Here are a few of my favorite knitting gadgets. I have a whole room full of the usual knitting stuff; some of my “indispensable” gadgets are the usual ones you would find in a knitting store. Others are not so usual.
This is my current knitting project notebook. I have separate tabbed sections for each project, with a copy of the pattern, and loose leaf paper to take notes. I keep a ball band from each project in the pocket in the front, and I have a zippered canvas pocket that fits into the binder to keep a pencil or anything else that I need to carry around. I’ve looked at some of the ready-made knitting journals that are available, but this is just more functional for me.
This is my favorite row counter. It’s a “clicker counter” from the office supply store. I have 4 or 5 of these, so I have them in every project bag. They are cheap, and count up to 9999, in case you have a project with that many rows.
Pins. I have lots of these. My favorites are the no-coil safety pins, though I like the plastic ones also.
String tags are a great way to keep track of what you are doing. If I want to mark something on my knitting that I did differently from the pattern, I’ll write it on one of these and pin it right to the spot. From the office supply store, and cheap.
I made these. They are probably not as practical as just plain ring markers, but they sure are pretty.
These are the more garden-variety kind of markers. My favorites, hands down, are the flexible rubber ones.
And a box in which to keep everything. This is from the hardware store…another great place to find knitting notions.
I bow down to your organization! I love your journal.
Inspired! I am awed and inspired by your organization! Thanks for sharing this with us!
I keep my patterns in the same type of binder. Boy, do I love plastic sleeves. And you’ve got my favorite ring markers. The green and orangelike ones. I do have to get one of those clickers though. I never seem to have enough kacha’s.
Great gadgets!
I like the gadget box idea! I was in a drug store and found a cosmetic case that is sort of like a filo fax. It’s a zip-up case with binder rings inside, and it has removable plastic zip-up pages/compartments. I keep some of my knitting paraphenalia in that, because it is so portable and it’s easy to find what I want….
Great organizational tips! I *want* to be that organized, but for some reason my efforts always end up in chaos. I have a binder much like you describe, but now it has masses of paper stuffed into it~ no order at all.
I’m inspired by your post though!
I ran right home and found a binder and the hole punch to get started. What great tips — very inspiring!
Lorette, you’re a case! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody in our family that organized!!!
You’re amazing! I’m coming over just so I can knit and pretend I’m that organized… I love the hanging tags idea.
Dear Knitting Doctor,
Please come to Paris stat. I am in desperate need of some organization.
The girl who can’t find anything, ever.
Like some of the other comments said, I aspire to that level of organization, but rarely attain it. However, I DID get all my knitting needles organized a while back. Sometimes I even manage to put them back where they’re supposed to go after I use them!