Continue reading »]]> So there is a new iPhone app available for the crocheter or knitter called Ewe Stash (Treeness, LLC). First reaction, “Wee! A new app for crocheters and knitters. Have to have it!” Second reaction after seeing the $2.99 price, “Why do I need this?”

The goal of Ewe Stash is to give you the ability to easily manage your stash of yarn, needles and hooks from the comfort of your iPhone. In theory, this is a great idea. You’re cruising for patterns at a store and want to see what yarn you have that might work. In practice, I’m not so sure. Knowing how we crafters work, if we are in a yarn store looking at patterns, most likely we are going to buy the yarn that’s right in front of us. You can never, NEVER have too much yarn.

The other downer is populating the database with your stash, needles and hooks. If are hip enough to have an iPhone, my guess is that you are hip enough to be on Ravelry and have already populated your personal stash/needle/hook database there. The idea of doing it a second time…no thank you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a store and popped on the Ravelry site from my iPhone to look up patterns and stash information. Works for me.

Ewe Stash does allow you to have pictures for each of your stashed items, even your needles and hooks (Ravelry does not let you have pictures of your awesome wooden hooks), BUT you can’t enlarge them to see a closer view. You are stuck with the 3/8”x3/8” thumbnail picture. No thank you.

The final feature of Ewe Stash is “By linking Contacts, you can make sure that your stash never runs low.” Again, in theory this is a great idea. But what it means is that you have to add all of your favorite yarn stores to you iPhone Contacts. If you are proned to calling your yarn dealer in desperation (“Dude, I need some DK weight virgin wool in eggplant real bad.”) then this is a feature for you. Personally, I would rather yarn store contact information was stored in the app itself and not in my personal contacts.

Would I buy it if I didn’t need to use the app for writing a review? No.

What would make it worth the $2.99 price?

Enable zooming of stash pictures.

Yarn store contact information housed in app, not in Contacts.

Have a Wish List option. I would like to go to a yarn store, take a picture and store information on yarn I would like to have in the future.

Option to sort by color, not just weight, fiber and name.

Continue reading »]]> As usual I have many hooks in the fire these days. It seems every time I start a project five more join the party. One home-décor project that I have in mind requires¹ a hand-spun, earthy, nom-nom feel to it. One yarn popped into mind immediately…recycled sari silk. I’ve wanted an excuse to order some of this yarn for several months, and now my self-induced need fit the bill.

Recycled sari silk yarn is hand crafted from reclaimed saris and sarongs by women that have been rescued from abusive situations. For the story of the Nepali Women’s Empowerment Group and more information on the yarn itself, I urge you to visit Mango Moon.

My sari silk yarn arrived yesterday from Paradise Fibers in a rather simple package with strange characters written all over it. Maybe they were Tibetan prayers, blessing the purchase. Okay, fine, they were UPC codes. You can’t blame a guy for trying to give a little exotic flavor to his purchase.

The first thing you can’t help but notice is that when they say “multicolored,” they mean it. The yarn is an explosion of reds, pinks, yellows, greens, blues, lime green, black…I can keep going…purple, orange…

The yarn is very inconsistent in weight. It ranges from a fine fingering to bulky weight. This is perfect for gaining texture from the yarn rather than the stitches. In fact, because of the explosion of color and texture, you will want to use as simple a stitch as possible. There is no need to get all fancy-stichy with this yarn.

Using a large size M hook, I quickly whipped up a swatch to see how it works. The larger hook was great for making a looser stitch, giving the yarn more workability and drape. It’s the perfect hook size for scarves or bags.

The recycled sari silk is everything I expected. I’m pretty anxious to start on the project, and even more anxious to share it with you.

1. “Requires” has such a formal I’m-following-a-pattern feel to it. The project isn’t requiring it so much as I’ve got this idea in my mind and my brain is stubborn when it comes to my ideas. So, in reality, my brain has required it of the project and I am but a humble, under-paid servant