Ravelry
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
Ravelry is a community and a database for people who knit, crochet, spin, weave and dye yarn: at once a catalogue (patterns, yarn, designers, shops), a personal project journal and a forum — and a marketplace where authors sell their patterns directly to buyers.
The platform describes itself this way: "Ravelry is a community site, an organizational tool, and a yarn & pattern database for knitters and crocheters" — the wording from the markup of the sign-in page. A fuller description is on the "about" page: a personal notebook for crafters that stores projects, yarn and fibre, tools and a pattern library, a rich database of patterns and yarn, and a community with thousands of forums and groups.
The difference from other platforms in this directory: here the author is not gathering an audience in order to sell advertising but selling a specific product — a PDF pattern. The commission is published and is structured not as a percentage of the transaction but in tiers, by monthly turnover.
Who's here
The platform names the size of its community itself, and cautiously: the "about" page says that Ravelry is made up of millions of yarn lovers from all over the world, and further down that it is "your new virtual knitting circle with more than 9 million yarn-loving friends". The size of the database is described on the same page: "almost half a million patterns available for immediate download right here on our site". These claims carry no dates, and what exactly is being counted is not spelled out.
The interface language is English, with no other versions declared on the pages we checked. The platform publishes no country breakdown. The operator is Ravelry, LLC, as stated in the terms of service.
Getting started
Registration is free: the sign-in page calls Ravelry "a free site for knitters, crocheters and fibre artists". The requirements for users in the terms are general: use of the services is limited to parties who can enter into contracts, and minors may not use the services without the supervision of a responsible adult. There is no specific minimum age in the text.
An ordinary account (journal, catalogue, forums, buying patterns) requires no verification of anything. A pattern seller's account and a free advertising account are set up separately — once the latter is created, the available placements and prices become visible, and booking for some positions opens on the days stated in the advertising calendar.
A pattern seller (Pro) account. Selling is set up in the Pattern Sales section: you have to accept the terms and fill in the shop details, including linking a PayPal account. The same place states outright: PayPal is the only payment service on Ravelry; designers are required to accept payment through PayPal and to pay Ravelry's invoices through it as well. That is a substantial geographic restriction: where PayPal does not work, selling patterns does not work either.
What you can publish
Ravelry is filled by its users: "everything on Ravelry is user-generated", the pattern database was built by crafters, and volunteer editors keep it current. You can publish project entries, photographs, the contents of your stash, forum threads, pattern and yarn listings, and — for designers — the patterns themselves as PDFs.
The prohibitions in the terms: you may not upload patterns and content that infringe other people's rights; harm minors; impersonate another person; send unsolicited advertising, "spam" and "pyramid schemes"; interfere with other users' peaceful use of the site. We found no technical limits (PDF size, number of photos, message length) on the public pages.
How to grow
There is no "algorithmic" growth here: the platform nowhere writes about a recommendation feed. Visibility comes from the catalogue and the search — the search can be filtered by hundreds of criteria, and project entries are linked to the main pattern database, so other users see them while thinking about their own project. What works is a carefully filled-in pattern listing, not posting frequency. The second channel is groups and forums.
The paid channel is the platform's own advertising system: pay per click, per impression and at a fixed rate are offered to companies connected with yarn and crafting; the system was written specifically for Ravelry, so the site pays no commission to intermediaries; every ad goes through manual approval. That post is dated 25 January 2012: the principle may be unchanged, but the specific rates are out of date, and the platform shows the current price list only inside the account panel, as it writes on its advertisers page.
Path to monetization
The main way to earn is selling your own patterns, and here Ravelry does something almost nobody does: it publishes its commission.
The scale by monthly sales volume: from $0 to $20 — free; from $20.01 to $100 — 5% of the sales total; from $100.01 to $250 — $5; from $250.01 to $1000 — $10; from $1000.01 and up — $20. Above $100 of turnover this is no longer a percentage but a fixed monthly fee: at a turnover of $5000 the author pays the same $20, so with notable sales the effective commission tends towards zero.
A caveat about dates is essential: this scale was published on 17 July 2009. Indirect confirmation that the model persisted later is in a post dated 25 January 2012 — the platform writes that it devised rates "ranging from free to $20 a month depending on sales volume". We could not open the current pricing page: the help centre requires signing in. Treat the scale as historical.
What else the platform states about selling patterns:
- Payouts through PayPal only — the help centre's direct wording.
- No exclusivity: "we are not exclusive" — you can use another sales service in parallel, and Ravelry will never force you to agree to exclusive use of its services.
