Saturday 4 April 2015

Interactions & Community (Love Your Blog Challenge)

 

 


 
Recently, the lovely Kate of A Playful Day podcast & blog has started a most wonderful project.  A project which encourages us all to love our blogs (and ourselves) a little more - the Love Your Blog Challenge.  

Over the years, a lot of you knitterly folk (and I'm including myself here too) have let everyone know that you're the introverted sort.  The sort who like company, but little and often - rather than all in one loud horrible night out. 

This trait is what makes me love you all the more when you brave the masses to attend events like the recent Edinburgh Yarn Festival to do what you love, and to show support for the indie dyers, designers & creative types who boldly bring their most creative ideas and lay them out naked for your perlustration. 

Having a stall at the festival myself, I can admit I was terrified.  What was I looking for?  What was I scared of?  I'm unsure.  Not quite approval, so much as an avoidance of the disappointment of you knitters whom I adore from afar.   Not that I should be worried; it has been said again and again that the kindness, inclusiveness and compassion of the knitting community is often second to none.  

Also, as an aside, after using 'whom' I developed cold feet about using 'whom' & went off to look it up.  What followed was the best & most hillarious instructional text on 'whom' I have ever clapped my little eyes on, courtesy of the Oatmeal.  Don't let the moustachioed, monocled steed down.
 
Part of the appeal of the blog is the same - it's so nice to connect with others who have the same interests, sharing knowledge & experiences.

Most of the items which have brought me such joy this weekend I'd never have had I not met some lovely knitting type folk who let me know about them:
  • fibre is from Hilltop Cloud, a gorgeous shop filled with many different fibres, all of which are beautifully dyed and also prepared wonderfully by Katie, who runs her store from Wales.  
  • sock yarn is from Stray Cat Socks, a delightful etsy store filled with hand-dyed, self-striping sock yarn from New Zeland.  
  • the tiny sock knitting needles are from Tangled Yarn, which I only heard about through the lovely Jo of Shinybees podcast.  
  • he bag is a Kanken.  I love it.  I'd never have been brave enough to buy it had friends not adored it too.  (You enablers, you). 

Would I have had the bravery to knit such ambitious projects, try new techniques, new equipment, new hobbies were it not for the support of you lot?  It's unlikely.  Would I have written up those patterns for ravelry and magazines had I not had wonderful constructive feedback from knitters on Ravelry?  probably not. 

The internet really does make the world a smaller place.  This can be scary but the benefits can far outweigh any misgivings you might have about diving in.  Being on-line can connect you with new friends and interests, to new techniques you'd never have imagined and to friends who will last a lifetime.

Certainly, were it not for Ravelry (the best online community of the lot) and the lovely folk at my LYS (not even going to begin naming names), I'm sure I'd have knit as far as some squares.

What does interaction & community mean to you?





A Playful Day

8 comments:

  1. I so agree with you.I love your blog and your creations. I also really appreciate that you take the time to share with us and that you share your wonderful patterns too. Sx

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  2. You've hit the nail right on the head with this post. It describes everything I love so much about the online knitting community. Also, I LOVE your bag! I bought a Fjallraven rucksack a few years back and am still so happy with it. Although it is hard to not just buy a new colour every year.

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  3. The great thing about the knitting community (and the associated technology / Social Media) is that your not alone. If your stuck or simply want to show everyone your latest project you know that like minded friends are only a click away. Technology has had a massive part in building these wider communities. Like you said Amanda the internet has enabled people to reach out and in many cases build those connections into friendships including in person as events like EYF.

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  4. Great post... letting us very outgoing folks understand a bit of where you are coming from when in social settings...

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    1. Great socks by the way... love those colors together ;)

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  5. The best thing is that even if you do not know a single knitter in "real life", there are so many online if you know where to look. When I first began to knit, nobody was interested in such a hobby and I was living so remotely that there was little chance of meeting like-minded people. Thank goodness for Ravelry, is all I can say. Many friendships have developed due to this hobby, ones that began online and have now filtered into the real world as well.

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  6. One thing about this online community of knitters, none of us are stuck for words very long when we meet a fellow knitter in real life, there are just so many things that knitters talk about!

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  7. Lovely post. I wasn't at EYF but really felt that the closeness of the knitting community helped me to experience some of it through sharing their stories. And my friend who was there sent me a lovely parcel, including one of your gorgeous koala stitch markers!

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