The idea for the Woolly, Woolly pattern was inspired by a combination of childhood memories and the needs of a student I had a few years ago.
As a young girl, every so often the task fell to me to untangle my Mom’s box of wool and embroidery threads. Mom, being pretty busy with 5 rambunctious kids, would simply fish around in the wool box whenever she required something, tugging on a likely end piece letting all the other wool and thread entangle.
A Big Snarl-up
Sitting cross legged on the floor working with this mess in my lap was my first introduction to textiles. Thinking back, it’s a wonder I decided to investigate thread arts any further!
Sorting through this snarled up mess may have been part of the inspiration that lead me to create certain features of a bag I later designed for knit and crochet hobbyists called the Woolly, Woolly Bag.
The Challenge
In 2013, one of my quilting students, Karen Berger, came to me with a challenge: to design a bag to carry all of the items required for knitting. Karen is an avid knitter, and she drove over to the house and showed me all the various bags and pouches she used to organize her knitting.
There were needle cases for straight and circular needles, pouches for stitch markers and stitch holders, gauge rulers, darning needles, patterns and of course the wool. The initial goal was to plan a bag to carry all of these items.
The more I considered the task, the more I thought that it was unlikely that anybody in their right mind would want to make one carry-all to cart all of this knitting (or crochet) stuff around. There was just too much stuff!
Although it was doable, that kind of bag would take an awfully long time to make with dozens of dividers and multiple pockets.
Not All Your Supplies, Just What You Need For Your Current Yarn Project
My daughter-in-law, Leah, is also a hobby knitter. At the time, she and a small group of her girlfriends in Ottawa met most Wednesday nights to work on various small projects like socks, scarves, slippers and hats.
I thought, wouldn’t it be better to have a project bag that would carry everything needed to make one project and keep the yarn organized? Kind of a project on-the-go bag that you could grab at a moment’s notice.
It would be perfect for group knitters like Leah, or for people sitting through appointments with nothing to do. It would always be easy to pick up this organized knit kit when heading out the door!
The Woolly, Woolly Bag
So that’s what I made, and here’s what you’ll find in the Woolly, Woolly Bag.
- Clear pockets (one zippered) to hold knitting notions and circular needles
- Numerous dividers to organize straight needles
- Two pockets to hold patterns or any other creative paraphernalia you might require.
- Wool dividers in the inner bag to keep your yarn organized
Keeping in mind my childhood challenge with tangled wool, I included two wool dividers in the inner bag to keep up to 4 colors of wool flowing smoothly.
When you are done your knitting session you can quickly stuff your project inside and cinch up the bag when it’s time to move on with your day.
So thanks, Mom, for being so disorganized, and thanks Karen for your organizational skills. It only goes to show you that we all have a part to play in inspiring others!
Find out more about Woolly, Woolly here.
These bags were all made by talented customers
If you’ve made a Woolly, Woolly Bag (or any other of my patterns) and you’d like to show it off, submit it to Show & Tell, our monthly draw. It will be featured on the website and you could win a free bag pattern
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