Ravelry and why I'm not deleting my account

Fuss Free Mitts - one of my free patterns

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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Hats for humans - again

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

It’s that time of year when a certain smoothie brand (owned by Coca Cola) likes to indulge in a bit of PR fluff and invite people to knit tiny hats for plastic bottles that neither want or need a hat.

I’ve written about this before and why I generally prefer to knit hats for humans who need actual warmth, as opposed to plastic bottles that don’t - indeed the other year we had a Hats for Humans KAL which was great fun.

This year, time is a bit more limited but if the recent adverts for said knitted hats have got you thinking along the charity lines please do think about knitting for the fabulous Big Issue North who are asking for knitted items - hats, scarves etc - to distribute to people they are working with this winter. All items are gratefully received although they prefer natural/neutral colours if possible.

And if you are looking for a good basic beanie pattern you might like to know that I’ve recently added a free download to my ‘free patterns’ section here. It’s a basic hat knit in mistake rib and uses sock yarn held double - it knits up quickly and is ideal for using up some of those single skeins of sock yarn in your stash.

If you are looking for more suggestions on charity knitting you can find a comprehensive (and frequently updated) list over at The Knitting Goddess blog page.

Socktober Tips #1: It's all about the yarn

https://payhip.com/LouiseTilbrookDesigns

Of all the countless articles and endless advice written about sock knitting I feel that the one thing which should be top of the list, rarely is.

What am I talking about? The yarn of course.

You can have the perfect stitch pattern, the perfect needles and create socks that are the perfect fit with amazingly matchy stripes. But none of that matters at all if the yarn isn’t up to the job.

A lot is written about so-called sock yarns - often taken to mean a 4ply or fingering weight yarn which usually (but not always) is a wool blend with up to 25% nylon. This often leads to the assumption that this is the only type of yarn suitable for sock knitting. But in reality it is perfectly possible, desirable even, to knit a sock in 100% natural fibres.

Nylon is added to give strength to a yarn, a job it does admirably. But the same effect can be achieved by adding another fibre such as alpaca or mohair to the blend.

If you want to read more about this and maybe experiment with some nylon free socks for yourself, this article by the Wovember team in conjunction with Sue of Blacker Yarns is a great place to start.

Another crucial factor which is often overlooked is the matter of gauge. People often complain that their socks wear through quickly, especially in high friction areas and may blame the yarn. If this is a problem for you it might be worth switching down a needle size or two. Friction is reduced considerably when the fabric has a tighter weave - the fibres literally have less room to rub against each other - and the resulting sock will be much longer lasting. Knitting socks on 2.5mm needles used to be my default but increasingly I have noticed much better results (and increased longevity of heels/toes) by switching down to 2.25mm needles.

Whilst no one wants a bullet proof sock*, aiming for a slightly denser fabric than you might usually go for could work wonders.

* This reminds me of when, as a sock newbie I decided to knit a DK weight sock on my regular 2.5mm needles. What could possibly go wrong I reasoned - surely you always used ‘sock needles’ to knit socks.

The end result was a pair of booties that quite literally stood up by themselves.

And that’s never a good look.

To sign up to receive these #SocktoberTips as emails, please use this link

Everyday Jaunts

A post about adventures - small ones.

I've been reading this fabulous book - Born to be Mild by @robtemple1001 documenting his recovery from a period of ill health (both physical and mental). It's both funny and bittersweet and brutally honest about his attempts to broaden his horizons by embarking on a series of mini adventures. Some go well, others not so well.

It made me realise quite how small my life has become recently. Granted we are in Covid times so not a lot is possible, but even with those limitations I feel as though I desperately need a bit of variety in my life right now.

So I have decided I need a program of little things I can do - we are talking tiny here - in my regular day.

I'm calling them #EverydayJaunts and I’m sharing them with this hashtag on Instagram - either on my grid or in my stories - and saving the latter to the highlights tab on my bio as a kind of record of activities. You are most welcome to join in and share your own jaunts too - if you need a little motivation or you'd like to share your ideas with others.

