Unleash: a Ravelry Soak Wash!

Our first new product is something a little different and really special: we’re proud to announce our first collaborative goodie for the Ravelry minimart: Unleash, a Soak Wash inspired by all things Ravelry and featuring an adorable Bob label, is now an official part of the Soak Worthy Collection! The special limited edition scent is delicately sweet, fruity, and spicy - and will make all your pet projects smell fantastic. You can read a bit more about Soak Wash on their website, but we just have to add: it’s really good stuff - the perfect way to finish off your handmade items.

Unleash is is available in 250mL/ 8.4 oz bottles, exclusively through the Ravelry minimart. It has been so fun to develop this special fiber wash with Soak, another community-minded company in our industry. We think we’re very lucky to be surrounded, on the site and off, with such fabulous people!

New bag! Bob chasing yarn tote bags!

The newest limited edition Ravelry bag is our first big tote with Bob! The fabulous verabee designed this adorable print of a very happy Bob running after a bouncing ball of yarn. It’s a 100% cotton, pigment-dyed tote bag, with contrasting color straps and a ragged edge at the bottom and a small interior pocket. It’s roomy and soft - and pretty darn cute! Verabee developed this art for us some time ago, and we loved it so much we kept waiting and searched around for the perfect product to show it off. When Jess found these cute blue tote bags, we all knew right away that they would be perfect to show off the adorable print!

Ravelry Swirl Stickers!

The Ravelry Swirl Sticker is the latest product in our Ravelry Swirls design, the fun, feminine art by Julie at Symposi.com. It’s digitally printed on vinyl, resistant to wear and fading, and measures 3” x 4” (7.5cm by 10cm): a great size for your laptop!

Reduced prices on select shirts!

Along with all these new goodies, we’re also reducing the price on some of our items! Our Pink Animals tee, Mint Animals tees in both women’s and unisex styles, and our unisex Bob Yarn Pile shirts, have had their prices reduced for clearance! We’re selling our remaining stock of the Pink Animals tee styles for $10.00 - that’s 50% off the original price! Women’s and unisex Mint tees and unisex Bob Yarn Pile shirts are now just $15.00.

We all wear and love these shirts, but we also like to switch up the designs in the Ravelry minimart pretty regularly! We’re retiring these styles by the end of the year, so we thought we would offer them to you all at a reduced price and help to make room for more designs later on.

The Ravelry minimart is open to all!

By the way, did you know that you don’t need a Ravelry account to purchase from the Ravelry minimart? :) You can just send the link to anyone who might be interested in getting you a present and they’ll be able to surprise you. You can also add minimart items to your Amazon Universal Wish List, if you like! Proceeds from the minimart are an important part of keeping Ravelry going, and we’re so glad that you all enjoy the t-shirts and other products we’ve developed! It’s such a thrill to see Ravelry gear on your Ravatars in and person in our travels. Thank you!

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This festival had to have been the best showcase of hand crocheted and knit items that I have ever been to- and that is saying something as I have been to a lot of wooly events!  It may have been because we were freezing but, man, did we look good.  ;)

The Ravelry party on Saturday night was an amazing success!  It was super chilly again this year but between the heaters, lots of wooly garments and bigger warm tents, we all had a great time! Our estimation is that around 550 Ravelers and their families joined us at the Elks Lodge but there was plenty of room to see friends.  Everyone did great with the shuttle bus to the larger parking lot down the street so thanks to everyone for your flexibility!

Again, we’d like to say a big thank you to our wonderful sponsors:

Quiviut Sponsor: Yarnmarket.com

Cashmere Sponsors:  Juniper Moon Fiber Farm, Unicorn Fibre, Namaste, and Loopsknitting.com

Merino Sponsors:  Signature Needle Arts, Twist Collective, Bijou Basin Ranch, Lantern Moon, St. Denis, Gardiner Yarn Works, Knit Picks, The Loopy Ewe, Miss Babs, Classic Elite Yarns and Sandra Singh.

We couldn’t have hosted this awesome party without you!  (Please visit those links and support our sponsors!)

There were some seriously great door prizes donated from the sponsors- lots of oohing and ahhing from the crowd as we announced the winners!

We also had some fun giveaway project bags printed up, designed by my friend Julie at symposi.com.  The sponsors provided some coupons and goodies for inside the bags.

Like last year, the printed cupcakes were a big hit at the party!  This year, we chose a cupcake design to complement the project bags and sponsor poster- matchy matchy! Fun!

Bob even made an appearance at the party and meetups this year!  This incredible Bob costume was made by  Ysolda with help from Laura- thanks so much you guys!  I am still laughing every time I see it.

We also had two great meetups during the day on Saturday and Sunday- here are two group shots!

Some Ravelers brought cupcakes and cookies to the meetups again this year- I think it is a rule that much fun is had when knitting and crochet, fun people and baked goods combine. :)

Finally, I would also like to personally thank our friends and family for helping us throughout the weekend- Team Rav worked tirelessly to hand out buttons and sharpies, take photos, run errands (again and again!), set up for the party, put lights in porta potties, hang twinkle lights (and getting stabbed by said twinkle lights), break down the party, welcome everyone and generally helped to keep Casey, Mary-Heather, Sarah and me sane.  Thank you so much, Cirilia, Emily,  Eric, Nichole, Maryse, Nancy, Ronan, Cheryl, Laura, Ysolda, Kyle and Erica!

If you have photos from Rhinebeck this weekend or any other Ravelry event or meetup, please add it to our Ravelry Events pool on flickr!  It is really fun to go through those pictures!  There is also the great Rhinebeck group where you can talk about what you bought and who you saw this past weekend!

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Cause I know you are going to ask… pattern links!

• Cirilia is wearing her Hill Country Hat from Clara Parke’s new book, Knitter’s Book of Wool.
• Vivian by Ysolda Teague (on MH in red above and Sarah and myself in sage green)
• Nichole is wearing a raspberry Dollar and a Half Cardigan (in front on team rav photo)
• My aqua hat is my Sideways Grande Cloche
• I am also wearing the original (!!) Vaila by Gudrun Johnston from Twist Collective, Winter 2008
• Sarah’s red hat is Berroco Vintage and the pattern is Ysolda’s Ripley
• My brother Kyle and Casey are wearing their Seamless Hybrids, both in Cascade 220.
• Laura’s pink shawl is her Hibiscus Shawl.
• Colorful Cheryl is wearing her Harlequin Yoke sweater with the very contagious Noro Striped Scarf.
• Erica is rocking Ysolda’s Rose Red.
• Mary-Heather’s magical green hat of joy (above in mosaic and in meetup photo) is Verity by Ysolda
• The Bob head has no pattern and Ysolda has no plans on creating one. She created it on the fly in 5 days, can you believe that? ;)

Comments!

