One Of the Tricks Up My Sleeve

As I've shared many crafting successes and craftastrophes, I'm not sure I've ever told you that I can knit.  I go through phases where I like knitting and then I don't do it for a while.

I'm more a fan of crocheting because it's faster and because if your hook falls out, you lose one or two stitches.  If your knitting needle falls out you could lose 100 stitches and never really pick them all back up.

Knitting can be a real pain.  And it's very slow-going.

I've collected some knitting needles over the years, usually getting the size I need for a pattern I am trying and then storing them for later.  I never really have a good place to store them.  I have a very bizarre bag that my father got all of us for Christmas one year and one of the neatest features is a lot of little slots for things just like knitting needles.

I like the bag but the needles are kind of exposed and it's bizarre.

I'm always thinking I should make a knitting needle holder and a crochet hook holder.  You can find them in stores and online, but I want to make them for myself with my own favorite colors and textures.

In the fall, I was looking for yarn for my students who crochet in my after school and enrichment classes.  I put a free ad in the Write to Know column of my local newspaper.   I was kind of afraid I'd be inundated with more yarn than I'd know what to do with.

And my biggest fear?  That the yarn would smell like cigarettes, or worse, air freshener.

Amazingly, not one bag of yarn smells like cigarettes and only one smells like air freshener.  I let tht one sit out and the smell is mostly gone.

In one bag, there was a whole cache of knitting needles!

The woman said she knew I wanted the yarn for crocheting, but maybe I could find a use for these knitting needles too!

Not only was I excited to get quite a horde of knitting needles, filling in the blanks for any sizes I might not have, what an awesome holder!

It definitely smelled like some kind of spray, so I had to wash it.  And wash it.  And wash it some more.

Eventually, the smell went away.  I wiped down all of the needles and had to get rid of a couple because they were some kind of metal that had corroded.  I have a full assortment, anyway.

There are even a few half sizes, which I didn't even know existed.

Let's talk about the holder.  I truly can't figure out if it's homemade or factory made.  There isn't a label but there is nothing about this that says amateur.  It's extremely well made if someone made it themselves.

I like the material.  It's some kind of toile print with a lovely satin lining.

The ribbon line that hold the needles is at just the right height and the slots for the points to go into are just right.  The precision of the lines is what makes me think it must be factory made.

The ribbons on the outside are sewn so that one stays in place while the other wraps around the back and meets at the beginning to tie it.

Now  I want to make one for my crocheting hooks. I have all of that home dec fabric still sitting there.  How much fun would the pinks be??  Polka dots outside, hot pink inside?

I've kind of been inspired to start thinking about knitting something.  BUT, I'm in the middle of that heart quilt, making excellent progress on the backing, so I really feel like I can't do anything until that's done.

Are you someone who needs to finish one project before starting another, or do you have a dozen UFOs at any one time?

Linking here:
http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com
http://www.sewcando.com
http://www.skiptomylou.org
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/03/clever-chicks-blog-hop-130-with-auto.html