Knitting machines galore since one is never enough, photo tutorials, and knits gone wild

Hello. My name is Kathryn, and I’m still a blog stat junkie.

We’ve looked at Top Linked sites and Up and Comers. Now it’s time to zero in on traffic, my favorite measure of blog health.

You can have all the links in the world, but if no one actually visits, what’s the point?
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Whipup.net introduced me to Gitte Lyng, a one-of-a-kind Danish knitwear designer.
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Lalla Wandavi, couture knitwear designer, had numerous hand and machine knitted pieces in her Autumn Winter 2008/09 collection.

The dresses are very feminine, fresh, and young.

So why did she allow the stylist to remove the model’s eyes and put her in a dress begging for boobs?

In the last post, I highlighted the Top 100 Linked Knitting Blogs. Today the next tier of Up And Comers gets to shine.

In the days ahead, the Knitting Blog Stat Series will finish with sites getting great traffic and attracting RSS readers.

First, let’s quickly go over how I selected the blogs and how Technorati ratings work.

How Selected

My goal is to find great knitting blogs.

Not craft blogs with some knitting content, not etsy blogs with yarn for sale, and not activist blogs with sticks to click.

People who scan a top knitting blog list want to find sites dedicated to knitting.

All bloggers producing knitted fabric as their main topic, be it with straight needles, circular, loom board, knitting machine, or circular sock knitting machine, were eligible for consideration. The overwhelming majority of sites are currently focused on hand knitting.
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The Problem

Finding great knitting blogs is a challenge.

Most of us can name a handful that we’ve liked over the years, but who else is out there? With so many new sites popping up on a daily basis, how can the average knitter discover them?
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In April 2005, Confusability ran queries on Bloglines subscribers searching for what they liked to read. Among the usual tech oriented sites was a surprise.

Lots of people were reading knitting blogs - 1714 different feeds in all.

For me, blogging has been fun, challenging, and at times very lonely when no one wants to visit.

In the past two and a half years I’ve stopped twice. Once out of frustration, the other time to regroup. Knowing what it takes to keep a site going, I have the utmost respect for anyone persevering and building an audience over 4 years.

So I was dying to know, who is still knit blogging from the class of 2005 and how much have they grown?
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You just got to work. Your desk is piled. Your email is waiting. You know what you should be doing.

Do you need a diversion before you start?

Monday’s are for Procrastiknit. Sometimes it will be knitting related. Sometimes not. All posts are guaranteed to waste a few seconds of your day. I’ll save my more in depth articles for later in the week.

First Up - Bubble Wrap

Pop away. It’s a great stress reducer. If work is picky, you may want to mute, although that will defeat most of the fun.

Machine Knitters

Amoonsinger knit a mesh cocoon for a newborn.

Needles of Steel talked about being befriended by strangers online and how awkward it can be. I have similar issues when strangers friend me on Ravelry. Are they doing it because they expect me to reciprocate? I friend someone on Ravelry because I either like their work or we appear to share interests. I never expect a “friend back”. I hope they don’t either.

Monique tripled up an e-wrap cast on after first starting with waste yarn to add simple elegance to the bottom of her sweater.

Hand Knitters

Strikker knit a beautiful Hanami Stole for her mum’s birthday. I love how the pattern morphs from structured basketweave lace to scattered YO’s, simulating friendship to cherry blossoms falling. The pattern is by Pink Lemon Twist.

Carnival and Blog Event Thank You’s

All Rileyed Up hosted the Carnival of Family Life - Jan 26th Edition. My post on Knitting Machine Manuals was selected for the Family Crafts and Activities section.

Colloquium hosted the Carnival of Family Life - Jan 12th Edition. My post on Free Stitch Design Software For Hand and Machine Knitting was included in the Family Crafts and Activities section.