We love our qiviut sponsor Yarn Market; our cashmere sponsors, Juniper Moon Farm, loopsknitting.com, namaste, Unicorn Fibre Wash; and our merino sponsors, Bijou Basin Ranch, Classic Elite Yarns, Gardiner Yarn Works, Knit Picks, Lantern Moon, Miss Babs, Sandra Singh, Signature Needle Arts, St. Denis, The Loopy Ewe, and Twist Collective. Huge hugs!

We’re so happy to team up with these wonderful companies and members of our community to help us host a terrific party open to all, and grateful for their help and support. Thank you so much!

The party details:

Where: The Elks Lodge (outside pavilion) in Red Hook, NY (same place as last year!)

When: Saturday, October 17 from 6:30 - 11 pm

The address is: 7711 Albany Post Rd/ Route 9 Red Hook, NY 12571 (approximately 5 miles from the fairgrounds)

We’re going to have a cash bar, yummy snacks (please do eat dinner beforehand!), music, incredible prize giveaways from our sponsors, plenty of Hello! username buttons so that we can identify each other, and a really, really great time. Families are welcome! Though we strongly encourage you to carpool if at all possible, parking will be much easier this year - we have arranged for parking down the street at Mill Road Elementary School (Google maps link to the school), with a bus to transport Ravelers to the party location and back to their cars throughout the evening. Please park at the school parking lot (we’ll have folks helping to direct you) to take advantage of the party bus (and avoid parking backups). If you need a handicapped parking space, please just let the folks at the Elks Lodge know when you drive up and they’ll show you the best place for you to park (in the lodge parking lot).

It is going to be chilly on Saturday night (possibly even snowy!) and this party is in an open pavilion, so make sure you bring your woolies! We are going to have heaters (and possibly a bonfire!) and walled tents and the party location is fully covered, but please come prepared! This is the perfect chance to showcase your latest FO to a group of 600 or more people who will appreciate and admire your work. :) You can RSVP for the party on the Ravelry Events Page! See you there - we really can’t wait!

Lunchtime Ravelry Meetups!

We also have two meetups planned during the day on both Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 1 pm. The location for the meetups is shown on the map below- it is a shaded field up the walkway from the author’s tent. Come and meet your fellow Ravelers and get a Hello! username button.

For more information about the Ravelry festivities at Rhinebeck this year, check out the Final Details thread in the New York Sheep and Wool group!

Be sure to wear your Ravelry shirts and pins and carry your bags around the festival - some vendors are offering a discount to Ravelers! (Every little bit helps, right? Helps us buy more yarn, that is…) :)

See you in Rhinebeck!

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Casey and I had the pleasure of attending the first German Ravelry Meeting in Backnang, Germany in September.  It was organized by the (knittingcouple) Annette and Alexander and they did a really great job!

(mmm bretzel!)

There were amazing little touches everywhere- like these decorations for the nametags!  I had a little sweater and Casey had a sock.

We also got to meet Jeannette, one of our incredible site moderators- was so nice to meet her in person!

In the evening, we got to hang out in the beautiful fall weather next to Backnang’s Wollstube- isn’t that the prettiest yarn store ever?!

After the lovely day in Backnang, we had a little vacation with our friends Julie and Adam and traveled into Alsace, France. We couldn’t help ourselves though and had to have a little Ravelry meetup in Strasbourg with the Tricoteuses d’Alsace while we were there.

They were very kind about my horrible French and we had a really fun time. :)

After Strasbourg, we saw some more beautiful vineyards and gorgeous Alsatian towns:

Then it was back to Heidelberg, where Julie helped to organize a meetup with the Heidelberg Knitters group at a great restaurant!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to see us in Germany and France!  It was so thrilling for us to meet some European Ravelers. I took tons more photos of our trip- too many to fit in this blog post! So much fun!

Now over to Mary-Heather about her travels in September and October! :)

::Mary-Heather here… thanks, Jess!::

Here in the mountains in New Mexico, the smell of roasting green chile and pinon is in the air… along with loads and loads of hot air balloons! Fall is here, and yarn lovers are out in force taking advantage of the newly crisp air.

In September, just as the heat was starting to turn, New Mexico Ravelers got together for a meetup at Oodles Yarns and Beads in Santa Fe. The meetup was held in conjunction with a workshop by Jane Thornley (color4texture) and you can read more about the day and her adventures in New Mexico in her articles in This Week in Ravelry: Fiber Foraging in Santa Fe and Ravelry Meetup in Santa Fe. It was a wonderful day - those of us from Albuquerque and points south took the train up north to walk to the shop (after nabbing some sopapillas at a restaurant near the depot first, of course). It was wonderful to meet so many other Ravelers from the Land of Enchantment - thank you to everyone who came! It was great to hang out with you!

The first weekend in October is the much anticipated Wool Festival at Taos. This festival, held in a park in the beautiful mountain town of Taos, features a rich variety of wool and animal fibers from the states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. There is music playing, dogs frolicking, the sweet smell from the cinnamon almonds booth blankets the whole festival, and if you are overwhelmed by all of the beautiful wool and need a break, the town of Taos is a lovely destination in its own right, packed with art galleries, fantastic restaurants, and beautiful mountain views. It’s a truly wonderful weekend!

The organizers generously donated a big tent for Ravelers to have a home base right in the middle of the festival grounds! The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and crisp - and it was so nice to have a place to gather, talk, craft, and rest if we happened to be tired from carrying around big bags of wool or fleece. Ahem.

Thank you so much to the organizers of the festival for providing such a wonderful space for us to gather and meet, and thank you to everyone who came by, said hello, shared some Ravelry love, and baked or ate cupcakes with us. (If you ever get the chance to eat one of Deltafine’s cider cupcakes… take it!!) I’m already looking forward to next year!

