Ravelry has been a huge boon to knitters worldwide for many reasons. I was reminded of this over the weekend, when judicious use of Ravelry saved me a lot of heartbreak.
There is a particular scarf pattern by a high-profile designer (I won't name names) which I have been thinking about making for ages. I recently came across some new project pictures of the scarf which were so beautiful, I HAD TO MAKE IT RIGHT NOW. You know how it is.
I went to Ravelry, found the pattern's page, and then started browsing the Projects tab. I was trying to decide which yarn to use, since I couldn't afford the yarn that the pattern specifies. I wasn't even looking for problems, but I quickly found them.
The first thing I noticed was that a lot of people were talking about doing some heavy-duty blocking on this scarf. It's your basic rectangular scarf, not a lot of crazy shapes or textures, no lace elements. I wondered why they were blocking it so rigorously. Many people even used blocking wires! That's a warning sign.
Next I found a mention of the scarf "curling." Oh no! I absolutely cannot stand a scarf that curls. FORGET IT. This one is off my list.
I never would have guessed, looking at the pattern pictures, that the scarf was liable to curl. It wasn't until I started exploring other Ravelry user's project pages that I learned the truth. (It explains why people were blocking the dickens out of it, too.)
One great way to sift through the results, especially for patterns that have a lot of projects, is to click the first drop-down menu on the left and sort the Projects tab by "Helpful Notes." This puts the most helpful project notes first. You'll be surprised what you can learn, and the pitfalls you can avoid!
Image courtesy Flickr/kpwerker
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