Notes on Projects

Dear users, dear authors,
Do you actually take notes while working on your projects, or do you have lists of projects you’d still like to do? Or do you keep it all in your head?
Let me know.

It depends.
I write down important details like the gauge and stitch count, but I’ve stopped writing down the individual rows and now create the pattern based on the finished project.

Hi Josefa,

I’ve made a list that I can work through step by step.
As soon as I give in to my addiction and get on everyone’s nerves by clacking away with my needles for hours :-), I’m hardly approachable, because new topics and patterns immediately
pop into my head.
If I don’t make a note of them, after a few days I start wondering what on
earth was going on in my little knitting brain.

Best regards
Birgit

 
Hi Josefa,
I just had to laugh when I read this thread. I can’t manage without handwritten notes at all. From sketching out an idea to writing down the individual stitches (and constantly scribbling in it and correcting things), everything by hand!!!   Later, when everything is finished, I move to the PC, but only once everything is really finished crocheted and the product photos have been taken.

here’s a little glimpse into my scribbles!!!!!   ;)





nothing works without this book; it’s my little treasure.

For me, it varies from case to case. Sometimes I just start knitting and see what comes of it, and often, once I’ve started, it can’t really be done any other way because everything develops very logically.
Sometimes I also take notes, but those are just very basic things like the number of stitches or exactly how the decreases are done. I usually do this when it’s a two-piece project, like socks, for example.
Patterns are always written afterward. I also create knitting charts afterward. While I’m knitting, everything happens in my head.

Hi Josefa,
I have
a) a folder for uploaded patterns
b) a “knitting bible” with my handwritten notes—similar to PollyundPaule’s.
c) for projects still in progress, handwritten notes on sheets of paper for each ongoing project, kept in the respective project bag or basket
.
If I don’t write anything down, I usually only have a vague idea of what I’ve made. So I have to keep track of everything—I take notes for every project and later jot down details like whether the socks fit perfectly, if there are requests for follow-up designs, etc.
Best wishes, Traudelina

When it comes to crafts, everything is much easier than with knitting or crocheting, and I rarely need to jot down the steps, but sometimes even I have to take notes—for example, about what I absolutely must include in a pattern or the order in which certain steps should be done. Because even though the order of steps usually becomes clear on its own or doesn’t really matter, there are also cases where a specific order makes the work much easier.
If I come up with another idea while crafting, I’ll quickly sketch it out too.
For a long time, I made lists of planned projects and tried to stick to them, but then I found that it restricted me too much. Now I just have lots and lots of sketches that I look through again and again, choosing something from them depending on the season and my mood.

I’m not very organized in that regard—I feel like I have 10,000 notepads, and I just jot down a few bullet points in them.
I don’t really get things organized until I’m at the computer ☺

The list of planned projects exists only in my head. If I forget something, it probably wasn’t that important anyway

I’m like Krea_Tina: I jot things down everywhere and then no longer know what belongs to what or what I actually did.
That’s why I’ve gotten into the habit, after I’ve tried something out (without notes) nice and comfortably on the sofa, of working through the same thing again right at the PC
and writing it down right away, so I can also take photos
at the same time. For me, that’s the best way.

I always draw out my planned projects, and then I develop ideas for how I can make things happen—or I let the whole thing simmer as a UFO.

Best, Petra

For me, taking notes is a must—there’s no other way with my animals and characters.... While I’m at it, I also take detailed photos for my patterns.
These notes end up in a folder, with each pattern in its own clear plastic sleeve... that way, I can look things up later. Or when I’m working on something new and the animal’s body is the same size, I check my handwritten notes. For me, that’s less of a hassle than looking on the computer.

To make sure no idea gets lost, I have a folder with sheets of paper where I write down everything I’d like to make (sometimes even with a little sketch). And since it can happen that an idea is still swirling around in my head as I’m lying in bed before falling asleep, I keep a small notepad and a pen on my nightstand. I could get up—but I’m too lazy for that ;-) … and if I don’t write it down, the idea might be gone by the next morning

I keep the projects I still want to do in my head.

Once things get more concrete, I type the necessary information directly into my word processor.
I sometimes edit it several times—as many times as it takes until I’m happy with it.

I rarely take handwritten notes.

I have a list on my fridge of projects I’d still like to do. Some I already have the yarn for, some I may have started and then set aside, and others that just popped into my head.
But the list keeps getting longer instead of shorter.

I used to try using loose sheets of paper for this. But then I’d forget which sheet went where, or I’d lose some of them.
Now I have a small, thick college notebook where everything is written down. If I decide not to do something after all, I tear the page out.
Otherwise, it’s covered in scribbles in many colors and lots of drawings. I think if anyone else tried to read it, they’d assume it was written by someone who was completely confused.

For two-piece items (socks, sweater pieces, sleeves, etc.), I always write them down—on whatever I can find :D
There are little sticky notes lying around in the kitchen, a Post-it pad on the living room table, and some larger sheets of paper in my craft bucket... I really should clean up....

For me, the ideation phase is the longest. During that time, I make lots of sketches and try out different color combinations on paper.

Once I have the yarn and get started, I keep a notebook where I write down everything from the very first step. Later, I transfer that information to my computer.

For some patterns, I’ve already reached the point where I type them into the computer as I’m creating them. That saves me time later on, and it also helps me remember what I did.