Now, we’re off again! We’re headed to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend, and we’ll be posting more information about that very soon! Look for the news about our daytime meetups, Saturday night party, and awesome party sponsors in the next couple of days!

First up, Mary-Heather is teaming with Oodles Yarn and Bead Gallery and Jane Thornley to host a meetup in  Santa Fe, New Mexico this Saturday, September 5th.

It will take place after the workshop that Jane is teaching at the store.  Here is the Ravelry Event listing for this meetup where you can RSVP and see more information!  Come by and meet some NM Ravelers and get a Ravelry button from Mary-Heather!

Next, Casey and I will be traveling to Germany to attend the Germany Ravelry Meetup on September 12th in Backnang, Baden-Wurttemberg. We will be around all day on Saturday and I will be participating in one of the classes with my friend Julie, who is living in Heidelberg.  I can’t wait to check out the market and see some German yarn!  For more information, check out the group and RSVP here!

In the evening on Saturday, we will be hanging out from about 6:30 pm at Kunberger Aura in Backnang.  We are not able to come back for the 2nd day of the Meetup on Sunday so we thought we’d take some time that night to meet everyone we missed during the day on Saturday.  The event page for the after hours meetup is here, where you can find the address and other information!

(Backnang photos by Christian Heindel)

After the meetup in Backnang, we are doing some travel around Germany and into Alsace, France with Julie and Adam- I think we will be stopping for a few nights.  We will probably organize a meetup while we are in France if there is any interest and I will edit this post if we have more information about that!  (UPDATE! Here is the event page for the Ravelry Meetup in Strasbourg, Alsace!)

Once we have exhausted Alsace’s supply of cheese, wine and onion tarts, we will be heading back to Heidelberg and will have a meetup on September 19th around 6pm. You can see more details and RSVP here!

Thank you so much to all the organizers of these events for being so welcoming to us and for working so hard on these meetups!  We can’t wait!!

Comments

We have been recovering all week from the absolutely amazing time that we had last week in Portland at Sock Summit. Our expectations for this trip were high - how could they not be? Incredible teachers and classes, fun events (including our own Ravelry party!), and a gathering of yarn-lovers in a huge marketplace. Each and every aspect of the event was better than we could have hoped. On the very first day, we noticed something a little funny about all the attendees, including us: everyone was walking around with a big goofy grin! It was clear that we knew we were a part of something special and we were all feeling so grateful to be a part of it.

The Ravelry Party on Saturday night was loads of fun. Between 600 and 650 Ravelers came out to the World Forestry Center in Portland and had an incredible time, thanks to our wonderful party sponsors Lantern Moon’s Sox Stix and Namaste (Cashmere Sponsors), and Berroco, Bijou Basin Ranch, Buffalo Gold, Gardiner Yarn Works, and Zealana (Merino sponsors). Thank you so much for your generosity - we hope that those of you who were able to attend had a great time looking around at all the smiles you helped to create - we could not have done this without you! :) Thanks also to the volunteers who came early to help set up the party and stayed late to help break it down (and to ConvolutedString Lisa, the hard-working volunteer coordinator for Sock Summit, who generously helped to round up the awesome crew)! Your cheerful work made it possible for us to have time to eat before the party (a minor miracle) and go to bed at a decent hour afterward (a major one). Thank you! The kindness and generosity of our community is really overwhelming sometimes.

That community spirit was at the forefront of the entire Sock Summit weekend. I think that anyone who was there would agree: the energy was palpable. There were many happy tears and full hearts - Sock Summit was so big, and yet it felt so intimate and special. The Sock Summit team (Tina Newton, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Cat Bordhi, Debbi Stone, Rachel Harvey, Debra McVae, and JoAnn D.) poured their hearts into the creation and execution of the event, and we all appreciate every moment! (And… ahem… hope for another! Too soon to mention that?)

Here in our Team Chatroom at Ravelry, we can’t get over just how inspired we are - not only with regards to our craft (such amazing classes, projects, and yarn all around!) but especially when it comes to our community and the wonderful people at the heart of it all. Jess and I were lucky enough to attend classes and lectures by the amazing Nancy Bush, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Heather Ordover, Barbara Walker, and Anna Zilboorg, and each gave us new skills as well as a deepened appreciation of the history and meaning of our craft. We are so thankful to them for sharing a bit of themselves with us and with everyone else there. Though we were too shy to pose for pictures with all the teachers, when we went to Barbara Walker’s lecture and saw that she was graciously posing for photos with her (many) fans, we looked at each other and said “we’ll really regret it if we don’t ask!” She is an incredible woman and was kind enough to say “yes” and take her picture with us. You can see that we are both a little teary and amazed at that moment… that happened a lot!

I might have to frame that one.

For more pictures from me or Jess, check out our Flickr sets (MH’s Sock Summit set, Jess’ Sock Summit set)! You can also browse the photo pools on Flickr: Sock Summit 2009 (for all photos) and Ravelry Events (for Ravelry Event-related photos). If you’re on Flickr and attended Sock Summit and/or the Ravelry party, please add your photos to the pool! We know that we aren’t alone in our feeling that we’re going to carry our Sock Summit experience with us forever: Casey set up a special part of Ravelry for Sock Summit Memories - all Ravelers can read blog posts and tweets related to Sock Summit, and a common phrases seem to be wow, fantastic, incredible, inspirational, fun, and of course: we hope there’s another!

Thanks again to the Sock Summit team, all the teachers and vendors, our fabulous party sponsors, and to everyone who came up to us and said hello or gave us a hug (or both)! You were all a part of a weekend that we will never forget. To Socks!

update: I forgot the cardinal rule of wearing handknits on the Ravelry blog - they must be linked! :) In several pictures, I am wearing Entomology by Laura Nelkin (the light pink beaded shawl), and Jess is wearing her Ishbel by Ysolda Teague (deep pink lace). In the bottom picture, Jess is wearing her wedding shawl, the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark. :)

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The Dye For Glory Results are live! The gallery is publicly viewable - you can share it with your non-Raveler friends!

You can read more on the Sock Summit blog and at the Yarn Harlot’s blog - thank you, Tina and Stephanie, for the wonderful idea, thank you to all the amazingly talented dyers who participated, and thank you to all 14,557 people who cast 154,828 votes. Wow. Congratulations, all!

