Sometimes I feel like I exist in this yawning chasm solidly on the outside of the beading community. I have yet to make any beading friends, swap techniques, or make any connections with people that know the business of selling hand beaded jewelry. I struggle to even find online beading communities because I have been spoiled by the mother of all crafting sites, and not a single beading site that I have checked out thus far holds a candle to the intuitive usability of Ravelry. I adore that site. It is devoted to fiber arts, but it is a mecca of crafting. I really would love to see a site like Ravelry for beading. It is just so coherent, and finding your niche there is so very simple. Just an hour or two poking at that site you will be butt cheek deep in projects, ideas, pictures, resources, and most importantly; community.
This blog is about beading. I know I have mentioned knitting a few posts, but just so we understand each other, I am not about to post a guide to Kitchener stitching or how to work cables without a cable needle, but there are a few things that I miss about knitting. Ravelry is one of the things i miss dearly. Bear with me while I rant a bit. Or not.
I know there are forums for beading. Ravelry's are better. The way the forums are set up allows for people to create specialized groups, created around themes that interest you. Want to talk to a bunch of knitters and crocheters that like a certain TV show? Create a group. Only interested in talking about knitting curtains out of cobweb weight? Create a group. People will either join because they share in the interest, or they won't, but while you are talking about how to make that swag hang just so, there is not a bunch of white noise about knitting dog sweaters to plow through. I miss that kind of approach to the community because the setup is what you make out of it.
And it is not just the forums that immerse you so deeply in that site. The projects page is just wonderful. It is they type of thing you would expect to pay a monthly fee just to have access to it, but it is completely free. There is no limit to how many pictures you upload, you do not pay for them (never have had to as far as I am aware) and the whole page is arrange-able so you can showcase your projects the way you choose to. The whole site is this carefully constructed spider web of databases filled to the brim with project photos, patterns, suppliers. you want an idea of what this pattern looks like in a bunch of different colors with or without modifications? Anyone on the site that has done that pattern and tagged it as that pattern are added into an easily browesable gallery with just that project. Need ideas of what to do with a certain yarn? You can search for that yarn, in your colorway, and any project with that yarn and colorway tagged gets put into a gallery that you can go through. This kind of site would be such an incredible tool. I could write a tiny novel on all the facets and features of this site, and still not be able to convey just how helpful it is.
Not only is it friendly to the fiber artist using it, but it is also a great way to help promote responsible uses of copyrights. If you design something, release the pattern and 10 people make it, the project page that the user makes for the item makes it so easy for them to enter the name of the project, select the right design form a list, and bang! The project points to the pattern used, the pattern gives all the pertinent details. It is painless on the user's end to link up to that database full of that project.
If there were a way to apply this sort of format to beading, I think it would provide a great environment for beaders. I would love a Ravelry type site for beading. It is such a giant world out there, some organization would be such a haven. If I am over looking a site, please let me know. I would love to see it. And yes, I am aware that this post has nothing to do with the title.
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