Ravelry and me

Wearing the PPS Shawl.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks. The sudden upgrade of Ravelry and the attendant concern and dismay over it’s continued inaccessibility to many have continued apace, and despite some blog posts and half-apologies from Jess and the team there has been very little meaningful progress.

Many people can no longer use the site and this is, put simply not acceptable.

I have talked about this a lot on Twitter and in other social media but I realised that I haven’t stated my position plainly here, in black and white, for posterity.

As things stand at the moment I cannot support Ravelry, nor the decisions taken by the management team. Repeated attempts to engage with them at all levels have failed and it is clear at this point that no amount of ‘people expressing disappointment’ will shake their firm conviction to proceed with their new look.

With this in mind the only option left to me is not to support them financially. I can’t afford to close my pro account - my pattern sales are still significant there and I am a business at the end of the day. As soon as there is a viable alternative I will move but for now I will continue to push sales on my Payhip platform as hard as I can and to continue to pay the (hopefully small) Ravelry sales invoice.

In addition I will not purchase any patterns from the site. If I find a pattern I like and the designer doesn’t appear to have an alternative platform available then I will ask them if they will sell it to me via Paypal.

I haven’t advertised on the site for several years now so this bit isn’t relevant to me but I notice that many designers have withheld their advertising budget - and also the coveted September slots which used to sell out in record time are still currently showing as half-filled. Advertising revenue accounts for 50% of Ravelry’s income so this is the most effective way of attracting their attention.

If you haven’t tried Payhip before, please don’t be put off. It’s a simple Paypal transaction just like you would do with Ravelry. The only difference is that the pattern PDF is emailed to you rather than going into your Ravelry library. But in any case, in order to be sure you can access your purchases it’s always good practice to keep a copy of your PDF - either paper or digitally - after all, if Ravelry were to be unavailable to you then you wouldn’t be able to access the patterns you have paid for. If having the pattern in your library is important to you however, please do let me know after your purchase and I’ll happily gift it to you.

In order to tempt you to try it out I am having a Payhip sale from now until the end of August. Please just use the code PAYHIP50 on any of my patterns for 50% off

What's in a name?

Toe Beans - toe-up shortie socks with a hint of lace

Sometimes a design starts with a name and grows from there. Sometimes you knit something because you like it and the name comes later. Sometimes you rack your brains for a name and end up asking your husband.

This time the name came in the form of ‘feline intervention’.

I knit these super-short trainer socks with a cute lace panel up the front of the foot. It was only after I was trying them on - and Ebony decided to help with the photo that I realised that they look a little like cat paw prints through snow. Toe Beans seemed the obvious name - although I couldn’t persuade Ebony to show his for the camera.

After trying a few different styles of shortie socks I have realised that I don’t like anything around my ankle, it’s a strange sensory thing. Socks need to either be a decent mid-calf length or to stop straight after the heel - I can’t be doing with cuffs flapping around my ankle.

So I knit these how I like them. Toe up, short row heel, tiny bit of lace for interest.

Of course, if you wanted to make them longer you could absolutely just carry on knitting and have a conventional pair of socks with the pattern just up the front of the leg. But as they stand, each sock takes a fraction under 20g yarn, so they are ideal for stashbusting opportunities.

As will be my new policy going forward, the Toe Beans pattern will be available on both my Payhip platform and on Ravelry, but the only links I will be embedding in my social media posts will be Payhip ones until I can be sure that the issues with Ravelry accessibility are resolved.

There is an early bird discount - TOEBEANSEB - which gets you 25% off the purchase price until 24th July 2020, and that will work on either sales platform.

Toe Beans

A Payhip pattern sale

As I've talked previously I now have an alternative platform for pattern sales - on Payhip

All of my popular patterns are there now and by way of a road test I thought I would have a summer sale over there. If you use the code SUMMER50 you will get 50% off any pattern of your choice.

The checkout process is super quick and easy with no registration needed - and if you do want to add the pattern to your Ravelry library you can do so at a later date.

You can't upload the actual PDF, obviously but you can record in your library that you own it and - more importantly - where you stored it.

Anyway, if you do decide to try it out please do let me know what you think of the platform - constructive feedback is always welcome

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.

Inner Zen

Inner Zen

Sometimes we all need one of those projects - one which is soothing without being too plain. A bit of detail without needing too much concentration.

Say hello to your Inner Zen - a sideways shawl designed to restore your peace and harmony.

Knit during the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting turbulence I needed something calming to knit that wasn’t just acres of garter stitch.

This side to side shawl proved to be unexpectedly therapeutic. Starting from just a few stitches it is worked in sections - weigh your yarn first - with an increase section, a long straight section and then a final short decrease section.

The end result is a reversible, elongated crescent-ish shawl. Easy to wear and with negligible leftovers - always a bonus.

If you subscribe to my newsletter please check your inbox for a discount code.

If not, there is an early bird discount code for the next 7 days - with 25% off when you use the code InnerZenEB

Three good reasons to knit a sideways shawl

The KISS Shawl - pattern available on Payhip

Just my personal opinion but sideways shawls are vastly underrated, and I’m always surprised that there aren’t more of them available .

This is my KISS shawl (short for Keep It Simple Shawl) and I think this is the only true side to side shawl I've ever knit. I’m not quite sure why this is as there so many advantages to this way of knitting a shawl. If you’ve never knitted one before allow me to offer a few advantages to the calm, zen-like experience that is a sideways shawl.

1. There is absolutely no risk of running out of yarn making it perfect for one-off special skeins. As long as you have a reasonably accurate set of scales (ideally ones that measure to within 1g) you can weigh your yarn at the start, increase to the halfway point and then start the decreases secure in the knowledge that you won’t end up playing a fraught game of yarn chicken.

2. You can flirt with a little bit of lace patterning at the edges but there's plenty of plain garter stitch for relaxation purposes. Nothing too stressful and only a minimal bit of chart reading required.

3. It makes a perfect elongated, wrappable shape which is definitely my favourite shape to wear.

In fact, they are so much fun I think I've convinced myself that it's time to knit another one.

This one is in Turbillium from @theuncommonthread and I've worn it a lot, but I'm thinking I'd like one in a lighter colour for spring/summer.