We’d like to clear out some of our old inventory so that we can bring out some new merchandise- and we have some things that we are really excited about coming up!

Starting now get 20% off overstocked and discontinued items if you buy anything at regular price!  This could be your last chance as some of these sale items will not be re-stocked!

Crazy Bob’s Super Sale ends August 10th.

We also have been working hard on pulling together a party where Ravelers in town for Sock Summit and locals can get together and have some fun!  I know we will all be busy having a great time meeting the amazing teachers and speakers and learning new techniques but I hope you can spare the evening to come by our Ravelry meetup!

Where: Central Plaza and Cheatham Hall at the World Forestry Center in Washington Park, Portland (more info including directions below)

When: Saturday, August 8 from 7 - 11 pm (please oh please! arrive no earlier than 7pm)

RSVP on the Ravelry Events page!

We’re going to have finger food (not full dinner but some yummy snacks!), music, cash bar with good local beer and wine, amazing prize giveaways from our Sponsors, plenty of Hello! username buttons so that we can identify each other, and a really fun time.

It just would not be possible for us to host this event without the help of our Sponsors:

Lantern Moon’s Sox Stix and Namaste

Berroco, Bijou Basin Ranch, Buffalo Gold, Gardiner Yarn Works, & Zealana

Thank you so much to our generous Sponsors!!

Getting to the party:

The World Forestry Center (google maps link) is accessible via the MAX light rail line so it should be very easy for us all to make our way over there from the convention center.  Here’s a map with the two stations highlighted. (For more information on public transit options, call TRI­MET at 503-­238-­RIDE or visit their website.)

We don’t recommend driving since we cannot guarantee parking although there is a shared lot with the Oregon Zoo and the Children’s Museum.

Address for the World Forestry Center: 4033 SW Canyon Rd Portland, OR 97221-2798

Once you arrive at Washington Park, we will have signs directing you to our party at Central Plaza and Cheatham Hall but you may find these maps handy: Washington Park map and World Forestry Center map

We will also be attending classes and shopping at the market at Sock Summit so make sure you come say hello! Can’t wait to see you there!

RSVP for the party!

Comments

Those gorgeous yarns (201 entries total!) are the work of the 81 dyers who have entered the Sock Summit Dye For Glory contest! We’re pleased to announce that voting is now open to all Ravelers!

Voting is easy! Just go to www.ravelry.com/socksummit and click on a category to see all the colorways that have been submitted in that category. (The yarns come up in a different order for each voter, so we’re all seeing the colorways randomly and there is no advantage to being at the top.) Look at the pretty pictures, read about what inspired the dyer, and select your favorite by clicking the “vote for this yarn” checkbox. You’ll see a green banner showing your vote at the top of the yarn, and a little green arrow will show by the category name, to show that you voted in that category.

Voting is open until August 1st, 11:59 pm Eastern time. If you like yarn (and we’re guessing you just might), take a moment to check out these submissions and vote for your favorite! We think that every single submission deserves a little glory.

p.s. To the 660 eager people who found the voting link early and have already cast their votes - please go back and take a moment to be sure that all of your votes are still the way you want them - a few entries were moved to different categories or removed. Thanks!

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The pattern is Oceane, by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes (frenchgirlknits), and it was purchased by Raveler michelledevon. Thank you to Kristeen and Michelle!

We are very proud of our pattern sales service and are lucky to have received such great feedback from designers and Ravelry users - feedback that has helped us to build cool features for everyone.

Knitters and Crocheters: why would you want to buy patterns on Ravelry?

There is the handy Ravelry library! Ravelry pattern purchases are stored in the “PDFs” tab of your Ravelry library and available for you to download at any time. Not only do you never have to remember where you saved your PDF file, but the pattern will also show up if you choose the “in my library” filter when you are looking for patterns using the Ravelry advanced search:

You get pattern updates! If a designer finds errata in a pattern that you purchased, they can easily update the pattern with the new, corrected PDF and send out an email with a link to download the new PDF (the PDF in your library will also be updated)!

The designer gets most of the bucks! Supporting each other helps to keep our industry growing.

Designers: why would you want to use Ravelry to sell your patterns?

For all the reasons above, plus:

It’s easy! You can manage your store right through your designer profile on Ravelry, check out your sales charts and other statistics, and get lots of help from Ravelry and other designers in the Ravelry Shopkeepers group. The Shopkeepers group is a great place to share ideas with us, too - like everything else in Ravelry, the Pattern Sales service is a WIP and we’re always happy to get ideas and suggestions for new features!

You can use the Ravelry Pattern store to sell on your own website - even to non-Ravelry members! With every pattern you sell through Ravelry, you get download links to use on your own site, for individual pattern purchases or to add to a cart so that crafters can purchase more than one of your patterns at a time. We even provide links that will give you cute “buy now” buttons for your site!

We’re not exclusive! If you use the Ravelry pattern store and also want to use another service somewhere else at this time, for whatever reason - go for it! We’re always happy to hear of new features and improvements we can add to our services, but we will never make you agree to use Ravelry’s services exclusively.

Not only do we provide all these cool features, but the fees that Ravelry charges to use this service are very reasonable:

$0 to $20 in monthly sales: free
$20.01 to $100 in monthly sales: 5% of total sales
$100.01 to $250 in monthly sales: $5
$250.01 to $1000 : $10
$1000.01 and up : $20

That means more money goes right to you, the designer! Helping independent designers and yarnies get exposure and share their passion and their work with the community of yarn-lovers on Ravelry has always been a huge focus of the site. It makes us happy to know that knitters, crocheters, and designers are all connecting and supporting each other through offering and purchasing great patterns right here on Ravelry!

p.s. As a special surprise, we are going to send a Mint Animals Ravelry t-shirt in the size of your choice (they come in the Unisex style, too) and a Ravelry Button Pack to michelledevon and frenchgirlknits. (We’ll write you for your shipping details!) Thank you for using the Ravelry Pattern Store, everyone! Designers, we can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

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Here at Ravelry, we knew that we were going to Sock Summit, and we knew we wanted to have a meetup, but we also knew that the community spirit that was building around the event was going to be something really special, something that we would love to help bring to knitters and crocheters who weren’t able to attend the event in person, if we could. So we wrote to Stephanie and Tina, and it turns out they had the perfect idea for a Sock Summit/Ravelry teamup in the works:

They had been thinking about a contest to provide a showcase for dyers connected with Sock Summit. Tina, a hand-dyer, wanted to create an opportunity for dyers to come forward and strut their stuff to the global community of knitters and crocheters who admire their work. As knitters and crocheters, we are inspired each day by the work of dyers, soaking in their color choices and often choosing our patterns and projects based upon what would work best with the techniques they choose. This contest and showcase offers dyers connected with Sock Summit to create a special sock yarn colourway that fits into one of the categories listed below and display their work in front of the global Ravelry community, and it gives Ravelers around the world the chance to participate in this amazing event by voting for their favorite colourway in each category. Together, we can all Dye for Glory.

