Ravelry has a very large network of online groups and forums. There are groups for everything you can imagine. I’m in a group for people who like the Wheel Of Time fantasy series and another for people who hate charts. There is also a group for blind and low vision knitters. I don’t post to the groups very often but they can be very helpful.

Finding And Joining A Group

1. Go to Ravelry and log in if you aren’t already.
2. Go to the top of the page and arrow down to find the “Groups” link.
3. This page will list the groups you are in. You can search for a group as well as browse. Searching will probably be faster. The search field can be found under the “Search Groups” heading. It’s also the only form field on the page so you can easily find it with your screen reader’s find next form field command.
4. Let’s search for the group for blind and low vision knitters. Type “Blind” in the search box and press enter.
5. Use your screen reader’s find next text command to find the words Search Results for blind”. Then arrow down to view your search results. I got 13 results in my search including one very funny one at the end of the list. The biggest group for blind knitters is called “Blind Webs”, and it is the first result.
6. Press enter on the group you want to join or learn more about.

This will take you to the group’s main page and you can explore to find out more about the group. There is a search edit box after the fresh discussion threads if you want to search the groups or forums.

The quickest way to find the “Join This Group” link is to use your screen reader’s links list. You can also find it a few links down from the search edit box.

Posting To A Group

On the individual group pages there will be a heading called “Fresh Discussion Threads”. Below this heading you will find a link to post a new topic as well as a link to subscribe to the group. This subscribe link takes you to the RSS feed and, if you want, you can get a message when there is a new topic in the group.

Below these links there is a table with the latest discussion threads. Press enter on any of the titles and it will take you to the thread. You can also subscribe to the individual threads from their specific pages.

To post to the thread just press enter on the reply link after any post to answer that comment specifically or use the “Reply To Thread” link at the bottom of the page for a more general response.

To quickly get to a list of your groups just press enter on the “Groups” link at the top of the page. The first heading will tell how many groups you are in; just arrow down to read the list. Have fun checking out all the different groups in Ravelry. There’s one for just about everything and if you can’t find the group you want, you can start one.

Ravelry is a great place to search for patterns. The most helpful part is selecting different search parameters. In this tutorial we’ll go through a sample search. We’ll search for a sweater pattern that uses worsted weight yarn, uses between 900 and 1200 yards, is for a child aged 4 to 12 and is available for free.

1. Go to Ravelry and log in if you aren’t already.
2. Go to the top of the page and arrow down to find the “Patterns” link. Press enter.
3. This will take you to the pattern search page. You can also browse for patterns but today we’re going to search. Type “sweater” in the search field and press enter.
4. This will bring up your preliminary results. Navigate to the first heading. It will read “Search.” Now use your screen reader’s find next text command once. It should land on the number of search results. I got 22,884 so we definitely need to narrow it down a little.
5. Arrow down until you find the drop box with the words “Jump to filter.” Below this box is a list of all the different search options. They are all the same as what is listed in the drop box. When you select a filter from the drop box it will move that set of options to the top of the list. You will have to go back to the drop box each time you need to select another filter because when you press enter or tab out of the box your cursor moves to the bottom of the filter you chose. The drop box will be the first form field from the top of the page so it’s not hard to find.
6.  Select “Weight” from the drop box and press tab to exit the box. You can arrow up through the choices or go back to the drop box and arrow down to get them in the right order. Either way, press enter on “Worsted 10-Ply”. The numbers after the choices tell how many matching patterns Ravelry has for this filter.
7. Now select “Yardage” from the drop down box. If you have any trouble finding where you are after you tab out of the box, just remember that the drop box is the first form field from the top of the page, and the filter you just chose is immediately after it. Now press enter on “900-1200 yards”.
8. Go back to the drop box and Select “Gender/Age/Size/Fit”. This filter requires you to select a sub-filter before you can make your choice. Press enter on “Age or Size”. Then press enter on “Child (4–12)”. You can press escape to close the sub-filter options if you are going to be arrowing around a lot but it’s not necessary.
9. Now find the drop box for the last time and select “Availability”. Either arrow up to find “Free” or go back to the drop box and arrow down. Press enter on “Free”.
10. Now that your search has been narrowed down you can get your results. After selecting the last filter, your cursor should be at the top of the search results. If you arrow down, you will find a list of the filters you chose followed by your search results. If you get lost on the page go to the top and use your screen reader’s find next text command to find the words “Search Results for Sweater” and arrow down from there.