It could be as simple as taking your morning cup of coffee outside and listening to the birds, or stopping off, on a morning errand earlier to look at a church that I’ve driven past for years but never actually looked at, properly.

Small things, but hopefully ones that will rewire my brain a little and start to see the wonder and the variety in the everyday stuff.

Focusing on what’s different, rather than what is remaining the same.

Weekends don't count

Much of this year seems to have disappeared into a haze of anxiety and stress, but something about the change in seasons and the change in routine, as kids head back to school has kick started my long-dormant creativity and got me thinking positive thoughts again.

I’m fully aware that this might be a temporary reprieve in the whole Covid situation and that things may well get worse before they get better, but at the minute I am carrying on as best I can fully masked up, limiting social interaction and trying to keep a ‘this too shall pass’ mindset first and foremost.

Spending a lot less time on social media has helped enormously, as has cutting the ties with Facebook for personal use and the toxic soup that is Facebook groups. Spending an intentional half an hour on the Mighty Networks group leaves me feeling recharged and energised and has proved to be the perfect way to both start and end my working day.

Another thing that has helped is getting back into writing again - always something that I love but that I seem to be only able to commit to patchily. I have dabbled with writing Morning Pages before - a three page ‘free writing’ session but have always struggled to stick to it, especially at weekends where my routine is wildly different to my working week and loss of momentum always seems to completely derail my fledgling habit.

This time though I was reminded of something that Sara Tasker taught when I did her 15 minute magic programme a while ago - basically that ‘Weekends Don’t Count’. Weekends are for many things but they are a chance to do things differently from the rest of the week. A chance to rest, regroup and allow your mind to mull over the challenges and happenings of the week. In short, they are a break to allow your creative, subconscious mind a bit of free rein.

So, with that in mind I went through and marked off all the weekend days on my 30 day habit tracker in advance. And oh, my goodness. The difference it made this weekend was incredible. Normally I would approach a weekend with a vague ‘oh, I must do my morning pages’ thought. I would prevaricate and procrastinate, feeling guilt that I hadn’t done it. Then by the time Monday morning rolled around I would have talked myself out of doing it altogether and chalked it up to just another example of how I can’t commit to anything.

This time though? Totally different mindset. Giving myself permission to take the weekend off - albeit from this small and totally self-imposed challenge was incredibly freeing.

And now I can’t wait to see what other areas of my business and creative life I can apply this to.

My Morning Pages habit tracker

Knitting as therapy

Do you feel as though sometimes your brain is completely full? Like a cup of coffee filled to the absolute brim and the slightest movement or the tiniest sliver of additional information will cause it to spill over? I am prone to over thinking at the best of times but recently I have been feeling this more and more.

I am a huge fan of Writing Things Down and my belief in the power of a good long list is unshakeable, but recently I stopped journalling. Everything seemed to overwhelming and and certainly during March and April all the days seemed the same - writing about them seemed rather pointless and if I’m honest, pretty depressing. Journalling seemed to encourage me to dwell on the negatives and I felt rather like a hamster on a wheel.

Recently though I’ve discovered two things - the fabulous team at the Positive Planner who have produced a bullet journal in addition to their daily gratitude journal, and also Ruth Poundwhite’s Journalling for Business course. Both have which have inspired me to get my pen back out and write things down again.

Sitting, knitting something simple (in this case a garter stitch washcloth) and writing down ideas and thoughts as they come to me, with no pressure and no feeling that I’m doing things wrong. It’s been remarkably therapeutic and I really can’t recommend it highly enough. Even if you never look at the pages again after you’ve written them - the thoughts are out of your head - and that’s the main thing. The impact on my mental health has been really striking in recent weeks - although I’m sure that’s also partly due to spending less time on social media (Facebook in particular).

In case you need a simple pattern for a washcloth to try this for yourself I have jotted mine down here. Please feel free to bookmark it for future reference if you too, have a ‘Brain Too Full’ moment.

“WASHCLOTH PATTERN: CO 2 sts,
K1, kfb, k to end. Repeat this row until you have 50sts.
k1, ssk, k to end. repeat this row until you have 2 sts.
Cast off.”

— Louise Tilbrook Designs