There's an app for that!

I love my iPod Touch! I use it to listen to audio books, read digital books, keep track of birthdays, listen to music, play a couple of games… you get the idea. I wanted to use it in some way for my stitching and have found a few apps that I really like.

All of these apps should work on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Some of them have versions for the iPad but I can’t comment on how they work on that device. If you use something other than Apple products you will need to check those app stores for availability.

A free app that I use is the Stitchulator. You enter the stitch count for the needlework project you will work on, select the fabric count you will use, input the size border you want around the outside of the design for framing, and voila! It tells you how large the design area will be and how large you should cut your fabric. No more trying to figure out if you have enough fabric for your project. Change your mind about the fabric count? Just select your new count choice and it updates the fabric size needed. Very handy!

The next three apps I use are $1.99 each and are inventory aids. 

XFloss- for DMC floss

XStitch Anchor- Anchor floss

XStitch Specialty- Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts

They all operate in the same basic way. The main screen has a menu listing the floss. You choose the number range and up pops a listing of the floss in that range, each with a color photo, a blank for inventory count and a little shopping cart. Tap the shopping cart to add that color to your shopping list. Tap the inventory blank to add one to your inventory. Very easy!

At the bottom of the screen there is a shopping list icon. Tap it for a list of everything you need to buy. There is also a Project Manager. Here you are able to create a Project, name it and add the floss you need to finish it. Once created, you can tap on the project for a list of the floss you need to buy and what you have in your inventory.

The Specialty app came in handy on a recent shopping trip with friends. Becky wanted to purchase a pattern using Weeks but the pattern listed the needed floss by number instead of name. Yikes! The shops always display these in alpha order by color name. It could take forever to find what she needed. So, I took out my iPod, opened up my app and easily found the names of all the colors she needed. 

There is another app in this series that inventories Hand Dyed Fibers from Victoria Clayton. I just placed my first order of HDF so will have more on that later!