These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Rocketbook Will Rock Your World

Every maker has a few items they just don’t function as well without. I’ve always been a huge fan of the row counter ring and pretty stitch markers which keep me on track in complicated patterns or when imbibing a few glasses of bourbon while making. My blue light filtering glasses also save me from squinting and headaches after a day of working online. But one of my very favorite maker items was gifted to me several months ago after my husband grew tired of seeing me fill notebook after notebook (and thus counter space after desk space) with lists, designs, and notes. It’s really been a game changer for organizing my business and my personal life.

I’ve been wanting to write about this cool product for a while to share it with all of you, but life has gotten in the way. Luckily, Kelly of Knitbrooks has put together the Creative Roots Challenge (a fun and reflective way for makers to get back in touch with their creativity and post a photo each week in response to a crafty prompt) and this week’s challenge in collaboration with Jessica of JBKCrochet is to talk about how we stay organized. What a perfect opportunity for me to write this post I have been lagging on for months!

SO. Y’ALL. As I’ve mentioned above and talked about in previous posts, I am not the most organized person, but I am a list maker. If I don’t have lists, I’m fucked. I don’t remember things, I don’t feel accomplished, and shit falls through the cracks. Because I love lists, I have gone through a ton of notebooks in my life. College, grad school, teaching, testing, designing, shopping, life in general, it all requires notes and lists. And, because I think, “What if I need to look back on that list someday???” I can’t get rid of a fucking notebook either. My poor husband. BUT THEN!!!! Something amazing happened. I discovered the list maker’s wet dream and it is called, ROCKETBOOK.

Rocketbooks are reusable notebooks that come with a variety of different templates and designs. You make your notes, lists, drawings using Frixion pens or markers, snap a photo of it in the Rocketbook App, and then direct it to a cloud storage where it can be organized into files that you can access ANYWHERE! Once you’ve finished your list, you can erase it using water and use that page all over again.

My “Can’t Forgets” for my Girl’s Trip!

You might think, hmmm… is it really that cool? OH YES, IT IS. I have used my Rocketbook for general life lists like shopping and to do’s, but also for notes for my Whiskey and WIPs Lives and for jotting down cool things I want to see or remember before a trip.

As a pattern tester and designer, this thing has been clutch. I go through the designer’s requested feedback and create a little template for myself. Then, as I move throughout the test, I take notes and answer these questions. Upon completion, I upload it to my Google Drive into my testing folder. It is so freaking helpful for creating Ravelry project pages and answering questions from other makers or when I want to make a second project. And as a designer, I love being able to look back on “old” sketches and browse through all my measurements and notes from my phone. I don’t need to carry around ALL my notes and plans for designs because they are all saved to the interwebz and I can access them anywhere (with Wifi).

Photo 1: Current project list Photo 2: Flat lay of my testing notes in Rocketbook Photo 3: Example of files uploaded to Rocketbook App

I am quite a terrible artist, but I still sketch out some ideas for designs and I use schematics for all my bikinis as I create them. I know that many designers love to draw and embellish their designs on paper first to get a good visual of what they want to create. Rocketbook uses Frixion pens and markers (they are erasable when wiped with water) and I just bought a 12 pack of gorgeous, bright colors that are inspiring even me to draw out my designs. I still love the pens, but the colorful markers (and highlighters!!!!!) stole my tropical-color-loving heart.

If you’ve got kiddos or are a teacher, Rocketbook is also fabulous for education settings, especially if you are teaching from home or you have munchkins for whom clutter/organization can be an issue. Rocketbook has some kickass products for a variety of classes and teaching settings including virtual whiteboards (Thinkboards! You can stick and restick them anywhere and then upload your notes to the cloud/email) and sketchbooks.

Think it’s pretty awesome??? Me too!!!! You can click here to check them out through my affiliate link.

Do you have any bad ass tools that you use in the maker life??? Send me a message so I can check them out!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can erase Rocketbook notes with whiskey, but I don’t advise it. #askmehowIknow #knitdrunkfrogsober