Posts for category ‘Ravelry’

A week ago I was looking for donations of yarn, needles, and notions towards a charity event (see my last blog entry) in which absolutely no profit is made. I am pleased to announce that the owner of Kollage Yarns, Susan Moraca, is donating all the yarn. Her generosity is not going to be unnoticed, and I want everybunny around the world to hear how her gesture is a great example of one of “My 3 Words” for 2010 — CARE.

Inspired by Justin Steinman’s recent blog post, I must admit that I needed to take my reins back into possession and have done it close to ten days time. So for a slight moment I am popping up out from my rabbit hole to catch a breath of the gorgeous warm air that enveloped Blacksburg this past weekend. Spring became my favorite season back in 1999 when I walked away from a bad beginning to create a better life for myself. I hope others will do the same when the opportunity knocks.

Currently I have been involved in a quick and fast move of events. In ten days’ time I have gone from a car accident, to changing where I work locally, to moving into new living quarters. If anybunny ever wants to visit little me in the New River Valley area of Virginia Tech, I can be found volunteering at the Main Lee Art Gallery instead of the LYS. Being there with the artists and their clients gives me a vibrant glow, and I also will be assisting them in their social media areas pro bono. See you there or at the London Underground Pub! =:8

Okay, I did it. I wrote a guest post on Handshake 2.0 titled, “The Business of Knitting” and hope the 300-words-or-less challenge is met in a positive light. The yarn manufacturing industry continuously has the stereotype of an elderly woman knitting while seated in a rocking chair with cats at her feet. Hello, but though I may be fabulously forty, I am by no means “elderly” and have no rocking chairs in my house. The crafters (weavers, spinners, knitters and crocheters) of both genders are hip and young at heart no matter what their age. So do not dare say I am old!

To note, the social network of Ravelry has brought together what online groups, e-lists, blogs and podcasts have started. Crafters have been communicating online worldwide, and Ravelry now offers a single resource that combines them together. Only on Ravelry can a person in Denmark comment how much she likes one of my projects, and where I can also participate in a worldwide group on specific techniques used in Scandinavia.

The community of yarn has brought different races, religions, and politics together. Currently I am looking forward to the 2010 Knitting Olympics. Here is when teams of crafters around the world will start a self-chosen project when the torch is lit, and in 16 days time finish that project when the fire is extinguished. Most of these projects can generally take months or even years to finish, but the bragging rights of participating are immense. My project of challenge will most likely be either a complicated lace ensemble (shawl or stockings), or an intricately cabled covering (coat or jacket). Either way, I am rising up with the other folks who are techies like myself and are not afraid of admitting their craft. Are you? =:8

Gratitude and appreciation are often overlooked and taken for granted. Gina Bonomo Dugas of the Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, VA was determined to remind everyone how luckily blessed we are. She conceived an idea to host an event that benefited not one, nor two, but three local charities: libraries, the local food bank, and the homeless. Her idea came to fruition on December 5th during a snowstorm that kept folks further in distance away, but for the folks who did attend, the event was a hit!

Here are the details of this charity event:
The $10 admission included a buffet lunch, exclusive buying at the featured vendors, chances to win door prizes, and a goody bag full of various items from all over the fibery and local businesses. Each table had a literal pile of yarn that might be mistaken for a centerpiece, but was in fact a selection for the knitters and crocheters to make hats. At each seating was a pattern varying from a newborn to an adult male. The crafter would first decide which table (I sat at the purple yarn table though the orange yarn table tempted the Hokie in me) and then sit in the chair of whatever pattern interested her/him.

With so many colors to select, it was difficult to choose, but since I brought in the purple yarn from the Land’s End event, I decided to make as many hats as possible with it. To make the day more fun, I taught two women how to knit. Both had learned a little, but needed more coaching. By the time all three of us were finishing up the day, I had not only enabled them, but also made two more friends.

