Ravelry Basics Part 3
•Posted on July 07 2021
Tools/Needles
We all need some kind of system to keep track of what needles we own. We usually buy what we need as we need them and it is certainly helpful if we have a list of what is in our inventory. You certainly do not want to buy yarn for a new project only to find out once you get home, that you don’t have the correct needle size to start your new project.
Ravelry makes it easy to record all of your needles and to view that list at any time. Just go to My Notebook and then click/tap on Tools.
Adding new needles to your inventory is as easy as selecting the size into the chart by clicking/tapping into the space for the size you want to add. Click/tap on the add button and where it asks you to comment, add the make if you think this would be valuable information to you. Since I have a variety of needles from different manufacturers, I use this space to specify which ones I have. If you have more than one, add them all. You can make as many comments as you like. Once finished, just close the pop-up and move on to adding any additional needle sizes you have.
The one thing that Ravelry has not included is a place to record your sets and the size of Tips included in your set. What I have done to get around this is use one of the spaces of a size I don’t own or will probably never own and use it to record my tips. For example. You may never purchase 9” fixed circulars and so this might be a good spot to record your tips. Just click/tap on the 9” - 3.5mm spot, and comment Tips. Unfortunately, there is no place to record your various cord lengths. You may just need to keep a note in your set case, especially if you have purchased extras.
You have two options for viewing your inventory, in Chart format or by Detailed Inventory. In Chart format, you just need to click/tap wherever you see a number to see what comment you have entered. Alternatively, you can view all of your comments just by choosing the Detailed Inventory option to see your complete list. 
Other comments you may wish to add is whether your needles are wood or metal as you may want to add whichever one you don’t have. You may also want to comment Replace or buy additional tips/fixed needles. When you are out shopping and need to know what you have or need, just view your list.
Ravelry can be accessed from your mobile phone. By recording all of your tools and your stash, you have immediate access to that information when shopping. Take a minute to bring up Ravelry.com on your mobile device, find the 3 dots that take you to your Options and you should find Add to Home Screen. Tapping on that should put an icon on your phone’s screen for easy access. Each phone is different so you may need to play around to find this on your device. I am really not that tech-savvy so if I can figure it out, you should be able to as well. If not, find a teenager, I think they know everything. :-)
In my fantasy world, you would be able to assign needles just as you assign stash to your project. Unfortunately, you cannot. So if you are one of those knitters who have multiple projects on the go at the same time and would like to easily see what needles you are using on what project, keep notes on your project page. So if you are using tips with a 40” cord, make that note on your project page. If you have both your 16” and 24” fixed circulars in with your sweater to knit your sleeves, make that note. And while I am at it, if you have multiple projects and multiple project bags on the go, you may want to make that note as well.
Up until now, I have just talked about the features available in My Notebook. There are a couple of other commonly used features I want to highlight.
Yarn
There are two main features within this category that I use frequently. Search Yarns and Local Yarn Shop Directory.
Search Yarns is just that, a place to search out details on a yarn. Just type in what you are looking for and you will get a list of options. For example. If you search Yarn Indulgences, you will find all the yarns Yarn Indulgences has added to the directory. From here you can Filter your yarn by weight just by clicking/tapping on the drop-down menu and making your selection.
Local Yarn Store Directory is a very handy tool if you want to know what shops are in your area, in any city in the world, or anywhere between your home and where you are planning to visit. If you have included your location in your Profile, you will see that there are X number of stores near you. Click/tap on that to see all the stores in your area and how far away they are from your location. Visiting out-of-town friends or going on vacation? Type in the city or town you will be visiting and you will get a list of any stores in that area as well.
Now say you are going on a Road Trip, choose the Road Trip Planner and enter your Location, Destination and how far you are willing to detour to visit a store on your route. Click/tap on the Find Shops on my Route button and you will get a list. Every time I go out of town, I use this directory to view possible destinations. In most cases, there are details about the store with all of their contact information and a link to their website so you can view what types of products they carry before deciding if that would be a preferred stop or not.
Brigit Hampel
The Enabler Queen
This article is part of the Build Your Skills mini workshops.