Purl vs Knit&Note: Which Knitting App Fits Your WIPs?

You open a knitting app to check a cardigan. Before you reach the project, you see patterns to browse, yarn to catalog, and tools to try. That setup suits a full knitting system. A single WIP can take longer to reach.

Knit&Note and Purl take different sizes of the same problem. Knit&Note brings patterns, stash, projects, progress, tools, and community together. Purl keeps the active project in view.

How we compared

We compared the tools by following a WIP from planning to active knitting and then back to the project after a pause. We used Knit&Note's official site, features page, and app information, then compared that broader service with Purl's current project record. The comparison weighs the usefulness of an all-in-one knitting system against the value of a shorter path back to one project.

One service or one project?

Knit&Note's features page lists projects, pattern and yarn details, tools, notes, future projects, a pattern library, yarn stash, progress statistics, badges, community, and calculators. The site says its library contains 1,400+ patterns.

Purl starts with a project you have in front of you. It is a web app for knitters with active and paused WIPs. Add a manual percentage, notes, photos, yarn and needle details, decisions, and the source PDF. You can keep a project private, share it, or publish its project page with comments.

Knit&Note gives you a broad catalog. Purl gives you a short path back to the work.

The pause between sessions

Knit&Note helps you connect a pattern to yarn, tools, project progress, and the rest of your queue. That setup suits a knitter who enjoys browsing patterns and wants stash information close to future plans.

Purl suits the moment after you put the needles down. You can record the shorter body you decided to knit, add a fitting photo, and note the yarn in use. When the sweater comes out of the cupboard, the reason for the change stays with it.

Knit&Note gives you more places to organize the knitting life around a project. Purl asks for fewer details and keeps the project record at the center.

Context, progress, files, and sharing

Need	Knit&Note	Purl
Pattern discovery	Official site lists a library of 1,400+ patterns and pattern categories	No pattern discovery tools
Project record	Projects with pattern, yarn, tools, notes, future plans, and progress history	Status, manual percentage, notes, photos, yarn, needles, decisions, and one source PDF
Stash and tools	Yarn stash, yarn search, updates from project use, and knitting tools	Yarn and needle details inside each project; no separate inventory
Pattern workflow	Pattern viewer, highlighters, counters, calculators, and video tutorials listed in the app	Attach and open an ordinary PDF; no parsed instructions, row tracking, or AI guidance
Community and sharing	Community for sharing creations, likes, comments, makers, and designers	Public project pages and comments, with private and shared visibility controls
Platform	Official site links to iOS and Google Play apps	Web app

Knit&Note's broader feature set can reduce app switching. You also need to decide where the definitive project note belongs. Purl keeps that decision small: the project page holds the current status, context, and files.

Purl attaches the original PDF so the owner can open it. It does not turn the file into interactive instructions. Knit&Note's app listing describes a pattern viewer and counters, which places it closer to the knitting session.

The better fit depends on what you want to organize

Knit&Note suits a knitter who:

• wants patterns, projects, stash, tools, and community in one service
• browses patterns while planning the next project
• wants calculators, counters, statistics, or a pattern viewer
  • wants a broad app with patterns, projects, stash, tools, and community

Purl suits a knitter who:

• wants to resume a paused project with less searching
• keeps decisions, photos, and notes as part of the project history
• wants a public project page without a full pattern and stash service
• prefers a web workspace with a smaller set of project fields

You can use both if each tool has a clear job. Keep discovery, stash, and pattern browsing in Knit&Note. Keep the fitting note and next-session photo in Purl. Do not duplicate the whole catalog.

More from Purl

Purl vs Ravelry covers pattern discovery and community. Purl vs knitCompanion looks at row-level pattern tools. For stash and counters in a native tracker, read Purl vs YarnBuddy. The Purl feature overview shows what belongs in a project.

Conclusion

Choose Knit&Note if you want one broad service for pattern discovery, inventory, tools, and community. Choose Purl if you want to open a WIP and find the decision that shaped it. Both can have a place when Knit&Note handles the broader knitting system and Purl keeps the project history easy to resume.

Purl is a web app. Join Purl's waitlist if you want updates as the project companion takes shape.