Sophisticated Circular Needle Storage

My friend, GuiGirl, who has taken up knitting, asked me how I store my circular needles. I said I'd send her a picture. I'm sure she's expecting something very elegant.

Here it is GuiGirl.

Yep. you guessed right in one. It's a gallon zip lock bag. If I could be bothered to take the time, I would write the size and length of each needle that I generally keep in my fancy storage container on it with a Sharpie, but instead I use a tape measurer and one of those little ruler thingies with holes in it to measure the circs when I need to select one.

Hey, I never claimed I was efficient.

Then I got extravagant and ordered a complete set of Knit Picks Options Harmony Wood interchangeable needles. I love 'em! They're just right for me most of the time; smoother than bamboo, but not so slippery as Addi Turbos.

The Knit Picks set came in a plastic case with the needles elasticed to a card and the cables in little cellophane envelopes that fit into a plastic wallet. There are sleeves on both sides inside the plastic case for the needle tips.

Not being a huge fan of plastic (other than zip lock bags), I bought a fabric needle case at Tuesday Morning for $2.99 on clearance, mostly because I like the blue print fabric. I numbered the needle sleeves in Sharpie and tucked the needles into them. Now I don't have to measure them every time. That's nice. I fold the fabric case in half because just the tips are a whole lot shorter than 14 inch needles. If I ever get around to it, I think I will put a couple of elastic bands with Velcro fasteners in the unused top half, lable them with the length of the cables and clip the cables into the same case.

When I get around to it.



As an added benefit, the last little needle sleeve works well to hold the Knit Picks tightening key.

So that's my system.

Except for the needles that I have scattered other places around the house.

Darned if I know where some of them are.

AmbiCrafterous

Being an incredibly graceful creature, one of my problems when knitting is the amazing escaping yarn ball. Of course, the cats are always more than willing to help the yarn misbehave as well. So what to do?

Mostly I've been using onion bags. They make excellent yarn keepers, but they're light and I have a tendency to pull too hard when getting yarn and end up dumping the whole shebang on the floor. Plus they just aren't very... sophisticated... looking.

Fortunately, I like to play with clay too, so I made myself a couple of prototype yarn bowls.

Came out pretty well if I do say so myself.

I think the hook bowl is the more versatile. I've knit half a washrag using it. Just stuck the skein into the bowl and fed the center-pulled yarn through the hook. It draws easily and the yarn seems to sit securely.

The upside down bowl with the hole is more kitty proof, but you can't quickly and easily change yarn like you can with the hook bowl. If you're not going to be changing yarn that shouldn't make a difference.

Analyzing the bowls for this blog entry is giving me further design ideas. I think I'll go play in the mud some more to test them out.

I do enjoy being ambicrafterous.

When You Have To Fly

Times they have changed since 9-11. Used to be a person could carry all manner of things on a commercial aircraft, but no longer. At least they've gotten past the initial hysteria when a person wasn't even allowed to take toothpaste or Chapstick in their carry-on. For a while there, knitting needles were a no-no. As my Mom wondered, "What do they think I'm going to do, knit an Afghan?" Needles are acceptable now - I always make sure to carry bamboo or wood instead of metal because you can never tell when they might go hyper vigilant on you. (Beware the Detroit Airport; TSA employees there tend to be excitable.) The security folks are still a little weird about anything with a blade, though.

So what's a knitter to do if she needs to cut her yarn (besides buy a heavy and kinda homely Clover yarn cutter pendant or gnaw it off like a wild animal taking care of the umbilical cord?)

The answer, my friends, can be found at local office and card stores.

Yep, the Scotch Gift Wrap Cutter. I got this two pack at Sam's Club for under $4.00. It looks like a toothbrush, but instead of bristles, it has a sharp little blade hidden behind an underslung jaw. It won't cut your fingers or your yarn flush with the fabric, but it does a great job of cutting while leaving a bit of a tail.

If you get a two pack, save one for Christmas. It works way better than scissors on gift wrap and it's safe for the kiddies.



(And, no, 3M is not paying me to advertise this, I just like to share things that work for me.)

Yarn Control

I've been knitting from a cake of unruly sock yarn. It kept wanting to bounce onto the floor and roll away.

The cats were encouraging the behavior.

I've seen those specialty jars with the hole in the lid to hold yarn. And those cute little silk bags to keep it pristine and untangled in chic style.

But I'm cheap.

An onion bag works great.