Let the Expert Do It

I'm very much a do-it-myself sort of person. If I know how to do something, it can be hard for me to pay someone else to do it. I recently had a very pleasant experience where I let someone else do something. It turned out excellent!

Over the past couple years, I acquired a set of Prym double-pointed needles. I like them. They are 8 inches long, which makes them fantastic for swatching, experimenting, and demonstrating. They also don't fit in standard needle cases. I searched the Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival last year. There was one vendor in particular who had nice cases, but didn't yet have anything to fit Prym.

Eventually, I purchased some fabric at the local JoAnn's in California, Maryland, just up the road from Lexington Park. For a small big box store — and this really was a cramped JoAnn's — they had a fantastic selection of quilt fabrics. I am guessing quilting is a popular hobby in southern Maryland? I figured at some point I would make a fabric roll case to hold my Prym needles.

Then I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool.

And this is why we attend festivals. You never know who you are going to meet. I met Katharyn Crippen of CrippenWorks studio. She had an end-cap space in the main barn. She was a brand new vendor. In our conversation, she said she had recently quit her previous job to make her business a full-time venture. Her cases are lovely, but she didn't have exactly what I wanted because, like all the other case makers, she didn't make a tall case to fit 8-inch double-points. But she could make one.

I was able to send her the fabric I had purchased and she made a needle roll for my Prym double-points.

I love it!

In the picture you see the black fabric background. I've since printed the needle sizes on slips of cardstock. I put those in each slot so I know which size goes where, even when I remove the needles.

Katharyn was delightful! Her price was very good — to the point I asked if she was earning a living wage or if I should pay her more? She assured me she has figured out a way to streamline her production. Her turn around was under two weeks, even with shipping between Atlanta and upstate New York. The case is well-made. My needles have enough padding to be protected. I've tossed the case in my knitting bag for a couple months now; and it is holding up nicely. It is a help to have those needles in my teaching bag, ready to go. It's just a good thing all around.

This was a reminder that sometimes it is better to pay the expert to do the thing.