Documenting Your Knitting

Do you keep track of all your knitted projects?  Do you take notes as you knit and keep them in a journal or stored in Ravelry?  Do you even have a Ravelry page?  Every knitter is different…

I know some knitters who never once record what they have knitted.  And I know some who are crazy OCD about writing down every detail of a knitted project.  While I don’t record every detail, I am pretty OCD about cataloging what I’m knitting…in two different places.

Hand Written Notes

I have a hard time writing on patterns.  And it’s so dumb since 99% of the patterns I follow are printed at home and, therefore, can be printed again.  I’m trying to get better at that so I’m not carrying around scraps of paper along with the paper patterns.  

After I’m done with a project, I make notes in a knitting journal that my BFF got for me a long time ago.  It’s now completely filled so I had to buy another one; and I bought the same exact one.  Ha!  There are fancier ones out there but this one has served me well. 

I write down the pattern, the needles, and make notes on what I liked/disliked about the project in general.  These are more personal notes than what I record in Ravelry.  On the back of the page, I take the labels from the yarn I used along with a small sample of the yarn.  I love this!  I love looking back and remembering all the glorious yarn I’ve knit with!!

Ravelry

Expectedly, I’m a compulsive Ravelry user.  My OCD-self goes crazy keeping track of everything – yarn, projects, etc.  (Everything except needles, which I should really keep track of in Ravelry but have never done.)  I love recording the dates I start and finish a project.  And I make notes as to any modifications I make to the pattern – or for how many rows I knit for an edge or cuff…..

And I love keeping my stash stored in Ravelry.  This is such a great feature.  I can easily see what yarn I have without going stash diving.  I can digitally dive!  When I’m finished with a project, I can also quickly calculate how much yarn I have leftover.  Amazing!  I love it when other things/people do maths for me!

Another great feature about keeping your stash on Ravelry…  You can list it for sale or trade.  Everyone has those skeins they realize they will never use.  This is a great way to re-home them.  I’ve bought and sold quite a bit of yarn this way – and I’ve met new friends in the process!

Conclusion

However you catalog your knitting, I encourage you to keep track of it.  Your knitting encompasses many memories of the time you spent working on it.  I remember what project I was knitting when I waited for a family member in the hospital, or when we were watching a particular show….   Knitting is a part of our lives and should be chronicled like anything else.

Happy knitting!