I will start with the positives. A huge library of both pay for patterns and free patterns. I place to store your project notes. Forums to communicate with groups of people who have the same interests.
I will now move on to the negatives. Over the years, Ravelry has practiced its free speech by posting very polarizing content. I believe this encouraged strife, though most (not all) stayed silent. Ravelry then decided that it could dish it out but could not take it. Ravelry updated their policy. It basically said that if you are not on their side then you either keep your mouth shut or be banned. Though many had kept their mouth shut, for the sake of peace, have decided that this was going too far. I deleted my account.
I used to buy a ton of patterns and buy from Amazon through their link. Now I don't. Their supposed motto is "Be excellent to each other" but if you dare ask a question, be prepared to be attacked and possibly become fodder for a bunch of horrible, mean people with zero lives. Some of these "mean girls" will follow everything you do on Ravelry and make nasty comments. Ravelry lost all the money I was sending their way because apparently only a few people should be excellent; everyone else gets a free pass to be nasty and mean. Until it cleans house of all of the constant bullying and negativity, they won't see another penny from me.
As a conservative, I have never felt welcome there. Not even 10 yrs ago, WAY before Trump. They have an awesome library of patterns, that is true. But it isn't worth being told to Shut Up and Stay out of the forums. AND I didn't know that I was a White Supremacist, thank you for telling me that.
This site is really cool if you are a crafter. I love to crochet and there are so many great patterns on here. There are many great free ones, but I wish there were a little more that were free. Also, there have been a few instances where the links they have didn't go to the actual pattern, which sucks when you have decided on your next project. Overall it is a good site though.
I love that they have so many different crochet and knit patterns. The only problem is that it seems they are starting to get greedy. I have been noticing patterns go from free to costing money. However, their prices aren't bad and you get the pattern right away.
A wonderful sight for fiber artists of all ages an ability. They have tons of free and paid for patterns the patterns of are relatively inexpensive and they have some wonderful people in the community that you can talk to and ask questions.
I've been a member of this group for 10+ years and have connected with wonderful people from all over the globe. They are helpful, supportive, and inspiring. I consider many very dear friends, even though we've never met.
I also appreciate the fact that the owners of the website are willing to put their values ahead of their profits by banning racism and bigotry on their site.
Ravelry keeps a library of patterns (often these are free such as the one in the picture) and its pattern pages are an easy way to find and see what others have done, to help you make the best knitted and crocheted projects possible. I also appreciate the personal pattern records - I knit so much I forget what I've done the last few years, it what's in my stash.
This site is an amazing place to meet friends and learn about fiber arts. It has some pretty great patterns, both free and paid. The forums can give you a place to find help when you are having trouble with a pattern. As well the project page is a wonderful resource to keep track of your fiber arts projects. You can list what pattern you used, needles or hooks, yarn and there is a section for pictures and your own notes. You can search other peoples projects and see what trouble they ran across on a patter, as well as what yarn they used and how it looks in that pattern. I've found this site to be very helpful.
Ravelry has been my forum of choice when it comes to fiber arts. They have the largest database of patterns available anywhere and their recent policy of zero tolerance for white supremacy is a most welcome one. It's a high five from me!
Been apart of this site since it started. I was just learning how to knit and all it offers has helped me getting better at my craft. Love the pattern library. And while there are political elements I am not there for that. People who have left ravelry due to censorship that is your choice but political stuff dont belong in crafting.
What more needs said? This isn't a fiber arts community. It's a political website with a radical left leaning agenda. They make no room for anyone who disagrees and even allow and promote mob mentality of people going after those they disagree with. I deleted my account due to the hateful atmosphere. I'm not a right winger, but this site is out of control for anyone that doesn't cut/copy/paste their politics.
This site labels, censors and bans people who have views that differ from them. They caused a great divide among knitters, designers and yarn companies, resulting in financial loss and emotional pain.
While at one point in time ravelry was a great sadly that is no longer the case. The site has been out dated for sometime. It is not easy for newcomers to use. When searching for a pattern I often got results that didn't even match my query. Then ravelry had to go all political and ban one certain group of people because their opinion differs. All this combined just doesn't make for a very good website platform anymore.
For a long time now their political affiliation has been evident but not until this past few weeks had it been an unsafe place for anyone except, now, anyone of a slightly conservative bent who believes in free speech. Sure, it had potential with a good library of patterns - may one say pretty much a monopoly of online pattern sales which many designers have found to their cost. It also had the capacity for users to log their projects, insert photographs and keep track of their stash. Fortunately, nothing that can't be done better on new, more user friendly platforms. It's interesting that there had been a culling of one star reviews by this host site. Are we to expect that only the prevailing meme will be accepted? I'm not American but as a conservative thinker this was an unsafe site for me.
I was a long time member. Yet no more. Inclusion means accepting all for who they are regardless of belief, race, age, anything. We must find a way back to the real acceptance of all. Ravelry lost that when deciding to exclude and kick members out
Ravelry has everything; an amazing database of patterns for knitting, crochet and other fibre arts; a plethora of forums where you can find like-minded people to discuss pretty much anything; hardworking and caring owners, staff and volunteers who do their very best to make sure the site is welcoming, inclusive and safe.
They never said anything about skin color or racism. These people are just mad that they put in a new policy where you cant discuss politics or trump on the site. Its crochet and knitting, not a news outlet.
I've been on Ravelry for almost a decade. It's the only resource I use for patterns, finding out about yarn, and getting hints and tips. The forums are great, made even better because they have taken a stand against hate speech.
If you want to start, improve or try new techniques Ravelry is the best place to be.
Ravelry is a fantastic site. Thousands of patterns, groups for every interest under the sun, forums where you can get help with projects, and chat, and make friends... Ravelry is excellent. Please don't let the recent barrage of negative "reviews" sway you -- a white supremacist Facebook group has directed their users to harass the site's owners Hopefully these false reviews will be deleted soon, but in the meantime, I will be spending more time on Ravelry!
Overview
Ravelry has a rating of 3.1 stars from 510 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Ravelry most frequently mention fiber arts, white supremacy and social media. Ravelry ranks 1st among Yarns sites.
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