A nest for needles

Last week my new double pointed needles arrived from KnitPicks and I must say I'm quite pleased, if mindful of the admonition "Don't Step On Your DPNs!" Those Harmony wood tips are sharp.

There is just one catch, and that is the helpful plastic storage pouch the DPN sets come in. You do need good storage for these needles in part because of those sharp tips and also because the sizes are not printed on the side, a sacrifice I'm totally willing to make for smoothness. But oh dear, the plastic. It smells. It smells very, very bad. And it makes the needles smell, and I don't want that smell right under my nose or getting onto my lovely yarns even if it is going to dissipate eventually.

So... I decided to turn a longing gaze on my Brittany birch needles (which, frankly, are becoming my ideal DPN except for being a little expensive to own duplicate sets of, especially when in the throes of an addiction to Twisted Fiber Art) and copy their adorable needle pouches.

First up: making a pattern.


(In case you decide to go with the idea yourself - I put the angles in the wrong place on the pattern! They should have been at the top of the little box at the bottom of the strip. I caught myself when I trimmed the final product.)

And then replicating it on bristolboard for all six sets of needles:


And then some presto change-o folding and snipping and taping and writing the size in the top right corner of each pocket:



And then plunk.


Did I mention there are six needles in every set, rather than five? I like that a lot. I also added a hole at the top in case I ever get organized with a wall of knitting tools.

And now that I'm done - I have to do the same for the new nickel-plated DPNs. But I think I might knit a little first.