Raveling

Ravelry-ing, that is!

I'm not sure how I managed to get on the list early enough, but Frecklegirl Jess sent me an invite a few days ago, which I jumped at.

Much to the detriment of all the housecleaning I had planned on doing this week, but so. much. fun.

The site, if you haven't seen it yet, is well worth the wait--it's a totally brilliant community. You can

• enter all of your stash, to see it at a glance;
  
• enter your needle collection and text your account when you're in the lys to see if you really need a sixth set of size 5 dpns;
• enter all your projects, in-progress and completed;
  
• enter projects and yarns you're considering into a queue;
  
• browse other people's projects and see their comments on the patterns;
  
• browse other people's stashes and see comments on the yarns;
• comment anything and everything;
• ask questions about yarns, stashes, projects, techniques; and
  
• do so much more I can't even hope to have a comprehensive list!

And it's definitely a community--I can't wait to finish my large rectangle shawl, in part because I want to wear it, but also because I want to post a picture there, as well. I got a lot of nice feedback on the Alpine lace shawl, which is motivating me even further on the large rectangle.

My sock pal is on, too, which means I've lurked in her stash--I've seen which yarns she has, and which colors she tends toward, making me feel more confident in my ability to find a yarn she'll enjoy. I've also looked at which patterns she's got in her queue, and am now debating whether or not I should make one of those patterns for her, or find something new and different. Hopefully this will not make her feel like she has a stalker. I must admit, it's made me feel a little like she has a stalker, and it's me.

Jess and her husband, Casey, have done an amazing job--every time I go back (which is often!), they've improved, added, and updated something else. They're still working the bugs out, and are adding people as quickly as they can, but are a) only two people who still have to sleep sometime and b) don't' want to overwhelm the system before all the bugs are worked out.

So if you're waiting on the list, be patient! It's well worth the wait.