KnitMinder: Projects

I keep writing in my blog that KnitMinder is a knitting project management application, but what does that really mean? KnitMinder is, in the most basic sense, an addition to or a replacement for those scraps of paper, bulging notebooks, various row counters, and multicolored post-its that you use to keep track of where you are on the four different projects you've got started but haven't finished. KnitMinder keeps all of those notes and reminders are in one place where they can't be lost. As an added bonus, all of those notes are in your purse or pocket wherever you happen to be because they're on your phone or iPod. Sounds great, doesn't it?

To get started, you set up a project in KnitMinder. Projects are where your pattern, yarns, logbook, and counters are stored as well as information about the size you are knitting and who you are going to give it to when you're done. This sounds like a lot of typing on that tiny iPhone keyboard, but don't worry -- I've designed KnitMinder so you can use as much or as little of the functionality as you like. A project really only needs a name. You can just use the counters and ignore the rest of the buttons, or go wild and track everything.

KnitMinder Example Project
Here's an example of a simple project in the early stages of creation. You can see the required name, "Triangle Shawl," and that I'm using the pattern named "Half Granny Square," which I previously entered on the patterns page. The picture of the yarn at the top of the screen will be replaced by the latest photo I've taken of the project, once I've taken some pictures in the logbook. We're in the detailed view of the project here. Clicking on the "Hide Details" link at the top of the page will close most of the text entry fields and just show buttons for the logbook and counters as well as a list of yarns and needles.

KnitMinder Example Project 2
Here's the bottom half of the project entry screen. I've selected a yarn to use for this project from my stash, but I haven't chosen needles yet. This yarn also doesn't have a picture yet, so you see the familiar grey yarn. This yarn has a primary color of red, shown by the small red box in the lower left corner of the yarn picture. You can add as many yarns and needles as you want to a project.

That's a very brief tour of project creation, but I'll get into more details in future posts. Next time, I'll show you the logbook and how you can keep notes and pictures organized by date in your project.