knitabit

Advice for Knitblog Newbies

I first discoverd knitblogging in June, 2003 and instantly decided "I must have a knitblog of my own!" It took me a couple of months to navigate my way through the big wide blog world, and a couple of months more to feel at ease in the smaller world of knit-bloggers.

I've had a couple of inquiries lately from newcomers wanting to know about blogging. For whatever it's worth, I thought I'd share some of my experiences and observations about knitblogging for those who might be new to all of this.

Software
I started out by developing a knitting blog web page on my business site, but quickly discovered that regular web design software products (such as Front Page or Dreamweaver) don't have the tools you need for convenient daily blog postings. The blogging world has developed a lot of really fabulous tools, many of which are free or very low cost.

If you have your own domain and server space, and are comfortable with a small amount of programming, you can use Movable Type's free blogging software and create a fully customized blog. I chose to go this route. I've been managing a couple of websites for 2+ years, and found that installing Movable Type was a fairly challenging task; it took me a couple of weeks to figure out how everything works. Something to consider is to have someone install MT and do a small amount of customizing for you; it's very easy to use after that.

Another option is to go with a blogging service that hosts the blog and provides the blogging software. Some services are free (most notably www.blogspot.com) and others charge a low monthly fee (www.typepad.com or the upgrade version of www.blogspot.com). Typepad is by the same company that created Movable Type. The free services might not let you upload photos, though, and that's the fun of knitblogging.

A blogging service at $5-8/month is a bargain compared to the cost of hosting your own domain name. I pay $24.95/month for my own domain. Now for that price I have more disk space than I'll ever need, and a bunch of other bells and whistles that I need for my work-related website. But if blogging is all you're after, I'd say the hosting services are a real bargain.

Customizing
If you buy a very basic book - say an "HTML for Dummies" type of book - you will learn enough in an afternoon to do an impressive amount of customizing of your blog. HTML programming reminds of how WordStar worked back in the early 1980's. If you remember WordStar, you'll catch on to HTML real quick.

Your new blog will be like a new house. You won't have designer curtains and matching furniture on the day you move in. But over time, you will apply your own taste and style and make it a place to call your own. And if you get tired of it, you can paint the walls and replace the carpeting and make it all fresh and new again!

Blogging Objectives
I think it's worthwhile to spend a little time asking yourself why you want to blog about your knitting. Here's what knit blogging does for me: (1) it creates a record of my knitting activities; (2) it maintains my enthusiasm for knitting; (3) it exposes me to new ideas and trends in hand knitting; and (4) it provides access to a community of fellow knitters (something I don't have out here in the sticks of eastern Colorado.)

As I surf around the knit blogging world, I can see that many knit bloggers have entirely different objectives, and that's perfectly OK! Some are using blogging as a marketing tool for their knitting-related products and services. Others use blogs as soapboxes to promote a particular vision or view of what knitting is supposed to be about and to criticize things what doesn't conform to their vision. Lots of knit bloggers have amazing graphic artistry skills and their blogs reflect that. I also see an amazing number of really skilled writers out there; some of my daily reads appeal to me because of the writing and not necessarily the knitting.

Fitting in
A core group of knit bloggers has been at this for quite a while (a year or two before I started.) At first, you'll feel like the new kid in school. You'll get the sense in reading these blogs that everyone knows everyone else and they're all talking about things you've never heard of. Relax! Hang around; eavesdrop on the conversations; and then decide how you want to participate. Take a glance at this FAQ page to get a handle on the lingo and the acronyms. Don't be intimidated when you read the popular and well-established blogs. Dare to be dull! Risk making a fool of yourself! And send me your blog address so I can read along!

Comments

Karen, what a great idea you had in designing this page...and not only is it helpful, but it reflects what a kind and thoughtful person that you are..."thanks" on behalf of all of us newbies.

Posted by: Lisa at December 1, 2003 05:38 PM

Thanks for your helpful tips.

Anne

Posted by: Anne at December 31, 2003 03:03 AM

Great information, though you moveabletype URL is incorrect. It should be moveabletype.org!

Thanks!
:-) Kristi

Posted by: Kristi at March 5, 2004 07:41 AM

This really is helpful. I started my blog on April 10. I'm having sooo muh fun. I love it. There is definately a learning curve though typepad made it pretty easy for me.
Thanks for the info.

Posted by: Eilene Brauner at May 5, 2004 10:42 PM