Love Your Blog Challenge: Post 1

One of the podcasts I've started listening to regularly is A Playful Day out of England. In a review of podcasts I did recently, I mentioned that Kate actively goes out of her way to inspire her listeners and the readers of her blog. She was also one of the driving forces behind the design challenge I participated in. Though I didn't win, the motivation and exposure provided by being a finalist were invaluable, and the Circuits hat is now part of the Knit Picks Independent Designer Partnership.Well, Kate's at it again. She's hosting a "Love Your Blog" challenge during the month of April with inspirational prompts designed to help bloggers fall back in love with their own blogs. For me, the shine isn't off the blog yet. I only started it last October, and the main reason fits in ideally with Kate's first prompt: interactions and community.

As I mentioned in my first post, the very reason I started this blog was to try to find a community. Though I've been knitting for more than 10 years, it was only last Fall that I fell down the rabbit hole of knitting blogs, podcasts, etc. I live in Kenya, where there are no local yarn shops. (In fact, I only know of one place in Nairobi where one can even buy yarn, and it's pretty much a scratchy afterthought in a souvenir shop.) I have one knitting friend here, which is a Godsend. She and I have tried to start a knitting group, with some success, though most of the members seem more interested in the hors d'oeuvres than the knitting - which is perfectly okay, but when you're rabid about something, you need other rabid people around you so you don't feel so crazy. :) I don't know about you, but I can't tell you how many times I've gotten passionately inspired about something knitting- or spinning-related, and I've tried to explain *why* this is so amazing to a non-knitting friend of family member... and they just smile and nod politely. It's so very unsatisfying.I've been so impressed by the community that I fell into, just by listening to knitting podcasts and actively participating in their Ravelry groups and Instagram feeds. It filled a void. When I recently spent several months in Chattanooga, I was delighted to find that one of my favorite podcasters went to Knit Night at my local yarn shop there, and from that blossomed a friendship and budding partnership (I'm designing some socks out of her yarn at the moment). Those few months where I could go to Knit Night and hang out with similarly nutso people was a joy. And now I'm back in Kenya, which is a different kind of joy, but not really the knitting kind. It's a problem when you itch to knit a certain kind of sweater and you know it'll never be cold enough to wear it.So, though I haven't fallen out of love with my blog (yet), I accept Kate's challenge. I want it to grow - not for any commercial reason (I never intend to add "blogger" to my resume), but because I'm looking for that interaction and community. I've wondered whether the blog is even the best forum for that. It all depends on readers commenting, which is hard to get people to do. Since I've started designing, I've had a couple people suggest I need my own Ravelry group, but I'm not so sure. Will it be just one more platform I have to keep up with? If so, that defeats the purpose, which for me is fun. Though most of my patterns are for sale, vs. free, it's really more about the sheer rush of "SOME STRANGER KNIT MY IDEA!" than profits.So, yeah, I'm looking for that interaction. But in a community where blogs are a dime a dozen, it's hard to stand out and generate that community. It seems that having a podcast is a pretty good way to generate followers, mainly because podcasters all seem to love on each other and recommend each other. However, I'm not sure I'm looking for "followers" - I'm looking for compatriots. Maybe Ravelry is a better place, in that it's a central gathering place, the watering hole of the knitting world? I'm interested in hearing from other low-level bloggers, like myself, what you get out of it. Sales of patterns? Interaction? A place that functions more like a journal because you're essentially talking to yourself?