I have been knitting/crocheting and doing other needlework for over 45 years, so I have lots of patterns and instructions to keep track of. I also love using computers, so I decided to put the two pleasures together and save some space.
I have books of patterns that I have neatly compartmentalized in a tall "tower" shelf, organized by project type. Individual patterns or small leaflets I've picked up, I have scanned into my computer. I have a main folder in my Documents section for Needlework, then I have subfolders for the different project types: scarves, hats, rugs, baby blankets, etc. I used to divide the patterns only by knitting, crocheting, or whatever the technique, but discovered it was too time-consuming to remember where I'd put it. Now, I just look in the subject folder and they're so easy to find.
I have a laptop, a netbook, and a 7 inch tablet computer. I share all my needlework files between these computers, so no matter where I am, I can just look up the instructions - no paper patterns to lose or get ripped up. I can even use my computers to keep track of rows knitted or crocheted!
If you don't have a network set up so you can share your files between computers, there are many "cloud" services that allow you to store a limited number of "bytes" for free. I confess, I take advantage of these, too. That way, I don't worry about backing up my files too often, because they're available to me from 3 different computers, plus whatever cloud service it's on.
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I like this idea, and have been thinking of doing this myself for quite a while, so I voted for this! I have a ton of old crochet magazines and would like to scan them into my computer and give away or sell the magazines, to reduce clutter. My computer already contains dozens of patterns and craft instructions I've saved from various websites, including TF! These are categorized by technique, and/or by holiday, as I save a lot of patterns to make holiday decorations and items, so for me it makes sense to sort by holiday.
I just need to back up all my patterns (and everything else!). I am not good at backing up, because I save new things every day, so I would be spending a lot of time backing up each day, on top of the time I already spend on the computer. But it does have to be done, or I know I'll regret my laziness! So, kudos to you for your excellent system of saving and backing up your patterns!
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