Recently I treated myself to new sets of bamboo crochet hooks and knitting needles from eBay sellers. I wanted to make caddies for them to keep them organized. I did a Google search for directions, and I found some, but I wanted a commercial pattern. So I did a search on eBay and found a terrific pattern for not only the caddies, but cloth organizers and totes, too. The pattern is from 2004: McCall's Crafts M4728.

All of the materials I used were from my stash (fabric, batting, thread, ribbon). I did not think the directions would have been clear to a beginning sewer. Luckily, after over 40 years of sewing, I can usually figure things out.

My straight knitting needles are short ones, only nine inches, so they just came up to the top of the fabric pocket. I put the size 0 and 1 needles together; I doubt I will be using those skinny needles very often. I usually use circular knitting needles for my projects, whether they are knitted flat or in the round. I had a large collection of long vintage aluminum straight knitting needles, and I found that I'm not so fond of metal needles any more. I shipped most of my old straight needles with some yarn and a crochet magazine to a 13-year-old girl I met on Ravelry, who loves to knit and crochet, but her family is not very supportive...even to the point that they would not allow her to spend her own Christmas money on knitting supplies and yarn. She got permission from her parents for donations from those of us who were sympathetic to her plight, and her father allowed packages to be mailed to his office. She was delighted with the goodies I mailed her, and she sent me a nice thank you message. I remember being 13 years old and babysitting for money for materials so I could make things to sell in local boutiques. I could relate to this young girl, who is so passionate about her hobby. I like to "pay it forward" whenever I can.

This is what the caddies look like when they are rolled up and tied. I haven't used the crochet hooks yet, but they are the inline Bates style, which I prefer to the Boye style. Both the hooks and the needles are smooth and nicely sanded. I look forward to using them, especially now that I have them organized by size and in such nice caddies.

Last Thursday night, January 15, the folks from Ravelry (Casey, Jess, and Mary-Heather) came to the fabulous yarn shop Unwind in Burbank, California before they headed to the TNNA trade show in San Diego. When I said hello to Casey, he said, "It's nice to see a familiar face", which I thought was nice of him. I spoke at length with Mary-Heather, and my friend Prudence Mapstone, Australian freeform queen extraordinaire, was also there. We chatted with mutual freeform friend Dawn for quite awhile, before I wandered off to do some yarn shopping. (Unwind had required a $25 deposit to reserve a spot in the crowded shop, which could then be redeemed for store merchandise.) Donated nonperishable food and toiletries were also collected for SOVA, a local food pantry, with donations qualifying attendees for raffle prizes. I also made some new Ravelry friends. It was a fun evening, and definitely worth the drive into L.A. on a weeknight! (I loved the Obama sweater!) And here's some trivia: If you watched the HBO series Six Feet Under, this was the yarn shop where Ruth went to knit.

I just finished knitting a scarf for my son, which is a late Christmas gift. I took the yarn and directions with me on my vacation to New York and Minnesota in October. I started it in my hotel room in Poughkeepsie and worked on it during my stay. Then I continued to knit on the scarf while in Minnesota, while traveling in my friend's car from Minneapolis to Duluth and back one day, and in his kitchen over daily morning coffee. I finally finished it, just in time to give to my son before he heads up to a new job in Bakersfield next week.

It's aptly called The Road Scarf, and it is a free pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. I used some Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn from my stash. It's a now discontinued color: Tartan Twist 185, which is a strand of green and a strand of purple spun together....but it reads as blue. It's so vintage, it has the old light yellow Wool Ease label. At 20% wool and 80% acrylic, it will wear like iron and won't shrink in the washer or dryer. It got boring after awhile, but I soldiered on to complete it. Now I can tackle finishing his afghan, and then all of those WIPs (works in progress) and UFOs (unfinished objects) lurking about this place. 2009 is going to be the year of finishing up my WIPs!