The Free Crochet WIP Tracker for Everyone With Too Many Projects (So, All of Us)

You have a basket. Or a bin. Or a drawer, a tote bag, three tote bags, a corner of the closet you do not make eye contact with. And inside it are your works in progress, otherwise known as your WIPs, otherwise known as the beautiful crime scene of every crocheter who has ever been alive.

If you are new here and wondering, WIP just means work in progress. It is the blanket you are eighty percent finished with, the sweater you started with such confidence, the amigurumi that has a head, one leg, and a lot of hope. A WIP is any project you have cast on but not yet cast off, which, for most of us, is a number we do not say out loud.

Here is the truth we are all dancing around. We do not have a project going. We have several. We start a new one the second a pretty skein looks at us funny. It is a documented condition; it is called startitis, and there is no cure, only management. This tracker is for time management.

What Is a Crochet WIP Tracker

A WIP tracker is exactly what it sounds like. It is where you keep the details of every project you have going so that when you set one down and pick it back up two weeks or two years later, you actually know what you were doing.

For years, this meant a scrap of paper shoved in the project bag, or a printable you filled in with a pen and then never updated again. Which is fine, until you change your row count, and now the paper is lying to you.

This one is different. It is a free crochet WIP tracker that lives right here in your browser, and it does the tracking with you. You add a project, you type in the good stuff, and it saves itself. Come back whenever. It will all be there, patient as anything, not judging you for the eleven other projects sitting next to it.

A quick note about your privacy: This tool saves everything you type directly in your browser on your device. Nothing you enter gets sent to me, stored on my website, or shared with anyone. I never see it, and I could not access it if I tried. If you use the Export button, the backup file is saved straight to your device, and Import reads it back from your device, so your information never leaves your hands. Just know that because it lives in your browser, clearing your browsing data will clear your saved projects, so export a backup if you want to keep them.

Video Tutorial For The Best Project Tracker Ever

This Tracker vs. a Printable: What’s Different

A printable is a lovely photograph of your project. This is the project’s actual brain.

• The row counter counts. Tap the plus button in every row, or type your number straight in. Set your total and watch the progress bar fill and the percentage climb. No tally marks, no “wait, where was I,” no counting little pen dashes at midnight.
• The status tells the truth. Every project gets a label: Planning, Active, Paused, Blocked, or Finished. With one glance, you know the whole state of your basket without touching a single skein.
• The yarn colors are real. Tap a swatch, pick the actual shade you are using, and it is saved. Not a colored pencil approximation, the real color.
• It holds all of them. One project or forty, the tracker does not care. Add as many as your startitis demands.
• It saves itself. Close the tab, live your life, come back. Everything is still there.

How to Use the Crochet WIP Tracker

Let’s walk through it because a few small habits turn this from a nice list into something that genuinely rescues your projects. None of it is hard.

Add a Project and Name It Like You Mean It

Hit New project and give it a name your future self will recognize. Not “blanket.” You have four blankets. Try “Mom’s Christmas granny stripe” or “the sage market bag.” Specific names are the difference between finding a project and playing Guess Who with your own basket.

Set the Status So You Can See Your Whole Basket at a Glance

This is the quiet superpower. Set each project to Planning, Active, Paused, Blocked, or Finished. Use the filters at the top to show only your Active projects when you want to make progress, or only your Paused ones when you feel brave enough to face them. Blocked is for when you are stuck waiting on more yarn or a missing notion, so you know it is not your fault you stopped.

Log the Details That Vanish From Memory First

Fill in the pattern, the yarn, and the hook right away, before you get deep into the project. These three are the exact things that evaporate from your brain the fastest and haunt you the hardest. The hook especially. Write it down now and thank yourself in March.

Use the Row Counter as Your Actual Counter

You do not need a separate clicker. Tap the plus button as you finish each row, and the progress bar fills in real time. Pop your total row count in, and you get a live percentage, which is weirdly motivating when you can see yourself creeping toward the finish. Type the number in directly if you would rather jump ahead.

