Simple Knitting Tips: The Knit List

Sometimes I forget that not everyone around me has been knitting like, forever.* There are so many little tricks I have to keep my knitting flowing smoothly that I just take for granted, until I see someone has a question that can be answered by one of my totally ingenious** fixes.  Because helping people love their knitting is one of my life's goals, I have decided to share with you, in random order, on random days, 

some of my Knitting Tips.  

Simple Knitting Tip: The Knit List

This idea is a mashup between something I saw my friend Becky do, and something I just do anyway.  One year when Becky was visiting me, she had a slip of paper on which she had written a List of Things She Was Trying to Get Knitted. I had two thoughts when I saw this:
1) She knits far more complicated things than I do,
2) Why have I never thought of making a list of my knitting projects until this very moment??

I am a list-maker from way back, and yet, combining my love of lists with my works-in-progress had never occurred to me. I do not keep a current running list at all times, but when I have deadlines it does help.

Looking for a way to keep your knitting on task, and maybe be less prone to the "ooh shiny" aspect of a new pattern that you really don't have time to start right now despite how perfect and awesome it is and the fact that you could knit it entirely from stash so it wouldn't cost anything and how long could it take anyway and besides you really really want it?  Try keeping a Knit List.  Jot down what's on the needles, post it in your craft room or keep it in your knitting bag, or tape it to your computer for a reminder whenever you find yourself browsing shiny new patterns on Ravelry. That's ok, don't feel bad--we all do it!

 Next time: Now what did I buy that yarn for???

*OK, I've only been knitting for 9 years, but in dog years, that would be a l-o-n-g time!

**Some of these ingenious tips you will easily find somewhere else--a book, the internet, a magazine, etc.  I don't claim originality, I just claim they work for me :)