The backstory:
I have a knitting project (a rather complex sock in almost laceweight yarn with size 1 needles) that I've cast on 4 times, and am about to start for a 5th time.The first time, I didn't have the number of stitches correct, so when I began the pattern, it didn't work, so I tore it out. Luckily, this happened at row 5, so no big deal.
The second time, a needle came out about ... 2 rows into the pattern, and even if I could get the needle back in , the markers had gone "poof" so I couldn't tell where they went. Tear it out and cast on again.
Third time, I reached into the bag I was keeping my active projects in, grabbed one to show off, and out came one of the active needles, about ... 5 rows into the pattern. This time I cut off the yarn, because it was getting a bit worn, and I cast on again.
Then I went camping, and wanted to show a friend what I'd gotten done ... you see where this is going. This time the needle stayed in the bag.
Something had to be done, the yarn is too fine to hold the needles in, or the steel was too slippery to stay in place. I needed a holder of some kind.
Something like this, a tube to hold the needles secure and still allow the knitted fabric to hang so I could tell where I was in the project, or to show it off (which I probably shouldn't do given what's happened in the past. (This one looks good to, but probably not as versatile. A friend shows me a needle holder she'd made out of a cigar tube , and I determined to make something like the first link or the cigar holder.
So I got my hands on a cigar tube ... all of 5 inches long and about a half inch in diameter. Also about as fragile as a politician's promise. I needed something sturdier, and a bit larger. To the hardware store and/or Home Depot, because that's where I pick up sewing notions, doesn't everyone?
