By Amelia © September 24, 2008Two more than a week ago ... no, seriously. And more are coming (update, 2010: they're here, the list is updated with input from the comments and new sites: Spin-off, WeaveZine, WeavOlution, and more!).
I like to "collect" online forums, as there is always something new to learn from the folks there. Sure, there's overlap, I run into various on-line friends in several, but there are also people who have to limit their internet time, so they choose, and stick with, one or only a few of those out there.
Here are the ones I've found.
- Yahoo Groups -- for spindle spinners, spindlers and spindlitis are tops! Spin-List and TechSpin are more generic, also very helpful. There are more fiber, dyeing and spinning groups on Yahoo too, these are the main ones. You'll find nalbinding, weaving, particular sheep breeds, llamas, and more. I've definitely seen some fading of activity in Yahoo due to the increase in interest in ...
- Ravelry! -- yep. I joined waaay back and saw only one, teeny-tiny spinning forum, not much on it. Now, spinning on Ravelry is h-u-g-e. There's a great Spindlers group there, Beginning Spinners, Spinner Central, and Ravelers Who Spin are also big groups welcoming to every sort of spin. There's a group for every major wheel maker, one for Charkas, one for studying fibers, and more.
- LiveJournal -- has a great Handspinner's Community and several sister groups to it, too. A little slow for dial-up but terrific for DSL and T1 lines. Most of the spinning activity here also seems to have moved to Ravelry.
- Knitty Forums -- has a nice spinning forum to accompany KnittySpin.
- Craftster has a fun spinning board with useful FAQ's compiled and active posters.
- Knitting Daily has started a forum for Spin-Off readers. Yay! A fun way to have immediate input to the crew at Spin-Off, with the "What are You Spinning" thread and the re-cap of what you found and enjoyed at shows (as I write this, Estes Wool Market just past, SOAR's up next!)
- Handspun Collective looks like a great new home for yarn spinners of all sorts. My invite came through the Spinning On The Edge Yahoo group (see, I said there were more!), and I see quite alot of gorgeous art yarns there already. Nice flavor!
- Josiane pointed me to Knitter's Review, they have a Spinner Central forum.
- Hockey Mom pointed me to Bella Online's Spinning section. The articles there are written by a long-time spinner, full of great information!
- Pat reminded me about All Fiber Arts, which has a nice collection of information with forums too.
- Spin-off Magazine added an online forum in 2009 for discussing their magazine and all things spinning. Discussions are organized by topic, and all their freebies are on the site as well.
- WeaveZine is an online magazine, podcast, and blog run by Syne Mitchell. A great place to find information.
- WeavOlution is the online place for weavers to be, with drafts, projects, forums, and more.
- Just looking for a little visual treat? Try flickr, there are several photo pools there of spinning tools, such as Spindle Shots, and many dedicated to fiber, handspun yarn and textiles.
- And you know what? I'm finding more of my fiber friends involved on FaceBook every day -- shops, groups, and blogs put pages on FaceBook to announce events and updates. I even put one up for Ask The Bellwether -- fan it for me, thanks!
The forums that provide RSS feeds or email are the easiest for me to keep up with.
Feel free to let me know of others in the comments. The exploring continues!
~~
© 24 September 2008 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/. Updated 17 February 2010.