There are many folks in the fibery world to thank for their donations. I am listing them here because their generosity should be noted:

• Twist Collective – for the postcards, buttons, and gift certificates
• Juniper Moon Farm – for the advertising postcards and sheepy tattoos
• Bijou Basin Ranch – for the cool stickers and postcards
• David Simpson’s Fiber Studio – for the yummy fibery goodness
• Lawre’s Laine – for the very cool notions bag
• Classic Elite Yarns – for the heavenly scarf kit
• Berroco Yarns – for the 3 bags of yarn to be used in the hats

Huge thankful bunny hugs go out to every one of these companies for participating!! The best news of this event? We will be doing it next year and will have at least twice as many folks than the 71 crafters that signed up. How do I know? When the Pawtucket Red Sox had their first Stitch and Pitch game, the numbers were exactly the same. (I am rubbing my paws together in glee!) *beaming bunny* Until then, these 42 photos will have to do as proof! =:8

Recently Chris Brogan tweeted that leaders in social media should be inspired to act as if in a team sport. I had to laugh while reading those words, and did so heartily. I know of many examples of where knitters easily demonstrated what it is like to be a team player. How do these events happen? I will hoppily explain.

During the weekend I was in PodCamp Boston 4, the first annual Sock Summit was held in Portland, OR. This conference of knitters brought together many of the fibery rockstars from around the world. For months the lists of names in attendance were gossiped and discussed. Though the server hosting the classes database crashed after 5 minutes from 50,000 people trying to register for the 3,500 available slots, I managed to buying 2 tickets for the opening night’s festivities and a class with an alternative time slot. (For some reason, the webhosting sites NEVER believe that knitters can crash a server no matter how much they are warned.) What is astounding is that 99% of the communication was done via the social network of Ravelry, blogging, and emails. In Ravelry’s Sock Summit forum, questions were answered about traveling, lodging, restaurants, who was attending, who was teaching, and who was vending. Manufacturers made special editions of their products just for that event and posted the details online. There was a contest between hand-dyers on which yarn should be chosen as the official Sock Summit one, and all members of Ravelry were encouraged to vote. The worldwide scores of folks flying in from Germany, the UK, Australia, and other countries amazed many. Yet the common bond between these people was the same: all were interested in sock knitting and all were active in social media.

One of the ladies who co-founded the concept of Sock Summit did a similar event back in the 2005 Winter Olympics. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the “Yarn Harlot” of Toronto, issued a challenge on her blog. She was going to cast on a brand new project on her needles when the Olympic torch was lit to commence the Games, and she was going to finish it by the time the torch was extinguished. When the words were live for all to see, she had an immediate worldwide response of others joining her challenge. The crazy numbers that I remember during the event: there were about 4000 athletes competing in the Olympics versus the 7300 folks competing in the knitting Olympics.

Now for my last example, I was at the Stitches East convention in Hartford this past September. The booth I was running was to encourage knitters to participate on the “Bigsock” project. This project is the running attempt to break the current Guinness Book of World Record’s largest hand-knitted sock. To promote the last minute appearance of the booth, I used whatever tools that seemed to target the main audience I wanted to connect: Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook. Yes, I could have used both the blogs of Bigsock and mine, but I knew that time was of the essence. I quickly posted threads in various groups on Ravelry that would see the information, updated them with posts so as to nudge them back to the front when necessary, and involved Jenny (aka “DivineBird“), a known local fiberista, work with me in the booth. The results paid off. The folks who read my threads spread the word, and along with the members of Jenny’s spinning/knitting ensemble, all arrived to do their fair share on the sock. Together by using social media tools, we accomplished over 38 rounds knitted during that one weekend! A quick visual on the amount of what 38 rounds equals: each round is 1500 stitches which means 57,000 stitches were done in those 3 days.

These examples are only a smidgeon of what knitters have done together by way of social media. Who’d a thought that folks with pointy sticks could do so much? =:8

For many weeks, I have been biting my tongue whenever I remembered the crime scene. I had walked into the Natick Mall Sears to participate in what I expected would be a busy 3-ring circus. Why the expectation? Lands End was hosting two of the knitting world’s rockstars, Kate Jacobs and Vickie Howell, in an event to knit hats for the homeless. Since the e-mail I received about this event was very last minute, I was worried that I would be lost in the crowd of fans. Instead I was in a front row seat to witness Lands End’s failure to reach a highly sought audience for their targeted goal of 250000 knitted hats.

With today’s fluctuating economy, savvy businesses utilize social media tools to increase their customer base. Being active in the realm of weblogs, podcasts, and online networks have enabled these businesses to advertise their products and services. For specific niche markets, narrowing the target to reach a solid customer base is a must to reaping high ROI. Lands End’s charity drive stop in Massachusetts is an example of how not to use social media.

