Yarn Diary

Questions people actually ask

How do I keep track of my rows when crocheting?

Give each part of your project its own round list and tick rounds off as you finish them. In Yarn Diary that list comes straight from your pattern: scan or paste it, and every round appears with its instruction and stitch count. A tap marks a round done; within a round, a counter tracks individual stitches, so putting the work down mid-round doesn't mean losing your place. Stitch markers and paper tallies work too — this is those, minus the part where the cat knocks the tally off the sofa.

How do you keep track of rounds in amigurumi?

Amigurumi is the case Yarn Diary was built around: many small parts, worked in a spiral, where losing count means frogging. Each part — head, body, each leg — keeps its own rounds and its own progress. A part made more than once ("legs, make 2") tracks each copy separately, so you always know the second ear is three rounds behind the first.

Is there an app that reads crochet patterns for you?

Yes — that is what Yarn Diary does. Point your camera at a printed pattern, drop in a PDF, or paste the text. The pattern is parsed into parts and rounds: it understands round labels in most notations, repeats like (sc, inc) x6, ranges like Rnds 4–9, and US and UK abbreviations. Every parsed round is checked against the stitch count printed in the pattern, and anything that doesn't add up is flagged for you to look at before you save. More about how the scanner works.

Is Yarn Diary really free? What's the catch?

Free, and there isn't one. No subscription, no ads, no "pro" tier, no account to create. The app is a set of static files, so it costs almost nothing to run — which is why it doesn't need to charge you or sell your attention. The longer answer, including how it compares.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Yarn Diary is an installable web app: after the first visit it works with no connection at all, including the pattern scanner — text recognition runs inside your browser, not on a server. Add it to your home screen from the browser menu and it behaves like any other app on your phone.

Can I use it on my phone and my computer?

Yes. It runs in any modern browser. To keep both devices on the same projects, connect Google Drive on the Data screen: Yarn Diary puts your projects in a folder in your own Drive and each device syncs with that folder directly. Your projects never pass through any server of ours, and the app can only see the files it created — not the rest of your Drive.

Where is my data stored? Do you have my patterns?

On your device, in your browser's storage. We never see your patterns, photos or projects — they are never sent to us. That also means you should export a backup now and then (Data screen → Export backup); if your browser's data is cleared, the projects in it go too. The privacy page spells all of this out.

Does it understand UK crochet terms?

Yes. Each project is read in US or UK terms — your choice, flippable with one tap that re-checks the whole pattern — and the built-in stitch guide shows every stitch under both names — a UK dc and a US sc stop being an argument. There is also a full conversion chart and converter.

My stitch count doesn't match the pattern — can it help?

That's the problem the count checker exists for. When a pattern is scanned or pasted, Yarn Diary re-derives each round's stitch count from the instructions and compares it with the count the pattern prints. If the pattern says (18) but the instructions produce 17, the round is flagged — so you find out at the sofa, not at round 40. More on count checking.

What happens to my data if the site goes away?

Your projects live on your device and keep working — the app is installable and runs offline. Backups export to an ordinary file you keep, and if you sync, the files sit in your own Google Drive in readable JSON. Nothing about your work is held hostage anywhere.