Has anyone else tried this?

[DolphinMemae]

I just started a new knitting pattern that has a complex set of instructions for some of the rows. I was really struggling and stressing out trying to keep track of where I was in the pattern and kept having to recount from the start to find my place. It was taking an extremely long time just to do one row. So I wrote up a set of index cards, using one card for each row. The really long rows I made a set of 3-5 stitches per line and a blank line in between each set of stitches. So one index card looks like this: Row 4 (at the top of the card) K2, K1, M1, K1 (blank line) next line: SSK, K2, K2 together (blank line) (next line) K4, M1, K2, M1.....You get the idea?

Anyway, I punched a whole in the top corner of all the cards and put a ring through it so I can flip the cards to the next one after each row. It has made this SO MUCH easier! I'm so much less stressed and making a lot fewer mistakes. Its such a simple idea but so effective. I was just wondering if anyone else has ever tried something similar when dealing w/ a complex pattern.

[Marielle]

I've not but some people prefer to chart patterns for that very reason. Our eye processes a chart symbol much more quickly than the written word. neat idea though!

[JustMandy]

I have not but that's exactly how my mind works and I'll have to use that sometime!

[DolphinMemae]

A friend who is far more advanced than I am showed me some charts she uses - ones she has enlarged and modified to make a pattern make sense to her. Do you think this is something that others would find helpful or is it just something that works for me?

[SilverMoon]

My mom uses index cards for intricate knitting patterns, except instead of one card per row she makes one card per instruction part. It makes for a bigger stack of cards, but it helps her sort it out.

When I was crocheting a sweater that had the strangest instructions, plus repeats in weird places, I wrote it out long hand and then created a chart.

[DolphinMemae]

thanks, everyone, for your input.

[believer]

that sounds like a good idea to me.
i have no idea how to read a chart and am better with words than graphics so your idea sounds like it might be a good fit for people like me.