RavelryReviews 510

While I didn't particularly care for their blanket labeling of certain people or their choice of political discrimination, my biggest ongoing concern with Ravelry has been the rampant pattern theft and distribution. This repeatedly harms designers like myself who create and sell unique knitting patterns. It has been an ongoing struggle for years of our designs being copied and shared as free patterns and the admins do nothing to properly penalize the repeat offenders. And the process to get our stolen patterns removed is very difficult and a slow process, sometimes impossible. This is completely unacceptable from a site who claims to support makers and designers, especially since they have no problem accepting the revenue from from site traffic, advertising, and our sales.

Ravelry has been my go-to for knitting patterns for nine years. I often get lost in perusing this site and so appreciate the talented designers and their patterns (I have purchased many). However, I have never engaged in the "social" side of Ravelry. I have never made comments to other "Ravelers", (other than a question about a pattern, perhaps). It was so upsetting to see their announcement three weeks ago. To me, it was filled with hatred and the absolute OPPOSITE of what they were claiming to do. Just because one supports a president and an administration that they don't agree with, they are called White Supremicists? The hypocrisy of their "tolerance" astounds me. Should "hate-speech" be allowed? Absolutely not! So ban the perpetrators and hateful patterns (on BOTH sides!) and move on!
I feel rather foolish that this bothered me SO much, but Ravelry was one of my "Happy Places". Not anymore. I can live without their brand of tolerance. If I could give them zero stars, I would. They have hurt so many people through this, the least being me - this won't affect me financially at all. There are spinners and disigners that will have their livelihood endangered, I wonder how that makes them feel.
Adieu, Ravelry. I will really miss you.

I've been a Ravelry member since 2011, when I decided to teach myself to knit, Ravelry has taken me from basic baby hats to my first sweater, to cable stitches and lace patterns and even intarsia! I have bought a few patterns over the years, but there are so many free ones that I can usually pick up a hat or scarf pattern that is perfect. I've learned so much about yarns, about techniques, and about the sheer joy of creativity g something beautiful with my own hands.

I've included a photo of my latest project - an angora knit cabled hat - look closely, and you can see the cable pattern is actually an owl. It only took me one evening to make. How cool is that?

Take the plunge. You will not regret it.

Once my go to place. I was willing to look past a lot of one political side representation as I didn't use forums. The latest calling people white supremacist is uncalled for. If someone offers a pattern I go to Craftsy, Etsy or personal web pages.
You support all? Some current patterns are offensive but if complaints happen I am a snowflake and told it I should a private company and shut up.
Not a good business
Not a supportive business
Thankful there are other alternatives out there.

I have been using Ravelry for a number of years now as they have such an extensive list of patterns, both free and paid and somewhere to keep them stored if I ever loose one. There are significant filter options when searching patterns but I rarely use them as I often find things that I'm not looking for but might use later! There are also some forums but I only use a few, there is a great one for pattern testers that I found is a great way to learn new stitches and make new friends. I also love the fact that the patterns and yarn are from all over the world.

Ravelry is supposed to be a site about crafting. They should have stuck to that platform. Instead they took a 'stand', against our President, his administration, and his supporters. They say this did this to be 'all inclusive', but they lied. All inclusive for them means all inclusive, as long as you agree with them. If you don't, you get banned.

Oh, you can still get access to the patterns you purchased, and if you posted patterns that don't support Trump, or the US, others can still purchase your patterns. Which means Ravelry can still make money off of you, while they have stolen your voice.

Last time I checked, I lived in a Democratic Repubic, not a Tyrannical dictatorship. Don't waste your time on these people, and more importantly, don't waste your money on them. They don't deserve your business.

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!