So Happy Together
04 Nov 2010 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: blogging, crocheting, iBooks, iPad, iPhone apps, knitting, knitting eBooks, paperless, patterns, ravelry, row counter, socks, web 2.0
Full disclosure: I have sold my soul to Apple. I have an iPhone, a MacBook Pro, and now, an iPad. I’m not here to debate. So, if you have a comparable tablet that you want to replace “iPad” with, go ahead. I won’t be offended. Honest.
The iPad is useful for many things. You can write documents, manage your business, create new art, blog (hypothetically, I’m still waiting for a WordPress app that doesn’t make me cringe), and waste hours of your time with amazing games. But at the end of the day, I don’t have rockets to launch or stocks to trade. I have patterns to knit, and lots of them.
Paper knitting patterns are slowly becoming a thing of the past. If not bought in a book, most patterns are simply printed off the internet, only to be crumpled, lost, stained, folded, spindled, and mutilated. I have ADHD. I’m pretty sure there are about five copies of the Monkey pattern around my house. So here are some things I have done to make my life easier, reduce my paper use, and impress my friends.
1. Add all your knitting patterns to your iPad.
Say what? Yeah. All your knitting patterns at your fingertips, to flick through, and zoom in at high resolution to better look at a tricky chart or tiny picture. There are plenty of apps to store PDF’s, but….why? Your iPad comes with iBooks, which is all you need. Simply go to iTunes, click “Add Book to Library”, and add away. All your patterns will be stored in the PDF section of iBooks. I have a folder on my Desktop called “Knitting Patterns”, which I download all my Ravelry patterns to directly. Easy as that.
2. Download some awesome apps.
While there aren’t many knitting apps, there is one that taps the true potential of the iPad for knitting. It’s called Blendy Knits Socks, and it is and interactive sock pattern and tutorial book. I can only hope that other knitting designers will catch on to this awesomeness.
There are also a few apps that are designed for the iPhone, but are still very useful:
- Tally Counter- very useful for keeping track of rows
- Vogue Knitting App
- Touch and Go Knitting HD
- iKnit Needle Sizer
3. The Revolution: Knitting Books in PDF form.
I was looking on Ravelry for my go-to sock pattern, Monkey. Looking at the project page, I saw that it was available for download, and now in a book! Being a total Cookie A. nut, I squeed with delight and now have Knit. Sock. Love. on my iPad. Never again will I lose my beloved Monkey pattern.
Things I would really like to see:
- A Ravelry iPad app. Yes, you can access Ravelry on Safari. But can you upload pictures? Browse forums with ease? Have a very immersive and interactive pattern searching experience? No. I join a very large amount of people who are literally begging for a Ravelry iPhone/iPad app and would be willing to pay for it.
An app or update to iBooks which would allow me to “draw” on PDF’s. Maybe there is one, and if there is, please leave a comment and let me know. In my opinion, this is one downside to having all your patterns on the iPad- no ticking off rows, making notes, and having to switch to a row-counting app or use an analog method, which defeats the whole purpose.UPDATE: Thanks to an awesome reader, I have found Goodreader, which allows you to annotate and draw on PDF’s, excellent for ticking off rows, etc. It’s $1.99, but totally worth it.
Besides those two things, I am so glad that I have my iPad to help me with my knitting. Now excuse me, I have some socks to work on.
Important Note: We here at Knitzengiggles, while endorsing some awesome businesses, do not guarantee that you will be satisfied with their products and can not be held responsible for any customer dissatisfaction. Also, the internet is a huge place. In no way are we implying that a featured artist or shop is the only resource for a specific item.
Like this:
Knitting 2.0
12 Aug 2009 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: ravelry, technique, web 2.0, youtube
Just a few years ago, knitters were left in the lurch when it came to knitting resources online. Sure there were sites with free patterns, but with the advent of web 2.0, knitting sites stayed on Grandma Bess’ geocities site clicking on almost always broken hyperlinks desperately hoping to find a certain pattern or chart. But partly thanks to Stitch n’ Bitch, knitting slowly moved into the mainstream and hipsters who wanted to knit their own long skinny scarves saw the state of knitting on the web and wept.
But now there is a plethora (yes, it’s $20 word day) of easy to use, pretty, and just plain awesome sites to please the modern knitter. In no particular order:
ravelry.com- simply put, it’s Facebook for knitters. It’s a great way to organize your projects, needles, stash, and favorite patterns. Each project has its own page with a great interface where you can post photos, what needles you use, what yarn (if it’s in your stash it’ll give you an option to use that), project notes, what pattern you use, etc. It also has a fantastic database of free and paid patterns, and super forums and groups where you can have any question answered and network with knitters around the world. Click here for a screenshot tour.
Want to knit a hat? Use the pattern search to find the perfect pattern, click cast on or add to your faves for later, and you have now the perfect online project notebook, where anyone can help you out.
Screenshot of my Projects Page
chartGen- a must for pattern makers, this chart generator will produce a chart from either your typed stitches, or what you build by clicking on the icons. Much easier than excel or Photoshop.
knitPro- [taken from site] knitPro is a free web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. Simply upload jpeg, gif or png images and knitPro will generate a graph sizable for any fiber project. knitPro digitally mimics the tradition of pre-industrial craft circles who freely shared patterns and passed them down from generation to generation.
Youtube- everyone knows about Youtube, but its little-known secret is that it is one of the best how-to guides for knitting on the planet. Look up any stitch or technique you want to learn and there is almost always at least video that will visually demonstrate it over and over (and over and over if you replay the video.) Simply a lifesaver if you’re stuck without a more experienced knitter in sight and you just have to knit that multicolored cable magic loop socks.
Do you have any great knitting sites you’d like to share? Feel free to leave a comment!
//Purl Girl
