At my doctor’s appointment this July, we talked about keeping my hands busy in the evening so I don’t overeat. I told her about knitting in the winter.
“Why don’t you knit in the summer?” she asked.
I was puzzled. Knitting is for winter. Sewing is for summer. Knitting is also for traveling, since sewing is not so portable. There’s been many times when I’m rushing around packing for a trip and realize I need a knitting project. I go through my binder full of patterns (held in sheet protectors) and pick one, then I’d run down to the basement to get the yarn and the right size needles. I’d encounter this mess:
Not only are all the needles jammed in this plastic pretzel jug, I have some of my Mum’s needles in British sizes, single needles where one of the pair is still in a project or used as a tool by a family member, and small items on the bottom where you can’t reach them. Whenever I wanted to get needles, I’d have to pull them out one by one to peer at the sizes, sometimes having to use the measuring tool if I didn’t know the U.S. size. Finding a matching pair is like…finding a needle in a pretzel jar. I finally did something about it today.
I had a scrap of black canvas, and I went through my scraps to find a fabric I love- these fish. Using one needle as a guide, I decided to make the organizer about 13 inches wide and 22 inches tall. I folded over the top of the canvas and sewed, creating a channel to put a string through. My scrap of fish fabric was a little small, so I made pieces for the top and sides. I finished off the top edge and sewed the panel to the canvas, right side to wrong side and flipping it inside out.
Take the time to iron , even if you’re impatient. 
I knew I wanted a pocket for small stuff. There’s been so many times when I needed a yarn needle and couldn’t find one in the entire house (I’ve learned to craft rudimentary ones out of paperclips, but I don’t recommend it). I have a lot of pouch ID holders from conferences. I sacrificed one for the project (thank you NYLA!). I cut off the zippered top and sewed edging around the upper pocket. Then I sewed a piece of canvas to the pocket and sewed that to the organizer. I added a white ribbon to the top of the needle panel so I could write in the sizes.
I figured out the sizing of the channels for the needles- smaller needles need less space, so instead of having them all the same, I started with narrower spaces on the left to bigger spaces on the right. I put in a corset boning through the top to keep the banner from sagging, and ran a string (from my badge holder) to hang it. I’m pretty happy with it. I need to go around to all my knitting bags and consolidate all the stuff. I mean, you can use hair ties, paper clips and bits of paper for stitch markers, but if you actually have stitch markers, why not use them?
I’ll have a knitting project ready for NYLA. I wonder if they’ll give me a new badge holder?
