A Folder or a Stuffer?
Working at a yarn store years ago, I realized there are two types of people when it comes to project bags. Are you a folder or a stuffer?
Which Are You? A Folder or a Stuffer?
I was trying to help a customer put her current knitting project back in her project bag at a yarn store where I was working. It was a scarf, so I gently picked it up in the middle, picked up the ball of yarn in the same hand and went to put it into her project bag. She was horrified.
“No, no, no!” she said. It needs to be folded neatly and have the cable circular needle tucked in. Only then can you insert the knitwear into a project bag. I’d like to say, I let her do it her way, but I didn’t “let” her do anything. She took her project from me and left me no other choice.
I apologized and watched her take such care of her scarf-in-progress that you’d have thought it was a priest handling the eucharist. I didn’t mind that she was more fastidious and careful with her project. But I do remember thinking, “It’s knitted fabric…it doesn’t really wrinkle.” At least it doesn’t wrinkly permanently.
So you can clearly see that I’m a stuffer. Which are you?
Readers’ Comments/Questions
Most blog readers agree…no pom pom. Thank you all.
Meredith writes:
“I think I’m knitting a honey cowl with that shade of Rios. I can’t stop knitting them- the pattern is so addictive and they make lovely gifts.“
Which honey cowl pattern is so addictive? When I search Honey Cowl on Ravelry, I get a few different patterns.
Current Knitting
One more question for you. Have you ever been too lazy to get up out of your comfy chair to find yarn and needles for a new project when you’ve finished your current one? I finished the last hat and the only thing I had close at hand was a US5 needle and some handspun yarn in a natural white/cream color. I was too lazy to get up and find a different yarn and needle. So I cast on 88 stitches and started designing a cable-knit hat.
Not sure how much I like it. But it’s keeping my hands busy whilst watching television. I’m starting to plan the crown decreases in my head. I’m also thinking that steam blocking will even out both my uneven spinning as well as my uneven knitting.
We’ll see how it turns out.
What I do depends on the size of the project and the size of my bag. I mostly knit shawls, so eventually they get pretty large. I have some very wide-mouth bags for those so I can simply lower the project into the bag once I’ve pushed the stitched away from the ends of the needles. An advantage to this is I can simply lift the project out when I’m ready to resume and the working yarn has not gotten tangled with the project. If I’m working on something smaller, such as a scarf, I tend to roll it before I put it in the bag.
I’m with you, Tom. Though once the shawl has gotten fairly large, I do a combo of fold-and-then-stuff with needles at the ready. Oh, and I also roll smaller projects, especially socks.
I shove the needles through the ball of yarn then shove the project into the bag. 😆 I didn’t even know there ARE folders!
I have those tube things for DPNs. They are super hard to find these days but they are indispensable for me and socks.
Joe, I bet Meredith’s Honey Cowl is the Mad/Tosh freebie on Ravelry. I knit one years ago as a gift for my facetious SiL who exited my knit worthy list after she texted a photo of her wearing it as a tube top. Not attractive. Not funny.
That’s the one!
I’m a stuffer! I enjoy folding a finished project or component, but won’t fuss with a WIP. I scrunch the stitches away from the tips and use rubber needle caps if the needles are crowded with stitches. I do get concerned about snagging the looser loops of lace projects, but nothing bad has happened yet, so I haven’t been motivated to reform my stuffing habits.
Your handspun yarn is lovely and lustrous. And it looks great in your cables! Looking forward to the next stage.
This one:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/honey-cowl
The structure of it makes it look awesome with wild variegated yarns and tamer tonals. I’ve made both the wide and narrow (length, not height) and they both are great, but the smaller is really the addictive, quick one for me. The structure of the fabric is fascinating. Lmk what you think.
In case the link doesn’t work, it’s the free madeleine tosh one.