Keep in mind that you can select as many or as few search parameters as you like. Also, pressing enter on the pattern name will take you to the Ravelry pattern page. This page has a lot of information about the pattern that can include yardage, available sizes. Gauge and suggested yarn. You will also find a link to the pattern source.

After the pattern details you will find the following links: Cast On, Add to Faves, To Queue. Selecting “Cast On” Will add this pattern as a new project in your notebook. Select this if you want to start the project right away. “Add to Faves” adds this pattern to a list of things you like. “To Queue” adds the pattern to a list of patterns you want to do in the future.

Have fun looking through the patterns. I’ll be back soon with another Ravelry tutorial.

One of my favorite Ravelry features is the project page. You can add a project and include details that might be needed later. What size needles did I use on that pair of socks that fit so well? Which pair of needle tips was I using on that sweater before I took them for something else? Which yarn did I use to make that cuddly baby blanket? If you keep track of your projects with Ravelry, all these questions and more can be answered easily.

You can also view other people’s projects on Ravelry. If someone else has made the same sweater you are working on, you can see what they did and read their notes about the project. This can be helpful if you run across a tricky spot or something doesn’t seem quite right. I usually glance through the completed projects before I start something new to see if there are any common problems to watch for.

In this post, I’ll explain how to add a project and share a few tips for adding the details for your project.

Adding A Project

1-      Go to Ravelry and log in if you’re not already.

2-      Go to the top of the page and arrow down until you find the link that says, “My Notebook” and press enter.

3-      Use your screen reader to find the link that says ”Add Project” and press enter. You can use the links list or spend some time exploring to find the link. It will be in the list of things under the first heading.

4-      The first page that comes up allows you to name your project and link to Ravelry’s pattern database. First, type the project name into the form field. This can be whatever you want it to be. You will also be able to change it later if you want.

5-      Now select the specific craft for this project.

6-      Check the box before the source for your pattern.

7-      In the next form field, type the name of the pattern you used. Try to make it as close to the actual pattern name as possible. Ravelry is going to do a search so you can link to the pattern in their database.

8-      Type the name of the pattern source in the last form field. You can leave this blank if you want but it will help to find the pattern if it has a generic name.

9-      Press the continue button.

10-   Now you will be on the pattern search page. The name of the pattern you typed on the last page will be automatically filled in the search box. Arrow down past the search button and you will find the list of patterns that have already been pulled up. Click on the link after the correct pattern that says “Choose This Pattern.” If it doesn’t show up right away you can change the text in the search box to try again.

Adding Project Details

Once you’ve linked to the pattern in Ravelry’s database you will be on your project page. On this page you can add as many or as few details as you would like. The form fields are self-explanatory. The only part I’ve found inaccessible lately is where you enter the needle size. When I click on “Add Needle” nothing happens. The same thing happens when I click on the “Add Yarn” link but if I save changes and come back to edit details, the form fields for the yarn details show up so don’t click on these more than once unless you want to add more than one yarn. The “Add Needle” link used to work the same way but something has changed. I’ll contact Ravelry to try to get something done about it and I’ll update this post if anything changes. In the meantime, I just make a note of the needle size in the notes section.

You can also link to Ravelry’s yarn database the same way you linked to the pattern database. Enter the name of the yarn in the yarn form field and tab to the next link and press enter. Then click on the name of the yarn you want to link to. This will automatically fill in the details for the yarn. You can add additional information like the color way, how many skeins you used and purchasing details.

One last note is about finding the drop boxes to fill in the start and finish dates for your project. These drop boxes are found after the “Save Changes” button so arrow down to add these details. Also remember that you can leave anything you don’t want to fill out blank.

Ravelry is a very large website so please don’t get discouraged if you have trouble finding what you want at first. Spend some time looking around to learn what there is on each page. I could explain exactly what is on every page but we would be here all day and it would take all the adventure out of it. Have fun exploring and I’ll be back soon with more posts to help.