Common questions

Your data

Do I need an account?

No. Skein has no accounts and no login. Everything you make — projects, patterns, yarn stash, gauge measurements, and grading work — is stored on your device only.

Where is my data stored?

On your device. We don't run servers that hold your content, which also means we can't recover it for you. Deleting the app removes everything permanently, so back up anything you want to keep by exporting it as a PDF first.

How do I turn off analytics?

Open Skein, tap the gear icon on the Home tab, and switch off Share anonymous usage data. It stops immediately. Details are in the privacy policy.

Designer Pro subscription

How do I restore a purchase?

Open the Designer Pro screen in the app and tap Restore Purchases. Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple Account you originally subscribed with.

How do I cancel?

Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us. On your device, open Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions, choose Skein, and tap Cancel. Cancelling stops future renewals; you keep access until the end of the period you've paid for.

How do refunds work?

Apple handles all App Store refunds directly. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. If something in the app went wrong, please email us as well so we can fix it.

What's free, and what needs Designer Pro?

The project tracker, yarn stash, gauge and needle tool, and pattern library are free forever. The grading calculator is free for one full size, so you can see exactly what it produces before subscribing. Designer Pro unlocks the whole size run, all four constructions, yardage estimates, the Designer Workspace, and PDF export.

Using the grading calculator

Skein says a size won't work. Why?

That's deliberate. Rather than printing a number that looks fine but isn't knittable, Skein tells you when the measurements you entered can't produce a working garment — for example, when a yoke depth is too shallow for the increases it needs, or a cross-back is wider than the body piece. The warning explains which measurement to adjust.

My stitch counts don't match my expectations.

Check your gauge first — everything derives from it, so a small gauge error changes every number. If you're using a stitch repeat, Skein snaps circumferences to whole repeats and reports how far that moved the finished measurement. If something still looks wrong, email us with your gauge and measurements and we'll look at it.

What does the armscye check mean?

For set-in sleeves, it compares the sleeve cap's edge length against the armhole it has to ease into, and reports the difference honestly. Knitting convention wants roughly −1″ to +1″. Outside that, Skein tells you which way to adjust.

How accurate is the yardage estimate?

It depends on what you give it. Enter the weight of a 4×4″ piece of your gauge swatch plus your ball band, and you get the weighed-swatch estimate that tech editors use. Leave those blank and you get a rough gauge-based figure, clearly labelled as such. Every yardage line says which method produced it.

Devices

Which devices does Skein run on?

iPhone and iPad, running iOS or iPadOS 17 or later. A Mac version is in progress.

Does it work offline?

Yes. All the grading math runs on your device, so the calculator, tracker, stash and gauge tools work with no connection.

Something's broken

Email support@skeinknit.com. It helps enormously if you include:

• Your device and iOS version
• What you were doing when it happened
• Your gauge and measurements, if it's a grading problem
• A screenshot, if you have one