Write Down Where You Stopped. This Is the Whole Point.

The notes box says “Where I left off” for a reason. The second you put a project down, drop a line in there. “Paused mid row 14 of the body, yarn still attached, next up is the color change.” That one sentence is the entire difference between picking it right back up and frogging the whole thing in a fit of frustration. Do this every single time, and you will never lose a project again.

Add Your Yarn Colors So You Never Forget the Recipe

Tap to add a swatch for each color in the project and set the real shade. Now you have the yarn recipe saved forever, which is a gift when you run short mid-project and need to match it, or when you want to make the whole thing again.

Tips and Tricks for the Chronically Multi-Project Crocheter

If you are nodding along because your WIP count is, let’s say, aspirational, these are for you.

• Do a Sunday basket check. Once a week, open the tracker and update your statuses. Two minutes. It keeps the whole thing honest, and it feels amazing to move something to Finished.
• Use Blocked instead of guilt. If a project stalled because you ran out of yarn, mark it Blocked, not Paused. Now you know it stopped for a real reason, and you can order the yarn instead of feeling vaguely bad every time you see it.
• Back up before you switch devices. Your projects save in this browser. If you are moving to a new laptop or clearing your browsing data, hit Export all first to save a backup file, then import it on the other side. Nothing lost.
• Track your gifts with a finish date. Set the status and note the deadline right in the project. Handmade gifts are so much calmer when the plan is written down instead of living rent-free in your head.
• Let Finished projects pile up on purpose. Do not delete them the second they are done. Filter to Finished at the end of the year and look at everything you actually made. It is genuinely good for the soul, especially in the seasons when it feels like you are not making progress.

WIP Tracker FAQs

What is a crochet WIP tracker?

WIP stands for “work in progress,” so a WIP tracker is a simple tool that keeps tabs on the projects you’ve got going at once. It holds the details you’d otherwise scribble on a sticky note or try to remember: which pattern you’re on, what hook and yarn you’re using, where you stopped, and what still needs to be done. Think of it as a home base for everything on your hooks right now.

Is the WIP tracker really free?

Yes, it’s completely free to use right here on the blog. No email sign-up, no download, no catch. I built it because I got tired of losing track of my own projects, and I figured you might be in the same boat.

How many projects can I track at once?

As many as you’d like. Whether you’re a one-project-at-a-time crocheter or you’ve got a basket full of half-finished makes (no judgment, I’ve been there), the tracker keeps track of them all so nothing gets forgotten.

Do I need to create an account or log in?

Nope. You can start using it the moment the page loads. Just add your projects and go.

Will my projects save if I close the page?

Your projects are stored directly in your browser, so they’ll be waiting for you when you come back to the same device. Just know that clearing your browser data or switching to a different device or browser can wipe them, so it’s a handy in-the-moment tool rather than permanent cloud storage.

Can I use the WIP tracker on my phone?

Absolutely. It’s built to work on your phone, tablet, or computer, so you can check where you left off, whether you’re on the couch or waiting in the school pickup line.

What should I write in the notes for each project?

Whatever helps future you pick the project back up. A lot of crocheters jot down the row or round they stopped on, any changes they made to the pattern, the hook size, or a reminder about how much yarn is left. There’s no wrong way to do it.

What’s the difference between a WIP tracker and a stitch counter?

They’re a great pair, but they do different jobs. A stitch counter keeps your live count as you work a row or round, while a WIP tracker zooms out to manage the whole project (or projects) from start to finish. My Stitch Keeper is a great tool to use alongside the WIP tracker.

Go Wrangle Those WIPs

Here is the thing. Having a lot of projects going is not a character flaw; it is just what happens when you love this craft and the yarn keeps being beautiful. The goal was never to have fewer WIPs. The goal is to be able to put one down and pick it right back up, with no mystery, no frogging out of frustration, no project lost to the bin forever.

So add your projects, name them well, and drop a note every time you set one down. Your future self, digging through that basket six months from now, will be so relieved you did.

Now go start a new one. You were going to anyway.

Cheers, Briana K