During a recent trip to Target, I poked through the office supplies, and found everything my little organization project would need: one heavy duty 3" binder, 200 sheet protectors, and a total of 21 index dividers. I also got 4 magazine holder-things, since they were a bit out of control as well.
My original method of organization wasn't working for a few reasons. First, there was no actual organization. I had a 1.5" binder with some sheet protectors in it. That's it. Second, the sheet protectors were the wrong kind- they only worked if your paper also had holes punched in it (see below). None of my patterns did, so I would just fold them in half and slip them in. Third, I only had 25 sheet protectors, so there were several patterns crammed in each one.
Yesterday I gathered all of my loose patterns, supplies, and a couple podcasts. It took me almost an hour to pull out all the patterns and put them into preliminary categories- socks, hats, tops, etc. Then I could really see what I had and decide how many indexed categories I would need. In the end, I had 17 (and these were largely influenced by Ravelry's pattern categories):
Baby
Bag
Blanket
Cardigan
Hat
Home
Jacket
Men
Mitten/Glove
Pet
Pullover
Scarf
Shawl/Wrap
Sock
Tank/Tee
Top-Other
Toy
There were a couple duplicate patterns, and I did end up trashing a few because they were things I don't really need a pattern for anymore, like plain ribbed socks. I wound up with just over 100 patterns in all. It was sort of exciting to see this massive pile of unruly papers become this neat, little collection. I know, I need to get out more.
I still have 4 extra index dividers, in case I want to add more categories, and I have lots of sheet protectors left for future patterns (plus, obviously, I can always buy more). The binder won't hold too much more, but I have a plan for that: When I run out of room, I will move the largest category (probably socks) to it's own binder. In theory, this could be repeated until each category has its own binder. Then each binder could also be replaced with larger binders, if need be. That's a fun thought- 17 giant binders filled with patterns, collected over a lifetime.
The magazines' previous home was now available for yarn storage, along with another basket I had lying about.
After hanging out in it all evening, it occurred to me that my knitting room lacks shelves. I'm going to keep an eye out for small bookcases and shelves, and maybe start combing the local antique stores. Also, my old Singer sewing machine base is still lacking a proper top... Maybe it's time to get on top of that too!
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