I was going through a box of sewing patterns and came across a pattern for a knitting needle case. I must have had the pattern 18 years and I'd never used it. All my knitting needles have been kept in a cardboard knitting needle box. The box has got to be at least 30 years old.  But yesterday I decided it was time to upgrade. So I decided to try out the patterns for the knitting needle case and the crochet hook case. I thought it might make it easier to find a pair of needles if they were stored together in pairs rather than loose in a box. So I made  the case above. But I wasn't entirely happy with the finished product. The fold down flap stuck out the side when the case was folded. So I recut the flaps at an angle to eliminate this.

Rather than have ribbon ties I opted to make a band with Kam snaps  to hold this case together when folded.

Having made and filled this case I found I still had way too many needles to fit in the case. Time to make a second case. But this time I wanted to step it up a bit. I tend to take knitting on long journeys, which means I want everything I am going to need together in one place, rather than groping round in a bag to find things. So I began to design the version below. 

On this version I added an extra flap on the side. it's five inches shorter than the top flap so that when the top flap is folded down the side flap is inline with the top folded edge..

On the side flap I added three pockets. A large pocket at the bottom for scissors and stitch holders.

 On the top of the pocket I stitched a piece of white felt to hold  the bodkin and a large safety pin.

The middle pocket has a flap with a snap fastener. I thought this pocket would be useful for buttons, row counters and my needle conversion chart.

The third pocket I designed for a tape measure. This pocket's opening is facing inward to prevent the tape falling out.

Instead of a band to hold it all together I opted for Kam snaps.

 Now I have two full needle cases, so my next project was to make the crochet hook case. this was much easier, being smaller it was easier to handle and a lot quicker to make. fortunately I don't have many crochet hooks so one case is more than enough for me.

These are really easy to make and a pattern is not really essential for the crochet hook and basic needle case. They consist of two pieces of fabric and a piece of volume fleece all the same size for the back and a second piece of fabric folded in half  and laid across one piece of back fabric and the fleece. Then you sew in the channels and attach the back panel.