I made a pair of the "roll your own needlecases" featuring fabric from Ikea.  One for my mom, and one for me.  I also added an extra layer, so that it can store twice as many needles.

my mom's:

mine:

Ok, so I was at the dollar store the other day and they had a bag of like 20 or 30 wooden chopsticks.  They aren't the cheap pull apart kind you get with your take out. They're more like the plastic ones you get in a sit down restaurant, but made of wood.  They even have some Chinese characters printed on one side.

So any suggestions other than knitting needles (don't need 10 identical pairs) or purse handles?

I don't know if this is even possible, but wouldn't it be cool to have a slot in your profile for your favorite crafts?  It seems like that's a particularly relevant piece of info about users in this forum.

It would certainly make it a bit easier to collect info during secret swaps...

What do you think?  Leah, is it even possible to add fields to the profile?

I made a bunch of bags and embroidered them with little icons identifying what's inside.
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/bags.JPG
One for my laptop cables (power button symbol).
One for my knitting notions (little knitting project w/ ball o yarn
One for my travel documents (it's a plane)
One for my ipod and its accessories (ipod and headphones)

It is possible to do some crafting and end up with less mess at the end!  Who'd a thunk it?

http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag1.jpg	step1: cut a piece of lining fabric about twice the size of your finished bag (you'll be folding it in half)
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag2.jpg	step2: cut a piece of ribbon slightly longer than the fabric.
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag3.jpg	step3: cut enough pieces of ribbon to cover the fabric. These will be your "warp" ribbons.
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag4.jpg	step4: sew ribbons to the right side of the fabric right side up, so that they hang way off the end.  (So when you're sewing, the right sides of both ribbons and fabric are facing up and the ribbons are on top). Then flip it over and lightly mist the wrong side of the fabric with spray adhesive. (the adhesive is optional but it makes the whole thing much easier)
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag5.jpg	step5: cut enough pieces of ribbon to cover the fabric in the opposite direction (weft).
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag6.jpg	step6: fold over your "warp" ribbons, and weave in your "weft" ribbons
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag7.jpg	step7: weave until the fabric is all covered
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/rbag8.jpg	step8: sew it all up, and you've got a bag!

Ok for more explicit step 8 instructions:
first I folded over the ends of the ribbons and ironed them like that.  Then I sewed velcro to the lining sides of the two short ends.  Then I folded the whole piece ribbon sides together so that the velcro edges were together (but the velcro was on the outside.  Then I sewed up the sides,  trimmed and singed the ends of the ribbons, and flipped it right side out.

Hi guys, I got some cool plush remnants at the fabric store and I'd like to make one of those toilet seat shaped travel neck pillows.  Does anyone know where I could find a pattern?  
Or does anyone have one of the inflatable ones and want to be my hero and post the measurements?  I think it's just a couple of circles, so I'd need the diameter of the big circle, the diameter of the hole, and how much of the circle is missing for the bite out of the donut....  

Anyone have any recipes involving altoids?  The tins are so useful for crafty goodness, but my altoid consumption can't keep up with my tin needs.  

So I was in Paris over Christmas break, and I wandered into Loisirs et Createurs (or something like that) which is a chain of the coolest craft stores ever - they have every craft under the sun there.  Kinda pricey, but sooooooo neat.  ANYWAY, they had this spinny thing there covered in kits and floss and patterns for this embroidery style(?) called 'Linea' from DMC  I bought a cute little kit for a denim pouch with a cherry blossom branch on it, and figured I'd be able to get more of the iron on patterns and stuff back in North America.  I've had no luck.  

Anyway, it's really cool stuff.  The floss is thick - almost like candlewicking - but comes in all kinds of colors.  All the patterns are designed to be done with just 3 stitches - stem stitch, backstitch, and the regular forward one whose name I can't remember.   they had a free suggestion booklet (that I gave to my mom of course   ) that had examples of swirls on a denim jacket, Tibeten style stuff on table runners, and all kinds of cool, non-frumpy stuff.  

I've tried looking online for more info - and gotten nowhere fast.  Even the DMC site has no mention of this stuff.  Kind of frustrating.  Does anyone here know what I'm talking about?  Or anything similar?

I have a sweater that I bought at old navy a few years ago.  It is in reverse stockinette (so the perl side is out).  Instead of a curled hem or ribbing it has this really cool effect at the hem.  It's almost like it was just folded up from the inside and hemmed - the effect is that the last few rows are knit instead of perl, but the bottom is a fold, not the end of the piece.  I cant figure out how this was done  - or at least not how they managed to piece it together so that it is utterly seamless.  I'll post a picture once I get one, to give you a better idea.  Any ideas how this is done?  It's a really neat effect that I'd like to incorporate into my next project.

Hello craftsters,
I'm thinking we should start a comparative review of knitting needles thread.  Nowadays there are all kinds of materials being used to make knitting needles, and most of us wouldn't want to try all of them.  So what are your experiences.

I've tried aluminum, bamboo, teflon coated, and cheap plastic.  I hated both the cheap plastic and the aluminum.  The teflon is nice and smooth.  My favorite so far is the bamboo.  They get smoother and smoother with use, they are relatively warm in the winter and cool in the summer, lightweight, yet not insubstantial.  An all around good needle.

Has anyone tried any of the more exotic woods?  Birch?  Rosewood?  Ebony?  Are these actually nicer to knit with, or just pretty?

How about space aged materials?  Casein (it's milk protein - how cool is that?)?  Pony pearl? nickel? those aldi 'turbo' needles?