Neat – Knitting needle book

You may have recognized on Instagram that there has been a lot of knitting going around here lately.

I was taught knitting by my grandmother, actually both of my grandmothers were knitters. They especially perfectionated sock knitting. When they died some years ago I inherited – among some other things like a recipe note book – some of their knitting needles. They build the base of my collection of needles that keeps growing.

Growing step by step, cause as much as I liked both knitting and crocheting it has always been a thing of phases in my case: Phases of heavy knitting are followed by long periods where needles and wool are stored away, nearly forgotten. Until somehow there comes the point where I am suddenly in the mood again…

We’ll see how long it will last this time 😉

Fact is that there is – compared to earlier days – a growing independent knitting community now that is very vivid: independent small yarn producers, knitwear designers, magazines that keep inspiring (see links at the end of the post). So, perhaps my knitting enthusiasm this time is more perpetual?

Anyhow, the new knitting projects required new needles which finally required a new needle case. The old roll was one of my first sewing projects and, to be honest, it looked exactly like this. And there wasn’t enough room for the growing collection. I’m also constantly switching to the interchangeable KnitPro needles that require other pocket sizes. So, time to sew a new case!

Of course I had a look around the web concerning sizes and constructions. I ended up with a folded needle book closed with a tab. (Final size: 36 cm wide, 30 cm high, folded: 21 cm)

It has three layers of pockets:

– 17 cm high to fit double pointed sock needles

– 14 cm, perfect for crocheting hooks and small double pointed needles

– small 10 cm high pockets that fit interchangeables

Additionally I added two mesh pockets for circular needles respectively different long interchangeable cables.

Everything is tidy and clearly arranged now but also tight when folded together. Exactly how I wanted my needle book to be. And isn’t Birch’s Hidden Garden Sproutlet just the right fabric (it’s the cotton version on the inside and robust canvas on the outside)?

There’s just one thing I didn’t take into consideration when constructing: the fact that three layers of needles create volume and that it would have been a good idea to make the pocket pieces a few centimeters wider than the lining to give the pockets more room. So far this isn’t a big problem, cause a lot of the pockets are not filled yet.

If you’re interested, here are some great knitting ressources (without claiming to be exhaustive and without any yarn designers, there just too many…)

THE shop: Loop London

magazines: Laine, Making, Koel, pompom

tools and supplies: Twig and Horn, Fringe Supply Co., Cocoknits

designers ( I like) – linked to their Ravelry profile, but they’re all on Instagram, too: Carrie Bostick Hoge (Madder Made), Melanie Berg (mairlynd), Isabell Kraemer (lilalu), Joji Locatelli (jojolocat), Susanne Sommer (sosu), Veera Välimäki (Rain Knitwear Design)