How I Organized my Circular Knitting Needles by Kristin Omdahl

How I Organized my Circular Knitting Needles by Kristin Omdahl

You name it, I’ve tried it. Over the last 12 years I have used everything from fishing tackle boxes and organizers to every type of crafty solution I could find. Nothing really worked for me, at least not for very long. I am a circular knitting needle LOVER. I don’t use straights, never really have. I own a few sets of double pointed needles, for the variety of appropriate reasons: circular shawls, crowns of hats, i-cords, etc… If I were a sock knitter, I would certainly own more of them.

What NOT to do. Seriously, this drawer says “I give up”. I kept a needle sizing gauge handing and pretty much gave up on myself with this.

As I was re-organizing my office the other day, I was debating throwing out an old “over the door pocket organizer”. And then it dawned on me that because this item had two sets of pockets, I could organize my circulars not only by needle size but also by length of the cords!

I am very particular about when I want to use my 16″-24″ circulars and when I want my longer ones. So being able to separate them, by needle size, was crucial to a successful organizing quest.

Also, LABELING! I did NOT want to have to measure a needle every time I pulled one out. Nor did I want to count down from the size 2s pocket to the size 8 pocket to make sure I was in the right one.

I labeled the pockets with hang tags (you can find them in the office supply section of most stores). I used a crochet hook to pull the tie through the mesh of each pocket (a tapestry needle would work too) and made a simple slip knot so it would be secure. Wrote numbers on each side of each tag with a sharpie and started filling them!

Hang tags with the numbers written on both sides.

Because I’ve been on a quest for organizing solutions for circular needles for SO MANY YEARS, it would be silly to tell you after one day that this is PERFECT. It will take time to see if it remains functional, and easy to put them back in their proper place. Ok, who am I kidding? I’M GEEKED!!!! Not only is it beautiful to look at (you can hardly tell I have thousands of dollars worth of needles in there) but it is organized by needle size AND circular length. I am very, very, very pleased 🙂

Tell me your best tips for organizing your knitting needles!

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Shop Kristin Omdahl Knitting Patterns HERE

I would love to see your creations. Just as much fun as making these myself is the satisfaction I get from seeing my designs come to life and other crochet fans wearing them too. There are now 2 ways you can share what you have done!

• Share yours by joining  Create. Share. Inspire on Facebook where you can interact with me as well as many other members who have a love of knitting and crochet just like you! It is a wonderful and safe place to share your photos of finished projects in my knitting or crochet patterns or yarns, and to see what others are making, too.
• I have recently added a wonderful new interactive section to the website which I invite you to take part in, it has been a smashing success and such fun so far. It is the new “Share a Project” section. You, my creators, can upload images and descriptions of your creations to share with the ever growing community! To upload simply click here. 

Additionally, I host a livestreaming podcast weekday on my YouTube Channel called Create Share Inspire Podcast. You can join the audience and even ask me questions LIVE! I often do a show and tell, or quick demo and I always interact with the live audience. It is a lot of fun!

You can browse through almost 800 previously recorded episodes HERE: Create Share Inspire Podcast Playlist . Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel to get reminders when the next episode airs LIVE.

I look forward to seeing what you create!

xoxo,
Kristin