Taming the Chaos

I have to admit, am pretty addicted to circular needles.   And, it seems that most solutions for storing needles seem to be for straight needles, (not that I don't have my share of straights left over from my beginning days of knitting...)

 

The desire to tame the chaos (up until then, I just lived with it!) started when I received my Knit Picks Options needles.  These interchangeable needles come in plastic pouches, with zippers along the top and one side punched for a small, 3 ring binder.  The pouches are divided, so really, only the needle points fit in the sections, and the needle cables fit in another section.   A pretty good system if you have a lot of pieces and parts, or as a friend of mine used to say, " a kit of parts".

 

But, the rest of my needles I have always just tossed in a document case  I had left over from a project I had worked on many years ago when I was working for an design firm and we were solving their storage problems of archival materials.  The company we were doing the work for used these boxes called "Hollinger Boxes" made by of course, The Hollinger Corporation.  Who knew these boxes were out there?  I certainly didn't, but then, I am always learning something new...

 

Quilters like these boxes for storing quilts because of their acid free nature.  I know this because I inherited 15 quilts several years ago and had to figure out how to store them!!!

 

Hollinger also has acid free tissue paper to put between the folds of the quilts (an important part of archival storage of a quilt).  One place to get Hollinger Boxes for quilts, shows you all the box sizes, tubes for rolling quilts, and buffered and un-buffered tissue options.  But back to knitting...

 

I ran across this idea for circular needle storage, on the web.  Pencil pouches from Target.  I thought it was a great solution for storing circular needles, dpns, crochet hooks, stitch holders, stitch markers and all those other little "must haves" that you like to keep in one place.  

 

The suggestion for pencil pouches from Target is a good one.  The Target in my area only had them as a "back to school" item; not to be re-stocked after they sold out over Labor Day.  I called around and Office Depot has something similar, if you can't find them at Target.  They carry them as a standard item.  Their basic model, is 11"x7", frosted plastic on one side, clear plastic on the other side with a slide zipper on the top.  One side is punched for either a 3 or 5 hole ring binder.

 

The document case fits in my cabinet where I keep my stash, so all is well.  If you want to keep it on a bookcase, the letter size would probably work better, but are only 12 1/4" long.  The legal size is 15 1/4" long.

 

The great thing about the document case, (I use the legal size; they come in letter and legal size) is that it is long enough to put your straight needles in and wide enough to fit both my Denise case and my Knit Picks case and the pencil pouches with my other circulars, etc. in the them. 

 

Here is a photo of my stash of needles in my beloved Hollinger box, so worn, it is real!

 

Looking in a little closer, you will see my straight needles, laying down on the bottom.

 

 

Now that things are organized, I can start on those cute fingerless gloves from the last issue of Knitty.com, called "Fetching"...