Duty Knitting

 Ace poses good-naturedly in his spiffy new hat.

Instead of fun knitting, i.e., knitting for myself, I keep getting sucked into duty knitting, i.e., knitting for my family.  Haha 

First I made some fingerless mitts for Dh, from Knits Men Want. 

Now I am knitting hats for all the children from the same pattern (Quynn from Bambeanies) in different sizes.  This revealed that my kids have big heads.  Even the baby needed the second size up!  The first hat, Ace's, was fun and a new pattern and therefore completed in four days (knitting only after all kids are in bed).  The second hat, Baby C's was tiny and therefore completed in three days.  The third hat for Miss E is still languishing in my knitting basket.  Because now I have already made this hat twice and the pattern is no longer exciting.  Plus, I have to make the biggest size for Miss E and her 5-year-old head.

Once I am done with that I am committed to making the Watch Cap for Dh, also from Knits Men Want.

Then I think I will make this vest or maybe this shawl...hmm the possibilities!!!!

The Search for a Good Needle Case

Crochet Hook Case $25

I stole permanently borrowed my initial collection of knitting needles from my mother. At a Salvation Army in upstate NY, she found a giant, funky plaid case (we're talking 1960s in all its glory) full of just about every size knitting needle you could ever want.  When I went to college, it came with me.  The collection of needles is a bit odd.  It's so a product of the 50s and 60s - long needles in sizes 1, 2, and 3, but only one set of dpns (size 5, so random), and not a circular needle to be found.  The needles are all metal. I love to wonder about the woman who collected this set and what she made with the needles.

My crochet hook case was a little case that came free with my mother's order of Vanna's Afghans A to Z.  Funny that she ordered it, because she did almost no handicrafts in the 90s.  In the 90s I was very into crochet, especially doilies (it was my Victorian phase, okay?), so I had a complete set of the impossibly small crochet hooks and a few larger ones.  As I (thankfully) outgrew the Victorian phase, I slowly added regular crochet hooks to my collection.  My mother gave me the case, I did not steal that one.  However, it was lined with a felt-like material that was always snagging my tiny metal crochet hooks.  This tells me that Vanna is not a doily-maker, because an actual tiny crochet hook user would never have let that lining go in.

Anyway, now that I have become more of a knitter I have found the dear 1960s knitting needle collection to be insufficient.  I have added many circulars and several sets of dpns.  I had been storing them all in a magazine holder, which just wasn't cutting it.  I had been looking around for a cute case, but hadn't been having much luck.

I am so happy to report my search is over!  I have found the most adorable cases for knitting needles and crochet hooks.  They are made by Stephanie Boardman who owns the etsy shop Fanciful Belongings.  I bought the two cases shown in this post a few months ago and they are great!  So great, in fact, that I just ordered another needle case for my dpns and a small zippered pouch for the growing collection of stitch markers and notions that I've been shoving any old place.  Boardman uses a beautiful array of fabrics and you can pick which you want when you place your order.  She then makes the cases just for you.  They are of excellent quality and I cannot recommend them enough!

Circular Needle Case $29