Turn Your Photos Into Graphghans with Wooltasia Crochet App

wooltasia graphghan crochet app

There are so many different crochet apps out there including stitch counters, project trackers and yarn store locators. Wooltasia is an Android app that you can use to convert your own images into graphghan graphs for crocheting image-rich blankets. It seems best designed for tapestry crochet but also creates charts that could be used for filet crochet and pixel crochet. It can also be used for knitting and cross-stitching. Learn more from this interview with the creators.

What inspired you to create the Wooltasia graphghan app?

When my wife, Julia, was pregnant, she intensified her passion for creative handcrafting. She explored a variety of Facebook groups where she met terrific people and got some interesting ideas. Through this communication, she realized that there hasn’t been a handy tool for easily creating good graphghans. I’m a programmer so the idea quickly became something that we started to work on.

crochet cat pillow made with app

Photos from the Wooltasia gallery

How does it work?

Basically, the app provides a way for the user to choose any picture from her phone library and turn it into a graphghan chart. The main requirement is that the image should have optimized contrast and brightness to transform it into a chart.

project summary for wooltasia

You can rotate, scale and crop the image once it is uploaded. The app will take the user’s chosen gauge to calculate the correct proportions. Finally, you choose the colors that you want to use for your graphghan. After you have input this information, you see a project summary, which includes the yarn colors you’ll need to create the project. The app will take you through the whole project by showing you the number of stitches that you need in each color, saving your progress as you go.

What additional features would you like to add in the future?

We are currently working on several new features. We are based in Germany and have a strong community nearby so we are incorporating requests that our local users have made. One bit topic is a double-face mode that would help people with knitting motifs or a “corner to corner” mode. We are also working on various technology-side features such as speech control.

disney crochet made with app

You also have other apps right?

There is currently one other app named Wooltasia Beads,w which is designed for people who want to make images to create items using fusion beads. Sadly, that app is only available for € countries, due to the complications of paying taxes in other countries. We are also working on a new app that will launch in a few weeks. No more info on that, yet, because it’s top secret!

So is Wooltasia also only available in € countries?

Wooltasia is available in almost every country.

wooltasia crochet graphghan blanket

But only on Android?

So far, yes. Since I’m an Android Developer, it was easy for me to create an Android app. Learning how to create an iOS app has required a lot of time. These apps can be very expensive. Since we aren’t making enough money, yet, from Wooltasia, we have to work on other apps to maximize our income. When we get to a point where we don’t have to worry if we can pay the next month’s bills, we will begin working on an iPhone version.

One way that people can support this is through Patreon, right?

We are set up on Patreon, but it is almost unknown for German users so far. We have had about one dozen very sweet people who do support us there. We also get some wonderful monthly support through other channels. It has helped us keep spinning the wheel for more months than we might have expected. We can’t live off of it, but we work to keep everything going. We definitely owe a huge thanks to our many supporters. This includes our great team that has helped from the beginning – Angelika, Brigit and Carolin – who do a lot of great work in our Facebook group. Without them, Wooltasia wouldn’t be where it is today.

crochet portrait made with app

So we can find you on Facebook?

We have an English Facebook Group as well as one in German. Our German Facebook group is more active, with about 9600 members. People post awesome stuff to look at every day. That’s where you can see what people are making using the app. It is also worth taking a look at Instagram.

What has been your favorite thing someone has made?

We did receive a wonderful gift from one of our Facebook Group admins, though: a small blanket with our mascot on it. But all of the things that people create are amazing. I don’t have a favorite piece of art. I’m just amazed at the passion for handcrafting!

wooltasia crochet app graphghan

Get the Wooltasia Android app

Kathryn

San Francisco based and crochet-obsessed writer, dreamer and creative spirit!

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