RAVELRY TUTORIAL: How to Add Your Knitting (or Crochet) Project to Your Ravelry Account
Recently, a knitter emailed me asking for information on how to add a knitting project to Ravelry. After typing up some notes for her, I realized that other knitters might not know that they can document their knitting and crochet projects on their Ravelry account. Or, they might need a tutorial on how to post a project on Ravelry.
Ravelry has great tools for keeping records about your knitting and crochet projects. These tools are included in your individual Ravelry notebook. Keep reading for all the details!
THIS BLOG POST INCLUDES:
Ravelry Notebook: What is it and how to use it to keep records about your knitting and crochet projects, yarn stash, favorite patterns & more.
Reasons to add your knitting or crochet project to Ravelry.
Step-by-step instructions for how to add your knitting and crochet projects to Ravelry.
This blog post has all the details on how to add and share your knitting (or crochet) project on Ravelry. The knitting projects shown here are: Making Plans Blanket knitting pattern (yellow / upper left), Touch of Kindness Blanket pattern (light blue / upper right), Game Time Blanket (mustard yellow / lower right) in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick ‘Mustard’ and ‘Air Force’ (cornflower blue / lower left).
FIRST, WHAT IS RAVELRY?
Ravelry is a free website for knitting, crochet and other yarn crafts. It’s a great place to discover and purchase digital knitting patterns, as well as document and share your own knitting projects, connect with other makers, and much more. The site is used by makers around the world. It’s free to sign up and join at Ravelry.com.
RAVELRY NOTEBOOK: A HANDY PLACE TO KEEP RECORDS ABOUT YOUR KNITTING & CROCHET PROJECTS, YARN, FAVORITE PATTERNS, AND MORE!
Every registered user of Ravelry has a personal “notebook” that they can always access on their Ravelry account. To find the “notebook” section… look in upper right corner when logged into Ravelry.
The sections within your Ravelry Notebook include:
Projects – A place to keep a record of your knitting or crochet projects. Read more below!
Queue - When you click “add to queue” on a Ravelry pattern it means you want to make it soon. You can find all the patterns in your queue in this “queue” section.
Stash - A place to log your personal inventory of yarn.
Favorites – Your list of all the knitting or crochet patterns that you like on Ravelry. To save a pattern to your “favorites”… click the “heart” on a pattern’s Ravelry listing page.
Library – Ravelry patterns you have purchased or downloaded for free. Tip: Make sure you are logged into your Ravelry account when you buy knitting and crochet patterns so the pattern gets added to your library.
RAVELRY PROJECTS: WHY ADD YOUR KNITTING OR CROCHET PROJECT TO RAVELRY?
The “Projects” section of your Ravelry notebook is a helpful place to organize, record and share your knitting and crochet projects.
Adding a project to Ravelry only takes a few minutes. But, spending the time to add each project creates a helpful and meaningful crafting journal.
Each of your projects that you add to Ravelry will be tied to your Ravelry account so that as you continue adding projects you can see them all in one place.
I’ve been adding almost all my knitting projects to my Ravelry account since 2014. Now, I now have a record of more than 10 years of my knitting projects! And, Ravelry has calculated the fun fact that I’ve used a total of more than 57,000 yards of yarn for my 100+ knitting projects over the last 10 years!
The benefits of adding your knitting or crochet projects to Ravelry include:
1. Record Project Details: Track all of the details about your knitting or crochet project including pattern used, yarn and colorway used, quantity of yarn, needle size used, gauge, size made, finished dimensions and any notes about working on the project. It’s also helpful to include notes about any modifications you made to the pattern.
2. Store Project Photos: Upload photos of your finished knitting or crochet project, as well as work-in-progress photos. It’s a convenient way to have a visual record of all your knitting or crochet projects in one place.
3. Log Progress of Current Project: Some crafters like to create a Ravelry Project Page as soon as they start knitting or crocheting. Then, they log progress of the project as they work on it. On the project page you can add details such as the date you started and the date the project was finished. (It’s also possible to log the dates at any time including after finishing the project.)
4. Review the Ravelry Pattern Used: Once you add your project to Ravelry, you will have the option to rate the specific knitting or crochet pattern (assuming it’s listed on Ravelry) that you used for your project in terms of “clarity of instructions” and “overall results”. The ratings scale is 1 to 5 stars with 5 stars being the best. Five star ratings are obviously appreciated by knitting and crochet designers. But, if the pattern did not meet your expectations for a 5-star review, of course you may rate it accordingly. It can be helpful to designers and to other makers if you include some additional notes on your project page to share your experience with using the pattern.
