Needlecase: Part 2

So once I had my straight needles, crochet hook and stitch holders etc organised, I started wondering how to cope with circular needles.

The solution was almost the same as for the straights, with a bit of an internal redesign so that the pockets faced inwards and there was space for a needle gauge. Each pocket will hold up to three circular needles comfortably (depending on needle size).


The only problem was that this case didn't really roll up very well. Eventually I figured out that the best option was to fold it in half and concertina it, holding it all in place with a loop of elastic round a button as before.

I'm not as pleased with this case as I was with the one for straights, I'm sure with a bit more reworking I could improve the way it folds up and closes, but it works and has been in use ever since I made it.

Needlecase: Part 3

A good friend of mine who has recently had a sudden and rather dramatic conversion to knitting as a hobby has just bought herself a lot of needles, crochet hooks, stitch holders etc. She's also about to move to North Carolina (from Glasgow), so I thought that a gift with a practical underpinning and a slightly Scottish feel to it might be in order.

And so a tweed needle case was born...


This is the same size and basic design as the one I made for myself but the construction is better and the darker fabric shouldn't show up the marks so badly.


The fabric came from another friend who makes kilts etc and was having a clear-out of off-cuts, so the tweed had to be patchworked together.


The fabric was also a lot heavier that the stuff I used for my own case so I didn't need the wadding. The button was a stiffened leather one from John Lewis.

The biggest improvement though, was that I finally learned to use the walking foot on my sewing maching. My in-laws gave us the sewing maching as a wedding present and it came with 8 different feet. I know how to use 5 of these and haven't had a need (yet) for two, but the walking foot is something that I've been meaning to get to grips with for ages. It's just genius! No more will a stack of heavy fabric all want to go different directions at once. I can't believe that I didn't have a go with it sooner as it would have made my own needle case a lot simpler (getting the wadding to stay in place was very tricky)!

Needlecase: Part 1

About a year ago, I decided that the time had come to stop storing my needles in one large bundle in a sterile drape box my mum had used since she first qualified as a nurse. I was fed-up having to rake throught them all to find a matched pair and wanted to devise an alternative system.

I went through my fabric stash (something that existed long before I even thought about knitting as a hobby), set up my sewing machine and came up with this...


A fabric needle case with three tiers of pockets for long needles, medium needles and DPNs and crochet hooks.


It rolls up for storage and fastens with a loop of elastic secured round a button.


The edges are all bound with seam tape and there is some medium weight wadding between the outer shell and the inner lining to keep the needles snug. It's not the best sewing job I've even done but it has been in use constantly since it's conception and I wouldn't be without it (thought the old sterile drape box is still somewhere in my stash storing needles that I have many duplicates of - my granny had a real thing for old UK size 11 and 12 needles (3mm and 2.75mm) which I don't really have the patience for).

I absolutely loved the fabric at the time (fairly recent furnishing fabrics from John Lewis - all odd remnants) and still do, but it's perhaps not the most practical choice for something that is stuffed in bags and rolled out on the floor etc as it's getting a bit marked now. I do however learn from these errors in judgment as Needlecase: Part 3 will show...