Crocheting Gadgets

I love to crochet..the shoe box is a great idea..I usually just have my yarn in a plastic bag. When I had cats they used to climb in the bag with my yarn, and before I new it they chewed through the yarn and I would have to tie it back together..LOL..I just have dogs now and they don't bother with it..when my son was 10 he made me a thing to hold my yarn. It was really cute, he made it out of K'nex. He made it into a "piggy" shape and I would put my yarn in it, and the nose area was where my yarn would come through...It was great and I did use it....Wish I had a picture but I don't think I do....It was cute. He also made me a thing to hold all my hooks..He made that out of plastic canvas..I think he was 7 then, and on the front he made the number 7 with yarn..I still use it...I do like the shoe box idea, because it not only keeps your pets out, but you can take it with you and it looks nice, and protects your yarn....

I keep my crochet hooks, a small pair of scissors, yarn needles, stitch markers, and a measuring tape in an old pencil case. It keeps everything together in one place, and makes it easy to transport. Also, my "stitch markers" are actually hinged binder rings--the sort you could use to put together several sheets of paper that you need to flip through. I can clip them into my work just like commercial stitch markers, but mine were something I already had lying around the house. I often use ziploc bags to keep my yarn for one project separate from everything else. You can also close up the ziploc bag most of the way, and then pull the yarn through the unzipped portion. Easy to carry around, and great for when you are using multiple colors and are trying to keep them from tangling with each other.

I have a canvas bag that I keep my yarn in. I have a pencil case for my crochet hooks.

I hope I can describe this and make it make sense LOL. For yarn that I am using, I have these old McDonald's happy meal boxes that work perfect. They are old but I still see them in thrift shops so if you wanted to use them, I'm sure you could find them. The boxes are actually plastic bucket sort of things. They came out for Halloween and one is an orange bucket with a pumpkin face on the side, the other is a white ghost, and the third is a green witch. They were great for little kids to collect Halloween candy in. Anyway, they have handles just like a bucket but also a lid with vents in the top. So I put my yarn in the bucket thread the yarn thru the hole in the top and then pull it from there. It keeps my yarn from rolling all over the house, keeps my cat away from it, and most importantly keeps the yarn clean and free from cat hair.