Thursday, March 29, 2018

Odd little idea

I gave an exam today and, as is my tendency, I brought knitting to work on. (The Augusta cardigan).

But, being female and cursed with the typical curse that comes with female-coded clothing, I had no pockets. (The room was warm, so I had to take off the cardigan I was wearing, which DID have pockets).

I stuck the cable needle into the waistband of my skirt (this is a risky move: you run a risk of poking yourself with the end, or, since this is a skirt I bought when my waist was a tiny bit larger than it is now, there's a risk of the needle dropping out and clattering on the floor). I tucked the ball of working yarn up under my right arm (And I have to be careful about this - go too long that way, or use my left side - the side with the dodgy shoulder from having probably broken the collarbone and never got it looked at - can give me pain after a while). I had the row-counter on the circular needle.

But, it occurred to me: had I needed any more gear, I would have had no way to carry it on my perambulations around the room; no measuring tape, no scissors, no other bits and bobs.

And I thought: I need a holster for my yarn.

No, wait: I need a knitting utility belt. You know, like Batman's utility belt? But instead of Batarangs and sleeping gas and whatever kind of weird weapons Batman carried, it would have:

a retractable measuring tape
tiny scissors, probably also on a retractable lanyard
a yarn holster, with room for more, in case you are doing colorwork
a slot to hold a cable needle
a pouch for tapestry needles for weaving in ends and the like
maybe a built-in row-counter
space to carry spare needles (like: if you have to use a needle a size smaller when you come to ribbing)
....and I'm drawing a blank on what other things one might need. Spare batteries for a headlamp, if you were wearing a headlamp to knit in a dark place?

But yeah. This may already exist in some form, I don't know, but it would be a clever thing. I don't think there are many gag-gift type items for knitters out there (we are a comparatively small slice of the populace and anyway, it's easy enough to give us yarn or tools when gift-giving occasions come up) but if I were the sort of person who had more desire to be an entrepreneur than I had sense, I'd try doing a Kickstarter for these. (But I'm too busy, and I know the market would be small, even as much as the idea amuses me).

And yes, something like a fly-fisher's vest would probably work just as well, but the point is: it was hot enough in the room I had to take my cardigan-with-pockets off, so it can't be anything that adds much heat or bulk. And anyway, the idea of a "knitter's utility belt" is just cool.

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