Knitting technology

More and more knitters have added an essential gadget to their knitting bag: their iphones! Yes, it's good for making desperate calls to your local yarn shop, AND you can scour YouTube for the instructional video of your choice. But even more than that, there are starting to be some really useful iphone applications in the itunes app store, some of which can help lighten your ditty bag.

For example, you can toss the needle sizing tool once you've bought iKnit Needle Sizer. With this app you lay your needle on top of the horizontal black lines on the screen and look directly down at it. When you can just see the red lines above and below the needle you're measuring, you know you've found your size.

Got a tool for measuring gauge? For $.99, Knit Gauge will do it for you. Place your knitting along the side of the iphone. Position the red and green needles on the screen between a set number of stitches or rows, and let the application measure the distance and calculate the number of stitches or rows per inches and centimeters.

There are also simple applications to replace counters (StitchMinder) and to calculate total yardage needed for a project (Knitting Yarn Calculator).

The most expensive and fully featured app out there right now is called Knit Buddy ($4.99). It'll keep track of your projects, needles and yarn. Two independent counters are associated with each project. One commenter describes it as "a mini ravelry on the go."

Are you using your iphone or other technology gadget to help with your knitting? Tell us about it in the comments.