Tame Those Wild DPNs

I'm back from the big vacation! Lots of good family time. Lots of wind. Lots of cold. Lots of time in the tent. Lots of knitting (albeit slowly due to the aforementioned cold and wind). Lots of napping. Lots of knitting until I needed a nap. You get the idea!

And yet my post today has nothing to do with anything I've knit. Nope. Posts about my own knitting will come soon enough. But this afternoon, I was cruising Ravelry during a break from my dissertation, and I stumbled upon a genius solution to a common problem: a solution that combines practicality, frugality, and creative thinking (i.e. my kind of thing!). I simply had to share -- even at the expense of a pretty, picture-filled post.

We've all wrestled with the age-old dilemma of how to keep our inactive DPN projects safely stowed so the needles don't fall out or poke someone or get tangled in our bags with the car keys and kid snacks. We've all drooled over gorgeous DPN project keepers such as the Knitzi. Who wouldn't want one of those beauties?! But while I would never turn down a gift Knitzi, I have trouble justifying a $37 (minimum) price tag for them myself.

So when I ran across Mad Quilter's solution, I was thrilled! Check out this picture from Mad Quilter's blog:

That's elastic with bits of fabric on the end. Brilliantly done, Tracy in Australia! Click here to check out Mad Quilter's post and get her awesome pattern.

Finding this got me all excited. I wondered about other solutions people had come up with, so I did a little search and came up with a bunch of resources for DPN project holders. Here are a few:

• Back in 2006, our favorite Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, blogged about this "coolest metal needle thingie." They're made by Woolworks Ltd -- which calls them "Tin Double Pointed Needle Holders," and you can buy them online in various sizes for less than $20 here.
• For less than half that price, check out Stitchkeepers by Rollie (link goes to YarnMarket.com), which are less than $7.

But if the $7 price tag doesn't do it for you, and you want other DIY options, here are a couple more:

• Sherry W in Philadelphia, who blogs as A Waste of Valuable Server Space, offers instructions for making your own based on the Rollie Stitchkeepers design.
• Sweet Little Domestic Life (by Robyn of Lexington KY), came up with a cute version that uses pencil toppers. See pictures and instructions here.

Why didn't I bother to solve this problem sooner? It just hadn't been quite enough of a problem for me yet to be so compelled. And since I started using Magic Loop technique, my DPN use has slowed down considerably.

Which version will I go with? I have to say that even after all the research, I'm drawn to Mad Quilter's solution, the one that started my little research project. I like that it uses materials I already have around the house. More and more, I find I'm taking the re-use, recycle, use-what-you-have route rather than going out and buying new stuff.

Now... back to the dissertation...