Tools and Resources: PDAs for Knitting

From Melanie:
I purchased HandDbase and built my own database for knitting patterns and one for yarn inventory. That way if I'm out and about,
I can check to see if i have the Yarn or pattern i need if I see something I like

From Sharon in Toronto:
I've been using a Casiopea E-11 PDA for about 3 years. I suppose I'm a moderate user - I don't get into recording the entire stash online or patterns, but I do have

* (of course) contacts, stores & guild members
* List of needles owned (size & type)
* List of needle size conversions ie, US to metric
* list of books (owned and desired)
* List of magazines (owned & desired ie, back issues)
* Yarn conversion info
* Yarn quantity estimates per garment size

I don't know the features of the Handspring but I would never buy a PDA that uses disposable batteries - only a rechargable one. And make sure a charge lasts a good, long time - you don't want to run out of juice just when you're shopping at the LYS!

But go ahead and get it - you'll LOVE it. But BEWARE - you should synch REGULARLY with some other laptop or PC because PDAs DO flake out on occasion and you will inevitably loose everything and have to restore your data. You have been warned <beg>.

From Maria in Maine:
I have a Handspring Visor , had it about a year now, and I love it. My DH bought me a program could Documents To Go which transfers any Excel or Word document from my MacIntosh to my Handspring. So with the Excel side I have set up my needle inventory, garment yardage requirements, and yarn weight characteristics (e.g. fingering weight is 19-22 wraps/inch, gets 7 st./inch on #1-3 needles). They may make a version for the PC if that's your platrform. There are tons of information for add-ons at the Handspring Website.

On the Word side I have a little blurb on how many strands of say fingering weight yarn equals a sport wieight etc. I thnk I got that info off the knitlist. I am planning to add a piece on turning a sock heel and kitchener stitching.

It's great to have these things with you when you are at your LYS or when you are away from your knitting resources. I imagine there is no end to what you could put on the device, limited only to the PDA's memory.

From Mary:
I have a Handspring Prism and LOVE it. I must admit that the only knitting related stuff I do on it involves carrying around pictures by transferring via the free software (the Prism offers color and, IMHO, the color is much better than the Palm color PDA).

I also have Listmaker and that would be ideal for keeping track of your needles. Or you could just use the Memo Pad.

The Prism was pricier than others, but I am a children's bk. writer, so I got the Targas keyboard and haul it out anywhere and everywhere to write and take notes. Not a second's regret at buying the Handspring or keyboard!

One criticism--I have a Mac and sometimes the Handspring newsletter advertises great software that I'm dying to have and then I find it's only PC compatible. I wish they'd warn in advance.

From Chris in St. Paul:
I have a Palm handheld and use a database program (thinkDB) to keep track of my needles and knitting projects. I also use the memo feature to store patterns and, if I go travelling, the addresses of local yarn shops.

From Tracy in Madison:
I got a Handspring Visor Deluxe about 2 years ago for the sole purpose of knitting inventory control. My decision for the Visor at the time was based on lowest price for most memory, expansion capability, and replaceable batteries. (My husband's Palm V has rechargeable batteries, but those only work for so long and I'm not sure if they can be replaced.)

I purchased ThinkDB (at the time, $25), a very good relational database program that has both PDA and PC Desktop versions. I compared it to the others on the market at the time, and it had the best features. So far I've received a number of free updates, but I think I've hit the end of my grace period. The nicest part of this program is that you can enter data on your regular computer and then sync it over to the PDA--you don't have to do all that grafitti! Thus far I've created databases of all my knitting magazines, knitting books, and knitting needles. Yarn is next. (I've also made a database for all the albums of a certain band that I own, and hope to make a listing of all CDs and all books, but these things take time.)

I also have a simple list (in the memo pad feature) of all the lot numbers of Regia yarn I have. You would not believe how useful this is when in the grip of yarn buying frenzy!

I have also installed the free program AvantGo, which I've used to download maps and driving directions to knitting destinations (aka Stitches Midwest from my house).

From Barbara in Baton Rouge:
There is a wonderful data base for handhelds called KnitAble. It has pages for projects, measurements (of people), needles, hooks, abbreviations and terms, yarn, patterns, books and magazines, and a needle conversion chart. It has a calculation section for yardage, buttonholes, conversions, and increase/decrease stitches. Whew! All that being said, here's what is good about that. I have no LYS. When we headed out to move my daughter to graduate school in Virginia, I looked up all the yarn stores on my route back, the vacation part of the trip. Then I put into KnitAble every pattern I've dreamed about, and each one's yarn requirements/needle requirements. Then, if I came across the perfect DK, worsted, fingering, lace weight, whatever yarn, I knew if I could use it, and how much. I essentially bought a year's stash with my yarn money.

It's also good, as time passes, to have a record of what I knit for whom on the last gift-giving occasion, so I don't repeat myself. (I have daughters on both coasts, and don't see people wearing what knit.)

Some of the goodies I told you about came with a recent upgrade, which was free. NAYY, I just bought my handspring with the intent of supporting KnitAble, which I chose after much research on the lists, just as you are.

From Liana:
I've got a Handspring, and I love it. Once in a while I leave it at home and feel lost for the rest of the day.

I'd suggest getting the Backup Module. It's nice to know that if something happens and you lose your data or have to do a reset, you can just rebuild from it and don't have to wait until you get to your PC. Provided you remember to backup at some reasonable interval, which reminds me...

Knitting-related, I have on mine:

- a list of what needles I have
- what gauges various yarns have worked up to, and other basic information for the yarn
- reproductions of a couple English/American/Metric needle size comparison charts some information on how various sizes of yarns compare, and what they're used for, copied from "The Knitter's Companion" (I figure it's ok, since I summarized it from the copy I own)
- several simple patterns for things I do for mindless/take-along knitting
- notes from making a pair of gloves for my husband that I did a lot of on-the-fly changes to (so I could do glove #2 and have them match)
- A list of things I want to buy
- A list of knitting (and other hobby) books I own

Some of the information is in memos, some of the lists are in a simple database program called, surprise surprise, "List". It's freeware, has a desktop program (although it doesn't run under the standard Pilot desktop, but independently) which is nice, since I type faster than graffitti, and my copy says it's available at www.magma.ca/~roo by Andrew Low. NAYY.

I don't have any knitting-specific software on mine, but I haven't gone looking for any, either.

On the non-knitting front, I think my favorite non-stock appication is the document reader. I can load up a bunch of e-books, and they don't make it weigh any more. ) I use Teal Doc, a friend of mine swears by iSilo, and my husband likes Peanut Reader.