Knitting Needle Case

I'm pulling this one from the crafty archives. This is a gift I made for a dear friend last Christmas! I've been meaning to post about it... ever since. Since I am juggling a lot of stuff this week and don't have any current project to post, I thought this would be perfect timing!


Shortly before the winter last year, my friend had mentioned she was thinking of picking up knitting again, after letting it go for a couple of years. She mentioned wanting to learn how to make hats among other things. While brainstorming gift ideas, I thought of knitting-related items of course, and focused in on my beloved knitting needle case. This is a gift I received years ago, by Lantern Moon Handcrafted. I love it so much and have never seen one like it by other manufacturers. Since I wanted to make something by hand, I decided to reproduce this case for her.



I love the 2 combination of pocket sizes for needles -- both long ones and circular ones -- and the fact that it has a zippered pouch -- so handy for stitch markers, tapestry needles, stitch holders, measuring tape, etc.


I don't have any "in process" photos, and I have to admit it was a bit of an ambitious project. The middle portion especially, with all the small pockets, created so many layers that my sewing machine had a hard time getting through it. Here are a few photos of the finished product so you can get an idea of how I made it.








I messed up in two places. First, one of the ties was supposed to be sewn from the middle of a panel, instead of the edge. I fixed it up by folding the tie back and sewing it down where it was supposed to start from. Not ideal, but it worked out. Second, not being very practiced with zippers, I didn't finish the fabric edge on the inside of the pocket. I should have put a zig-zag stitch on there, or even better, hemmed it. Oh well.




All in all, I think it turned out pretty well, and I just love that old Amy Butler fabric I was able to use for the outside. I gave this knitting needle case to my friend with those double-sided needles you see in the pics, a skein of fancy yarn, and a favorite knitting book including a hat pattern!


I would love to give this type of gift again to a beginner knitter: something handmade and the materials to hand-make something themselves. If you want to make a knitting needle case, there are TONS of patterns available in craft books and online. If you're looking for a special gift for a knitter and don't want to spend the time making a case yourself, I highly recommend those Lantern Moon knitting needle cases.

Speaking of Christmas, have you begun knocking things off the To-ho-ho-ho-Do list?...