges itself as inclusive. And at present, Ravelry isn’t.

An update on pattern sales

I've always been a proud supporter of Ravelry. I've exclusively sold my patterns there ever since day one. I've been proud to call Ravelry and the community there my knitting home.

But the recent site changed has caused problems for a significant number of people. Visual disturbances, migraines and reports of seizures.

All very worrying.

But much more worrying has been the complete lack of meaningful response from the team. People have been left unable to run their businesses effectively and without a social support structure they have grown to rely on.

We are now a week into the change and all we have is a weak opt-out back to the classic version (hidden behind several screens of triggering imagery)

I'm aghast at lack of response, the gaslighting and the dismissal of very serious concerns. I've been watching with increasing incredulity as the days tick past, with no action. I keep hoping that there will be something put in place to fix this. A solution, a timescale, a plan - heck - even an acknowledgement at this point would help

All I can do is to add my voice to those calling for action and look to my own business and my own website. I can’t possibly go back through years of blog posts and remove Ravelry links but I will not be adding new ones here until a solution is found.

In addition I have cancelled my monthly donation to the site (I don't pay for advertising there) and as of today I will have another, alternative platform for pattern sales, for those who aren’t able to access Ravelry.

I don’t know what the long term plan is - a lot depends on what happens with Ravelry over the next few weeks and months - and for that, the ball is firmly in their court. I truly hope there is a resolution that works for everyone. But in the interests of my business and my customers I have to come up with an alternative means of selling patterns.

You can find information on the alternative platform HERE

How to keep track of your Stash Dash total

There has been a lot of discussion and questions about the actual process of taking part in Stash Dash and whether it is cumbersome to keep track of exactly how much you have knitted. As ever in so many things knitting related Ravelry comes to the rescue.

By entering the amount of yarn you have used for a project Ravelry will automatically calculate the exact amount of yarn used (in meters and in yards). For example, for a shawl where you have used 1.5 skeins of a sock weight yarn - you can just enter 1.5 skeins (or you can do it by weight - 150g) and Ravelry will work out the rest.

To make life even simpler you can set up Ravelry to keep a running total of your total. Just assign each completed project a tag (eg StashDash2017) and then you can set up a filter to just show you all of those projects - and at the bottom it proudly displays your running total. With zero effort on your part.

If you've never done this before go to your notebook page and click on the ‘organise’ tab.

Then click on the button to ‘create a new set’. You just need to make sure that you enter your stash dash tag exactly as you've used it on your project.

Then when you go back to your main notebook page you will see a new tab across the top for StashDash2017. You can then click on this to see all of your Stash Dash projects neatly in one place.

In these screen shots I have shown you the one I set up for last year - I do hope it helps. After all Stash Dash is meant to be about maximising your knitting time so it makes sense to let Ravelry take care of the maths.