Week 26: Organize Your Project Bag and Crochet Kit

These days I tend to travel with a much lighter project bag. A friend of mine gave me the lovely tote bag you see pictured. She made it herself out of a chicken feed bag and I love it immensely! It's very roomy and will even hold an afghan. I have a smaller tote that I carry inside the bag that is meant to be used to hold wine bottles, but it makes a great yarn organizer instead! It holds up to six skeins of yarn and I can tuck my kit and hook in them also. The organizer also makes it a fast job to change out my tote bag too. Lately I've been busy crocheting mittens, texting mittens and fingerless gloves to sell in my other Etsy shop, RedBerry4You, this holiday season.

The pink kit pictured is The Knit Kit that I purchased online. I can't remember where I bought it, but it was on sale at the time. It is a bit pricey, but I find myself relying on it so much that if I ever lost it I would replace it right away. It has a row counter, tape measure, yarn cutter, scissors, and a small compartment that holds my yarn needles, yarn threader and stitch markers. It also has a crochet hook that knitters use to pick up dropped stitches, but I consider it back up, just in case ;) Oh yeah, and it's pink!

The most important part of my project bag and kit are that they keep me organized and always ready to get to stitching. How do you organize your projects?

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Week 8: Unfinished Projects and Week 9: Organize Your Patterns

Week 8: 

This weeks challenge is to go through any unfinished projects you've had sitting around and either work it or frog it.

Boy, oh boy, was this a challenge for me! I really wanted to take my time on this one and do it right. This is the second major project purge that I've done, and I'm really proud that I didn't have as many UFO's (unfinished objects/projects) as I did the first time. So, the good news is that I'm getting better about finishing my projects. No, really it's true ;)

Here's the list of what I'm keeping and working on finishing:
A baby blanket - FINISHED 5/3/14. It was near completion, but stuffed in a closet, which is not a typical place! So it's no wonder I had forgotten about it.

Another baby blanket for charity. This one is my Bright Striped Blocks pattern. The blocks are completed, one needs the ends woven in, and then it'll be ready for assembling.

A tire cover for my Jeep. Yep, you read that right. It's almost finished, just needs the final few rounds.

Folk art doll. She needs some ends woven in on her apron, and some hair, then she'll be complete.

A sweater for me. This one I had completed, but I needed some seaming examples for my book Crochet-opedia, so I undid some of the seams and took photos. It's been sitting unfinished since then.

I'm still working on my scrap afghan too. I'm so happy with it, but I think I'm enjoying the crocheting part the most :)

Oh yeah, and I'm working on a new design too. A scrunchy hat and cowl. The pattern and samples are almost done. I've got to proof the pattern and take pictures then make the pdf file.

I decided to frog a motif runner. The runner is made up of triangles that are sewn together to form a quilt like pattern. I probably had 25 finished, but this project had survived the first purge, and hadn't been touched since. Too much work, and I'm not even sure what I would have done with it. It was a really cool pattern though!

As you can tell from my UFO's, it seems that I lose steam near the completion of a project. I wonder why that is? I should really attempt to reward myself somehow when I've completed a project. Or maybe I need to tell myself I can't start another until I've finished one. Hmm, it's definitely something to think about. Overall though, I have to say that I feel so much better now that I've finished this challenge. It's great that now my yarns, patterns, and projects are all neat and organized. It's been inspiring and I feel like I will accomplish so much more!

 

Week 9: 

Organize your patterns this week. Do you have a special system for your patterns? Can you find a specific pattern easily?

I find that I am starting to rely much more on the computer for organizing my patterns. I used to print out or make copies of patterns for my personal use, and store them in a file cabinet. I had two drawers full at one point. This would have been okay, if I had used them more than I did. I finally realized that it was a waste of space, not to mention paper, so I have since recycled them. These are only the patterns that I had not made. The ones I had made projects from, I kept the copies because I typically make notes on them as I go along. If I ever want to make the same pattern again, it makes it much easier because of my notes. I also like to write down the start and finish dates. It's sort of like a scrapbook for me too, and it's fun to look back at the patterns. When I've finished the project I put the pattern in a clear plastic sheet protector and file it in a large 3 ring binder that I have that is organized into sections.

I have considered scanning these patterns and keeping them as computer files only (and of course, they are only for my own personal use). It would be a pretty big project to do so right now, but maybe I will try doing that with my future projects. Right now I keep separate file folders on my computer; works in progress, things I'd like to make, charity patterns, etc. I try not to add too many files. If I'm looking for a new project I'll check out what I have saved on my computer and if nothing catches my eye then I will check out my Pinterest boards or other crochet pins for inspiration. From there I can easily keep track of pattern links with Evernote. I'll make a new note for a particular project, like an afghan, then when I am searching the web it's easy to add links, photos, and even a pdf file if one is available. Once I've decided on one particular project, then it's simple to delete my note. Easy peasy.

 
Thanks for joining me for Week 8 and 9 of the 52 Week Crochet Challenge! 
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Week 6: Spring Cleaning - Organizing Your Yarn Stash

Wow, I've had a bad case of spring fever this week. Unfortunately I've mostly been tied to my desk trying to get paperwork caught up and I haven't been able to get outside as much as I like. But I really did enjoy this week's challenge as I went through and organized my yarns. I happened to be in the right place at the right time one day at my local thrift shop. They had a whole bunch of plastic crates for $1.00 each. Right then I envisioned a wall of yarn in my craft room and snatched up a bunch of them.

Here is where I keep my skeins of acrylic yarns organized by color. Once the skeins start getting too floppy then I wind them into yarn cakes. (I just love that - yarn cakes! Who doesn't love yarn - and cake?!)

I also have clear plastic lidded tubs that stack neatly and this is where I separately keep my cotton yarns, novelty yarns and my acrylics that I've wound into yarn cakes. I keep my wools in a storage cabinet, also organized by color, and in clear plastic bags so I can easily see my color choices.

So what have I learned this week? I have A LOT of yarn. But the good news is that I do use it up. I've already organized a few charity projects that I would like to do, and I have separated out the yarns that I will never use (after FINALLY admitting this myself). I am setting those aside for now, because I may organize a yarn swap with my crochet group in the fall. Some I will be donating.

This was a challenging week overall, but now I feel yarnie good and organized :)

Thanks for joining me for Week 6 of the 52 Week Crochet Challenge! 
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Pinterest Crochet Boards

I use Evernote as my go to note taker and to save links and webpages so that I can easily find them. I didn't think I would find Pinterest useful to me. Even so, with encouragement and an invitation from a friend, I decided to sign up. I haven't been on very long, but I really do like it! I love that I can easily organize all my pins into relevant boards. I've set my boards into different crochet categories and now I can easily find patterns, gadgets, tools, and amazing crochet projects all from a photo pin.

My newest discovery is this picture of Bette Davis crocheting. I love the movie "The Letter" that she stars in. Throughout the movie she crochets a shawl (which she refers to as "making lace"). It starts from a small motif and she works on it throughout the movie. It's one of my favorites! If you haven't seen this movie, check it out, it's a classic and will keep you in suspense to the very end.

Source: historiful.tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

If you've been reluctant or undecided about joining Pinterest, go ahead and give it a try - you might like it! Let me know and I'd be happy to send you an invitation. I'm also interested to know how you use Pinterest.