A New Home for My Needles....

If you are like me... and own a set of KnitPicks Interchangeable circulars....


Picture from Knitpicks.com

then your set is probably still housed in the little cardboard/elastic board it came with, lol!  I have tried several different storage systems (and I have some lovely needle rolls that can house ALL of my collection).... but they just weren't working for taking the show on the road, if you know what I mean.
Here is my criteria:

*  It needs to be fairly small and compact.  And by that I mean that it must fit into a smallish size project bag, or even in my purse in a pinch. 

*  It needs to hold all 9 of the needles, the cables, the stitch holders, a small pair of scissors, a needle sizer, and (dreamin) all of my bamboo dpn's as well...

*  No ties.  Ties are fumbly, and impossible to do with one hand.  It needs to be an easy, secure close, without lots of rolling.

I know, I know.. sound like a long list, doesn't it?  However, I've been knitting long enough now that I have a good idea of what I would love.  Sooooo...  I did a little internet searching, and looking, and decided to try my hand at making my own. 

Directions:

Cut 2 pieces out of the outer fabric (17 x 6.5") as well as a piece of fusible fleece the same size.
Cut 1 piece of inner pocket fabric (15.5 x 6.5") and 1 piece (10.5 x 6.5")
Cut one piece of 1/4" stretchy elastic (for the tie) at 8.5"

Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of one of the outer fabric pieces.  Fold each of the inner pocket pieces & press (wrong sides together, to make 6.5" wide pieces). On the smaller piece, mark the stitching lines that will hold the interchangeable needles.  I marked the center of the fabric with a line, and then marked two 1"spaces to the right of the center line (to hold the larger needles, and still leave 1/4" seam allowance) and two 3/4"spaces, and two 1/2" spaces to the left of the center line to hold the smaller needles.

 

Layer this piece on top of the other inner, unfolded pocket piece  - the raw edges should line up at the bottom - and stitch all of the marked stitching lines EXCEPT the center line.  This is important, because if you don't unfold the larger piece to do the stitching, you won't have deep enough pockets for all of the cables, etc that you will want to include (ask me how I know this... seam rippers are our friends!)  The reason you don't stitch the center line yet is because that line holds the pocket pieces to the inner case piece to hold everything secure and form the second set of deep pockets :)

 



Fold the large pocket in half on the center fold line (see the above diagram), and then layer it on top of the right side of the piece of outer fabric that is NOT fused to the fleece.  The raw edges should all align at the bottom, and then stitch the center stitching line through all layers, until you come to the end of the inner pocket pieces.  This is the completed inner piece :)  Base the piece of elastic for the closure about 1/2 way up on the right hand side (raw edges should all align).  To finish, layer the outer fabrics (right sides together) and sew with a 1/4" seam all the way around, leaving a 3" gap at the top of the two pieces for turning (and making sure to backstitch over the enclosed elastic a couple of times for security). Turn the needle case right side out through the hole that you left, press, and blind stitch (or topstitch) the opening closed.  Ta-Dah!  A completed needle case!

Here is my prototype:

To close your needle case:  Simply fold the top flap down, and then fold the whole thing in half, and secure with the elastic.  A compact, fully functional case that will hold your needles, cables, notions, and even your dpns... and still fit in your purse!  The needlecase below (folded) is about 3" x 8", and fits into all of my project bags :)

 

 

So now... hopefully your interchangeable needle set can be snug and secure in a new home (it only took mine about a year, lol!)