Craftsy

I’m pretty new to Craftsy. I signed up for an account there earlier this summer and in my free time here and there I’ve been exploring. I’m not 100% sure I understand how to navigate the project and pattern sections, but I love the website design and the photo interfaces.

I’m most enamored of their video classes. I really love the Craftsy platform – you buy access to an internet class and then have it forever. You can take video notes and ask questions of the instructors, as well as participate in forums with other people taking classes. They have a much wider focus then Ravelry – there are classes on Knitting, crochet, and spinning, of course, but they also cover topics like quilting, baking, paper crafts, and sewing. I find the production value to be incredibly high – they’re shot in a studio in HD and have titles and transitions and music. They’re quite beautiful.

I’ve bought three classes, and signed up for two more free ones. I’ve watched Shoot It!, my first class, three times now. It’s a class specifically about shooting photographs of your finished projects. The instructor is Caro Sheridan, also known as Splityarn, and she’s just wonderful. I’ve admired her photographs for years without realizing there was one person behind them. All this time I’ve been taking photos with the same instructions my high school history teacher gave us when he first sent us out on the Western Loudoun Heritage Photography Project – there are a lot of carryovers, but it has been fantastic to get some really specific tips for shooting knitwear.

Right now I’m in the middle of Lace Shawl Design by Miriam Felton. Yes, that Miriam Felton. I’m still near the beginning, and so far I haven’t gotten to anything especially new to me, but I love her perspective on lace – not only how she fell in love with it, but the way she’s explaining it. Looking at the titles of future lessons, I know that we’re going to get to some very interesting content very soon.

Afterward I shall be taking Sizing Knitwear Patterns by Faina Goberstein. The Indy Designers’ Forum on Rav has been raving about it and the description says she covers sleep cap math, which is one of my pet interests. I know that’s a strange thing to say that you’re interested in, but it’s true. I love a good sleeve cap.

I’d love to take Inspired Modern Quilts too . . . maybe some day when I have time to quilt and the money to buy a clownboatload of Moda Fabrics. Oh, Moda. You are my favorite. And I want to get Artisan Cheese Making for Jorah.

It’s such a cool website, and I’m going to have to explore it further. I think there is a lot to be learned here, as well as a lot to network. I’d love to get my patterns up too, and I hope I’ll get to it in the next couple of months. Maybe even sooner – my current TO DO list is shorter now than anytime since the New Year!