Knitting Community

Knitting is a pastime that can be enjoyed alone, but it has long been enjoyed in the company of others. In this modern world, knitters have embraced being social online with glee, creating vibrant and tight-knit communities.

Websites I recommend checking out are:

Ravelry

The social site for the fibre arts community, Ravelry is a knitting journal, inventory manager for needles and yarn, pattern and yarn database, pattern store, and social media forum all in one. Track your past projects and supplies, stalk your next knit by browsing the pattern directory and saving it to your favourites, or join the forums and find a wonderful community of uber-helpful knitters when you have a question at any time of the day or night. Most of all, get lots and lots of eye candy in the form of completed projects.

I would love to see your completed project on Ravelry, and I would also love for you to join the My Secret Wish Knitting Ravelry group. Learn more on my Knitting Circle page.

Instagram

As a visually-driven social network, Instagram is all eye candy, all the time for knitters. Use hashtags like #knitstagram, #knitting, or #knittersofinstagram to find feeds with beautiful projects for you to enjoy. Or look for cottage yarn dying companies, independent designers, and more using hashtags such as #knitweardesign, #knittingpattern, #yarn, and #spinnersofinstagram.

If you post a project from one of my patterns, use one of my hashtags, too! Use #mysecretwishknitting or #mswkprojects. Or tag me @mysecretwishknitting.

YouTube

Anything you want to know about knitting you can probably find out on YouTube. It’s also an excellent platform to connect with the knitting community and find designers whose work you’ll love. Please subscribe to the My Secret Wish Knitting channel while you’re there.

Finding Patterns and Resources

Since the explosion of popularity in handknitting at the turn of the millennia, there is a plethora of free and paid resources and patterns available.

Besides the search engine functionality and social media recommendations on Ravelry, there are many other popular places to find knitting patterns. Yarn companies often produce patterns specific to their yarns, which they either sell or give away for free on the yarn label. In addition, online marketplaces such as Etsy and LoveCrafts are excellent places to purchase patterns. (Find my shops at My Secret Wish Knitting on Etsy and Talena Winters on LoveCrafts.) Other resources and directories are an Internet search away.

Knitting magazines such as Vogue Knitting, Knitty, Interweave Knits, and more are excellent and affordable ways to grow your pattern library and your skills with of-the-moment designs.

Some of the most popular podcasts in the world are knitting podcasts. Listen as you knit and learn new techniques from other knitters, get inspired to try new things, hear knitting news, and feel connected to the community, even when knitting alone.

You can discover new designers on any of the platforms I’ve already mentioned. Many designers sell on online marketplaces as well as their own websites (from which they usually get to keep more of the profit).

To allow you to try before you buy, most designers offer a few patterns for free. However, no one in the knitting industry does this to become wealthy, so if you enjoyed a designer’s free pattern, please support them by spreading the word about them and purchasing one of their other designs if you can. That way, we all help each other.

Go Forth and Knit

Now you know the basics of how to knit. I hope you stitch up a storm as you put your new skills into practice. And I would love to support you on your journey. Please check out the other resources I have here on my website, browse my patterns, and join my knitting community. I look forward to seeing your work!

Unleash magic, and happy knitting!

Talena (the Yarn Mermaid)