Phone apps for knitters

If you are knitting with other people at a group or a workshop, you’ll notice that these days along with their needles, hooks and yarn, lots of folks bring out their smartphone or tablet as essential knitting kit.

It may be that they have downloaded the pattern or chart as a pdf to save them carrying (and losing) the paper version – although that’s not much help if you like to tick off your rows.

But it may also be that their phone is a row counter or they are checking their tension, thanks to a range of knitting apps you can find for your phone or tablet. So we’ve picked out a few you might want to try.

BeeCount sock counter

There are a selection of row counter apps available that can keep track of pattern repeats as well as rows and where you can have row counts for different parts of the project (back and front for example) or even different projects. BeeCount (Free on Android: £0.79 on IoS) allows you to set lots of rules about how it counts repeats so that some counters only tick over after a certain number of rows have been worked.

Stitchminder (fee on IoS) which offers a similar range of linked and multiple counts plus it will tell you what pattern row you are on. Great for complex lace or sock patterns. Over all Stitchminder seems more user friendly but Beecount certainly does the job for android phones.

Knit Tink (free on Android) offers fewer options than BeeCount but it does record they key information – rows and repeat worked. And if you want something very simple that just counts rows for one project try Knitt, another free Andriod app.

Chart maker app

Knitting Chart Maker (free on android and IoS for basic version) draw your own charts using a selection of the most common knitting chart symbols. You can make notes on your charts and export them as an image. The full version (£2.50) lets you save and work on a range of charts. Also useful if you prefer working from charts than written instructions – you can draw the chart on your phone and then work from that instead.

Gaugefy tension convertor

A really useful app is Gaugefy (free trial and then £1.50 on IoS) which works out the tension of your knitting from any swatch. Type in the number of stitches and rows of your swatch and its measurement and the app will tell you the tension. There are options to work out the number of stitches you need to cast on for a particular width and, best of all, if you are substituting a yarn and can’t quite match the tension, the app will work out how many stitches and rows you need to adapt a pattern.

Of all the available apps KnitHandy and CrochetHandy (69p each on IoS) by Anne Budd are the ones I really want because they work out how much yarn you need for a project. Whether you are wondering what you can do with some stash yarn, or how much to buy of the lovely hand-dyed 4-ply you’ve happened upon, this is very handy. You simply choose a project – socks, sweater, hat, etc – turn one dial for size and another to the right gauge for the yarn (there’s a key) and the app tells you how many metres you are likely to need.

Please tell us about the knitting and crochet apps you use by posting in the comments section below.