in the bag

 

I have many knitting projects on the go and not enough bags. 

I have thought about recycling my supermarket bags and putting the various collections of yarn, needles and knitting in individual plastic bags but fear the lounge would soon look like a landfill site.

I don't have many handbags and even though the ones I own are not the ridiculously tiny designer sort that would hold a Barbie sweater knitted on toothpicks, they are not large enough for more than a few balls of DK wool and, as they are in constant use, I would feel pretty daft spilling pink and yellow and blue yarn every time I took out my purse/phone/keys.

I do have some big holdalls and have tried using them to hold my ongoing knitting, but I am still trying to work out how wool and knitting can tangle so badly overnight in a bag that hasn't been moved or used. 

I do use a few see-through carrier bags from places like Loop because they are tasteful and have the added advantage of displaying their contents so that I can locate a stray ball without manically upending all my bags and getting in another tangled mess. 

I also use the odd free re-usable calico bags that are given in places like Loop (as above) and Daunt Books because they at least make the lounge look like an upmarket, more environmentally sound landfill site.

But most often I resort to knitting bag-free which means I sit in what looks like a multi-coloured nest of yarns with a big, comfy space for my bottom in the centre. This is the approach I favour: I can see where everything is, I can spread out, I can feel inspired by the colours and fibres, I can pick up and put down as I choose. However, this does not work if there is anyone other than me in the room in which case the lounge then begins to look how I imagine a 'string chaos theory' experiment to look like.

So I wish I had a few dozen bags  from Cattapilla Designs. I have just two, one of which (above) is currently co-ordinating beautifully with some Fair Isle knitting (colour serendipity is always a pleasure), while the other is stuffed with ballbands with little lengths of yarn tied round them so I can remember what is what (until I mislay the bag). They are beautifully made with lovely vintage fabrics and buttons and lots of them would make my lounge look nothing like a tip, but a lot like the Country Living Fair. 

Comments

[maxine]

Playing the victim when one is a quilter (therefore you can sew) and in all likelihood has a fabric stash (even I have a fabric stash and I just sewed my first piece in about 25 years)is so unappealing. Sew some project bags! We want to see lovely project bags!

I do appreciate that sewing time is knitting time (its own sad dilemma).

[Fran]

From balls of yarn to hanks of rope...everything which has two ends and is of any length seems to be able to get itself into a tangle without any help. My husband is convinced[in his case the boat ropes]it is magnetism. Love these bags, how did you ever choose just two?

[greenrabbitdesigns]

At the moment I'm sitting in the middle of "what looks like a multi-coloured nest of yarns" with my lap top on my knee!! :)
Vivienne

[trashalou]

I have several many bags adorning several many door handles throughout the house AND I still have knitting dumped on top of cupboards awaiting a decent place to rest.

[mathea]

You have the perfect excuse to make some bags! I'm contemplating something like this for myself: http://www.n-tarco.com/newarrival/back.html

[Gemma]

A few years ago tesco was selling a Cath Kidston range of reusable bags. I went a little over board on buying them and then was given loads for Christmas too! I currently have four full of "craft junk" in the lounge. But yes knitting gets horribly muddled regardless of what it is in!

[busyHSmom]

You want cute bags?? I have 2 words for you: sewing machine.

Come on, you know you can do it!

[Jennifer]

Those are adorable, how lovely it would be to have dozens hanging on hooks filled with projects ready to go at a moment's notice.

[jayne]

I am a bag lady. I've just looked behind the sofa at the array of knitting projects which are housed in lovely environmentally friendly bags from Daunt (one of the big green ones and two calico), Persephone (tasteful blue/ grey hessian) and Body Shop. Okay, there are also some less tasteful offerings, too: I'm a woman of many projects.

[knittingoutloud]

Living in Maine, I use LL Bean canvas bags. They are very thick canvas and stand up independently, so they don't fall over, spilling everything out. They come in a small size which is perfect for a knitting project.

[LoriAngela]

I agree that knitting bags should stand up and not be too deep. It is also incredibly pleasant when they co-ordinate with the knitting.I quilt and sew them in various sizes for my projects and my friends. Now I just need some of that gorgeous vintage fabric.

[Glenda Childers]

"a barbie sweater knit on toothpicks" ~ thanks for the laugh.

[Ponytail]

Most of my knitting projects reside in those free bags that are given away with women's magazines. Sock projects fit into large make-up bags (again, given away with magazines or if you buy enough make-up from places like Clinique and Estee Lauder) and if I'm not planning on taking my knitting outdoors, strong paper bags from places like Schuh and Lush do the trick. I've also managed to stuff a mitten project in a plastic page cover, the A4 kind designed to fit in binders.
Then there's shoe boxes, some lovely M&S biscuit boxes from a few years ago...
Oh (yes, I'm full of ideas), I've also used gift bags, as once the label is filled in, they're not always suitable for re-gifting.

[paintdropskeepfalling.wordpress.com]

You may get these all the time but today I got passed the Kreativblog award and want to pass it onto you if you'd like to carry it on.
Guidelines are...
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

[maggie]

I had this problem of not enough bags only this afternoon. I have a wicker basket holding a stripey scarf I am knitting, as well as some random-dyed pink wool which I am using for crocheted hearts. Then I have one of my small knitted bags which I make, holding knitted socks on the go. Then this afternoon I started crocheting small granny squares with some fab wool from The Old Piggery, and now need somewhere to keep them and the hook and yarn.It's not the landfill site look I am avoiding, it's the bag lady!!

[Red]

I made some quick bags out of cotton quilt fat quarters and iron-on sticky tape. Some folding, some french hems, some ironing and I had a bag about the size of a shoe box which fits a lot of things and keeps yarn from tangling in my purse.

[Jane]

I made several bags from Alicia's (Posie gets Cozy) Jane Market bag pattern, but I mainly use an oldfashioned wicker shopper in the sittingroom to comtain my immediate project (knitting, sewing or felting,and use the other bags to separate out projects, or it tends to look as if a delivery has just arrived from a trendy online grocery! Have pre-ordered the quilting book and looking forward to its arrival.

[Jane]

Or you could make one of Lisa Lam's gorgeous designs: http://www.u-handbag.com/

...everything from the mary poppins holdall to the barbie/toothpick version.

[Gina]

I love to use buckets for my knitting projects stashed around the house. Maple syrup buckets to be exact. Ziploc baggies for knitting on the go. They pop in and out of the buckets quite nicely. The brightly colored plastic beach buckets my kids are outgrowing look nice too, filled with yarn and crazy colored knitting needles. I have found that buckets don't slouch like canvas bags.

[Alicia P.]

I am having this EXACT problem. Then I went and bought two bags made by somebody else and it was WONDERFUL. (They are wonderful, but having SOMEONE ELSE MAKE THEM was even better.) Sorry I'm shouting. It was just so great. Why sew when you can surf Etsy, I always say.