- Selling through offline shops: for shop owners the programme is free and Ravelry takes no commission from them, while designers are charged the ordinary pattern sales rates.
Tools and automation
Ravelry does have an API, and third-party applications use it: the platform maintains an open catalogue and states outright that there is no official Ravelry app, and below is a catalogue of applications working with Ravelry, built by users and other developers.
The catalogue gives a user count for each application: the platform cites 31,216 users over the past 30 days for kntd:discover, 23,795 for Ravit 2 and 22,500 for knitCompanion. The same page describes their functions: kntd:discover searches the pattern and yarn databases, Ravit updates projects and stash and works with the forums, and knitCompanion walks you through a pattern row by row.
The key limitation: these are crafting tools, not SMM tools. Scheduling tools are beside the point here: the platform has no feed to post into on a schedule. The API documentation does not open: ravelry.com/api and api.ravelry.com redirect to the sign-in page.
Limits and rules
The terms of service were updated on 1 February 2017 — a long time ago for a platform with working commerce.
What matters for your work: the service is provided "as is", the company reserves the right to change the terms at its own discretion, with or without notice, and in the event of a breach of the rules access can be suspended immediately, in which case you may lose access to the account, its data and the files in it. Advertising is governed by a separate document — the Advertising Terms and Conditions.
We found no country restrictions in the terms, but a de facto geographic restriction is created by PayPal.
Who it's for
It suits independent pattern designers above all. A tiered commission capped at $20 a month under the published scale means that with notable turnover the platform takes a fraction of a percent. Add to that the absence of exclusivity and the ability to sell using the same links from your own site. It also suits yarn sellers: the advertising system is aimed at small advertisers.
It does not suit anyone looking for a platform for video, short formats or follower growth: there is no feed and no algorithmic delivery here. Nor does it suit anyone without access to PayPal — without it, monetization is closed off.
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the platform describes itself as follows: «Ravelry is a community site, an organizational tool, and a yarn & pattern database for knitters and crocheters.»
Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment
source, checked 2026-07-28
the operator is Ravelry, LLC; the terms of service were updated on 1 February 2017
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform describes itself: «Ravelry is a community site, an organizational tool, and a yarn & pattern database for knitters and crocheters»
source, checked 2026-07-28
Who's here
the platform calls itself a community of «millions of yarn lovers» and a «circle with more than 9 million friends»
The page carries no dates and no explanation of what is being counted
source, checked 2026-07-28
Content
the platform reports «almost half a million patterns available for immediate download»
The figure carries no date
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising
a free advertising account opens access to the placements and prices; some positions can be booked only on the days stated in the advertising calendar; click and impression statistics are updated hourly
source, checked 2026-07-28
its own advertising system: pay per click, per impression and at a fixed rate; every ad goes through manual approval; no commission is paid to intermediaries · the source is dated 2012-01-25
A post dated 25 January 2012; the current rates are visible only in the account panel
source, checked 2026-07-28
How the money works here
PayPal is the only payment service: designers are required to accept payment through PayPal and to pay Ravelry's invoices with it
A fragment of a help article visible in search results without signing in
source, checked 2026-07-28
the programme for selling patterns through offline shops: free for shop owners, with the ordinary rates applying to designers
A help fragment from search results
source, checked 2026-07-28
the commission scale by monthly turnover: up to $20 — free; $20.01–100 — 5%; $100.01–250 — $5; $250.01–1000 — $10; over $1000.01 — $20 · the source is dated 2009-07-17
The source is a blog post dated 17 July 2009; the current pricing page requires signing in
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform confirms the model: rates «ranging from free to $20 a month depending on sales volume» · the source is dated 2012-01-25
A post dated 25 January 2012; no more recent public confirmation was found
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform states that it does not require exclusivity: you can sell through another service in parallel
A post from 2009
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
prohibited: content that infringes other people's rights, harm to minors, impersonating another person, unsolicited advertising, «spam» and «pyramid schemes»
source, checked 2026-07-28
Legal
the help centre and the wiki require signing in; only the help search results work, showing fragments of articles
Because of this the current pricing page is unverified
source, checked 2026-07-28
API access
there is no official Ravelry app; the platform maintains an open catalogue of third-party applications with their user counts over 30 days: kntd:discover — 31,216, Ravit 2 — 23,795, knitCompanion — 22,500
The API documentation is closed off: ravelry.com/api and api.ravelry.com lead to the sign-in form
source, checked 2026-07-28
Languages
the interface language of the home page: en
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: USA and Canada · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions