Limited Celebrity

Heehee! Okay, this little ad only ran in my HPKCHC group on Ravelry, but *squee*! (Click on the ad to go through to the iTunes site.)


I noticed the Yarn Genie app (through a normal ad without my name on it) on Rav, and thought "hm, that might be useful!" so I got it. I've been playing with it for about a week now, and run through each part of the program. (The official Yarn Martian on Ravelry, Deborah, asked if she could put me on the above; my fellow Snakes have loved it, and more than a few have downloaded the app.)

1. Yarn Estimator - "Select the project you want to make, answer a few questions about the yarn and the size, and Yarn Genie will calculate the yardage you'll require." This would have been SO useful during the Not Enough Yarn episode during the Evenstar Shawl. I had 10 balls (2350 yds); the pattern calls for 1500 yds (with the original mystery calling for 1700 yards). With my gauge, though, the Yarn Genie says I actually need about 25% more yarn - another 600 yards or so, so I was three balls short! (Right now, Yarn Genie doesn't do circle/diameter calcualtions, but it gives *area* calculations, so if you have a circular shawl/blanket with area X, you can get a similar area calculation, and do small math from there. If circular isn't your strong suit for math (it sure isn't mine!) there's an area calculator here)) Luckily, I managed to (with a LOT MORE MATH THAN I WANTED) to figure out the "three balls short" on my own - but it would've been SO much faster with the app!

I'm totally using it to find out how much yarn my lovely Potions project thinks it needs: I'm making something that's either 50 square feet or 63 square feet; given my gauge (crochet, 3st/in (approximate!)) a 20 sq-ft (48"x60") needs 1260 to 2170 yards - multiply by 2.5 to get 3150 to 5425 OR muliply by 3 to get 3780 to 6510. I have learned to ALWAYS use the high end of the range... so I'm going to need 6500 yards of something for my upcoming OWL. (Wow, that's a lot of yarn. Maybe it should be Transfiguration after all - I'll be vanishing a LOT of yarn!)

2. Hooks/Needles Size Converter -- "Use the converter to determine U.S., Metric and English sizes for needles and crochet hooks." It's like having the Craft Yarn Council Guide in your pocket, without actually having to carry a copy in your pocket.

3. Stash Basher -- "Instantly determine what you can create from the yarns you already have in your stash. Enter the gauge and quantity of the yarn you own and Stash Basher will provide a list of items to consider." I put in my calculation for my blanket above (3st/in, 6500 yds) and I think everything possible came up, including "one big huge honkin' 6'x5' blanket". I entered my new skein of Blue Ridge sock yarn (400 yds) and my estimated gauge (7st/in) and got a much shorter list of items to consider : hats up to 23" in circumference, socks up to a 10" foot length, a 20"x20" blanket, gloves/mitts up to a 10" hand circumference. So "I'd like to make these socks for my husband's 15" long feet" won't fly with this yarn, which is good to know!

4. About Us - handly links to YarnMarket.com, Knitch mag, the Yarndex, and BargainYarns.com. Between this app and Ravelry, I am now dangerous. Or at least more likely to be able to get through some of my (considerable) stash in 2012. Then, in 2013 (assuming the world doesn't end next December), I can run amok and get MORE yarn!!

In summary: Totally worth the download time for a small, free, and darned useful app!