I am losing my patterns!

[LittleJadeFrog]

For reasons I would rather not explain (think bugs and lots of them ewwww), all 4 of my 4 inch binder pattern books are no good (even some of my ). I now have to reprint all of the pattern again. I print them out and put them in plastic sheets in binders so I can have them right next to me. I love to flip through them regularly to see what I want to do next. Now they are all ruined! This weekend I am going to look through them to jot down titles and designers to see if I can at least get back some of them. Luckily, so many of you guys have put together lists of free patterns (CPC for example) and I have saved all of those websites! But I have so much more in there. Patterns I have purchased (etsy) and ones like that. I haven't looked but I am hoping I wasn't stupid enough not to save them too!

 

I like to have the pattern there at my fingertips to touch and look at. It's comforting some days after sitting at this @#$% PC for 9 hours to sit on my couch with a binder in hand and flip, flip, flip. To me it's the equivalent of yarn petting.

 

How else do you organize? What do you think about laminating as opposed to the plastic slip-in sheets?

[Mermaiden]

I always keep a copy of them in Word, .PDF, or whatever on my computer as a backup as well. That way it's easier to go back and reprint a project as I need it. Ugggg, sorry about the loss.

 

PS you can check my Crochet blog link below for some more crochet pattern sites

[donnalynn2]

I also always make a back up copy on cd's every month or so. That way I can go back, browse through the CD's and if something happens to my hard copies or even my computer, I still have my disks. I have even started scanning my crochet books and saving them to disc. I started doing that after one of my favorite crochet booklets (one I found at a garage sale) got ruined and had to be thrown away. I still have never found that particular booklet again and so as long as I don't share the scans with anyone and get rid of them if I ever get rid of the books, I'm not breaking any copyright laws and it protects me and my investment.

 

So sorry to hear about what happened...

[ladytoysdream]

Maybe you could buy one of those plastic or rubbermaid type totes to store your patterns in. That way you would have a snug fitting lid to keep things safe.

 

I like to copy and paste patterns I like into a new email and mail it to myself when searching online. Then make a folder just for patterns. The ones I want to try right away, I go ahead and also print it out on hard copy for myself. Sometimes webpages change, so it would not be a good idea just to keep the url stored.

Books, etc, I keep on regular book shelves.

[Momcrochets]

I keep back-up copies of downloaded patterns on my flashdrive/portablestoragedrive/memorystick thingy They're getting so affordable now, and hold a ton!

 

:hug

I wish I could help you with the paper loss...I've been fortunate in that regard so far, and my binders and books are ok. I hope I never lose some of those books, finding replacements would be just about impossible! :yikes So sorry for your losses. those can really add up. And I relate to petting pattern books...I do that every so often myself!

HTH

[LaurieE]

Several years ago, when Florida got hit with a hurricane every few weeks, it reinforced the value of having things (photos, documents, scrapbooks, etc) backed up into the computer and then on CDs. I have one set of CDs at home and another set at work going on the theory that at least one set would survive. With the exception of the craft stuff, my brother also has a set of CDs.

 

I haven't gotten around to scanning in my books and loose patterns yet. But that is one of my goals for 2008. There's quite a monetary investment in pattern books & magazines. Some of my books and magazines are old and cannot be replaced if anything should happen. I live in a mobile home and we've all seen on the news what can happen to them in a severe storm.

[LittleJadeFrog]

Maybe you could buy one of those plastic or rubbermaid type totes to store your patterns in. That way you would have a snug fitting lid to keep things safe.

That's how I lost my yarn. They got in the rubbermaid container and into my yarn. Thank goodness there was only a few skeins in there and some remenants.

 

I have officially learned my lesson! I have a thumb drive that I used in school. It is empty now. I have been "saving" the memory for a "special occasion." I guess it as good a time as ever.

[Bejae_60]

I save all my patterns to 2 different external hardrives. One for Crochet, one for Cross Stitch. I learned along time ago NEVER to trust anything computerized so I also have everything on cds as well.

[ErinLindsey]

For reasons I would rather not explain (think bugs and lots of them ewwww), all 4 of my 4 inch binder pattern books are no good (even some of my ). I now have to reprint all of the pattern again. I print them out and put them in plastic sheets in binders so I can have them right next to me. I love to flip through them regularly to see what I want to do next. Now they are all ruined! This weekend I am going to look through them to jot down titles and designers to see if I can at least get back some of them. Luckily, so many of you guys have put together lists of free patterns (CPC for example) and I have saved all of those websites! But I have so much more in there. Patterns I have purchased (etsy) and ones like that. I haven't looked but I am hoping I wasn't stupid enough not to save them too!

 

I like to have the pattern there at my fingertips to touch and look at. It's comforting some days after sitting at this @#$% PC for 9 hours to sit on my couch with a binder in hand and flip, flip, flip. To me it's the equivalent of yarn petting.

 

How else do you organize? What do you think about laminating as opposed to the plastic slip-in sheets?

 

 

Ummm....what kind of bugs damaged your pattern stash? (I dont like bugs) If you dont want to say in the forum, PM me.

 

I have LOTS of binders full of patterns (more than 4) and I have about 3 file folder boxes (the neat ones with lids and handles to carry them with) full of magazines and leaflets. I'd freak if I lost those.

[Granny Square]

I used to live in Hawaii (a long time ago)...suffice it to say most folks in more temperate areas have NO IDEA of the bug life in the tropics.

