Before Etsy: What was that DIY trading community from way back when?

October 7, 2009 8:16 AM

Years ago (2002? 2003?), long before Etsy, there was an online community for DIY/crafty blogger types to trade materials and maybe handmade goods as well. What was it called, and what happened to it?

I remember the background was a dark red color, and it might have had the word "thread" in the title or maybe not. It was popular with the personal blogging set, which was in its heyday at the time, with everybody trading knitting yarn for beads or jewelry hooks or homemade lip balm. I only made a couple of trades, then wandered away and lost track of the thing entirely. Anybody else remember this? What was it called?

posted by junkbox to computers & internet (10 answers total)

Is it Craftster? They've reorganized and redesigned several times since 2002/2003, and their "swaps" have also become much more organized than in the past.
posted by muddgirl at 8:21 AM on October 7, 2009

swappingtons?
posted by iconomy at 8:25 AM on October 7, 2009

Before Craftster, there was Get Crafty, which was gone for awhile and now seems to have come back. I seem to recall them having a swap board way back in the day (2000-ish??). Could this be it?
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:31 AM on October 7, 2009

I remember a really old one that was made by a guy in Seattle (named Eric?) where you basically swapped stuff on the honor system. Very DIY but not necessarily crafty. The blog name started with an In I think Inconsolable, inconceivable, inopportune. I'll try to fish through my old email to see if I can find it. I used the site a little, it was one fo the first "social" websites I'd ever seen.
posted by jessamyn at 8:39 AM on October 7, 2009

I don't think it was Craftster or Get Crafty -- I'm pretty sure it didn't have the word Craft in the title at all. Jessamyn is on the right track; it had an odd name, and was indeed probably more DIY than crafty per se. I used it to swap for beads and yarn, but I'm pretty sure people also swapped 'zines, stickers, patches and stuff like that.

And yes, it was one of the first "social" websites I remember, which is why I'm interested in digging it up. I know that I had an account, and there might have been a way to leave feedback or a token after swaps, but it was very rudimentary and totally honor-system based.
posted by junkbox at 8:50 AM on October 7, 2009

nervousness.org?
posted by logic vs love at 9:16 AM on October 7, 2009

That's it! I love how my brain turned it into a totally different word that meant something similar. That's the site I used to swap through.
posted by jessamyn at 9:18 AM on October 7, 2009

Nervousness was the one I was trying to remember. Thank you!
posted by junkbox at 9:18 AM on October 7, 2009

Weird, I've been clicking around there some and not only did I find my old profile, some of the colors on the site look really familiar (1,2). Erik Benson was the guy who ran it.
posted by jessamyn at 9:24 AM on October 7, 2009

the edgy hammock queen

Good one.
posted by bru at 11:30 AM on October 7, 2009