How do you organize your patterns?

[nancybanta]

I was just looking at someone's cross stitch stash on another board I belong to and her pattern collection puts mine to shame (although mine is crochet books and leaflets, not cross stitch).  She has hers organized alphabetically and by number.

 

I have over two hundred crochet leaflets alone and I tried to keep them together by subject - mine are mostly afghan patterns, so I'd have all the granny square leaflets together, all the ripple patterns together, etc. 

 

If they are organized by leisure arts numbers (or whatever brand they are) wouldn't it be a mishmosh of all different subjects mixed in together?

 

Sometimes when someone is looking for a pattern, they just put the Leisure Arts number as reference and even if I see the subject, I still have to look through all of that subject to see if I have the pattern.

 

So - do you file by number so that it would be "la123, la124, la125, etc"  or by subject or both?   ........or do you organize at all.

 

I would like to reorganize my books and leaflets so I'm just looking for the best way to do so.

[Granny Square]

Good grief, I have a 2 -drawer filing cabinet full of computer printed and snipped patterns from magazines (from general interest mags).  I have never counted but, just considering a ream of paper is 500 pages, even though some patterns are more than 1 page I must have LOTs more than 200 patterns.

 

I agree, filing by pattern number doesn't seem very useful, and most of mine don't have numbers anyway. 

 

Even filing by name doesn't make sense to me.  Example, filing 'daily doily' next to 'daisy sweater'.  If I want to make a sweater, I want to make a beeline to my sweater patterns, not have to go thru all my patterns from A-Z to pick out the sweaters.  And the effort to file them back where they'd "belong" - bleah.

 

Folders, in my physical paper files as well as my computer, by type of item - afghan, kitchen, baby, sweaters, hats/scarves, footwear etc.  They are in no order within the folders, but it's not a big deal to flip thru them.

[nancybanta]

Thanks Granny Square!  I guess I just have to go back and reorganize just a little bit and go by subject.  It's mostly done but I have to do a bit more.

 

If I had as much as you, I'd probably have so many duplicates - as it is I sometimes buy what I already have!  I have found several patterns I'd forgotten I'd had when I go looking for someone else so I guess there is a bit of good in not being too organized!

[spiritwalker]

I have a system which works well for me. Each pattern I write or collect is placed in a plastic sleeve.

These are sorted by type for example seaters. Next they are sorted by womens,mens,childrens,or infant.

Nex they go in 3 ring binders and next into a file cabinet. I also keep my dry markers,eraser, and an extra box of plastic slleves with my patterns. It takes pnly moments to find what I need.