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.

Free Photo Gallery by Picturesurf

What is it about the change in the weather that causes the crafting bug to spawn out of control? As the calendar flips from August to October there seems to be a mental change in me that has to pull out the yarn stash and begin projects. Ok, fine. I don’t pull out the yarn stash. I give a half-hearted glance at the yarn stash, realize that there couldn’t possibly be anything in there I could use for my current ambitions and start cruising the online yarn establishments like some predator.

I find the yarn that fits the project I’m craving and away I go. Then while I’m waiting for the yarn to arrive from my online purchase, I look at the possibilities of more projects. I find a few cool ones, order some more yarn and away I go. But this time to the yarn store. The yarn from the first purchase won’t be delivered for at least a week. I need something now! I call my fiber buddy (aka: The Enabler) and head off to meet him at the semi-local yarn store.¹

I have a project in mind. I know what I want to do. And thanks to the store owner, I found the most delicious mohair blend in two subtly-yummy colors. I need seven skeins. She has two. She has to order more. It will be a couple of weeks.²

Safely back home I realize that when all is said and done I have four types of yarn being shipped to me, an additional one on backorder and have yet to start on a project.

I turn and look with a deep interest at my yarn stash.