5. Help Other Crafters: When I’m shopping for a knitting pattern on Ravelry, I always look at each pattern’s average rating for clarity of instructions and overall results. Leaving reviews, as well as rating the difficulty of the pattern, is very helpful to other crafters. Reviews help other crafters evaluate if the pattern instructions are clear and easy to use and if the pattern is a good match for their knitting or crochet skills. Your Ravelry projects can be inspiring and helpful to other makers!
6. Reference for Later: It’s easy to refer back to your projects in the future to refresh your memory on the details of a previous project or to show the project to friends. For example, if you want to use the same knitting pattern you used three years ago… look up your project on your Ravelry account and see what size you made and how much yarn you used.
7. Portfolio of Your Craft: It’s personally rewarding to document your crafts. Over time, as you add your projects it will be easy to see your progress in advancing your skills in knitting and crochet. Additionally, your projects become a portfolio documenting your knitting or crochet skills. If you are interested in becoming a test knitter for knitting or crochet designers it’s a good idea to share your completed projects on Ravelry. When you apply to be a test knitter, the designer will be able to see your portfolio of completed projects. And, most designers will expect test knitters to add their test knitting project to Ravelry.
Click here to see my collection of knitting patterns! All of my knitting patterns are also available on Ravelry.
HOW TO ADD YOUR KNITTING OR CROCHET PROJECT TO RAVELRY:
Before you get started, here are things to have on hand before adding your project to Ravelry:
The knitting or crochet pattern that you used.
The name, colorway and quantity of the yarn you used.
Any hand written notes you made while using the pattern.
Photos of your project including photos you took while working on the project, the yarn you used, and the completed knitting or crochet project. Taking attractive photos of handmade projects can take some practice. Here’s a link to my blog post that has some photography tips.
Your computer, tablet or phone to log into Ravelry.
STEP-BY-STEP TIPS FOR ADDING A KNITTING OR CROCHET PROJECT TO RAVELRY:
Note: The screenshots below show how the Ravelry screen looks on a computer or tablet. It will probably look different if you are using your phone.
1. LOG IN TO RAVELRY:
Log into your Ravelry account. If you don't have a Ravelry account you can sign up for free at Ravelry.com.
2. GO TO YOUR RAVELRY NOTEBOOK:
In the top right corner click on "my notebook".
In the top right corner click on "my notebook".
3. SELECT PROJECTS WITHIN YOUR NOTEBOOK:
Click on "projects" under “my notebook”.
After clicking “my notebook” a drop down menu will appear. Click on “projects”.
4. ADD RAVELRY PROJECT!
Click the light aqua button "add a project". (It’s on the left side of the screen.)
On the next screen, look for the aqua button on the left side of the screen labeled “add a project”. Click it!
3. SELECT TYPE OF CRAFT, NAME YOUR PROJECT & LINK TO THE PATTERN YOU USED:
On the next screen there are three fields to fill in:
First, click the box for “Which craft?” and select "knitting" or “crochet”.
In the second box, type in the name you want to give your project such as “Baby Blanket for Henry” or “On the Porch Baby Blanket”.
In the third box, type in the exact name of the Ravelry knitting or crochet pattern you used such as “On the Porch”. Refer to the title on the pattern you used.
Then, click "continue" to go to the next screen.
This screen has three sections of information to fill in: what craft you used for your project, the name you want to give your project and the name of the knitting or crochet pattern you used. (Refer to the pattern you used to get the name.) When ready, click continue to move to the next screen.
4. LINK TO THE KNITTING OR CROCHET PATTERN YOU USED:
On this screen Ravelry will display the closest matches to the pattern name you entered in the previous page. In the example below, I typed in On the Porch and Ravelry found the On the Porch knitting pattern.
Click the aqua “choose this pattern” button for the pattern that you used. This is how Ravelry “links” your project to the correct pattern page.
Be sure to specify exactly which knitting or crochet pattern you used so your project gets linked with the correct pattern.
When I typed in “On the Porch” for the name of the pattern used for my example project… Ravelry searched and found the On the Porch knitting pattern. Click the aqua “choose this pattern” button for the pattern that you used.
5. FILL IN ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR PROJECT:
On the next screen you can add all the details about your knitting or crochet project! There’s a lot of information you can save including: who you made the item for, size made, type of project (blanket, shawl, sweater, etc.), specific yarn used, quantity of yarn used, your gauge, any detailed notes about your experience making the project, date you started your project, date finished, and happiness with your project. (Refer to the image below.)
Be sure to note these details about your project:
Size made: Type in the size from the pattern instructions you used. For example, if you followed the instructions for the “small” size blanket… type in “small”.
What type of item is your project? Click on “pattern category” to identify what type of item you made. For example, if you knit a baby blanket click “home”, then “blanket”, then “baby blanket”.
