Knitting and Sewing

Sometimes my interest in crafts spills over into other areas and it all seems to work out for a benefit. I've taken an interest in cleaning up my knitting needle collection and decided it was time to have a nice set of needles and to get this mess of a collection tuned up. Turning to Ebay, I bought an Aero set of needles in a red vinyl case with hints of the 1960's:

Aero case open and back and front of the case

It came in pretty good shape but was missing size 2 and 9 but I already had a size 2 and ordered a size 9 in Susan Bates Quicksilver via Walmart and will pick up later this week. That left my old case with only a few needles worth keeping:

My 1970's knitting needle case with vinyl inside and tapestry exterior

except for my double pointed and circular needle sets. Of course, I could buy a new case but they never seemed to be the right size and configuration so I decided to make my own. Here's the planning process:

Here are the contents I'm trying to store

I picked out a fabric I liked and laid them all out, taking ideas from Pinterest. Trying to get everything in and then some type of closure, I ended up with this:

Final knitting needle case with fold-down flap to hold needles in place

Although I prefer to have a zippered case, keeping them secure and the logistics of sewing in that zipper...I went with a roll:

Snug as a bug in a rug!

There is a decorative fabric, stiff interfacing, cotton batting, and a lining fabric to make up a nice padded, yet firm, surface. I couldn't just sew it together but had to add a touch of decorative sewing:

Flower stitch on pocket edge and trim that hides seam on circular needles pockets

I did most of the sewing on my Viking Designer 1 with a bit of serging with my Bernina 1100 serger. I'm happy with the end result and it got me to sort and weed out needles I had simply collected and didn't use or need. Many of the needles are going to the upcoming Textile Center garage sale but I also made up a nice set with something I picked up at the Goodwill Outlet:

Knitting needle case full of needles and supplies

Although it was a nice zipper case, it was made out of a quilted fabric that was not heavy enough to support all of its contents. I do admire the zipper, though but decided I would let this one go.

I'm still trying to work on my felting skills and have a new knitted slipper pattern I'm trying out. New needles and old yarn, I'm all organized and having fun. With all of the snow we got yesterday that needs to be shoveled, I can rest between stints of shoveling with my knitting.

Next up: a couple who didn't know they had a valuable sewing machine.