In chatting with Kate, Vickie, and the woman who represented Lands End’s charity drive, I discovered a few keys affecting the low turnout of knitters (about a dozen at most) who appeared:

- The lack of utilizing Ravelry – a worldwide social network for knitters, crocheters, and weavers.
It seems that a particular publishing company dislikes its knitting authors to be on Ravelry. This publishing company feels that the authors would be wasting time and should be writing books, even if there is a group dedicated to specific authors. Because of this break in communication between the author and the readers, the author has no way of announcing appearances or news. Lands End had also contacted the owners of Ravelry to promote their charity. Unfortunately, it would not be feasible nor fair to the hundreds of charities that other Ravelry members promote themselves (mine happens to be Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue). If protocol were followed, the suggestion that Lands End sign up for a Ravelry account would have been made so as a member, Lands End could easily promote themselves by creating their own group or contacting the local groups where their charity drives would be visiting. From my last check, Lands End did not follow that suggestion.

- Publicizing to a group located nowhere near the scheduled events.
Where the events were located is over an hour’s drive from the group base. The Greater Boston Knitting Guild meets in Boston. The events were at Burlington, MA and Natick, MA. Both areas require a long bit of driving, and do not allow easy public transportation. Since only that Boston guild was contacted, only one other guild was shared that news, the MetroWest Guild of which I am a member. How I had learned of the events was through a last-minute e-mail sent a couple of nights before the scheduled dates. It was sent as an “FYI, in case you are interested” type of feel. There was no “Wow! Come help Kate and Vickie knit hats for charity”" excitement. The small amount of notice made it difficult for many to plan on attending. Another note is that Lands End stated they had sent newsletters to its customers asking of any of them knitted to come and participate in the events. I quizzed a number of Massachusetts residents afterwards and not one received such news. Many of them were unhappy at missing the opportunity.

- Ignoring the power of local popular figures and specialty shops to promote the events.
Every town and city has their own respected community rockstars. They are many in New England, particularly Massachusetts, for the knitting world. Designer Kristin Nicholas, Julia Farwell-Clay of Twist Collective, Pam Allen of Classic Elite, Kathy and Steve Elkins of WEBS, Guido Stein of “It’s a Purl, Man” – these folks are just the tip of the iceberg. With the location of the scheduled events, it would have been more lucrative to include nearby New Hampshire and Rhode Island. This fibery network of community rockstars do connect with one another, and could have helped Lands End promote the charity events. By not including the local yarn shops and stores, Lands End failed to spread the word effectively, particularly in the locations where the events were scheduled.

I sometimes find myself reflecting on that Saturday when I met the small quiet crowd who came to the event. I always end up shaking my head in disbelief on the lack of the numbers that could have been. Since that day, I noticed that Kate is now on Twitter (another network she was told not to participate), and I wonder if it is really her or her publisher. (Update 2009-11-19: I was informed that it definitely is not her publisher, but I still think that the Tweets sound like hollow marketing.) I am just glad that Vickie is the real deal online, and that contacting her results in genuine responses. =:8

There is something about the term “knitting rockstar” that can make those who love yarn swoon. The idea that somebunny who is admired for his/her talent and foresight will be in the area, and that meeting him/her is possible? I am pretty much resolved to do so.

When I received an email from the MetroWest Guild that both Kate Jacobs of “The Friday Night Knitting Club” book and Vickie Howell of the “Knitty Gritty” television series were offering a chance to hang out and knit with them, I made the firm decision to do so on Saturday. To my great surprise, not many folks appeared, but at least I did get some awesome photos of both Kate and Vickie.

Hopefully next time, Land’s End will be able contact more of the local community and host their next “Knit with Rockstars for charity” in the city. I look forward to the possibility of doing so again! =:8

This past weekend, I was supposed to be at the first ever Sock Summit in Portland, OR. Sadly, due to poor timing and limited funds on my part, I missed my chance of buying the plane tickets to Seattle. While wallowing in the misery of not going to the biggest sock-knitting bash ever (IMHO) and not seeing my cousin’s family in Sunriver, my friend Guido Stein of the “It’s a Purl, Man” fame contacted me on Thursday. He suggested that I attend the Podcamp Boston conference which was the same weekend at the University of Massachusett’s Boston campus. I blew off his words at first, and checked my calendar for the weekend. Hmm… Looks like there is the Spa-like event WOOL… But then driving up north was not appealing to my tired knitting mojo and brain-dead blog.

