I missed the first of the “Love Your Blog” posts, in the series being hosted by Kate of A Playful Day. It has been really weighing on me – not because I feel any sort of obligation to talk about it, having posted blogs on Beginnings and Ugly, but because I have so much to say on this subject.

Aside from the huge amount of time I’ve spent over the past few months, engaging in the fibre community at shows and events, the blog sees a fair amount of interaction, and touches a lot of people with whom I share common interests. As a result, I’m going to chat about this – a few weeks late, but what is lost time between friends!

Interactions and Community

I try to post a few times a week, and at the moment I’m really working on making sure I engage with the rest of the blogging community. I have been reading knitting blogs for a really long time, and have a few who I read religiously. Often, however, I find myself spending hours lost in a maze of new-to-met blogs, coming to without really being able to recall how I have got to that point.

Aside from chatting to people on Twitter, Ravelry, and in person, one of the ways I expand my blogging network is through link parties. You will fairly regularly see badges at the bottom of one of my blog-posts, and clicking on these badges will take you through to a directory of people with blogs of a similar topic, coming together on a weekly basis to share their work.

The first I discovered was WIP Wednesday by Tamis Amis, and the moment I started participating in that, I also found FO Friday, which she also ran. From there, I fell down the rabbit hole, and ended up with a formidable list of link parties that I now regularly take part in and find other bloggers through. This is an important part of my blogging life. Before I got very involved with link parties, I used to feel that I was a bit of a lone ship in a huge ocean.

Finding a network of like-minded people, who all keep blogs and have interests that are more or less in line with my own has really enhanced my feeling of belonging to a community. I find out about patterns that I may not have otherwise found out about. I get to follow projects that I’m not doing myself and feel a similar sense of achievement when they are finished, even though I technically had nothing to do with them. I find ways to find a bit of simplicity and joy in what I’m doing (the Friday roundup that I’ve done the last month or so has been a result of that, and is really making me appreciate my progression through whatever happens each week).

So, that is why you will see badges at the bottom of most posts, directing you to various places. It’s my way of sharing my community with y0u – and increasing my interactions with the wonderful crafters of the world. Try one out – you never know who you might discover!

Much love,

Corrie xx

PS no link to Tamis Amis as she no longer runs the link party. She was struggling with it a little before she stopped, and having tried to run one many years ago myself, I can vouch for how much effort goes into these weekly posts. The hosts deserve many thanks for the work they put in. Thank you!