How do you participate? The first step is for the dyers. After that, the rest of us get to play. :) First things first: here are the rules:

What kind of sock yarn colourways can be submitted?

The Dye for Glory contest has the following categories:

Kettled: The entire dye process happens in the dyepot (kettle); all manipulation occurs with the whole skein in the pot with the dye.
Watercolors: Any hand-dye process that uses any group of colours diluted and mixed to create a watery fluid effect.
Random Stripes: Any skein that is hand-dyed to create stripes by nature of the placement of the dye on the skein, no matter how you get it there.
Predictable Stripes: Any hand-dye process that produces a skein designed to generate predictable, intentional stripes, by nature of long repeats of colour.
Pooler: Any hand-dyed process that creates a skein that pools colour in delightful intentional puddles while knitting. (We hate that these pretty yarns have a bad name.)
Mosaic: Any hand-dye process that results in a skein with multiple colours, all existing in small areas and resulting in short repeats, usually the result of the use of multiple techniques on one skein.
Painted: Yarn that’s dyed outside of the dyepot, with the application of colour (using a brush, turkey baster, syringe, fingers…) to paint on the skein.
Dipped: Any skein that’s coloured by dipping parts of the skein in dye.
Machined: Any yarn dyed by a mill, rather than a person.
Printed: Skeins that are printed by machine with dye to produce a regular, predictable pattern over the entire length of the skein. (Regia Jacquard Colours or Opal Hundertwasser are good examples.)
Primary: A hand-dye process that uses only primary colours (Red, blue, Yellow)
Tertiary: A dye process that uses (or results in) only tertiary (look it up) colours.
Shaded solid: Any hand dye process that results in a skein that is only one hue, and gets its variance from the rate of absorption, or the addition of black, not other colours.
Out of the box: This category is for any other process (Machined or hand-dyed) that we didn’t think of. Yarn people are creative people. If the dye-process results in sock yarn, you’re on. Go nuts!

Dyers, in your stash section here on Ravelry, you will see the following fancy new button on any yarn that is not in the database but that is added by you or belonging to you (if you are a yarnie):

(This button is going to appear all over the place in Ravelry stashes, since we at Ravelry don’t have the info about who is eligible according to the rules. We know that the button is shiny and new, but please don’t click and submit your yarn if you aren’t eligible to participate! That’ll just make more work for Stephanie and Tina, who will be checking the booth information for all of the submissions.)

If your yarn will be sold at Sock Summit, when you are ready to submit your special colourway, you’ll start there in the stash section - enter your yarn (with all the information you can completed and filled out first, including colorway name and the information about the Sock Summit booth in which your yarn will be sold in the notes).

Very important dates!

Have questions? We’ve started a thread about this in the Sock Summit Ravelry Group. Please use that thread to ask any questions you might have about this! We here at Ravelry will be monitoring the thread, as will the good folks from Sock Summit. Together, we’ll be able to team up and respond to you quickly. (Please do not use the customer service emails of Ravelry or Blue Moon Fiber Arts, or Steph’s email address, or comment on our blog posts if you need help - we really will help you faster if you post in that thread! Plus, it’s likely that others will have the same questions you have and you’ll be helping lots of other people by asking it there, which is totally appropriate and good for this community event.)

We’ll have more details about the voting when we’re closer to the date on which voting begins - July 23. Until then - dyers - dye for glory!

On June 10, Jess, Casey and I traveled to beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. There is an annual Wool Festival there, and, while we weren’t able to stay for the entire weekend, we would love to go back - just look at the amazing scenery!

Jess and Casey were greeted by the lovely secondsister, who had knit each of them a pair of cozy coordinating socks - such a generous gift! They’ve both worn them frequently since:

We came to the Wool Market to teach a class on Ravelry, called Ravelry: Unraveled. Classes were held in the local high school (our room had a Johnny Cash poster on the wall - cool!) and we felt quite official! The room was full of friendly Ravelers, and of course knitting, crocheting, and spinning in class was not only permitted - it was encouraged.

The class went quickly (for us at least… hopefully for the attendees, too!) and we really enjoyed sharing the details about how Ravelry got started as well as handy tips on how to use the site. It felt like we had just arrived in Estes Park, but early the next morning, we got up and headed to Ohio for TNNA!

When we arrived in Columbus, we met up with Sarah - our first meeting with her since she started working for Ravelry a month ago! Sarah was given such a warm welcome at TNNA - it was great. Lots of questions about “the new baby” and mentions of that silly stork image kept us laughing!

It was great to have the whole team together in person - boy do the ideas flow when we all get talking!

TNNA, our industry’s trade show, is always a whirlwind. There is truly no other way to describe it. From the moment we arrived until we left, it was non-stop activity. Our first event was the Keep the Fleece party organized by BuffaloGuy of Buffalo Gold yarns (mmmm)…

Keep the Fleece is a celebration of fiber in honor of the United Nation’s proclamation that 2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibers. The goal of Keep the Fleece is to raise $250,000 for Heifer International by organizing teams to knit and crochet on the world’s longest scarf! Our job at the party was to help at the front door and sign up shops to sponsor rows on the scarf (they will be sewn together at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this fall). Anyone can help with this effort - for more details and to participate and talk to others taking part, you can join the Keep the Fleece Ravelry group!

The party gave us the chance to start this year in a festive mood and talk to lots of other TNNA attendees. We met up with new and old friends, walked every inch of the conference center floor (next year I want to wear a pedometer - our feet take a pounding!) and saw an unbelievable amount of beautiful yarn and many exciting new books and publications coming later this summer and fall. The mood of the show was upbeat, busy, and invigorated - great news for all yarn lovers!