“Podcamp? I am not a podcaster. Why on earth should I go?” Those thoughts rang in my head until I scanned the notes of what Podcamp entailed. It was not only podcasts which were discussed, but also the various types of social networking and how all can be used in marketing, distributing, and sharing information. Reflecting on the fact that I would have to be up early to commute to Boston, which meant Rich would be have to be up early to take me, I decided to embed myself into the conference by staying over both Friday and Saturday nights at the recommended Doubletree Hotel. Using cousin Tess’ trick of Priceline, I scored a room for both nights. In my suitcase, I packed up my “Little Parade” shawl project and favorite notepad in case my crestfallen heart stumbled across my lost knitting and blogging mojo.

Taking the commuter rail into Boston’s South Station, I reviewed what was in store for me, and decided to treat the experience as one of discovery. The topics covered in the conference schedule ranged from Guido’s “How Do you Start This Podcasting Thing?” to Renee Hopkins’ “What’s the Value of Social Media for B2B Companies?” Impromptu sessions were also encouraged, and the “Law of Two Feet” was firmly implanted. To explain in a nutshell, the “Law of Two Feet” allows a person who is not getting the most of a session to walk out of it. So if the session one popped into turned out the opposite of what was expected, it is more than okay to leave for answers elsewhere.

Saturday brought some awesome insight to why I was here. Though when I arrived, Guido asked if I could help by downloading an application on my iPhone. Wanting to help, I downloaded Moby, and notified him when it was done. Guido’s response? “Great!! We need you to walk up to folks and take their photograph. The pictures will be posted up on the #PCB4 wall.” I replied, “Sure thing Guido!” but in my head I was thinking, “Am I going MAD? I have no idea who these people are!!” Of course I did as asked and managed to grab some folks as guinea pigs. Later, the sessions kind of distracted me from my assigned task… Oops!

During my years of blogging in the knitting and house rabbit genres, I had thought about doing the same in my fields of datacenter and software QA knowledge, but was unsure of my approach. By applying the suggestions from “How Do you Craft a Compelling Story through Podcasting?” by Jeremy Meyers, I saw that my own blog-writing could be tweaked and primed to reach audiences besides my fellow knitters and house rabbit lovers. Guido’s session of “How Do you Start this Podcasting Thing?” brought up ideas that I had not thought of in my writing style. I do not want to drone about further details on Podcamp, but will sum it up as this:

Podcamp (#pcb4) made me realize that social media is a communication tool in which wielded correctly, is a very powerful sword that cuts through old-fashioned minds with “out of the box” thinking. Podcamp also showed me how intertwined I was in the Ravelry social network, that there are many other networks with just as dedicated followers, and how our experiences should be shared so that other groups could learn from the community of online knitters/crafters.

I spoke with a ton of folks over the weekend, and I hope to learn more by following them in their respective mediums of communication:
@GuidoS, @shersteve @johnblue, @gradontripp, @DougH, @WayneNH, @jeffhinz, @chelpixie, @cspenn, @LDpodcast, @TheMarketingGuy, @SarahPrevette, @erin_bury, @MichaelCantone, @johnhaydon, @lexiconsystems, @chrisabraham, @mickdarling, @JimPeake, @AnnKingman, @GenniK, @saranicole, @stacyreck, @LisaJohnson, @janbabson, and @HPak to start…

Many thanks to all that I met. The time and money spent during this weekend was worth every second and minute. My mojo is back in full swing, and I have become inspired once again to knit and write. The warmed chocolate chip cookies did not hurt either. I hope to be discussing in a future Podcamp the topic of niche social networks and how their hierarchy functions – maybe in October at Philadelphia or New Hampshire? Time will tell! Until then, feel free to check out the names I listed above, and the photos that I posted on Flickr with the “pcb4” and “podcamp” tags. =:8

I have been dwelling on what topics to discuss for months, and how to write out the thoughts that appear in my head. Sure I could report on the woolly gatherings and adventures, yet sometimes I want to write something from the heart. Recently a friend had forwarded a quote to me by Abraham-Hicks Publications. Intrigued, I immediately signed up for the daily quote which is e-mailed. The following quote is from Abraham during a workshop held in Spokane, WA on Wednesday, July 7th, 1999. Its words beautifully state what I have been feeling inside for quite some time:

“Inspiration comes forth from within. It’s what the light burning within you is about, as opposed to motivation, which is doing it because if you don’t do it, there will be negative repercussions. Motivation is making myself do something that I don’t really want to do. Inspiration is having the clear picture of what I am wanting — and letting Universal forces come into play to get the outcome.”

