7I have yarn and want to know what to make
Stash Matchmaker finds patterns that match your yarn
- A Ravelry account with some yarn in your stash, ideally with yardage recorded.
- The basic matchmaker needs nothing switched on. Multi-Yarn Matchmaker is a beta, off by default, in Settings → Appearance → Beta Features.
Go to the Discover tab and tap Stash Matchmaker. Your own yarn runs along the top of the screen. Everything below it is patterns you could make with that yarn.
Tap a yarn and the patterns appear underneath - no button to press, no form to fill in. The line above the results tells you how many were found. Tap any pattern to open it as usual.
Yardage only — the widest net
+ Weight — the same yarn, far fewer patterns
The row of buttons under the search box goes from loosest to strictest. Each one adds one more condition to the one before it:
| Yardage only | Anything you have enough yarn for. The widest net, and usually far too many. |
| + Weight | Also the right thickness of yarn. This is the one most people want. |
| + Gauge | Also knits to the tension your yarn does. |
| From projects | Only patterns other people have actually made in this exact yarn. Fewest results, best results. |
If a level comes back nearly empty, the app says Few results - try a broader level and puts the next level up right there as a button. One tap and you are back to a useful list. You do not have to work out which button to press.
Favorites shows only patterns you have already hearted - a good way to answer "which of the things I liked could I actually cast on tonight". Free shows only free patterns. There is also a search box, if you are after a hat rather than anything at all.
Tap the small i on a yarn (or hold the yarn down) and the app shows its working: what it knows about that yarn, what it filled in for you, and the search it is running. Most of the time you will not need this. It is the place to look when the results are strange - usually the answer is a blank in the yarn record.
Almost always the yarn record is thin rather than the app being wrong. Yarn with no amount recorded still gets matched - the app simply cannot cap the search by how much you have, so check the pattern's yardage yourself before you cast on. Filling in the weight and the amount is what turns a vague list into a useful one.
Have three part-balls you want to use together? Multi-Yarn Matchmaker adds up the yardage across several stash entries and looks for patterns that need that much. It is still a beta, so it is off until you switch it on in Settings → Appearance → Beta Features, and it then appears as its own entry on the Discover tab.
Available on iPhone, iPad, Android, and web at app.stash2go.com
- A stash entry with no yardage recorded still takes part - the search simply runs without a yardage limit, so check the pattern's requirement yourself.
- If a strict level returns nothing, step down to a broader one; the app prompts you when results are thin.
- Levels that need data your entry does not have - a yarn weight, a gauge - are hidden rather than offered and disappointing you.
- Yarn marked Used Up or Gone/Sold is never offered. Yarn marked Trade/Sell is.