What size knitting needle(s) or crochet hook(s) did you use? Click “add needles” under the “Needles” heading. There’s a drop down menu to select from a list of sizes.
What yarn(s) did you use for your project? Under the “Yarns” heading click “add yarn”. Type in the name of the yarn you used such as “Blue Sky Fibers Organic Cotton” and then click the little link symbol. A list will pop up of possible matches and you can click on the yarn that you used. Now your project will be magically linked to that yarn! You can also enter more details about the yarn including the colorway used, amount of yarn used (either number of skeins, yardage or meterage), where you purchased the yarn and how much it cost. (You don’t have to enter all the specifics but I recommend at least saving the yarn, colorway and quantity of yarn used.)
Notes Section: At the bottom of the screen there is a space to type in any additional information about your project. Things you might make note of include: the finished size of your project, feelings about the results of the project, thoughts about the yarn, who the project is for, memories about working on the project, etc. This section can be as factual or as personal as you prefer. Some makers stick to the specific details about making the project and others like to add personal details such as memories of working on the project while on a trip or making it for a special person in their life.
This is the project page where you can add all the details about your knitting or crochet project!
The more information you record on your project page, the more helpful your project might be if you refer back to it in the future. And, your project details could be really helpful to another maker who is considering using the same knitting or crochet pattern.
6. TRACK PROGRESS & RATE PATTERN:
Track your progress on your project and rate the knitting or crochet pattern you used. On the same screen as shown above (and below) you can…
Review the knitting or crochet pattern you used! In the lower right side of the screen… click on the stars to rate the pattern for “clarity of instructions” and “overall results” (5 stars is best!). You may also rate the difficulty of the project using the “my difficulty rating”.
Track your progress and happiness with your project using the five options in the upper right section of the screen. (Circled in yellow below.)
Status: You can select “in progress” (if you are still working on your project), “finished” when you are all done, “hybernating” if you are taking a break from working on this project, or “frogged” if you started the project and then ripped it out to use the yarn for something else.
Happiness: Click one of the faces to represent how you feel about your project. Obviously, the smiley face on the right is the happiest rating!
Progress: Click on and move the sliding scale to represent the percentage of the project completed. Some crafters like to update the progress scale as they work on the project. If you are finished the progress is “100%”.
Started: Click on this field to select the date you started the project.
Completed: Click on this field to select the date you finished the project. It’s always a great feeling to finish up a project!
Be sure to click the "save changes" button when you are done entering all the details!
Track your progress on your project and rate the knitting or crochet pattern you used.
6. ADD PROJECT PHOTOS:
Add photos of your project! Click on "add photos" near the top right of the page… just above the description of the project.
Upload photos from your computer, phone or tablet. It’s fun to include work-in-progress photos and, of course, attractive photos of your finished project.
Taking attractive photos of handmade projects can take some practice. Here’s a link to my blog post about taking photos of knitting (or crochet) projects.
Of course, photos are the best way to document your knitting or crochet project. Click on "add photos" near the top right of the page… just above the description of the project.
Click “Choose Files” to select photos from your computer, tablet or phone. After you select the photos… click the aqua button labeled “upload now”.
Click “Choose Files” to select photos from your computer, tablet or phone. Then, click the “upload now” button.
You can use the little pencil icon under each photo to add notes immediately under a photo. You can also drag the photos to change the order they appear. When you are done… click the “finished with photos” button.
When you are done adding photos… click the click the “finished with photos” button.
WHAT DOES A FINISHED RAVELRY PROJECT PAGE LOOK LIKE?
Below is an example of how a Ravelry project page looks after all the details are filled in. Click here to see this project page for my Making Plans blanket on Ravelry.
Things to note include:
Size: I included the exact dimensions of my finished project.
Yarn: The exact amount of yarn I used for the project is noted in yards.
Notes Under Photos: I added details about some of the photos using the little pencil tool in the “Add Photos” section.
Dates: It’s meaningful to me to be able to look back and see that I knit this blanket in about a month’s time in 2019.
This is an example of how a Ravelry project page looks after all the details are filled in. Click here to see this project page for my Making Plans blanket on Ravelry. Or, get more details and buy the PDF knitting pattern on my website or on Ravelry.
Click here to see my collection of knitting patterns!
I really appreciate when knitters take the time to share their Fifty Four Ten Studio knitting projects on Ravelry! Every few weeks, I spend a little time checking out the new Fifty Four Ten Studio projects that have been added. It’s always a treat to see what’s knitters have made using my knitting patterns!
I hope you found this information helpful and inspiring. Thanks so much for reading!
Happy knitting!
