little feet, big sky

Yup, $4.99. I stalled on buying Monopoly for so long because I’m a cheapskate when it comes to iPhone apps and for $4.99, it had better empty the dishwasher for me. Overall, it’s been pretty good. It’s just like the board game, but it goes much faster since you tap the screen to do just about everything and don’t have to count out paper bills by hand or fetch the dice out from under the couch. In fact, you shake your iPhone to roll the dice, and that’s the one feature I’m not thrilled about, since I get my playing time in while I’m nursing Spice down and even a flick of the wrist once in a while risks waking her up. It’s taken me a while to get used to the new properties and their inflated prices (c’mon, Montreal as the most expensive city?!), but I’m adjusting. Still, good old-fashioned fun all around.

Okay, so of all the things you can do with your iPhone, you can’t actually knit directly with it.. but almost.

Store knitting patterns on your iPhone using Evernote. After trying for ages to find a practical way to use this slightly clunky desktop app/website/iPhone app, I’ve found it’s great for storing patterns I’m currently knitting. Sign up online and create a new note. (You can download the desktop app for either Mac or Windows, too.) Copy and paste the pattern text into your new note. You can even drag a picture into the note, too, which is great for cables/braids or even charts. Install the Evernote iPhone app, login in from your iPhone and you’ll see your pattern there. :-)

Track stitches on your iPhone with Stitchminder. It’s a free app, and despite the slightly garish background of a blue ball of yarn, it works pretty well. Ironically, the preset column counts don’t have a heading for tracking stitches. Instead you can choose from column names like row count, increase/decrease row and pattern row. Make sure to set your Auto-Lock setting (Settings > General > Auto-Lock) to something like 5 minutes, so that you don’t have to unlock everytime you finish a row.

Now all we need is an iPhone app for Ravelry. :-) Any other ways you use your iPhone to help with crafting?

One of my twitter moms, techmama, was asking about favorite iPhone apps – the perfect question for a Monday morning blog post. :-) Since I feel that an app really has to be stellar for to me to pay money for it, most of the apps listed below are free unless otherwise noted. Enjoy!

• Stitchminder – For any craft in which you need to count stitches. Customizable column names, like “increase row” or “pattern row”.
• Sunrise – $.99. Spice starts knocking off to sleep right after sunset, so it’s handy to know exactly what time that is, so I can start her evening feed/bath/sleep routine.
• Wordpress – Blog from your iPhone. Pretty slick overall, but obviously not perfect if I’m still not blogging from it frequently.
• Things – $9.99. The ultimate to-do list. Really, I love this one, as it has a Mac desktop app that will soon sync with the iPhone version. Right now, it’s easier to just use the iPhone version for everything.
• eReader – Awesome e-book reader. One click download from books purchased on ereader.com or fictionwise.com. No sync needed! Setting white text on a black background is perfect for nighttime reading in bed. (Tip: Try it with one of their free books, like The Age of Innocence.)
• NYTimes – Full NY Times articles. What’s neat is that you can organize your preferred sections, like “Politics” or “Photos” in the bottom bar.
• Twitterific – Twitter client. Not as full-featured or fast as Hahlo, but Hahlo can’t do pics. :-(
• Weatherbug – Extreme weather details. Insanely better than the useless default Weather app. Like radar/satellite views and weathercams.
• Evernote – Note-taking program that syncs with website and desktop app. Can be a bit clunky. Neatest trick is being able to take pics that sync to both places automagically, which is useful for blogging later.
• NetNewsWire – News reader that syncs with NetNewsWire (OS X) and FeedDemon (Windows) through Newsgator Online so you never read the same thing twice.
• eBay Mobile – Track your auctions, whether you’re buying or selling.
• Pandora Radio – Incredibly sharp choose-your-own Internet radio.