Today’s been a pretty rough Monday – I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m feeling fussy for reasons I don’t really want to share. I was going to skip blogging for today but then I remembered that over the weekend I stumbled onto the best idea ever and I didn’t feel right not sharing it.
I was tidying up the guest room, getting the last of my unpacking done (ok, really it’s the end of the first wave of unpacking . . . round two is squirreled away in the closet for now . . .) and settling down to do some knitting in my newly-created knitting nook. I was trying to figure out where to store my needle tips (the Boye Needlemaster set in it’s case, and the Knit Picks Options set still stored on the cardboard packaging they came in) when inspiration struck.
I love the Boye case, but the cables are a horror show. (Yes, I’ve been meaning to get the tips drilled so they’d fit the Options cables, but who knows of a good gunsmith in LA? Not me . . . ) And I love the Options needles, but I have nowhere to put them. Suddenly I was faced with these two separate facts, both staring me in the face. And it hit me. Trask, radio, Trask, radio . . .
I give you the obvious and fantastic results of my flash of inspiration. My Options set in its new home:
Now the Boye tips, which I never use, live on the KnitPicks card, and the Options needles that I use constantly are in the Boye case. (In the photo above, not pictured are my Options needles in US size 4 and 5, since they are being used.) Part of the simple beauty of the solution is that the case is labled for each needle size, eliminating the messy “which needles are these again?” problem with the otherwise unlabeled and identical Options needles. As you can see, it’s pretty clear which needles are which:
If anyone is interested in trying this at home, it appears that Boye does offer the case as a standalone item for sale, although it isn’t available through the website. A quick Google search for Boye 7355 (that’s the product number) revealed a few sites where the case was selling for $24.95. It’s a little steep, but there you have it.
In other news, I finally found my tapestry needles, wove in the ends of my Clapotis and my blanket squares, and blocked them. I did a very gentle blocking of the Clapotis, shown below, by pinning out just the ends, and only a little bit, before misting it with a spray bottle. I wanted to keep that nice rolling-stockinette look, especially in the middle of the scarf, but I think a gentle blocking will give the ends more definition.
Far less interesting: my blanket squares, which I rinsed and then blocked to 7×9 inches:
I also cast on for a big! exciting! new! project which I’ll show off tomorrow.
Hi, I love watching all the Tangled Yoke progress until I can start mine – next year. Great idea with the Boye case! Enjoying reading your blog, and had to comment on “Trask, radio” comment, very clever LOL