Crochetville: Coming Back!

[Donna]

Dear Crochetville Members,

I'm back. I'm sorry I was gone so long. I hope you'll join me in rejuvenating Crochetville into the buzzing hive of crochet goodness that it once was.

Now that I'm back, I cannot believe how much I missed this place and didn't realize it. I love the sense of community here and I love that a handful of dedicated members kept this place alive when I was lost. To those of you⁠—and you know who you are⁠—I owe so much.

As for Amy and I, our paths diverged and we got involved in other projects. For Amy, it was Sparkle Studio, her studio/shop in Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment. For me, it was school volunteering, PTO, and family life.

Crochetville had gotten complicated and was taking an inordinate amount of time to manage. We weren't fully utilizing the power of our members to help us moderate and maintain this community. And we were making ends meet, but not much more.

To new members, welcome. To dedicated members who've stayed on, thank you. To old members who drifted away, I hope you'll come back. We hope to be the place you come to again for crochet motivation, inspiration, and support.

Please join me in making Crochetville alive again. Post your projects in the Show-and-Tell forums. Jump in on a CAL (crochet-along) or start one of your own. Help us give a warm welcome to new members. Ask a question in Crochet Help. Join us in crocheting something for charity. Or just peruse the Crochetville forums and find your niche.

Please bear with me as I assess Crochetville and what needs tidying up here. There's some outdated information and rules, although the basics (like Crochetville Community Policies) are current. Updating broken links has proved challenging, but I am still working on it. I haven't yet addressed reported posts, but that is coming.

To everyone here, your projects⁠—no matter how small⁠—are show-and-tell worthy. Your crochet matters. Let's celebrate appreciating each other's stitching, no matter the simplicity or complexity.

Crochetville remains a keep-it-nice place, as has always been our philosophy. Politics, religion, and controversy are left at the door when you enter. We are all here to celebrate our hobby of crochet, which is what unites us.

I look forward to seeing you around the forum.

Donna

[Donna]

For those who may wonder, our return has nothing to do with the goings-on at Ravelry. The timing is coincidence. Financially, we had come to the point where we had to get out from under our expensive dedicated server at our old web host because our needs have changed. It was daunting to dig back in and get under the hood of Crochetville and start tinkering around, but I'm so glad to be back.

[Donna]

P.S. I will be out of town next week, July 27 - August 5, on a summer family vacation abroad. I’ll do my best to keep up with Crochetville, but it’s been so long since I’ve traveled internationally, I’m not sure how that will work out. I may not be able to do much during that time. But I’ll see you all when I get back!

[bgs]

First of all Welcome Back!  We have missed you.  Thank you for Crochetville.  An international trip how exciting! Have a great time and we will see you when you get back.

[greyhoundgrandma]

It's so good to have you back! I can't imagine how much time is involved to maintaining a forum like this.

Hope you have a great time on your trip!

[cshort]

Thank you for all your work, it's great having you back. I hope your trip is wonderful.

[Donna]

Than you, Brenda, Mona, and cshort. We'll be in London and then Wales. Travel makes me anxious, but I'm trying to be a trooper.

[Granny Square]

I'm very glad to see you back, the tumbleweeds were beginning to blow down the street of our little village.  We very much appreciate your sprucing it back up!

I just checked the weather forecast, a week from today it's supposed to be 100°F in London.  Yikes!

[Donna]

Thank you, Granny Square! 

Yikes, hot! WeatherBug said mid to upper 70s most of the week, so I’ll see when I get there lol. I try to pack for variable weather. 

[Tampa Doll]

It is good to see someone back to help with our problems.

Enjoy your vacation.  I always wanted to go to England, have a friend there since I was 12.

Relax and enjoy your family time.

Thank you Donna for all you have done and are doing.

[Donna]

Thank you, Mary Jo!

[RecycleCindy]

Thank you so much Donna for rejuvenating Crochetville. Us old timers just love Crochetville and have been trying to keep it alive. We do so need more activity, participation, and members here to keep it going. I am very inspired to read that you too want to improve and keep Crochetville a vital site. Thanks again for all you have done for Crochetville. 

[LegalWoman17]

Good to see you, Donna.   I would love to see the KISS swaps make a return.

[richsgirl]

So is Amy gone forever?

[bgs]

10 minutes ago, LegalWoman17 said:

Good to see you, Donna.   I would love to see the KISS swaps make a return.

It would be wonderful to see those again but will require willingness and effort from members  to participate and volunteer to host.  I enjoyed watching the swaps but I never signed up as I dont do well with hardfast deadlines.  That is why I like the Wish List which we have been struggling to keep going.  

[Donna]

@RecycleCindy Thank you, Cindy! I'm grateful for members who've remained through it all. It will require some effort to get the forum busy again. I think I'll post a thread about how members can help.

[Donna]

3 hours ago, LegalWoman17 said:

Good to see you, Donna.   I would love to see the KISS swaps make a return.

Debbie, thank you!

It's a possibility that we may see swaps again, but we're going to need a lot more activity and participation here first. Right now we don't have the critical mass needed to make swaps feasible. Swaps were often difficult to manage, so we would need some reliable, enthusiastic swap leaders who have the time to give to managing a swap.

[Donna]

2 hours ago, richsgirl said:

So is Amy gone forever?

Amy will be around. Our first task was for me to do all the technical stuff... get everything switched to the new server and updated. Amy and I will be talking about next steps moving forward. Right now I know a lot of her time is dedicated to the studio because as part of having a studio there, they have to be open certain hours on certain days of the week.

[richsgirl]

Great!

[craftyone]

Hi Donna and Amy!

Glad to see Crochetville being revived. Haven't been around much either lately, but I will try to check in to the forums more often. 

[Donna]

Hi craftyone! I’m so glad you stopped in! I look forward to seeing you around the forum again. 

[shuttlebuggy]

Thank you for all efforts to revive Crochetville! I have always loved it here but I have drifted away here and there for various and sundry reasons = life happens - but would love to be back onboard again.

[Donna]

Hi shuttlebuggy! Thank you! I’d love to have you back on board again. Hope to see you around often. 

[Apak]

Good to see you back! I keep my fingers crossed for your return and Crochetville, because it's a very special place for me

[Donna]

Thank you, Apak! It’s good to see you too. I’m so glad to see old-timers checking in.