ALWAYS make copies of your patterns and work from copies. That way you can mark up the copy without any problems (or feeling guilty about marking up the original pattern!). What I usually do when I buy a hard copy pattern from a store is I use my All-in-One Printer/Scanner as a copy machine and make a copy that way. Also, have a special place to keep all your hard copy patterns. I have a special shelf on one of our bookshelves just for my knitting books that I have knitting pattern books and a binder to store loose leaf patterns (single patterns). I also have a USB Key that I use to store my electronic patterns that I keep in the binder.
Also means if you take your knitting on the go and you lose your pattern, you only lost a copy of it, not the actual pattern. Not that any of us knitters are absent-minded at times, are we? No idea what I’m talking about here.. none what so ever. :D.
Oh, and those worried about copyright? It’s fair use, as I am not distributing the pattern to anyone, its for my own use. 🙂 (and it really only matters for store bought – hard copy patterns, e-patterns you can just print out at will)
IF you don’t feel right copying the pattern, office supply stores sell these plastic sheet protectors and Vis-a-vis markers (wet erase markers or Overhead markers) that you can use to make marks on the plastic sheet protectors. I say this, because I always mark out sizing and only leave the size I’m working on so I don’t have to figure out what size I’m working on every time I look at the pattern AND Mark where I am at when I have to put my project down.
julesknitsnpurls 