Tuesday Tens: Ten Reasons why Ravelry Should Hire Me

In case you missed it, Ravelry is hiring! It's a part-time community support position, and I think I'd be perfect for it.

Candidates must answer three questions:

1.Why do you want to work for Ravelry?
2.What qualities, technical experience (computer and crafty!) and skills could you bring to our little team?
3. If you were a yarn-producing fiber, what would you be and why?

According to the website:

"You don’t need to write a formal cover letter… heck, you can make a video, upload it to the internet somewhere, and send us the link. :) Whatever works!"

So I decided to use a blog entry for the "cover letter." Here are ten reasons why Ravelry should hire me for their community support position.

1. I want to be part of "the industry." I want to make the fiber arts a career, and I've been searching for a way into the industry. I want a career like Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Amy Singer or Norah Gaughn. I want people to come to me and ask me to design, write or speak. And I can't think of a better place to get in the door than Ravelry, the collective brain of all the knitters and crocheters on the Internet. Best of all, this position would let me get my foot in the door without leaving the financial security of my 8-5, Monday through Friday job.

2. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone. I love the idea of meeting knitters, crocheters, spinners, designers, yarnies and everyone else I'll meet. I know it will be a blast, and I'll see all sorts of new yarns and patterns.

3. Have I mentioned that I love yarn? I love discovering and learning about different yarns. I think working for Ravelry will allow me even more opportunities to get to know yarn.

(Here is a picture from when I first discovered Brooks Farm Yarn at Kid 'n Ewe 2007.

4. This position has the flexibility I want in my dream job. Someday I want to work from home on my own schedule. I'm hoping this position will allow me the flexibility to decide exactly how I want to organize my responsibilities, when I do certain tasks and what time of day I work. And I could work in a coffee shop with wifi or in my pajamas with the television in the background.

5. I've been knitting and crocheting for a while now. My Mom showed me how to crochet a chain when I was four. Knitting finally "stuck" when I was in the third grade. Serious crochet came not long after that.

I'm including this picture of the Floppy Horse Family as an example of something I knit in the third or fourth grade. It's not the best craftsmanship in the world, but I've come a long way since then. The slippers were crocheted when I was in the sixth grade. I think it's fair to say that I know my stuff in both knitting and crochet. And I'm learning to spin.

6. I speak the language of knitters (and crocheters.) I love talking with other knitters. I can strike up a conversation with strangers in a yarn shop. Or I find myself helping people pick out yarn. (Occasionally they think I work there.) In a more literal sense, I know knitting, crochet, spinning, fiber and the slang terms associated with them.

7. I have a bachelor's in Mass Communication and I have call center experience and retail experience. I've been around long enough to realize the diploma alone doesn't mean much. And it may seem weird to mention my current call center job and the retail work I did in college. But between being a newspaper reporter, dealing with inbound calls and helping people look for the right size, I know something about communicating with strangers. (Often angry strangers, although I doubt there will be much of that on with Ravelry users.)

8. What I lack in knowledge, I make up for with an ability to learn quickly. I know my way around Ravelry pretty well, and I know a little basic html. But I think my biggest asset is that I can often figure things out for myself by playing around with things. In the ninth grade my Science and Technology teacher told us that "you can't blow up Toledo." If you've ever tried to help someone who was afraid to touch a computer, you know how important this is.

9. If I were a yarn-producing fiber, I'd be hemp. (And not because I'm a stoner.)

According to Amy Singer in No Sheep for You:

"...the charm of hemp comes in the washing-wearing-washing-wearing cycle of a garment. Hemp is strong so washing doesn't hurt it; each cycle just makes it softer...Would you be surprised if I told you that fabric from knitted hemp has "sproing?" It does. Knit a big swatch and give it a tug. It doesn't just surrender to your touch..."

I fell in love with hemp when Amy Singer came to Hill Country Weavers a couple of years ago to promote "No Sheep For You." Hemp is a misunderstood and underrated fiber, and I think people underestimate me. Hemp is tough, flexible and it can be surprisingly soft, similar to the way I am both tough and caring.

Most of all, washing hemp makes it better, and I think I get better with experience.

(FYI - The washcloth in the picture above was knit with allhemp6.)