Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook (59 page)

This is the dullest part: Sew in your pockets. Just follow the lines you drew. Okay, dull part over.

Lay piece A on top of the other piece you just sewed, RS together. (You are going to sew this all together like a pillow, so all pieces should be inside out.) Pin them together and sew a ½" seam around the edges, leaving about a 6" opening so you will be able to turn the case RS out. Turn the case RS out and iron it flat. Stitch ¼" away from the edge all around, folding in and closing up the open area as you do so.

Get out piece D. This will be your flap to protect your needles from falling out of the top of your case. Fold it in half, with RS together, so that it measures 26" × 12"; press. Sew ½" seam around the edges, leaving 6" opening for turning. Turn the flap RS out and press. Stitch ¼" all around, folding in and closing up the open area as you do so.

Line up the top edges. Put the flap on top of the innermost piece of fabric with the pockets facing up. Pin the pieces together on the top and stitch across, ¼" from the top.

Hand-stitch the ribbon to the outside of your case, centered between the top and bottom edges and about 2" in from each side. Pick up only the top layer of fabric with your needle when securing the ribbon.

ABOUT ECHO

I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and have been artsy most of my life—I’ve been into oil painting, sewing, and decorating. When I decided I wanted to learn to knit, I knew only that it looked hard and that it was one of my mother’s favorite pastimes. But since she lived two thousand miles away, I found a local yarn shop where the ladies got me started with garter stitch and some muslin-colored wool. A few weeks later, my grandfather was put in the hospital after having a stroke. During the days and nights my family and I spent in the waiting room, I knitted and frogged the same pink acrylic scarf over and over. The knitting helped me through the stressful time, and I actually got a lot better! I love to knit, and in the last year I have made many hats, scarves, and doll stuff for my two girls. I taught my husband to knit and hope to pass the art on to my children.

JENANNE HASSLER

When I started knitting again, I did it by pieces. I would buy a bag of yarn and the needles necessary for each individual project. Very reasonable, I thought. A couple dozen projects later, I realized my system was flawed. (I mean, how many sets of 10½ needles does one knitter need?) Now I wanted ways to hold and organize my sticks and circular needles. Since I’m also a quilter, I dug through my fabric stash, and soon a circular knitting needle holder was born. You too can birth one—even if you’re a novice seamstress. Trust me. This is easy.

M
ATERIALS

½ yd each of 2 coordinating fabrics. I used Fifties Poodles and Fifties Glamour Gals Stripe (100% cotton, 45" wide) from Reprodepot Fabrics. (Your fabrics should have a simple pattern so that iron-on labels will be legible.)

Small clothes hanger

Sewing thread

Computer printer

Iron

Computer-ready iron-on transfer paper

10" piece of 2"-wide iron-on Velcro (or 2 pieces 5" long each)

Disappearing marking pen

D
IRECTIONS

From each piece of fabric, cut 2 rectangles that are 22" × 7½", and two that are 2½" × 9½".

Note:
All seam allowances are
⅝
" unless otherwise noted.

Begin by creating your iron-on labels. Using a painting program on your computer, type your labels in a bold, large (about ½" tall) font (I used Arial Bold, size 36). Make each label 1" tall. This holder was made to hold needles from size US 000 to US 17, but you can customize your labels to suit your own needs. Now, before you print your labels, take your entire image and flip it so that the words are the mirror image of what they should be on your fabric. (Go ahead, ask me how I know. Sigh.) You may want to test-print a word and iron it on to your intended fabric near the edge (where it would fall within the
⅝
" seam allowance) to see if the print is legible. Then cut the labels out and set them aside.

Take one of the two larger rectangles from the “plain” fabric and fold it in half lengthwise. Press lightly to mark this center fold. Open it back up and begin placing your labels, lining up the US on the left of the fold and the number on the right of the fold. Place the first label so that the bottom edge of the type is 1" from the bottom of your fabric. Each successive label is placed 1" from the bottom edge of the label below. Continue until all labels have been placed. Using your pressing cloth, iron the labeled piece lightly to remove the center fold.

Place this piece of fabric and the matching rectangle tog with RS facing. Stitch around the two sides and bottom. Trim off a bit of fabric so that when it’s turned it will lie flat. Turn RS out and, using a pressing cloth, press. Set aside. Repeat the previous step with your other material.

Now it’s time to put the front and the back together.

With your disappearing marking pen, mark your stitching lines on the labeled piece. You’ll be stitching first at only
⅛
" inch from the bottom. The other stitching lines should fall exactly between the edges of each label—about 1" apart. Place the two pieces together, with bottom and side edges matching, and stitch all lines.

Now mark a line 2" above the top line of text. Cut evenly across this line. Set the holder aside.

Now we’re gonna make the straps that hold this baby on your hanger. Using the smaller pieces of fabric, stitch one of each print together along three sides with RS tog, and with only a ¼" seam allowance. Clip corners; turn RS out. Press.

Grab the needle holder again. Turn the raw edge at the top under by approx ½". Press. Insert the raw edge of the two straps so they are even with the sides of the needle holder, one on each side. Pin to hold this together while you stitch across the top opening.

Iron a 5" × 2" piece of Velcro to the back of the needle holder. To see where to place the Velcro on the straps, simply fold the straps over the top of a hanger. I used a 2" wide, 4" long piece of Velcro and applied it to the back of each strap beginning ½" from the bottom edge.

And now—the moment of truth! Fold the straps over your hanger, stick the Velcro together, and you have a great, personalized needle holder.

If you find, after adding more needles, that you need more support, cut 5" × ½" pieces of heavy poster board and slip them into each needle slot.

ABOUT JENANNE

I am a thirty-four-year-old designer, living out my dreams in the mountains of North Carolina. Together with my husband and children, I operate a successful Internet business. My days are filled with order fulfillment, home-educating my two children, and pursuing my love of all things crafty. I first succumbed to the creative bug as a child, crafting art from scraps of wood and fibers, and later, when my high school English teacher (thank you, Mrs. Maples) taught me to weave baskets and encouraged me to sell them. From there, I’ve played with quilting, needlework, dyeing, and even stained glass. These days, I mostly knit.

I asked some Stitch ’n Bitchers to recommend their favorite yarn stores. The consensus was that the best yarn stores offer more than good selection (though that’s always important)—they also create a sense of community and make you feel like knitting matters.

If you can’t find a yarn store in your area,
www.knitting.about.com
and
www.woolworks.org
have listings for hundreds of yarn stores in the U.S. and beyond. If you find any terrific stores, please send me their names, addresses, and a brief description of them, so I can include them in any future editions.

Write to:

S
TITCH ’N
B
ITCH:
T
HE
K
NITTER’S
H
ANDBOOK

c/o Workman Publishing

225 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Neases Needlework

345 West Ponce de Leon Avenue

Decatur, GA 30030

404-377-6875

www.neasesneedlework.com

The woman who owns and runs Neases will sit down and help anyone with his or her knitting needs, and she carries a great selection of yarn including Manos del Uruguay (my favorite), which is made by a collective of women abroad. Neases also holds silent auctions to raise money for charity.

Mahsa Yazdy

AUSTIN, TEXAS