ORGANIZING the printed pdf's and leaflets!

#1

Oy vey! Patterns, leaflets, and pdf print-outs! What to do! What to do!

I had them in GIGANTO 3" and 4" binders.
[B]The Drawback: [/B]they were [I][B]so heavy[/B][/I] it was[I][B] impossible [/B][/I]to handle them with ease.
Too many, too much.

So today… I purchased seven 1" binders in seven colors. I could have use a few more, but 7 was my number. Here is a photo of them. I printed the ‘backbone labels’ on cardstock so they’d slide in easily!

Now when I want to browse in my pattern binders, I won’t get carpal tunnel over it!

#2

That looks great! I need to organized mine a little better. I don’t have near as many as you do (yet!) but I like your idea. I have most of my sewing stuff organized like that.

#3

Very nice! I’ll show you mine, tomorrow!

#4

I’ve had the same idea for a while and even bought a couple of binders, then got distracted. Soon… I swear :aww:

#5

Looks great!! I have several binders with dividers. They were getting pretty huge so I recently went through them and got rid of a lot of my earlier patterns that I knew I would never make. That helped. I used to mainly crochet - not so much anymore. And now I’ve started adding to my “collection” through Ravelry instead of printing everything I think I may want to make one day. When I want to make something Ravelry is usually the first place I go anyway. I went through my printed patterns and tried to add them to my favorites, then added a “printed” tag so I’d know I already have that pattern in my binders. Now when I look at a pattern in my favorites I can easily see if I need to print it or not. So far it’s working well. :slight_smile:

#6

Oh, I’d like to browse through those binders for an afternoon!

#7

What a great idea. Would you like to come and do mine too? :happydance:

#8

:roflhard: Jan , me too, tomorrow.

#9

Looks great!

#10

Hi! :waving:

This is SUPER! You’re a credit to us all!

You’ve actually inspired me to get busy and organize, too!

I guess it’s a great life when you can inspire others towards a positive goal - and you have!

Thanks and happy knitting, :clink:

Ruthie :hug:

#11

I have PDFs in a folder on a network drive here at home… those aren’t organized either. Egad I have some work to do!

#12

Oh yeah, organizing all of the PDF’s on our 'puter, as well as patterns we’ve copy/pasted into WORD docs…is another job! I did that last year but it could use some tweaking.

For example, my MY KNITTING documents folder is organized into major categories such as ADULT PATTERNS; KIDS; BLANKETS; PETS; TIPS; etc.

In the Adults Patterns, other folders (and sub-folders) appear such as cardigans, jackets and coats, pullovers, tanks/camis/shells, accessories, capes and ponchos, menswear, etc.

At least I know where to begin looking for something! I “send” my “soon to be knit” patterns to my desktop, and they reside inside a folder there. Remember, if it’s a ‘shortcut’ the changes you make to it will also change in the MY KNITTING documents folder.

Anyway, obviously I have an external hard drive that I “push the button” on every day, sometimes more than once a day! Oy vey. To lose all this work would be a disaster. :eyes:

#13

:thumbsup: Great job! Last year I spend some time doing pretty much the same thing. Really need to go through them again and take out the items I know I won’t make. I LOVE the idea of color coding the binders! Makes it easy to know which one you want at a quick glance (plus not as boring as all white!) I have many in 3" binders also - I think I just don’t want to look through them for patterns because there is too much in them. 1" binders seem much more manageable!

Just last week I made a small binder for my WIP’s. When I bounce back and forth, I often lose the pattern and then have to re-print AND try and figure out where I left off. I put the original, complete pattern in a see thru folder with a pocket (I can stick my circ needle in the pocket for those projects that are done in pieces, when I finish a section…and then know the right needle to continue with without measuring). Behind the pocket I put the part of the pattern I’m working on in pocket protectors and I can easily flip through the chart or pattern piece I am working on!

#14

Here are a couple of pics from my WIP notebook. The site wouldn’t let me add them when I went back to edit my post…and then I got an error trying to upload from Flickr!!

#15

Those look great, Margaret!

Here’s what I did. I started out with binders and decided I’d rather have a file system because I kept running out of space. So we bought an inexpensive, small file cabinet and I had DH paint it the same color as my Ikea bookcases. I have the patterns sorted by type and I put a P on the tabs that have purchased patterns. Free ones go in another slot.

Bonus! - It doubles as side table to my chair in here. Just need a lamp now. :thumbsup:

#16

Great idea Jan! I’d do that if only I had a room that I could dedicate to knitting, sigh!

#17

Thanks for sharing photos, Jan and Marg!

Yup, Marg, I have something similar to your WIPS binder. It’s my QUEUE binder. I intend to buy another binder for it. It’s old and ugly! I’ll print a nice backbone card for it, and for the front!

My QUEUE binder holds pattern print-outs that I’m gonna knit “soon”, so that I can easily locate them when time comes. And sometimes if a project is put ‘on hold’…I put the pattern back into the QUEUE binder, like you do!

Jan, you are just so well organized! Now that is a great idea! A hanging file system!
However, I do like picking up a 1" binder and rummaging around in it with a cup of coffee on the side!

#18

Dollyce and Jan, both your ideas are wonderful. Mine are in binders, but mostly just white. I need to get creative with some labeling. We were given about twenty white binders a while ago, large ones, so I’ve been using those. Like you, Dollyce, I love picking one up and browsing through it.

Costco prices on the protective sleeves are really good, especially online.

#19

Picking up and browsing is nice, but I needed the shelf space for books AND I needed a side table. :slight_smile: I do most of my browsing on Ravelry anyway. :wink: