A knitting project that isn't tracked is a knitting project that gets replicated — the same yarn weight in a slightly different colorway, the same recipient getting two scarves because no one remembered the first one was finished in December 2022.
This happens more than knitters admit.
The Record That Survives a Stash
The Status field — Planned, In Progress, Finished — plus Date Started and Date Finished give you the project timeline at a glance. The useful data isn't the current status; it's the elapsed time. A project that's been "In Progress" since March with a Date Started of last October is not in progress — it's been set aside and needs to be re-evaluated before another project gets cast on for the same recipient.
Person linked to a contact record means the recipient is directly connected to the project. Sorting by Person shows every item you've made for a specific individual: the grey merino sweater finished in 2021, the blue cabled hat in 2023. It prevents duplicating gifts and helps estimate sizing if the original item's notes included measurements.
Needle Size links to the Knitting Needles library — a paired database that stores your actual needle inventory. The link field is the mechanism that tells you, before you're halfway through a pattern in Briggs & Little Heritage worsted on 4.5mm needles at your brother-in-law's house two provinces away, whether the specific circular needle required for the sleeve modification is in your bag or still on the project by your reading chair at home.
The Yarn text field records brand, line, and colorway. Malabrigo Rios in Playa rather than "that teal-ish one." Rowan Felted Tweed in Clay 177. The color multichoice handles the general reference; the Yarn field holds the specific purchasing information needed to add yardage or match the exact dye lot if the project requires more.
Notes is where the adaptations live: the sleeve length adjusted by 3cm for a longer arm span, the stitch count modification for a 38-inch chest instead of the pattern's 36, the observation that this yarn blooms significantly after blocking and the finished dimensions were 10% larger than the knitted dimensions.