Keeping track of different projects has become challenging--I have a million ideas and at least 10 of these at any time are works-in-progress. But my notes! They are all over the house (if I'm lucky, and haven't recycled them, having used them for shopping lists or noting phone numbers). Plus, I doodle a lot in the little notebook I keep in my purse, but those pages are quite small compared with regular sheets of paper. Periodically I've tried to corral them into file folders or plastic sleeves, which kind of work OK but are a bit unwieldy. And it is clear that WIELDY is what I need more than anything.
Ta da! My solution: little project journals! Cheap and portable--university exam blue books with a bit of construction paper to tart them up. One per project. I can paste in my doodles, tape in yarn samples, write down my intentions--and they fit easily into my knitting baskets and totes. Best of all: everything is in one place! I like that they aren't dear or precious, two qualities that can freeze me up right away.
What are blue books? They are little books made of about 4 sheets of regular paper folded and stapled into a mini-book. They're often used for college exams. They're flimsy and unlovely BUT--they cost about 35 cents.
I got the general idea from Lisa Sonora Beam, the author of a wonderful book, Creative Entrepreneur, and an equally inspirational blog. Her expressive way of approaching problem solving through journals fits really well with the inspiration journals I already keep. She makes mini-journals out of greeting cards--genius! I highly recommend her blog.
Find something that works for you!
What a fabulous idea! I keep buying these beautiful notebooks but they stay empty...Lately, I've been buying the Kraft Moleskine gridded notebooks in sets of 3, but these are much cheaper!
Posted by: Ann | December 08, 2009 at 10:05 PM
What a great idea.
Posted by: Gale | December 09, 2009 at 04:35 AM
My solution is a bit more than $0.35 but still not prohibitive. I use the marbled composition books and when I want to tart them up I take them to Kinko's and, after the spine's been cut off, I have a spiral binding put on. You can usually find composition books with two versions of lined paper, blank pages, or grided pages, and sometimes new-fangled covers as well.
Posted by: Susanna in Seattle | December 09, 2009 at 06:20 AM
Excellant idea. That might work for me. Nothing else has.
Posted by: Candy T | December 09, 2009 at 06:21 AM
My first beadwork notebooks are the heavier kind of ruled composition book because my dad the college professor had heaps of the things. I prefer, now, to have various sizes and shapes of paper for notes, this kind on that paper, that kind on a note card... So I have a series of binders that include an accordion file and an 8.5x11 ruled notebook. One binder is cabled sweaters, another is "other" sweaters, one is shawls and stoles, another is socks and mitts (though those will soon get their own) and miscellaneous small stuff (hats, stuffed animals...). Then I have file card boxes for pattern cards that I carry with me when away from home. It's not ideal, and I have way too much on the computer that needs to be printed and filed, but I've been writing patterns for beadwork, tatting, and knitting for ::cringe:: thirty years and the sheer volume of files, let alone samples and slides, is scary. I learned early on to write down EVERYTHING, the day's date, the needle size, who commissioned the work and how I could vary it to suit another client...
Posted by: Sylvia | December 09, 2009 at 08:54 AM
I agree that keeping good notes is essential!
I use the circa notebook by Levenger in the "junior" size because it fits easily in my knitting bag. I keep pages for current projects in the notebook in my bag, and transfer the pages to a shelved notebook when that project is done. Since I also use circa for my daybook, I can just transfer a knitting project page to my daybook if I am pressed for space while traveling.
Posted by: martha in mobile | December 09, 2009 at 09:08 AM
What a neat idea. I use my day planner for everything, but it doesn't exactly inspire much creativity. Suddenly, with your post, the light bulb came on. I can use inserts, like greeting cards in the planner and still retain all the access the planner offers (in terms of finding things later) and the portability of a tiny space to work on. Plus it's a space that will inspire creativity. Can you tell I'm excited! Thanks!
Posted by: Ruth | December 09, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Thank you for the inspiration! Lovely blog and lovely fair isle!
Posted by: Maria H | December 17, 2009 at 09:44 AM