Day Four: Bags of Fun

Time to delve into that most treasured collection of tools notions and oddments as you are asked to spill the contents of your knitting or crochet bag, caddy of other method of organisation and put your crafting unmentionables on display.

As someone who struggles to keep WIPs to a minimum I, of course, have a collection of project bags in use at any one time.  I like to think of them as a little family, made up of different shapes and sized and all useful for different things.  Not only do their contents vary wildly from bag to bag, but also from project to project as I empty out everything I needed for the previous project and begin anew when I cast on again.  Most will contain a tape measure, all the needles I'll need and as much of the yarn for the project as will fit.

1. KnowKnits Goknit Pouch, my primary sock bag.  Has useful poppered loops for keeping the yarn in check and attaching to belt loops.  Starting to get a bit worn now.
2. Handmade sock bag, unlined so the needles poke through, probably needs replacing. 
3. Handmade sock bag, this one is lined and is actually quite nice.
4. Bag for smaller projects that are larger than socks.  Good for hats, gloves, cowls and shawls.  This one alone contains permanent bits and bobs because it is quite fiddly to open and close so there's little danger of the kids getting in there and getting hold of my scissors and stitch markers.  Sooo many pointy things and choking hazards in this bag!
5. Large project bag.  Another handmade bag, it even has wadding in it to make it stand up nicely and to minimise needle pokeage.  I can fit a sweater and all of the yarn in here and I'm quite happy to fling it behind the sofa when the kids are getting grabby because everything stays nice and snug in there.  This one is also quite tricky to open due to the wholly unsuitable ribbon I chose for a drawstring (it's a string that really doesn't draw) so it's quite secure.

While I don't actually keep much in my project bags, I keep this little box of tricks close to hand....well on a high shelf nearby really.  I got this for a few quid off Amazon and really it has pretty much everything in it that I like to have to hand.  The only things I added were one of the little key thingys for my interchangeable needles and a yarn ring for colourwork.  It doesn't have a tape measure because I threw that away.  Much as I was tempted to keep a tape measure that had inches that were actually an inch and a half and we all have days where that would cheer us up I'm sure, it seemed irresponsible to keep it around in case it got used by mistake!

So despite having a multitude of bags on the go at once, I'm actually realising I'm more organised than I thought.  Go me!