I Get to Review Stuff

It's been a great month!

I was invited to join Saturday Spinners, a small spinning guild in my area, after attending a meeting a few months ago, and recently went to my first meeting as a member.  What a lovely group!  Most of us had our spinning wheels and were able to spin throughout the meeting.  Everyone brought things to show -- handspun yarns, finished knitted and woven items (mostly) made from their handspun, and some works in progress.  Everyone but me, that is.  I may be the slacker in the group but I hope to be able to share next time. 

Today I'd like to brag on behalf of one of the members of the group.  Michelle is a talented fiber artist, and a wonderful teacher.  I took a basic spinning class from her when I was just beginning to get back into spinning and it really helped me get a good start.  She just opened an etsy store called Textile Sanity where she is currently selling covers for hand cards.  She takes custom orders and I can testify to the fact that her work is excellent.  In fact, she made these covers for my handcards from fabric I had left over from my Joy spinning wheel cover.

I like them so much, tonight I'm going to send her the odd-sized carders that came with my Moswalt Hammer and have her make another set of covers for me.  

Michelle is also one of the organizers of the Studio 66 Retreat which takes place in Southern California every two years.  Next one is in May 2013.  Spaces are limited and going fast so if you're thinking about going, sign up now!  I'm not an organizer of the retreat nor do I profit from it - except spiritually.  It's a great way to get away from televisions and technology, meet fellow fiberistas, learn a few things, or just relax in a beautiful mountain setting.  Someday I'll share the story of the stowaway that came home with me from the first retreat.

As long as I'm bragging on behalf of others today, I would also like to talk about a new (to me) iPhone/iPad app, YarnU by Mary Beth Klatt.  This is an database of (mostly) high-end yarns, with links to shops where they can be bought, photos the yarns and frequently projects made with them, and discussions of the pros and cons of each yarn.  Full disclosure:  I received a free copy of the app for review purposes.  I don't know Mary Beth except for a brief conversation we had on Ravelry about the app and her plans for it.

I think Mary Beth has done a nice job putting together the info in this app.  And it's a great concept -- you can filter by one of several different categories:  Aran, bulky, crochet, DK, fingering, hand-dyed, hand wash, lace weight, links to free patterns, machine wash, novelty, sock, sport, superwash, video URL, worsted.  I wish the app had multiple filters -- one for yarn weight, one for fiber content, one for treatment, one for extras, so you could, for example, search for a DK weight hand-dyed wool yarn with free patterns.  But unfortunately, the app is supported by a framework supplied by Sutro Media, and only one generic filtering mechanism is available.  Perhaps as they grow their list of titles, they will get a bit more sophisticated.

"Browse" View

There are several views available in the app.  The main view (browse) is a list of yarns by name (includes a thumbnail of the yarn or a project made from it), brief description, and distance to a store carrying it). You can also sort the same view by distance.  Since most of the sellers listed have on-line presences, distance is not a big problem unless you need to fondle the yarn before you purchase it.  Or you can sort by manufacturer, in which case you get a list of the manufacturers with the number of yarns listed for each, then you drill down to the individual yarn "snapshot" by choosing the manufacturer.

Individual Yarn View

In any of these views, if you select a yarn, you will get a photo of the yarn or project, a map showing the location of the store carrying it, a description of the yarn, specifications, pros and cons, price, comments, and links to projects, videos, or website carrying it.  If you flick on the screen (the iPhone motion for turning pages), you will see pages that may be attached to the yarn.  For example, I'm looking at Homespun Goodness from New Hampshire right now.

Yarn Thumbnails

Flicking right to left started a slide show with several full screen shots of projects and yarn.  You can stop the show by touching anywhere on the screen, and then slideshow controls will popup at the top of the screen.  From there you can replay or tap a button to see thumbnails of all the photos. You can also enlarge the map by tapping on it.

"Photos" View

The "Photos" view gives you a collage of all the photos in the database.  I could spend hours just drooling over the yarns and projects on this screen. Tapping on a photo lets you view it full-screen, with the name of the yarn at the top.  Tapping on the name takes you to its data page.  Or you can flick through full-screen photos page by page or use the controls at the top to start a slide show.





Map view shows you the locations of all the yarn stores currently listed in the database.  Most are located in the northwest and northeast United States, with a smattering in the United Kingdom.  Tapping on a store icon pops up the name of the yarn and info about the store.

Finally, there is a comments view where app users can share info, ask questions, or talk about the app or yarns.  It looks like Mary Beth monitors this frequently because I see quite a few answers from her there.

When I first downloaded the app, there were about 300 yarns listed.  Mary Beth tells me she aims to update it every month or two, and indeed there has been one update in the two weeks since then.

 I'd like to see some help on using the app.  I've found most of the underlying features (so far) by blundering around in it.  Makes me wonder what other features I haven't found.  And whether a couple of reviewers who were unhappy with the app would have thought different if they knew how to navigate it.

The only reservation I have about the app is one of volume.  There are so many wonderful high-end yarns being made these days, I don't see how Mary Beth can include more than a small sampling in the database.  To grow the project, she would have to involve more people gathering information and writing reviews, which has the inherent risk of diminishing the quality of the information.   And frankly, at only $2.99 for the app, I don't see how she could compensate good reviewers for their time, let alone make the current project worth her while to maintain.

That said, I love the concept, and I love being able to get to the information through different paths.  My personal favorite today is the photo collage, because it's an easy way to look for a project then find out what type of yarn could be used. If you're expecting Yarn U to be a database of every yarn available, you're going to be disappointed.  Not to mention more than a bit unrealistic.   I personally think the app is more than worth the $2.99 if you look at it as an inspirational tool.  We drop more than that buying a single magazine with far less content.

I have more to say about my month but it will have to wait for the next post.  Darn it!