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Messiness is Yuckiness

Before launching into the meat of this post, I wanted to take a moment to elucidate that here at Chez Yarn time and effort is always spent in finding just the right word (I will ignore those rolling eyes). Today that word is yuckiness. With that said, please do not hesitate to read on.

I'm one of those bizarro, arbitrarily obsessive neatniks, in that I can't work properly if things aren't "in their place." I think it's because I am an aspy.

One of the ways the syndrome manifests in me is that I am hard-wired to be extremely anxious if my world doesn't meet certain, and don't forget arbitrary, Feng shui-like requirements. Furniture and clutter most be controlled at all costs.

When I need to get a circular needle out of the bin pictured below, well, I may get ramped up to the point of a panic attack.


That thar is some craziness I don't know how to fix.

One of those really nice companies that sends me catalogs, even when I never buy a thing from them, Patternworks, sells tons of little items that could help me with this. As always there are impediments to their solutions: 1) As I've mentioned earlier, it'll take a small miracle to get me to buy via catalog, 2) I just don't have the 100 plus dollars to spend to organize all of my needles, and 3) none of their solutions would be storeable where I primarily knit. You see, I am lazy if nothing else, and when one is lazy and one needs a needle, and when one has a bunch of knitting and a dog in one's lap, well, the needles better be in arms reach. None of their solutions could probably be stored, to my spatial requirements, in arms reach.

Yet something, other than constant paralysis, must come from this predicament.

Comments

Tracy said…
This probably won't help you at this point, but I keep all my circular needles in their original packaging. Not only does this keep the needles from tangling, but it makes sure I can find the right size quickly. However, this also means that I have a drawerful of needle packagies, which isn't terribly tidy, either. And the circs that I inherited from my grandmother? Those are just coiled at the bottom of the drawer....
Morticcia said…
I actually think I do have the original plastic casings somewhere tucked away in a box. We moved last fall and a lot of my crafty stuff has yet to be unpacked. It might create a bulky situation, but at least it's an affordable solution!

Thanks,

M
maryse said…
ooh boy. you don't have to be aspy to find that box of circulars anxiety inducing. yikes!

like tracy, i keep my "good" circulars (my addis) in their original packaging. one thing i was thinking of though -- what if you put them in a 3 ring binder. buy some heavy duty ziploc bags -- punch holes in them and stick them in the binder. you can have a bag for each size or for each needle. and the binder is portable enough that you could carry it around with you and also store it like a book in a book shelf.
Morticcia said…
When I first began knitting I tried the binder approach on my knitted swatches and I quickly found that the bulk of the swatches filled up a one inch binder in a snap and since I wasn't really committed to filling a bookcase with binder swatches, I abandoned the project.

I think I would run into the same problem with my needles. I have tons of duplicates in the larger gauges.
KnitAnna said…
I bought these Jumbo Fishing Worm Binders for KnitTina and myself. Yes, I said "worm" but not to worry, there are no worms involved! These binders are the perfect thing to store your circular needles. Use a label maker to label each ziplock page with the proper needle size. The pages have metal grommets to prevent tearing.
Go to bassproshop.com and search on "binders". They sell for $19.99.
Morticcia said…
Those binders do look cool. Much smaller than a 3 ring binder, and with thick ziplocky pockets.

Thanks for the tip!