Rope Covered Knitting Needle Basket

Well, first post of 2016 and half way through January already!

I belong to a group of like minded friends who meet monthly to have a go at various, usually textile related, crafts.  A couple of days ago we got together to make rope covered bowls.  We had great fun and all produced some very commendable results.

Everyone except me managed to finish their bowls during the day and some even made two!  I wanted to make a rectangular bowl to replace this rather tatty cardboard box my knitting needles have been living in for years.

It proved to be a little larger than the bowls everyone else made so I set out to today to make sure I completed it.  It's not the neatest project I've ever finished but I have to say as this was my first ever rope covered bowl I was quite pleased with the result.  I learnt a lot on the way though.  Mainly I would prefer to use matching thread next time and for some reason which now evades me I decided to cut the rope and start again before going up the sides.  Wrong decision! Makes for a messy join. Have a look and see what you think anyway.

In the one below you can see how the contrasting thread shows up all the stitching and hence any mistakes you make! And there were a few of those! You can just see the messy join I was talking about in the bottom left hand corner.

You can't tell from the first picture but I decided to add a couple of handles just to make it easier to pick up with the knitting needles in. 

Here it is with the contents fitting perfectly and it is just big enough for the long pair of large needles I have.  The 'bowl' is very strong and has made a very substantial home for my needles.  I am very pleased with it but will just remember to make those few adjustments next time.

I'll finish this post by showing you the beautiful bowls the other ladies made.

One lady even made a placemat

Thank you for reading, see you soon
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