How to set up an Online Knitting Circle
14 May 2020
For all the textile-makers out there: Sara, our Events Manager, has put together some event organisation know-how to help you set up your own online knitting circle.
You can follow the below 6-step guide with handy hints and tips for starting up the group.
1) Deciding who your knitting circle is for and inviting people
2) Day and time, duration and regularity of your knitting circle
3) Video call options for your circle
5) Sending out information to participants
6) Hold your first knitting circle!
1) Deciding who your knitting circle is for and inviting people
It’s good to start by determining who will come to your circle. Will it be a weekly get-together for you and your friends; will it serve as a workplace community group; or will you make it open to the public and use it as an opportunity to meet new people?
Deciding who your circle is for will help you work out how to spread the word and approach people:
- Friends – invite people by phone, through WhatsApp and email, and post on social networks such as Facebook
- Workplace – use your work email directory or ask your Communications or HR officer to send an email out
- Public – put the word out through social media, on online textile or crafts forums (Ravelry is a good one), set up a free listing on Eventbrite, create a group on Meetup.com or check for online forums for your local neighbourhood
Here is a sample text for invitations or listings that you are welcome to adapt and use.
2) Day and time, duration and regularity of your knitting circle
Choose the day and time of your circle, and think about how regularly you would like to meet. We recommend holding your circle once a week, or fortnightly if weekly sounds like too much work.
In terms of duration, your circle could run for 30 minutes if it’s meant to be a quick get-together, or an hour if you’d like a more relaxed pace with good time for chat and making. We would generally recommend an hour’s length, as time goes quickly when you are making and having good conversations!
Remember to keep an eye on how much time you will realistically have each week to put into the group, and don’t forget to factor in the time that you will spend on organising the group, besides the running time of the meetings themselves.
3) Video call options for your circle
Decide which platform to use to host your online circle; we would recommend using video call or video conferencing programmes so that you can inspect and enjoy each other’s textile work. Make sure to create a private group with a password or set in a ‘locked room’ to avoid gatecrashers. Here is a round-up of different video group call options - and it’s a good idea to run a quick test session with a few friends first to see if you like your chosen platform:
- Houseparty – this video call platform is ideal for dropping into group chats and makes for easy and casual online get-togethers. It does not have a great messaging system so isn’t very good for sharing patterns, files or photos.
- Jitsi Meet - Jitsi Meet is an open-source platform which calls itself a ‘fully encrypted, 100% open source video conferencing solution that you can use for free’ anytime. It is very easy to use from your internet browser, as you don't need to install anything and aren’t asked for personal information.
- Microsoft Teams – lots of workplaces recommend using Microsoft Teams as it is secure and GDPR compliant, where other video conferencing platforms have been under scrutiny for data harvesting and claiming ownership over video call footage. The drawback of Teams is that it currently only shows 4 videos at a time, even when more people are in the call.
- Zoom – Zoom has become extremely popular as it is easy to use, allows dozens of people to see each other simultaneously, and lets you host meetings of up to 40 minutes for free. There have recently been growing concerns that Zoom is mining participants’ data, and selling it to companies such as Facebook for advertising, as well as reports that trolls have been spamming Zoom meetings without passwords.
4) Booking systems (or not)
Although you may not really need to formalise your knitting circle, the one thing to keep an eye on is the group’s maximum limit. Keep numbers to twelve people maximum, and ideally a bit lower. It’s no fun when you can’t see or hear anyone because there are too many people for the video call to handle. Booking system or no, make sure that one way or another you have a rough idea of the number of people joining in.
If you are organising a public or workplace knitting circle, you might find it easy and more secure to use an online booking system like Eventbrite to get people to sign up. The benefit of Eventbrite is that it also sends a 48-hour reminder to all participants. It is free to use as long as your circle is free too.
If you’d rather just get people to email you to register for the knitting circle that works well too, but if you are organising a public circle make sure to be careful about sharing your personal information in listings or messages and don’t put your phone number online.
5) Sending out information to participants
Send your participants an email every week with information about the upcoming knitting circle. A day-before reminder message or calendar invite is often useful for participants too.
Here is a sample information email that you can adapt and use.
6) Hold your first knitting circle!
The day has come and you are an eager beaver to start some communal crafting. Use this checklist to help things run smoothly on the day:
- Have you checked your emails in case you get a request for help from one of your participants?
- Have you organised to have the circle time to yourself without interruptions from your housemates?
- Have you logged onto the video call 15 minutes early to check that your internet and computer are working, and checked the booking link for the circle?
- Have you got your knitting?
As the circle starts and participants join one-by-one, remember every time to introduce yourself, to check if they can hear you, and that they can see everyone’s videos. You might have to do a bit of technical problem-solving with some of the participants in the first bit of the meeting, helping them to lay out their screen properly or asking them to turn their camera on, but that is par for the course.
Once everyone is present you can go round and each introduce your names, your textiles projects and a bit more about yourselves. Asking more about one another or each other’s projects is always useful if the conversation runs dry at some point. Rest assured that people soon find their groove and as each week goes by your circle will grow more familiar and fun. Enjoy!