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Need Alternatives to Ravelry for Buying Patterns?

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Since Ravelry changed its site design last month, making it unusable for some people (and it’s unknown when or if those issues will be fixed) many people are looking for alternatives to Ravelry for buying and selling patterns.

Promised Fibers has put together a list of some options, including knitwear designers who are selling direct on their own websites, as well as other places to buy patterns like Etsy and PayHip.

You’ll also find apps that help you use your Ravelry information without being on the site itself, and even a browser extension that changes the look of Ravelry to something that might be more usable for some viewers. (Note that more information about the extension is available on Ravelry, but you can also directly download it.)

Have you been using other sources since Ravelry changed its look? I’d love to hear about it.

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Comments

  1. I have. I’m using “Yarnbook” presentet on Facebook. A danish site where a lot of nordic knitters sell there patterns. It’s a lot easier, and you can save all your patterns online that you bought from the designers. Also share informations and details on there facebook-site, A great site 🙂

  2. I transferred my patterns to lovecrafts, though that site needs some work as it’s harder to organise ones library, or tell what’s in a collection and what’s not !
    I still keep rav, I think you need to, keepIng a rav account to access patterns on lovecrafts , though that could be wrong, plus it’s the easiest way to print off or download a pattern. Looking on rav even for a very short time gives me the most awful headache, and what’s more rav don’t give a darn

Have you read?

A Blanket Knitting Pattern Where Yarn Selection is Everything

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]