As much fun as we have at TNNA, it really is a lot of work (in a good way!). This year, we were even busier than usual, because we taught a class at the show! Together with Kim Werker, we gave a class for LYS owners called “Your Shop and the Internet: Working Together.”

Despite an early class time (8 am on Sunday morning - brutal!) we had a good number of attendees; shop owners with a wide range of comfort and experience levels with the internet. It was very exciting to have been selected to speak at TNNA about something we are so passionate about, and the class had great questions and feedback both during and after the session.

We were also honored to have been present for the outstanding (and hilarious) model-off between Cirilia Rose and Ysolda Teague. They explored all the “knitting + modeling” cliches we could come up with. These two are pros, indeed - just look at the “expert” way they hold their needles!

No post about TNNA in Columbus is truly complete without a mention of that most splendid of treats, Jeni’s Ice Cream. Many have spoken of its charms, and if you’ve never tasted it, I’m sure you are wondering: “seriously, is it THAT good?”

The answer is yes. Yes it is. Jess and I already miss the yummy “goat cheese and roasted cherries” flavor we got hooked on - it will be hard to wait until next year, but wait we must.

Thank you to everyone who we spoke with and met with at TNNA and Estes Park, and especially all of you who took the time to come and hear us speak at either event. There is nothing like a friendly crowd of Ravelers to put us at ease, and we’re honored that you were interested in what we had to share. Thank you!

Updated! Two important, burning issues from the comments:

1) What is the blue shawl that Jess is wearing? The pattern is Andromeda, by Miriam Felton. One of these days we’ll learn that any handmade items we post on the blog require pattern names and links! ;) (To that end: the purple that I am wearing wearing is Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague, and the deep red shawl that Sarah is wearing is the lovely Cleite by Miriam Felton.)

2) When I wrote about “the new baby,” it was a silly reference to the stork image that we used to announce Sarah’s hiring (if you click on the link where I joked about the new baby up above, you’ll see it); lots of people at TNNA thought the image was funny and commented about it. Nobody on Team Rav is pregnant. :) (Sorry, Frecklemom, Mama Forbes, Grammie Philips, and Rainydaygoods’ Mommers. No grandbabies yet… but you have very cute grandpuppies.)

Carry on!

comments…

So what was it like? Sort of like combining all the things you love about summer camp: the woods and nature, cabins, beautiful lake views, friendly camaraderie and then adding in all the things that we adults need to have fun: thoughtful organizers, good warm beverages in the morning, amazing food and cozy beds! (Take a look at other peoples’ photos on flickr if you want to see what I mean- they say it all better than I ever could!)

Then, of course, there were the incredibly creative and friendly people- I spent a lot of my time there just being happily overwhelmed by genius- Jonatha Brooke singing,  an impromptu hooping session with handmade hula hoops, inspiring teachers and enthusiastic fellow students!

Casey and I were able to take some great classes!  I took ‘Combination Knitting’ with Annie Modesitt and ‘Knit to Flatter and Fit’ with Sally Melville- both were really excellent. (My first knitting classes actually!)  Casey took the Color Class with Lizzie House, which he said was awesome.  Next year, we will be taking more!

There also was the gorgeous location of the Rockywold- Deephaven Camps.  I love getting out of the city in the summer and, really, it is impossible to not relax at Squam.

And on Saturday night, we got to participate in the great art fair!  Here we are getting hugs from Elizabeth next to our booth:

We brought some beer and waaaaaay too much pizza- I spent most of the time making sure that everyone was fed. ;)

We were so lucky to have great vendors that joined us:

Shepherd Susie and Erin from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm:

Lisa from Tsarina of Tsocks, Jennifer from Holiday Yarns and Heather from Sereknity Yarn and Fiber.

Caro from Splityarn and Debbie from Stitchy McYarnpants (or if you prefer, Splityarnpants- haha)

   
Kim from The Woolen Rabbit and Jessamyn from Jesh’s Spindles:

Thank you so much to everyone who planned and participated at Squam this year- we’ll see you next year!

…drum roll please…

onestitchshort Sarah!

Before we let Sarah tell you all a little about herself, we’d like to send a final thank you out to everyone who applied for the Community Support position. So many *amazing* Ravelers applied for the position and although 1500+ applications were a lot to go through, we truly enjoyed learning a little bit more about each of you. Thank you all for the time and energy that you put into applying. The process was a lot of work for both us and the applicants but it was also fun and educational. Our only regret is that choosing one person meant that we had to turn so many great people down. We were so lucky to have so many incredible, enthusiastic candidates.

Sarah is a creative and dedicated customer support professional. She’s a fantastic communicator and is joining our team with fresh eyes and new ideas, but is also a long-time Ravelry user who really understands the vision and tone of the site. We are so happy to welcome her to Team Ravelry! Once Sarah gets settled and has helped us out with a few immediate things you can expect to see a lot of her. She’ll be actively involved and talking with you all in the forums, email, and other spots just like the three of us.

Without further ado - here is a video message and a short bio from Sarah:

Sarah:

A little bit about me…

I grew up watching my mom crochet and knit, but I resisted learning how until about eight years ago when I decided to try crocheting. My mom spied my crochet project when she was visiting and decided that I should learn to knit, too, so I can help her with the family stockings that she knits each new member of our family. The rest, as they say, is history. I was completely hooked! When I’m not playing with yarn, you can find me chasing my toddler around the house or the playground, cycling with the husband or snuggling on the couch with my miniature schnauzer, Mr. T-Bone (pictured below). Yes, while it wasn’t a requirement, we have a new cute dog on Team Ravelry! I love Ravelry and I am super excited to get to work with each of you in this new role!

Want to leave a comment or a welcome for Sarah?

Casey and I will be participating in the Workshops as well- I am so excited about the classes that I am taking!  After our very busy spring, relaxing by the lake and being creative sounds like a perfect way to start off the summer.

And YES!  There are still spaces available to attend the Workshops- please come play with us!

(This June is the first fiber- focused SAW so they’ll have more fiber photos for their video next year! ;)

The registration info is here but Elizabeth says that if you have any questions to not hesitate to contact her! ( elizabethATsquamartworkshopsDOTcom or call 603.677.2157)

Also, we are going to have our very first Ravelry party in New England up at Squam on Saturday, June 6th.  The party is open to all Ravelers and friends, not only those attending the Workshops!