There have been incidents which affected my decisions of what I needed and wanted. I had been so stressed out, that in order to relieve the pain I bought close to a ton of yarn and various other things. I did not always want the items presented. Rather, I needed to purchase them because I felt like buying said objects would make me feel better. The need to purchase created a greed for certain items. Before long, my acquiring was out of control and a new stress came about on how I was going to store my “pretties” that I needed around myself to feel mentally better. I had no desire to maintain my home or myself. I ended up with half-done tasks, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes.

The news of my health results on February 5th this year kicked me in the pants. I made the decision that I did not want to be diabetic and that I was going to beat the disease. The want and desire not to be dependent on medication drove me to change my diet radically — no white sugar, white flour, or white pasta; no milk, butter, or eggs. I finally joined a gym, but am not working out like I should. However, by changing my diet, I dropped from that initial A1C of 11.9 to 8.0 and I am proud of that.

Then a light bulb switched in my head about the rest of my acquisitions and behavior. The questions “Do I really WANT all of this yarn? Do I really WANT all of these tools and books? Do I really WANT all of these clothes and shoes?” plugged at me. Finally the real questions, “Why am I holding on to these items? Why do I think I need them? Why can I not do the tasks I set myself to do?” I realized that I had to let go of the items that presented negative energy to my well-being.

I began by purging various items beginning with the 260 groups that I was part of in Ravelry. I asked myself if I was in those groups “just to have” or was I going to participate fully. After removing myself from over 100 groups (hey now, I am still working on that purge!), I looked into the yarn stash and I was stunned. I had never seriously considered how much yarn was in my possession. There was no way I could ever knit all of that delicious fibery goodness before I died. I started a set of destashes, and I felt incredible. In fact purging the yarn bought because I was unhappy was like a release of tension — the rubber band that was drawn tightly to the point of being broken is slowly coming back to its original relaxed shape.

Happy with these latest findings, I began wanting to work in my flower bed again. I also have bought yarn, but now the pretties are items that I truly want to use — not just because I am feeling sad and need a “fix” to feel better. I travel and see friends when I can, and no longer drone about being a lifeless homebody. The feeling of self-improvement continues to grow, and I want more of it! Here is hoping that by late November (my 40th birthday) that I get my wants and desires. =:8

As of late I finished another scarf for my former co-workers at Verdasys. I had dropped it off at the office and I do hope that RichM enjoys it as much as I had in making it. In celebration of this finished object, I am now swatching the candidates for the various sweaters.

There are several groups on Ravelry which have creative ways of diminishing one’s stash of yarn. One of the groups is the “ISO (In Search Of) and Destash” forum where over 7000 folks can sell or trade their yarn for other similar items. Not only do I have the pleasure of being the founder and administrator of this group, but I also meet tons of people who become dear friends. Because of the ISO/DS group, I have been able to increase my own stash with multitudes of “Stash Enhancement eXperiences” (aka SEX in web-knitting terminology) and now I must put my SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) status of stash to good use.

In the spirit of the Stash Knit Down 2009’s Personal Sock Club KAL, instead of pairing up sock yarn and patterns I am pulling out the WIPs and completing them. Last month’s WIP was Ryan’s baby blanket, February’s WIP was Kelly’s Jeanie scarf, and March’s main WIP was the gorgeous stole that I made for Kelly’s 40th birthday. Here’s hoping she likes it! Finally we have a pair of Emily’s Lost socks, courtesy of Melissa Morgan-Oakes. These pretties were knitted up with Yarntini Sport in the Lost Numbers colorway. LUV!!! =:8

Yes, I know I am overdue on writing a number of posts, but just a little bit more time is needed to finish a couple of projects running in the background. I think the wait will be worth it!

——————————————————
*From Nikki’s Facebook Note*

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU.
- I will make it this year (2009).
- I will make something in the real world, not a figment of the internet.
- I may bake a batch of cookies, knit you a hat, sew you something or write you a poem ~ who knows?
- Photos will be posted in a group TBA of the giving and getting

In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make 5 things for 5 other people.

Make sure to comment here that you are interested in my little gifty and tag me in your note.

Void where prohibited, use only as directed, for a limited time only, store in a cool dry place.

Let’s keep it going!