Help with knitted lace

Buffy, some of us are very anal, some moderately so and others aren't at all. I've kept a journal on my coumputer since I first began knitting. I occasionally forget and regret it because as surely as I do, there was something important that I was supposed to record so I could remember it. Not that I have that much to journal and certainly nothing complicated. But, it does help me save time on the mundane things I knit such as gauge on a specific yarn. If gauge really matters, I do a swatch for that project,but usually, it's for a rough idea of how large the dishcoloth or potholder is going to be or for a hat in stockinette or garter-stitch. I also record my big errors, probably the greatest part of my journal, but it does help me to not make the same ones over and over. If there's something I like or dislike about a particular yarn, that goes in there too. If I make something without a pattern, I record the amount of yarn I use to complete the project. It's helpful for the next time. Since it's in a doc, I can copy and paste the basics from an earlier entry and only add what's different.

That level of organization fascinates me. I can't even pretend to aspire to it, as I know that's just never going to be me. I'd say the biggest drawback in no organization is trying to recall the names of brands I have enjoyed working with over the years. Other than that, like the rest of my life, I just wing it. I've been knitting for over twenty years (unless you count knit/purl at the age of six, and then it's nearly forty years) and the little things like swatches to check gauge are just second nature to me. I actually create entire strips of cables and different patterns to see how they'll turn out. I find them all over the place when I dig out old stuff. The first project I ever made was a hooded/sleeved zip-front sack for my son while I was pregnant. I just had the urge to knit, even though I didn't know how (My grandmother knitted nearly every day of my childhood, and she passed away when I was seven). It's a good thing pregnancy lasts nine months, because I needed every day of it. But then I realized that I'd chosen an advanced pattern, and once I mastered that, I realized I could create anything I envision. I've only used a couple of patterns in my life since. I do find stitches and patterns I like and then incorporate them into projects. Sometimes it would be easier on myself if I'd written them down over the years, but that's just never going to be a habit I develop.