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StitchMinder – free iPhone knitting app

Gosh I live the interwebs. Yesterday I was looking through free applications for the iPhone and came across something called StitchMinder, it had a pictures of a ball of yarn in the little button and I did a little dance for the intersection of knitting and technology. It’s a well thought out application but could use a few changes.

StitchMinder gives you four areas to work with, you tap them and the number increases by one. You can edit the label on each area to suit what you currently need to keep track of. Doing a hat with four sets of decreases? Label all the sections Decrease Row and tap after each decrease. You’ll be able to see how many you’ve done. Set all the sections to count in descending order, and set the start number to the number you need to do, then tap away as you knit and you’ll be counting down instead of up, which can be handy to see how much you have left (or simply for motivation). For each counting area you can choose a label – Rows Completed, Pattern Row, Pattern Repeats, Increase Row, Increase Repeat, Decrease Row, Decrease Repeat – so you can keep track of different areas of the pattern on the same screen. You don’t lose your numbers if you close the application, turn off the phone or set it to sleep mode.

StitchMinder is not perfect though. There are Edit and Reset buttons right there next to the area you tap, it’s far too easy to tap those by mistake and lose track completely. If you you enter the Edit screen your numbers will be lost when you return to the main screen, so Edit is really only meant for initial set up. The Reset button just sets the number to zero. There is no way to undo if you accidentally tap an area twice or tap the wrong area or accidentally reset.

This is what I’d like to see: One tiny Edit button to the right of each tap area which would take you to an Edit screen. You wouldn’t lose your information when you return to the main screen. On the Edit screen could be a +1 and -1 button so you can adjust your current number if you need, I’d keep the initial set up options that you see now and place the Reset button at the bottom of this screen. I’d like the main screen to have a nice big Lock toggle button so that cats/children/other people bumping the screen couldn’t cause you to lose your place. This could simply throw up a Pause screen like on a game.

As it is I don’t see myself using StitchMinder much, it’s too easy to lose track. Still, there is hope at the where knitting and iPhones collide.

update: The creator of StitchMinder wrote in to let us know that there will be a few updates to the app, including a confirmation message for the Reset button so you cannot lose your information so easily. Thanks!

· comments [25] · 08-12-2008 · categories:iphone · knitting · technology ·

25 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Sarah // Aug 12, 2008 at 9:15 am

    I’m over here still using my row counter. I need to get an iPhone!

  • 2 Rachel // Aug 12, 2008 at 9:18 am

    Oh no! More reasons for me to never put down my iPhone! I secretly love it…

  • 3 Jen // Aug 12, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Hooray for iPhones! Thought I would add that you can take screenshots with your iPhone – hold down the home button, then press the power button at the top. You’ll see a flash of white, then your screen capture will be stored in your photo album. Easy peasy!

  • 4 Jessica // Aug 12, 2008 at 10:22 am

    AAAAAAAAHHHH I want an iPhone now!!!!!! AAAAHHH oooh I’m so drooling over that.

  • 5 Amanda @ www.kiddio.org // Aug 12, 2008 at 11:26 am

    Wow! I’ve tried so many different things and this would be the perfect solution! $200 later….

  • 6 LJ // Aug 12, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    Is that the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty? I’m working on it too! I downloaded Stitchminder last night. Looks good tho I think it might be a pain to have wake up the phone every time I need to count a row. We’ll see.

  • 7 megan // Aug 12, 2008 at 8:11 pm

    LJ – It is the Lace Ribbon Scarf. I actually set my phone to not go to sleep while I was knitting.

  • 8 Christina // Aug 13, 2008 at 4:07 am

    Love love LOVE the blog! Especially “how to make stuff!” Fabulous!

  • 9 Risa // Aug 13, 2008 at 7:58 am

    I just found this and I’m loving it…Loving the iPhone too!!

  • 10 Tricia // Aug 13, 2008 at 9:11 am

    yippee!!! Knitting <3 Tech

  • 11 Elena Murphy // Aug 13, 2008 at 9:53 am

    OMG thank you SO much for pointing this out. I’m so downloading this yesterday! I can’t count how many times I have to recount…

  • 12 iknit « Textiles and Bicycles // Aug 13, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    […] | In knitting | Tags: iphone, apple, row counter, stitchminder it’s the marriage between the iphone and knitting!  The […]

  • 13 Donna // Aug 13, 2008 at 3:07 pm

    You don’t have to tap on the row number itself. You can tap well to the left of the row number (away from the reset and edit buttons) which should make it easier (safer)to use. Hope this helps…

  • 14 Paul Mietz Egli // Aug 13, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Hey all! I’m the developer of StitchMinder, and I wanted to say thanks for posting about my app and for your comments and suggestions! I’ve already submitted an update to Apple that adds a confirmation message when you tap the reset button, so look for that in your App Store application soon. A couple of people have mentioned that it would be nice to be able to “undo” a count upwards or downwards, so I will make sure that gets into the next version.

    StitchMinder has a web site, http://www.quilt2go.com/, where you can learn more about upcoming applications, give me feedback, and report any issues. I can also be reached directly via email at support@quilt2go.com. Thanks again for the great post and pictures!

  • 15 megan // Aug 14, 2008 at 8:14 am

    Paul – Thank you so much. I’ve edited the entry to change the link to go to your site directly. I appreciate that you’re taking the time to update the application, thank you.

  • 16 Kat with a K // Aug 14, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    Oooh, thanks for the heads up. I’ll try it tonight.

  • 17 kim // Aug 15, 2008 at 7:10 am

    I H8 that iPhones only carry ATT. I SO want one, but we don’t get ATT too well here. GRRRRRRRRR.

  • 18 Knit one, purl one at Vukutu // Aug 15, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    […] that people keep thinking up new uses for technologies.  Who would have thought, for example, that mobile phones could be used by […]

  • 19 decorated cookies // Aug 17, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    definitely worth getting an iphone for.

  • 20 Anne-Marie // Aug 18, 2008 at 4:05 pm

    I just saw this on an iPhone and it *rocked!* It’s so much of a better option than my current outdated little clicker thing …

  • 21 I scream, you scream, we all scream for iPhone « Carin Herrmann // Aug 21, 2008 at 1:06 am

    […] skulle ha en massa nyttiga applikationer. Och jag skulle ha lolcats i mobilen! Och jag skulle ha Stitchminder! Plus att jag skulle få en jävla massa respekt bland mina nördiga kompisar. Synd att jag inte […]

  • 22 snowangels » Blog Archive » Nerdy Knitter Gadget // Aug 31, 2008 at 8:15 am

    […] to count stitch and pattern repeats. Luckily, its a free app and beautifully simple to use. Check Not Martha for an in-depth […]

  • 23 Adventures In Babywearing // Sep 12, 2008 at 5:44 am

    Oh my gosh this has me giddy today! : )

    Steph

  • 24 ceekay // Oct 29, 2008 at 6:58 am

    I use that iPhone app also. I also use Evermore to put the whole pattern from the web onto the iPhone. (photos included)
    I read the directions from the phone while I know.

    Does anyone know if there is one that shows abbreviations and stitches?

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