We are very excited to have some amazing vendors help us kick it off:

• Caro from Splityarn
• Debbie from Stitchy McYarnpants
• Jessamyn from Jesh’s Spindles
• Kim from The Woolen Rabbit
• Jennifer from Holiday Yarns
• Lisa from Tsarina of Tsocks
• Susan from Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm
• Heather from Sereknity Yarn and Fiber

Please help us get a headcount by RSVPing attending on our Ravelry Events page for this event!

There is also a Ravelry group for SAW here if you are attending and would like to get planning for the fun!

We met up with my mom, Ysolda and Laura and had some lime fizzes!

Saw, and were kissed, by some cute animals!

Had two great meetups, on Saturday and Sunday, with tons of friendly Ravelers!

  ‘

Gave out some special MDS&W buttons:

Enjoyed Guido’s After Party!

… and we ended the weekend sleepy and muddy but very happy!

(Like the Ysolda Teague / Laura Chau / Mary-Heather Cogar traveling trunk show? We were warm goshdarnit!)

Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello!

If you have photos from this weekend or any other Ravelry meetup or event, be sure to add it to our Flickr Events Pool!

(Edited to add details of knitwear, since we are being flooded with emails!)
Mary-Heather is wearing Ysolda’s Verity:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/verity

Ysolda is wearing her Ishbel beret and shawl:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel-beret
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel

Casey’s hat is Ysolda’s Cairn:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cairn

Laura is wearing Mary-Heather’s Simple Things shawl (pattern coming soon to Ravelry!)
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/rainydaygoods/simple-things

She also has her Lucy in the Sky Cardigan:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lucy-in-the-sky

I am wearing Ysolda’s Ishbel shawl knit in Fyberspates laceweight silk. It is scrumptious.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel

Comment!

We have our official MDSW Meetup times and locations! On Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3, we are meeting in the Rabbit Buildling from 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Click on the dates to check out their event pages right here on Ravelry, so that you can RSVP!

You can check out the location of the Rabbit Building on the Fairgrounds Map page of the MDSW site; here is a little closeup:

If you haven’t yet, go ahead and mark that you were attending MDSW on its own Ravelry Events page! :)

The Maryland Sheep and Wool volunteers are always so helpful in finding a space that is accessible to all, available for use, and large enough to fit a whole bunch of Ravelry members and curious Ravelers-to-be in between their other scheduled events. We’re so pleased to be able to have a good spot for our meetup! Last year, on Saturday, we were pretty crowded (heh) when trying to fit everyone inside the Rabbit Building, but there is a lot of space on the lawns all around it so we’re able to spread out, which is great.

We’ll have buttons to hand out at the scheduled meetups and sharpies so that you can write your usernames on them. We really can’t wait to meet everyone and say hello!

comments…

Ravelers have since dubbed April 11th “Bobmas” which means that today is Bobmas Eve. Last year, yarn shops and knitting and crochet groups got together and celebrated with yarn, cupcakes, bobtinis (really!), pints, and um… silly hats?

This time we put together a short video message for everyone. It’s a little hello from the 4 of us (+ dogs) along with some photos from some meetups and events from the last year. Thank you to redplaid Kellie and The Superior Crafters of the North for giving us us the idea!

Thank you all so much for spending time with us and Ravelry this year!

– Casey, Jess, Mary-Heather, Erica and Bob

Comments…

We want to remind everyone that the nominations for the Bobbys are going to end on March 31! If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to check out the categories and nominate some of your favorite Ravelry posts, patterns, projects, stashes, and more! You can find more information in our previous blog post about the nominations process. Soon, the Bobbys will be open for voting!

Nominate here!

(Comments…)

Hi Ravelry! Erica the Email Fairy is moving on, and Ravelry is looking for a new team member! This is a part-time (~20 hours per week), work-at-home position with flexible hours, and a definite possibility of growth with the company over time. :) We are looking for someone tech-savvy, friendly, and positive who is very familiar with the Ravelry site and community.

essential responsibilities include:

- Provide the first line of helpful support to all emails coming in via our contact-us page, the shopping@ravelry.com, and the advertising@ravelry.com email addresses (and alerting the rest of the staff to potentially important issues that come in). Topics in these emails can cover anything under the sun - designer/yarnie issues, confidential forum issues, happy people, Ravelry mini-mart questions, advertiser help, and more!

- Hook up designers, yarnies, and design teams with their Ravelry profiles and answering basic questions or directing to helpful on-Ravelry resources as needed.

- Assist users with Ravelry invitation issues.

- Provide help as needed on the Ravelry “work” forums: For the Love of Ravelry, Help!, Ravelry Shopkeepers, Ravelry Editors, Advertisers’ Caboodle.

- Assist Jess and Mary-Heather with ad approvals (image feedback, checking groups for competitors, etc.).

- Must be familiar with Ravelry’s site, vision, and tone!

- Must be able to stay motivated, level-headed, and work both independently as a self-starter on your own tasks, and as a part of our tightly-knit (har) team.

- Ownership of cute dog not required.

To apply for this position:

Please email jobs@ravelry.com with your resume and an email telling us more about your experience and why you are interested in the job. Please include your Ravelry username! We will need to receive it by Friday, March 27. You don’t need to write a formal cover letter… heck, you can make a video, upload it to the internet somewhere, and send us the link. :) Whatever works!

We do have some questions we would like you to answer:

1) Why do you want to work for Ravelry?
2) What qualities, technical experience (computer and crafty!) and skills could you bring to our little team?
3) If you were a yarn-producing fiber, what would you be and why?

Go Team Rav!

p.s. if you have questions about this position, please email jobs@ravelry.com. Thank you! :)

Updated Monday, March 23 - Frequently Asked Questions!

Can you apply for this position if you live outside of the United States?

- Sure! International applicants - please go ahead and apply, and thank you for your interest! We are checking out all the labor law and employment tax details we would need when it comes to hiring a non-US-based person, but we are open to the possibility! :)

How old do you have to be?

- You must be 18 years old to apply.

What do you mean by “tech-savvy?”

