Organization Challenge: week four

Image credit: DeliciouslyOrganized.com

Whether you have a stack of magazines & books, a pile of print outs or even a ton of digital files, we all have a mess of patterns and books, it comes with the territory! We are going to go through all of these and whittle them down to what we want to keep, give away or toss. This may be a time consuming process, so we will focus on our digital libraries and cataloging our patterns next week. However time consuming, I'm sure we all can agree that it is a project that is worth while. 

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WEEK FOUR CHALLENGE

Single Patterns:

• Get rid of unwanted patterns. Take out all of your single printed patterns, as you go through them ask yourself: Are you still interested in this pattern? Have you made it and know you will not be making it again? Is it a duplicate (is there another copy in a book, magazine or on your computer)? Clear up space by putting these unwanted items in either the toss or give away piles.
• Sort the keepers. Think of how you wish to categorize your patterns: Knit, Crochet with sub-categories: Sweaters, Blankets/Afghans, Hats, etc.;  you could sort them by designer/publisher; you could also sort them in the order you would like to work them in. The choices are unlimited, just find which works best for you and get to separating them out.  
• Store your patterns. By knowing how you want your patterns categorized you will know how to store them in a way that i convenient for you. Some examples of storing your single patterns are: 3 ring binders with pocket protectors, Hanging Files, Magazine Files (recommended for smaller collections), Expanding Files or you could can them in and add them to your digital library. When choosing your filing system for your patterns, keep in mind any space issues you may have, how easily you wish to retrieve  your patterns and how you will be able to keep your system organized and up to date.

Books & Magazines:

• Gather your stash. Make sure you have ALL of your books and magazines, check project bags, your living room and desk. Begin to sort by category, first books, magazines, booklets, etc. Then by type: How to, Stitch dictionary, Patterns, etc. Finally sort by craft: Kinting, Crochet, etc. DO NOT LOOK THROUGH THEM! We will get into that in a bit, just focus on categorizing them at this point.  
• Get rid of the unwanted. Just as with your single patterns, there are books & magazines that you may no longer need. Keep the things you know you will use, perhaps set a limit for each book/magazine: it should have (X) amount of patterns you know you will make in order to keep it. Did you buy a book on afghans and have found that you don't actually enjoy making them? Put that book into the "give away" pile. 
• Bookmark patterns. As you go through your books keep a post-it note pad and pen handy. When you find a pattern you want to keep in mind for a future project stick a note on it and write yourself a reminder, maybe the name of the pattern, what it is or who you wish to make it for. 
• Store them. Now you have tagged your patterns, gotten rid of books you no longer need you can begin to put them away. You can use magazine files or magazine binders for all of your magazines or booklets. Place your books by category so that they will be at your fingertips when you need them. 

Bring all of your give away's to our yarn swap and see if anyone would like them or donate them to a group who could use them. 

Enter a comment below and let us know how you are going to categorize and store your patterns.  

We are nearing the end of our organization challenge, after we finish up our patterns all that is left is the yarn!!! Let me know if there is anything you are having problems with so I can make sure and address any issues.