A Needle Solution

A couple weeks ago I raved about my new KnitPicks Harmony interchangeable needle set...And I still love them.  In fact, I have a couple projects going on them right now!  The one thing I did NOT like about this set was the case that came with them:  It was flimsy, clear plastic that had the distinct odor of petrol emitting from it:

 

What was a girl to do?  Fortunately I had a bit of spare time and a bit of leftover fabric from making ring bearer pillows for my upcoming wedding. (Except for the pink...I had to buy the pink...'cause it was obnoxiously bright and cheery!)  and a bit of fabric interfacing, but other than that, all materials I happened to have on hand!

 

Let me begin by saying that I am NOT a good seamstress.  The extent of my sewing skills are typically hemming, basic costume making and pillows.  Nothing requiring skill so much as dumb luck. Fortunately I found an excellent interchangeable knitting needle case tutorial HERE for which I am extremely grateful!

And here's my result!

Interchangeable needle case

Close up of button Closure

Pockets for all my things!

Needle and Cable Pockets

Of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the pattern....'cause I NEVER do that, right????

Instead of the zippered invisible pocket on her tutorial I added a contrasting magnetic closure notions pocket on the top flap:

 

And I put a large open topped pocket across the back of the case to keep my chart keeper in:

Tah Dah!

Not too shabby for someone who doesn't know what she's doing!

Wouldn't it be Easier to BUY a Garter?!?!?

Yes.  Yes it would.  But it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

I found a fabulous lace garter pattern as I was stalking Ravelry as I am prone to do. (The pattern is here , if you are at all masochistic, ahem, I mean interested...)  It looked simple enough so I decided to give it a go.  That's when I realized the pattern called for size 00 needles and thin crochet thread.  I realized about 16 rows in (about 1 pattern repeat) that this repetitious pattern was going to take quite a while to fit around my fat thigh (17" in diameter) plus enough to make a suitable gathered ruffle.  Oh well.  Onward without complaint.

Until it had been a few days of monotonous knitting.  Then the complaints began.But no matter.  Eventually I got a strip of lace about a yard long.  That would just have to do!  Blocking the amorphous tube of knitting proved to be another challenge.  It said after soaking and pinning down your lace in the desired shape to spray it with starch to keep the pointed bits, umm....pointy.  Well I had no starch and wanted to finish NOW!!!!  What's a girl to do???  Make my own starch, of course.

The internet is a lovely thing.  Turns out all you need is to whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 1 pint of cold water, transfer it into a spray bottle and shake it before each use.  Voila, homemade spray starch for practically free.  You're welcome.  And you get bragging rights AND the chance to feel like a Victorian housewife...Can it get any better???  Here's the blocked, starched result:

Then came the fun bit of weaving elastic through the eyelets.  Let me back up for a minute.  The pattern tells you to sew a bias tube along the back of the garter, run elastic through that, then weave ribbon through the aforementioned eyelets.  Sounds like too much work to me!  Since our theme colours are black and white anyways, I just found some 1/4" black elastic and ran it through the eyelets, therefore killing tow birds with one stone. 

Once all the ends were joined I sewed on a simple bow and button embellishment and pronounced the project finished.