Hi Cheley!
Last year I started a thread called: Reluctant Ravelers, Join Me!
I started it because so many of us had been ‘accepted’…yet we were overwhelmed with all the software, bells and whistles that we hadn’t done a thing with it! It is too fabulous to let lay!
You might like to take a peek at that thread! It will help you wade into the pool, get knee deep, then hip deep, then chest deep, and then the big plunge!
Little by little, that’s my motto! 
I really like Ravelry and I think we’re extremely lucky to have it. It is very different from KH, but they are not exactly for the same purpose, so I don’t think it’s necessary to have all this animosity towards Ravelry.
KH is amazing for new knitters. It has incredible videos and a very friendly, accessible forum that provides help and support to it’s members. I have made some good friends here and I’ve become involved in charity knitting.
Ravelry is an incredible resource. You can look up “socks” and find 7,301 patterns (as of today) and there are more added everyday. You can look up “Cascade 220” and find 22,696 projects that it has been used for. Those features alone make it an amazing site. I love being able to track my progress on certain projects. I always have a few things on the go and it’s nice to be able to show them off in my notebook and update it as I go. I’ve also joined some groups that match my interests and I’ve met a lot of nice people and found out new things.
I don’t think there’s unwarranted “hype” about Ravelry. It’s an exciting place. I can see how it would be a little intimidating, but I also think that it’s a great advancement for knitters. I wouldn’t have found a quarter of the patterns in my favourites if it wasn’t for Ravelry. I wouldn’t have found out about the opening of a new yarn store in my town. I wouldn’t have found out about the incredible designers I’ve discovered.
So perhaps instead of seeing Ravelry as competition for KH, we should see it as a complimentary site that helps knitting gain popularity and helps those interested get excited by the vast resources that are out there.
Thanks for you input…“hype” was used as an adjective…my first “glance” (my first glance at the site) without searching about. (I) my post was not meant too be taken as “intimidating” nor “competitive” to Rav and I didn’t get that “feeling” from anyone’s post here… I happen to like the way KH is set-up for my way of knitting…I do not have a “need” to chart my stash or patterns on a site (don’t have time for that) but if you notice I do have Rav Button attatched now to my signature, so I probably will be glancing back and forth…
I didn’t really mean to just respond to you Cheley. It was more of a general comment in response to the many comments in the thread. 
KH is sorta like your LYS where you can stop in and ask questions and KAL. Ravelry is more like a convention where you can also ask questions and KAL, it’s just on a larger scale and also has a huge database of yarns and patterns you can look through.
I don’t go to Ravelry but about once a week. I find it invaluable in finding pattern ideas for stash yarns. I love being able to see people of varying sizes wearing a pattern. It gives me an idea of shaping that may be more flattering to my shape. The comments some knitters post on problems with pattern instructions or how they liked or disliked a certain yarn can also be helpful.
Ann – I would have just clicked your “Agree” button (if there had been one).
Yeah, we need an Agree button, I keep looking for one. Not a Disagree one though…
I wouldn’t mind “Funny,” “Love” or “OMG” either.
whereas those (agree buttons, etc) are the things about Ravelry that I disklike the most.
True, people get offended by those who’ve clicked the Disagree button when they’ve posted something that’s a fact rather than an opinion. Which is why I say there should be no Disagree button, only an Agree.
One of the nicest things I’ve found on Ravelry is MMario’s splendid gallery of lace designs. (Just clicked the “Love” button.)
I think even the agree button can be abused I don’t like the idea that it’s anonymous. I think if you agree with something just say so. :shrug:
Just my 2¢
I love the buttons. Sometimes I don’t want to waste everyone’s time just to say, “Yep, I feel the same way” or “no, I don’t agree with that.” It’s just easy to click a button. Of course, most of the forums I’m referring to are about TV shows. Someone says, “I love this storyline” and I do too, I’d rather just click “agree” than add another post with the same thing. Or, I click “disagree” and if someone else hasn’t already pointed out why, I’ll explain why. I use the forums that don’t get controversial and aren’t all that busy so maybe that’s why.
Sometimes I don’t have anything more to add, or the time to type it out. So I do click agree. I think if a person disagrees, they should post why though, instead of just clicking the disagree button.
I only use the patterns – I love that I can look up a pattern and see a variety of things made using it in all sorts or yarns. I love that I can put in a yarn and look up projects that have used it. I have lots of potential projects saved as favorites. 
I haven’t put much in my notebook yet – I’m hoping to, so that I can maybe help people the way I have been helped.
Awww, gorsh! What a nice thing to say! (And it explains why the numbers went up for yesterdays downloads!)
MMario
Ooh, what a feeling of power! But your work is magnificent.
To each their own, I suppose … I find that the forums are one of my favorite parts of the whole Ravelry site … but I do find that the project page is invaluable. I wish I would have had something like that when I first started!
I’ve always been FLABERGASTED, jaw-droppingly so, that the mods and admins of this site would tolerate/allow so much conversation about a TOTALLY UNRELATED SITE!
If it were me, I’d be: you wanna talk about that site, go do it there! This is my site!
But they don’t. That’s being incredibly gracious if you ask me. Far more than I would ever be! I can’t believe their patience!
I think they deserve an enormous round of applause for their tolerance and good graces.
:cheering: :yay: :cheering::yay: :cheering: :yay: :cheering: :yay: :cheering: :yay: :cheering: :yay: :cheering: