I’ve been knitting most of my life at this point. Over this time I’ve gathered a lot of tools, and I’ve probably lost or purged even more. My process for staying organized in my craft is ever changing, so ask me again in a year and we will see what’s going on.
There are a few though processes when it comes to organizing my knitting notions. I tend to skew back and forth between a minimalist and a maximalist approach. Honestly, maximalist is too intense of a term, and I usually fall in between the two thoughts. Let’s dive into what these setups may look like.
Maximalist
Again, I don’t feel like this term is a full justification of this system. In my mind, a maximalist would have a whole notions pouch kit linked to every project they have going. This may look like a set of scissors, darning needles, stitch markers, dropped stitch crochet hook, and row counter paired with every project. If you’re like me, and have many projects on the go at once, this may not be the most cost effective route. And do we really need every single one of these tools with every single project? For me, no. But it may work best for you! I’ve found packs of small fold up scissors on Amazon, and maybe having a little tin of stitch markers and a small crochet hook makes it so you don’t have to get up from your comfy spot at a moments notice when something goes awry, or if you’re about to head out the door you don’t need to grab your whole notions pouch kit on the way just in case. I feel like I’m talking myself into setting up my projects this way, but purchasing 15 pairs of snips seems a little ridiculous.
Minimalist (or maybe standard?? Who’s to say.)
Minimalist in my opinion would be keeping everything in one pouch that follows you and your project bag. This is the way I organize my extra tools at the moment. I think of this as a “minimalist” solution because you’ll never be chasing down a pair of scissors or wondering where that one specific stitch marker or progress keeper ran off too! Unless it’s on a specific project you haven’t touched in *ahem* years maybe, but I’m definitely not speaking from experience here.
While following this approach for a few years now, I do sometimes let my bag get a little out of control with extra things that don’t get used very often. The things that are nice to have, but don’t need to follow me and my projects include:
- Gift tags
- Leather apparel tags
- Chapstick (I’m not good at using it besides in the winter anyways!)
- Stitch holders, they’re fairly large and make the room in my bag wonky
- Ball bands to projects that are complete and logged on Ravelry
- Micro SD card computer adapter
- Blocking pins
This list feels like it should be a lot longer. It probably could have been if I jotted down all of the items I just recently cleaned out of my bag! The bag was overflowing with all of these extra bits in there, and why do I need to carry blocking pins around when I’m out and about? Granted, I cannot find them now, but that’s besides the point.
A peek inside my knitting notions
I wanted to share a quick breakdown of the items I keep in my bag! Check out the image and key below to see some of my favorite items.
‘You!’ said the Caterpillar contemptuously. ‘Who are you?’
- Business card holder, I’ll put any cards I pick up from recent festivals for any vendors I loved or didn’t get a chance to shop with.
- Tube of darning needles
- Ah I lied, I do carry around my leather tags
- Aquamarine stone (I think) to foster creativity (don’t quote me)
- Fold up snips
- My tin of stitch markers, each type is on a different lightbulb pin, so my clay markers/progress keepers on one, other fun charm stitch markers on another, and standard lightbulb markers on the last. Plus a few interchangable needle keys
- Another pair of snips because I like the way the tube “pops” when I open it, but the snips aren’t the best
- Try on tubing which is definitely needed for trying on on the go, obviously
- My favorite pair of snips
- A needle gauge and 4″ ruler I got at my local yarn store
- Flexible tape measure
- Tuft Woolens Hand Balm
- Advil just in case
- A clicky-row counter
- Pen
- Two wooden cable needles
Upon reviewing, there are a few things that can definitely be taken out of the bag, but I do have a few trips coming up and it’ll be nice to have the couple of extras in here just in case!
What did I miss?
Seriously, am I missing anything in my notions pouch that you think is a necessity? I’d love to know of any cool (or cute) tools that I can add to my collection!
