Testing knit/crochet patterns can be a fun and rewarding way to learn new skills and help a designer out. But if you're on the mailing lists for many designers and their tests are being managed in many different places, then it can be difficult to keep all those projects running smoothly and still be able to show your finished items on time, and provide feedback to the designers.

With Yarnpond you can subscribe to the testing pools of all your favourite designers, but receive all your new test notifications in a daily or weekly email rather than getting one email from each designer. When you take part in tests, it's easy to keep designers up to date with your progress by checking off milestones during the test period, and at the end of the test you can leave useful, guided feedback in the feedback forms that the designer sets up right within Yarnpond.

You can browse all the designers on the system, and add yourself to their testing pool. Being in a designer's pool means you can get email updates when they open up a new testing call that's only for their pool.

Designers can choose to show their test calls to their pool only, or to all Yarnpond members, or publicly. You can find open test calls from designers whose pool you aren't already in, if they post them to a wider audience.

When you're participating in a test, you get access to a dedicated chat room where the designer and all testers can discuss the test. It's a great place to ask questions, in case another tester is wondering the same thing. You can also upload in-progress photos to the chat.

When you're taking part in a test and the designer logs a correction to the pattern, you'll get an email notification about it and you'll be able to see a full list of corrections when you're logged in to Yarnpond.

Yarnpond's milestone system makes it simple to keep the designer up to date with your progress. Just mark off milestones when you come to them, and you'll keep your designer stress-free and happy.

When you're done with a test and have provided pattern feedback, you get a chance to give the designer a star rating and leave a comment about them. This helps other testers to identify the best designers to work with.

You also get rated by designers when you complete a test, so you can use Yarnpond to build trusting relationships with your favourite designers and market yourself as a paid test or sample knitter.