- You don’t need to be a computer programmer to apply by any means - Casey does all the code here. :) You should be very familiar with Ravelry and the way the site works; we will help get you up to speed, of course, but familiarity with The List, the Ravelry wiki, our Community Guidelines, and how to “work” the technical things on the site (uploading photos, linking blog posts, etc.) is important. You should be very internet-savvy in general. The customer support emails are handled through a web-based email system, and you will often be helping users with very limited computer experience with a very wide variety of tasks, so proficiency with basic computer tasks (in both Mac and PC operating systems) is needed.

Is this position paid?

- Yes! This position is paid an hourly wage and requires about 20 hours a week. Pay is competitive with customer service and administrative jobs in the Boston area.

(comments…)

Bob’s little ears mean only one thing: nominations are open for this year’s Bobby Awards!

The Bobby Awards are the unofficial Ravelry awards, organized and run by the moderators and members of The Bobbys Group here on Ravelry! With categories chosen by the group and ranging from “Best Handspun” to “Funniest Single Forum Post” to “Best Disaster,” there is sure to be something on Ravelry you would like to nominate for a Bobby.

This year, Ravelry got involved with the nominations and Casey made a handy nominator - since the site has grown so much since last year’s Bobby Awards (which were huge!), we wanted to make things easier on the mods and be sure that every Raveler who wanted to participate and nominate something for the Bobbys would be able to do so.

You can check out the categories and their descriptions on the Bobbys nominations page. If there is a project, pattern, person, image, forum post, etc. that you would like to nominate for a given category, you can nominate it by pasting in the URL in the “link” field, making sure that the right category is selected in the green box, adding a comment if you wish, and clicking the nominate button.

If you happen to be looking at a page on Ravelry that has a Bobbys category and you’d like to nominate it, clicking on the Bobbys icon in the footer will take you to the nominations page with the link automagically filled in for you. You just have to be sure to select the appropriate category before you hit the “nominate” button!

Nominations are open until March 31… after that, the voting for the winners will begin! (We’ll have more info about that later.) There are even prizes for the winners! If you are interested in donating a prize, you can contact Jesh to let her know.

We’d like to give a huge thank-you to the moderators of The Bobbys group here - it’s a lot of fun for us to get involved with a big group project that is open to all Ravelry members. Thank you to Jesh, Kateyj, knit2gether, smittenknitten, telcontar, ThatOtherRedhead, and Veriton!

Have fun!

Comments?

Everywhere we looked around the shop, there were special, fun details for the Ravelry party. A banner made from a whimsical drawing of Bob and Hank, the shop dog at The Knitting Nest, drawn by none other than Franklin, was up on the wall for Ravelers to sign (and Jess and Casey to take back to Ravelry World Headquarters). Handknit and fulled stockings, needle-felted with our names and filled with chocolates and Valentines, hung below the banner. Project bags with the Bob & Hank banner were available, and there was even a gift basket filled with doggie treats and toys for Bob!

One of our favorite things to do is get out and meet Ravelers. We hung out at the shop all day, got to look at beautiful projects, connect faces to the avatars and projects, and talk in person with users we’ve known from the forums for months. Such a great time!

There were even sweet dogs at the party, to help keep us from missing Bob and Charlie too much! Sweet Hank, the cutest Westie on the planet, gave us lots of snuggles. Halfway through the day, a lovely Raveler walked into the shop carrying her Boston terrier girl! Jess made a beeline to the front door to give some ear scratchies.

Thank you so much to all the Texas Ravelers who came to say hello, and especially to the staff of The Knitting Nest - we had a great time, and we can’t wait to come back!

Thanks, Stephig, for the last photo of Team Rav! To check out more pictures from our weekend in Austin, you can view the Flickr sets in Jess‘ and Mary-Heather’s photostreams, or by searching Ravelry Weekend on Flickr!

Comments…

Come see us up in one of our favorite parts of the world, Squam Lake in New Hampshire.

One of my longtime blog friends, Elizabeth (of bluepoppy) has organized a incredible textile retreat running June 3-7, 2009.  Casey and I will be there and I seriously can’t wait to take some of these classes!  (Summer at Squam Lake pretty much sounds like heaven to me just now, with the snow coming down here in Boston!)

There will be a Ravelry event on Saturday night, June 6th (more details to follow)

Registration opened on the 2nd- so check it out!  18 knitting classes with simply fabulous teachers, gorgeous location, and yummy food!  To get a feel for what it’s all about, go here to the “raves” section and watch a slideshow.

Teacher descriptions here- lots of familiar faces!

We also have a Squam Art Workshops group set up here on Ravelry- come by and ask questions or you can email info AT squamartworkshops DOT com

[Update!] Elizabeth has provided 4 books for us to give away! So comment on this post and we will pull 4 winners! Deadline for submitting your comment is tomorrow, 2/5 at 5pm EST.

There are two books for the giveaway: Ordinary Sparkling Moments (ONE copy) and Roots and Recollections: A Century of Rockywold-Deephaven Camps (THREE copies).

Ordinary Sparkling Moments by Christine Mason Miller (www.christinemasonmiller.com) was launched at Squam Art Workshops in 2008. It is a beautiful book that explores the ways in which we can find and celebrate creative inspiration in our daily lives.

Roots and Recollections: A Century of Rockywold-Deephaven Camps by Megan Thorn recounts the extraordinary creation of the RDC camps that was founded in 1897 by two amazing visionaries: Alice Mabel Bacon and Mary Alice Armstrong. Published in 1997 to commemorate a century of stewardship and continued success, the book features stunning, archival photographs of the people, the distinctive architecture of the camps and above all the dramatic beauty of the Squam Lakes region. Naturally, the book is also replete with stories and anecdotes about this unique family camp that is steeped in rich tradition.

Comment!

This Week in Ravelry is a community published newspaper that is all about - you guessed it - Ravelry! If you haven’t yet read TWIR, you’re missing out on helpful news, tips and tricks, links to funny and useful posts from all over the site, and even our very own Auntie Bubbopants advice column. We are so grateful to all the group members and moderators (phoenix, timiat, bubbo, bunnysquirrel, cherryred8, everknowledge, Froddopsycho, lusciousluka, Poochita, ShannonAnn, and rewselene) for their hard work and dedication each week as they create each issue. Thank you so much! :)

If you’d like to contribute to TWIR (that would make you a TWIRP - This Week in Ravelry Person), check out the group! Everyone is welcome to join.

Comments…