 

I hope you are able to recover most of the patterns you lost, what an awful discovery.

[HappyOldCro]

I haven't had problems with the page protectors, but haven't had to live in tropical areas either. How did they get in the tote? I use totes for the yarn and nothing seems to get in there, not even me with all my arthritis, . Seems to me an external backup or CD's are your best bet. I don't have the room for any additional items on the desk so I have a binder with CD's that I use to back things up. I even still have floppies (remember them?) with stuff on it from years ago.

[LaurieE]

Totes do not completely seal. They do a good job keeping the majority of the moisture out but all kinds of things can get in, even a mouse or a worm. Living in a subtropical climate definitely has it's challenges. All food stuffs that come in any kind of bag or box must be put into a sealed container in order to keep the bugs out. Monthly pest control is basically required year round. Even then, it doesn't mean you're completely protected.

[ErinLindsey]

I live in the Midwest (eastern Nebraska) and here we have some normal sized bugs (except for that year we had a huge infestation of grasshoppers when I was about 9)

 

My parents have been having Orkin spray our house every months since I was a small child, so that might be why I've never had a problem with bugs getting into my pattern stashes.

 

Altho, one year when I was about 16yrs old, I was reading a book (think it was North And South: Book II) I was totally disgusted and freaked out to find a little worm inside the book about halfway thru. I tossed it out (at school) and bought a new copy of the book.

[cat3crazy]

I hope you can recover most of the patterns.

I also save my patterns on a flash drive. I just added the most recent ones and found that I have over 1000 crochet patterns from online resources! This doesn't include the ones that I have in books, pamphlets and magazines!

[darski]

this is a good lesson to me.... I just did my Backup of my "Bookmarks". i had just promised myself I would do that every week and I had already forgotten to do it.

 

Just about everything about life, including life itself, is temporary.

[Krystal16]

There is a difference between "totes" and rubbermaid's or tupperware's LARGE containers. You can find these that actually seal just like food containers, so that way you should be safe from bugs. I am wondering if the vacuum seal bags are good to seal out bugs from your yarn? They're good here, but our bugs usually stay smaller than a pencil eraser, so I'm not one to judge.

 

You poor thing. I don't like bugs. Snow is OK - bugs are icky.

[2kute]

I am so sorry... I have a lot of patterns that I got online. I put them in a binder like you... I also have books... If I ever lost them... I dunno what I'd do

[siminsc]

What booklet did you lose? Maybe someone on here has a duplicate or would know a place where you could get it. I have duplicates of some of my booklets and magazines.

 

Where we lived before (Ohio) I stored yarn in the attic. Mice and squirrels discovered how nice it was. There were walnuts hidden in it. LOL

 

I e-mail patterns to myself, too, and put them in a file titled "Sue".

[Cherokee2]

Oh, my! I am so sorry you lost your patterns, etc. I have so many patterns and books, don't know what I would do if I lost them.

A friend several years ago loaned me a whole stack of pattern magazines, later said I could have them, she didn't want them back. Then I subscribed to that same one. There are about 10 years worth of them! I need to put them into a Rubbermaid container, because right now they are just loose in an open plastic bin. In fact, I have an old container that is sitting on the back porch, needs to be cleaned up. I think I will do that today, and get them all 'under cover.' Thanks for reminding me!

[LittleJadeFrog]

Monthly pest control is basically required year round. Even then, it doesn't mean you're completely protected.

Yeah you're telling me. My lease said each is responsible tenant for pest control. For anyone that lives in a duplex you can imagine how hard that can be. I didn't know it was so bad until I found their "nest" while packing up to move. It was yarn I do not use much. I knew that we had a problem when I opened up my pattern books!!

 

What booklet did you lose? Maybe someone on here has a duplicate or would know a place where you could get it. I have duplicates of some of my booklets and magazines.

I am not sure just yet. Still unpacking other things. So far the patterns books I have found are ok. It's mostly my free pattern binders.

[savannah123]

I keep a back-up copy on my flash drive and my laptop.

[JessR]

Oh no that's terrible!

 

I keep all my patterns backed up on my computer. I actually need to do it again now that you mention it...

 

I keep my yarn in those vacuum seal (space saver?) bags. I LOVE it because it keeps the moisture out since I live in a humid area.

[dmandy]

I've been using a gmail account to email patterns to myself. This way I can save patterns that i find online without printing out everything i like.

 

Donna Marie

[Knit Happens]

OH honey, I'd be contacting CSI to put the pieces back together and chuck through the muck...... on the up side, hunting for "the perfect pattern" is so much fun too. Good luck.

[Becky Morgan]

One thought that worked for me when a bunch of Workbaskets I was given turned out to be infested: if it gets really cold in your area, set the tote outside to freeze for as long as you can. If you have a chest freezer with lots of room, that'll work too. I shook down all of mine to get the bugs out, then dusted them with diatomaceous earth. (I can't use Raid or anything else nasty.) Some people have good luck with peppermint oil. Once they're bug-free and the eggs have frozen to death, you should be okay, but you can clean that tote and keep the crumbly ones only in it for a while to make sure.

 

Oh, and if you have salvageable pieces, you can heat-laminate them OR stick them in page protectors. Clear ConTact will hold them together long enough for you to scan or photocopy the ones that are too crumbled to keep around even in pieces.