Double Pointed Needle Storage

A little confession I have to make... I'm a person that needs to be organized. In fact I often have to stop in a middle of a project to fix, straighten or declutter things around me. It helps me think straight and well allow the creativity to flow I guess. I grew up that way, around a Mother that was rather OCD about all things in the house. Back to the post at hand (speaking of organizing!). As a knitter you start to collect a lot of different sizes of needles, especially double pointed needles needed for various projects. The problem with the needles is the fact they come with 5 needles in each set. I had this cute pouch that I kept all of them in and played the game of fishing each time I needed 4 or 5 of one size. Can I say frustrating!! Anyways I could sew up an organizer and do plan on doing this in the future as a project for my fellow knitters around me, they make killer gifts for knitters!

So with this project in mind I looked online to see what I could find for a basic pattern if anyone has ever knitted one. There were lots of OK ones out there but none I liked. I really wanted one like the sewn up jelly roll types with pockets. I finally found one similar to what I liked and took that pattern to a larger scale, so it can hold all the needles sizes I need. I found the pattern on Briney Deep Designs blog. So you can use her great pattern or go a bit bigger like I did. Either way it was a fun project and now I have a pretty and functional way to hold my needles!

This is her pattern with my changes to make it larger...

Needles: US #5, straights and double points
Yarn: I used Bamboo Pop (1 full ball and a quarter of the second was used. I figure under 350 yards) The original pattern didn't have yardage, so I'm going by what I used. 

ABBREVIATIONS
LK2tog: Lift corresponding stitch from “case body”, place on left needle. Knit together with 1 “pocket” stitch.
LEK2tog: Lift stitch from “case body” inner panel edge (next to seed stitch border), place on left needle. Knit together with 1 “pocket” stitch.

Co 116

knit 5 rows of seed stitch (continue doing seed stitch in pattern for the first 4 and last 4 stitches of every row)

Row 1: P1, K1, P1, K1, K across to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1
Row 2 and all even rows: P1, K1, P1, K1, P across to last 4 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1
Row 3: P1, K1, P1, K1, K1, [K3, P1] to last 7 stitches, K3, P1, K1, P1, K1
Row 4: K1, P1, K1, P1, purl to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 5: P1, K1, P1, K1, K across to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 6: K1, P1, K1, P1, purl to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1
Row 7: P1, K1, P1, K1, K2, [P1, K3] to last 5 stiches, K1, P1, K3, P1, K1

Row 8: Row 4: K1, P1, K1, P1, purl to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1
Work these 8 rows for a total of 8 repeats of the overall pattern.
Work 5 rows in seed stitch

The flap...

Row 1: P2tog, K2tog, P1, K1, K across to last 6 stitches, P1, K1, P2tog, K2tog

Row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, P across to the last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 3: P1, K1, P1, K1, K1, [K3, P1] to last 7 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 4: K2tog, P2tog, K1, P1, P across to the last 6 stitches, K2tog, P2tog, K1, P1

Row 5: P1, K1, P1, K1, K across to the last 4 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 6: K1, P1, K1, P1, purl to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 7: P1, K1, P1, K1, K2 [P1, K3], to last 5 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 8: K1, P1, K1, P1, Purl to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1

Work 5 rows of seed stitch and then bind off.

Pockets...

Pick up 109 st on the wrong side at the bottom edge of case body, just above seed stitch border and between side seed stitch borders. Each pocket stitch will correspond to one case body stitch (excluding seed stitch border).

Row 1: LEK2tog, K4, LK2tog, K4, LK2tog, K4, LK2tog, K4, LK2tog, K5, LK2tog, K5, LK2tog, K6, LK2tog, K7, LK2tog, K8, LK2tog, K9, LK2tog, K10, LK2tog, K11, LK2tog, K12, LEK2tog

Row 2: Purl

Repeat these 2 rows 21 times. 

Then continue the same count for the last 5 rows but in seed stitch.

 Bind off

For the closure you can do an i-cord (she has on her page), a button closure or ties. I found a button that I plan on sewing on with an i-cord to wrap around. 

 I'm very new to putting up patterns and I'm so glad I found an amazing pattern to play with. Thank you to Briney Deep Designs for a great idea!

Cabled Honeycomb Purse...LOVE!

I loved this purse so much when I saw the pattern! It turned into one of those challenges to learn a new stitch each week. Love the style and size of this bag...and it's a great pattern to learn out to knit a great bag. The pattern can be found here at The Bees Knees blog... Purse Pattern.

I actually hand stitched the lining in the bag, it was a bit of a challenge, but worked good for me. She has details on how she put her lining together. I added lace trim to add a cute little detail in the purse...plus I have an embarrassing stock pile of new and vintage laces. Figured it's time to start using them! 

 

This pattern I think is advanced beginner and is very rewarding. I did use a bulky weight yarn called LOVE from Red Heart. It's soft, bulky and a great buy for this type of project. Hope you enjoy it! 

Spring Knitting Project

I knit and crochet a lot for my little business...whether it's making up something new, stocking up local retail or orders. The one thing I'm really bad at is making stuff for myself in this process! So this year I started to keep a list of things I've been dying to make. One is this super cute Springtime sweater! Here's the link to this really fun sweater Springfield Sweater.

These are the pictures of the what my sweater will look like...

 

The yarn I've chosen for this project is... Bamboo Pop, it's 50% cotton and 50% bamboo. By far my favorite yarn to use for clothing, great weight and a dream to knit (or crochet). I can get some locally at a yarn shop, but when they are out of colors I do a search online... fantastic buy for the yardage too! The color I used is called rose and it's the perfect rich looking coral color.

 

So far this is what I have done, still have to do the bottom cabled band and the arms. So excited to have it done! It's taken me on and off about a 1 1/2 weeks...although it would be much less if I worked on it solid. It's a great project and not too difficult. I would say an Advanced Beginner could do this without a problem. I will post an update of what it looks like when it's all done!!