A Pattern Keeper alternative for iPhone and iPad, with backstitch you can mark

Why stitchers look for an alternative

The reasons we hear most often are simple:

• They stitch on an iPhone or iPad. Pattern Keeper is made for Android, so moving to an Apple device means finding a new app.
• They want to mark backstitch. On many charts the outlines are what bring the picture to life, and it helps to tick them off line by line, not only the crosses.
• They switch between devices. A phone on the sofa, an iPad at the table: the chart and the progress should simply be there on both.

Your PDF patterns, as one colour chart

Choose a PDF pattern from a shop or a designer, and Ruta reads its symbols and the thread key. Every symbol gets its thread colour, so even a black-and-white PDF opens in colour. A pattern printed over many pages becomes one chart you scroll and zoom, with the key beside it.

Ruta also opens XSD, OXS and PAT chart files, patterns packed in a ZIP, and a photo of a paper chart. If a PDF is only a picture or a scan, it opens as pages you can still stitch from and mark with a highlighter, a line tool and an eraser. The original PDF is always one tap away.

Backstitch you can see and mark

In Ruta, backstitch is part of the same chart as your crosses. Each line is drawn on the grid in its own thread colour, so it never hides under the symbols, and you can follow it as clearly as on the printed page.

• Mark each line as you finish it. Finished backstitch is shown as done, just like finished crosses.
• Follow one thread. Highlight the thread in your needle and fade the others, so the outlines in that colour stand out.

The same chart also holds half, quarter, three-quarter and petite stitches, French knots, beads and blended threads. Each kind is drawn its own way, so a half stitch never looks like a knot.

Bring your progress from Pattern Keeper

You do not have to start a half-finished piece from scratch. Import the PDF you marked in Pattern Keeper, and the stitches you have finished are marked in Ruta too. Then carry on from where you stopped.

Tools for long evenings

• Find next jumps to the next spot for the thread in your needle.
• Parking marks where each parked thread is waiting.
• A working area with rulers and centre lines keeps a big chart calm.
• A thread list shows stitch counts, skeins and length for your fabric, with the spare you choose.
• A built-in editor lets you change colours, fix stitches, or add the next part of a SAL to the chart you already stitch.
• A stitching calendar, daily goals, notes and progress photos for every project.

Phone and iPad, always in step

Sign in with Apple, Google or email, and your charts and progress stay up to date on your iPhone and iPad on their own. You do not export, email or copy anything. Without an account, your projects stay on the device you use.

Try it with your own pattern

Ruta is free to start. Five designer charts come with the app, free in full, and you can import up to three of your own patterns to see how Ruta reads them. Ruta Pro, from $2.99 a month, opens every pattern you own.

Download Ruta on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, or get it on Google Play for Android. Windows is on the way.

Questions

Is there a Pattern Keeper app for iPhone or iPad?

Pattern Keeper is made for Android. If you stitch on an iPhone or iPad, Ruta opens the same kind of cross-stitch PDF patterns as one interactive colour chart.

Can I mark backstitch as done?

Yes. Backstitch is drawn as lines on the chart in its own thread colour, and you mark each line as you finish it.

Can I bring my progress from Pattern Keeper?

Yes. Import the PDF you marked in Pattern Keeper, and the stitches you have finished are marked in Ruta too. Then carry on from where you stopped.

Do I have to buy my patterns again?

No. Ruta opens the PDF patterns and chart files you already own.

A pattern did not open the way I expected. What now?

Write to support@rutastitch.com. A real person who stitches reads every message. More answers are on the home page and the support page.