Goal Almost Accomplished

Having decided to participate in the WordCount Blogathon again this year, I made a few decisions about how I wanted to participate.

Blogathon Goals

First and foremost, my over-arching goal was to re-energize the blog a bit and expand the readership.  I think the blog has definitely had more energy and interaction and comments from readers and the readership has definitely expanded, even if it's only for the period of the Blogathon.

Some other goals I had associated with the Blogathon:

1. Make sure the content had some meat to it...that I didn't just throw out a blog entry to comply with a daily blog post requirement.
2. Make sure the majority of blog posts had fiber content (not the digestive type).
3. Make sure the blog posts included as wide a variety of interest, while still sticking with the basic premise of queer life, personal thoughts and fiber crafting.
4. And make sure there were at least a couple of photos in each post.

I would dare say that each of these goals was completed successfully, and I will most probably do this Blogathon again next year.

Thank you to all who kept up with the frantic pace of daily blog entries and for all those who participated either here in comments, on various social networks or via e-mail.

Current Knitting

I'm halfway through the Koigu Picot Bias scarf (in that I've used up the first two of four hanks of Koigu).

I've just realized that my second hank of brighter Koigu is a different colorway than the first, so I'm hopeful the two halves of the scarf don't look completely odd when the scarf is finished.

Survey Results - Knitting Apps

The number of people filling out the survey was surprising and disappointing.

Suprising, in that as of right now 121 people have responded.  Disappointing, in that SurveyMonkey only allows me to see the first 100 results without paying for an upgrade...I ain't paying.  If anyone would like the results, you can pay to have my account upgraded for one month at $24 and I'll give you my userid and password.

Knitting Apps Survey

Just a couple of obvious flaws with the survey...

1. I didn't really define "app" very well, so the answers are a bit more vague than I might have wanted
2. I didn't take into consideration other countries' currencies when I asked for maximum price (so I converted approximately when other currencies were entered).
3. The list of apps that people currently use might have typos (mine or the respondents) and might not be apps at all

All that being said here are the results.

1. Do you use any knitting or fiber-related apps on your smartphone or tablet?
	answered	94
	skipped	6
Response	Count		Percent	Response
Yes	54			57.40%
No	40			42.60%
Other	6
-I have niether of these devices.
-I would if I had an app to suit my needs
-need to buy a tablet - don't like using phone for apps
-Knit Visualizer on my laptop; Excel spreadsheets for stitch/row counts, if necessary
-inventory on my Palm.
2. Are you interested in using knitting apps (if you don't already)?
	answered	93
	skipped	7
Response	Count		Percent	Response
Yes		46			49.50%
No		18			19.40%
N/A		29			31.20%
3. Which types of knitting apps are most useful to you?
	answered	83
	skipped	17
Response		Count	Percent Response
Project Tracking	29		34.90%
Design Assistance	44		53.00%
Software Interfaces	46		55.40%
Pattern Readers/Assts	51		61.40%
Database	23		27.70%
Tutorials/Videos	33		39.80%
Other (please specify)	8
- theoretically, since I haven't tried any of these!
- Yarma to upload photos to Ravelry
- Love Yarma...might be considered an interface
- none/Not interested
- First I'd have to buy an iDevice (assuming that apps run on iDevices and programs on computers)
- Yarnphone (shop finder)
- Row counter
- PDF Markup Software
4. For what platform do you use/look for apps?
	answered	85
	skipped	15
Response		Count		Percent Response
Smartphone		48		56.50%
Tablet		51		60.00%
Computer		32		37.60%
Other (please specify)
- none
- Ipod
- INTEGRATED with cloud storage so all data is available on all platforms
- I need to buy a tablet but am contemplating a tablet because I want some of those apps
- hooked up with my ancient Palm
5. What is the maximum price you'd pay for an app?
	answered	78
	skipped	22
Response	Count		Percent Response
0 or free	7		8.97%
US$0.99	2		2.56%
$2	5		6.41%
$3	5		6.41%
$4	1		1.28%
$5	25		32.05%
$6	2		2.56%
$7	3		3.85%
$10	12		15.38%
$12	1		1.28%
$15	4		5.13%
$20	6		7.69%
$25	2		2.56%
$35	1		1.28%
$50	1		1.28%
$500	1		1.28%
Other Comments:
Depends on what the value is to me (obviously!) but I prefer my apps cheap or free - I think the most I've paid is about $5
Nothing. Mobile websites are better for simple information seeking (pinch and zoom).
That depends!
depends on functionality but probably 9.99
haven't app shopped to know what is reasonable
It would depend on how much the app did. Some would be priceless
it all depends . . . .
Not sure, right now I only use free app's
It would really depend on the app..
depending on what it would be used for.
If it really addressed my needs, whatever the market is
6. What current knitting apps do you use?
	answered	68
	skipped	32
APP		Count
A  Generic Counter		4
BeeCount		1
Button Wizard		1
County/County Plus		3
Craftsy		8
Gauge		2
Gaugefy		5
GoodReader		5
iKnit NdlSzr		3
iKnitGauge		2
iSpin Toolkit		2
Jknit/Light		3
Knit		3
KnitCompanion		9
KnitCounter		12
KnitEvenly		6
KnitGauge		1
KnitHandy		9
KnitMinder		1
Knitters Handbook		2
Knitting HD		1
Knitting Help Videos		3
Knitting Shop Finder		1
KnittingBag		1
KnittingDaily		3
Lion Brand App		1
MetaPost		1
None		17
Personally built App		2
Raglanify		1
Ravelry		12
Ravulous		4
Ruler		1
Sock Calc		1
StitchCounter		1
StitchMinder		4
Stitchopedia		2
StitchSketch		1
TeX		1
Touch and Go Knitting HD		1
VK KnitBuddy		3
Wooly		4
YardToMeter		1
Yarma		6
Yarn Geni		1
Yarnphone!		1
Yarns		1
Zinio		1

Current Knitting

I started on a new project, again based on a photo I saw on Pinterest recently that I really liked.  It's a scarf in two colors of Koigu KPPM, knit in garter stitch on the bias, with little picots on the side edges.

This fabric:

Made with these two colorways:

I'm really loving the resulting dark colored fabric with glints of color coming through.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Claire (via e-mail) writes, "I recommend highly an application for passwords (and other secure

information) that works and synchronises beautifully cross-platform:
 1Password
https://agilebits.com/onepassword
There are lots of password manager apps, we've tried several, love this one.
Thanks Claire, I'll have to check it out