Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Yarn U iphone app

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to try out Mary Beth Klatt's updated Yarn U app.

Yarn U is a reference database of yarns. There are 34 different brands included, however for most of the brands the lists are incomplete. For each yarn there is a photo, yardage, yarn weight, stitch gauge, suggested retail price, suggested needle size, and fiber content. There are links on where to find the yarn, and the address for the distributor/manufacturer. Also included are the authors opinion of each yarn, and for some suggested patterns.

Pros:

  • This app works offline, so you can access all the info on the app without internet. It would be great if you were yarn shopping and wanted to compare the price to suggested retail. 
  • Colorful photos of each yarn and finished objects with featured yarns that load quickly
  • There is a built in way to leave your comments for the author, and Mary Beth seems dedicated to making this app better and better. 
Cons: 
  • In my opinion the app isn't very intuitive. There is a short tutorial which introduces you to all of the features which is helpful. 
  • The list of yarns included is limited, and can't compare to the yarn database on Ravelry.
  • The reviews of the yarns are subjective, and only reflect the authors opinion. 

There are a few parts of the app which seem incomplete. There are pro and con sections for each yarn, but for most of the yarns they are empty. I'm also not sure the purpose of knowing where each yarn company is based, there is a map that shows you where different manufacturers/distributors are located, but personally this isn't information I would use. 

For the time being I'm much more likely to use the yarn search feature on Ravelry. However I think there is great potential for this app and as it continues to include more yarns it will become a stronger tool. 

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