There were several questions about how I count my stitches. You may have noticed that I don’t always give a daily stitch count, even when I’m stitching a lot! The app I use to track this is Pattern Keeper. At least when I signed up, there was a free trial period.
Things You Might Want to Know:
- I believe it is still in the testing stage but I have no problems using it.
- As of now, it only works on Android devices. According to the website, there is an IOS app in “early development”.
- If you’re a diehard Apple user, there are some relatively inexpensive Android tablets if you want one simply for this app. I’m weird in that I would give up my phone before using an iPhone but my tablet preference is the iPad. Since I use a Chromebook, I can use Pattern Keeper on that, and on my Android phone but I bought an Android tablet from Sam’s last Fall. I will never love the tablet because I love my iPad but the inexpensive Android tablet is used exclusively for Pattern Keeper.
- You can use it on multiple devices. I do have it on my Chromebook.
- The stitch count shows daily stitches. It resets at midnight (somewhere). The percentage stitched, the total number of stitches in the project and the total number of stitches made since the beginning always shows.
- PDF files are imported. Some designers format their designs specifically to be used with PK so there are no issues importing them and starting to stitch right off the bat. My hope is that other designers will do this soon. For those not formatted for the app, it takes a bit of tweaking but it isn’t hard. Then you have to add your floss numbers, which, of course, is easy but takes a bit of time.
- There is a Facebook group that offers support.
What I Love Most About PK:
- First, and probably foremost, I love that I can click on a color all the stitches using that color are colored so I don’t stitch all of them in one section and then two days later, realize I missed two.
- I love that when I’m working on any part of a chart, I can enlarge it, then reduce it back and move on to the next area.
- I love that if we’re going somewhere, I don’t have to take paper charts and risk forgetting them or losing them.
- I love that I don’t have to remember where I left off. It’s easy to see where I am at all times on the charts without having to mark with pen or marker.
- I love that all of my pdf patterns are stored in the cloud (or somewhere I don’t see them) so no matter where I am or what happens, I can still access my charts, import them into PK and stitch. No more spending time looking for charts or hoping I remembered to bring them with me.
When I first got the tablet and tried the app, I wasn’t thrilled. There is a learning curve. I almost closed it and forgot about it but then I remembered the struggle I had with Knit Companion in the beginning and how much I came to love it. I’m glad I stuck with PK because now, I hardly want to use any charts that aren’t available as a pdf.
Of course, you can scan your paper charts, convert them to pdf and import them. I wasn’t able to do that because I didn’t have a printer that would work but Vince is here and I can now do that. There will always be some tweaking. You can also take a photo of a chart and import that. I haven’t tried that yet.
The app is very inexpensive but I can’t remember how much.