HOH in Crochet: The Supplies (Giveaway for Crafter's Tool Butler-CLOSED)

One of the things that makes knitting and crocheting so appealing is their portability. You really don't need much to keep a project with you as you're about town. Hooks or needles, a ball of yarn, the work in progress and a bag to carry it in if you are worried about it mixing around in your purse.

I am going to share the supplies I keep on hand for crocheting at home and on-the-go, including a review of the new and very versatile Jordana Paige Crafter's Tool Butler. There's a GIVEAWAY for a Crafter's Tool Butler too! If you can't settle on just one form of handiwork this may be just your thing (and who wouldn't love a "butler"?!).

Click below to read the details and enter the giveaway.

How-to tutorials, patterns, giveaways, reviews and interviews to make certain you are smitten.

For years now I have carried around this fuchsia faux patent bag to doctor's appointments, on plane trips, and shoved into my checked baggage on holiday visits. My sister, Sarah, gave it to me a few years ago for Christmas and it never fails to earn a double-take. It's funny because I have a few other better looking and higher quality bags but this one always gets the compliments. I guess it's hard to miss.

I've loved carrying it around because it's the perfect size for a medium sized knit or crochet project and a few skeins of yarn. I've been known to carrying around a few baby hats in progress or one or two scarves. It also has two zippered pockets for stashing some of the other essential supplies too. I have purchased a bag designed specifically for knitting and crocheting supplies but keep coming back to this one for its simple open compartment. If you are looking for a bag I would recommend starting out simple. My good friend Sue still prefers a reusable shopping bag with a drawstring at the top for similar reasons.

Whatever your pick for a bag, you'll need to consider a way to carry around a few other little tools, namely:

• the hook, or hooks, required for your project (I'll talk more about hooks in a subsequent post)
• a small pair of scissors for clipping yarn when you finish (I have a blunt pair and a little capped pair of Fiskars, which I love)
• a tapestry needle for weaving in the ends (these are blunt with large eyes for threading yarn)
• safety pins or stitch markers for marking your place for pattern changes, counting, or for help in seaming your project correctly
• sewing needle and thread for sewing on buttons 

Crochet patterns will usually specify all the tools and materials you'll need but these are pretty standard.

I used a little pin box (came with the purchase of some straight pins) to hold a couple tapestry needles, safety pins, and a sewing needle and thread. I have a few straight pins in there too. You never know...

When not in active use I've been storing my other crochet hooks and knitting needles in a small cabinet, which used to be my grandmother's. It's been fun to use it as she did but it's also the perfect height for toddlers to play in and it's been difficult to keep track of my inventory. Seems I'm often more likely to find the hook I need under a girl's bed than where it should be. So I was excited when the Jordana Paige company contacted me about her new Crafter's Tool Butler. The name is just perfect! Who couldn't use some help keeping her crafting supplies organized?

This case is designed to store supplies for all your handicrafts: crochet, knitting, embroidery, cross stitch, probably many other things you could imagine too. I love the fact that it caters to those of us who can't pick just one thing to do with our hands! It measures 10.5" x W 2" x H 6.5", is made of "vegan leather" (are you up on this latest term for PVC?), and has multiple compartments for all your stuff.

I loaded mine up with all the crochet hooks that had been tossed in a drawer and quickly saw that I have four "J" hooks and am missing a few others. There's even a little inventory card for keeping track of this sort of thing. How would it be to know at a glance what you have and what you don't? I put my small scissors and tapestry needle in small zippered pouch by the needle pockets. I like the fact that it's mesh so I can easily see what I've got.

Then into the large zippered pouches (also mesh for easy seeing!) I stashed all sorts of things, which hadn't had a logical place before, such as: stitch holders for knitting...

...my stitch counter (love this little red thing!) and tool for measuring needle/hook gauge when I can't identify the size...

...some circular knitting needles...

..and stitch markers (for the times when I opt not to use safety pins!).

There's room for storing even more, such as a small pamphlet of patterns such as those they display on the yarn aisles. I think this would be really ideal for embroidery since you could store different color threads, and even projects, in the zippered pouches. Makes me want to take it up right away! It isn't big enough to store my long knitting needles but it can handle the double-pointed ones and just about everything else. The Crafter's Tool Butler is small enough to fit in a decent sized crafting bag  but I'm not sure I'd pack it along with my current project for every day. It's a great way to keep track of things at home though and I can imagine taking it with me on a longer multi-project trip--wouldn't that be nice?

Want one? The nice people at Jordana Paige are giving one away! It's been so nice to become more familiar with the company. (Did you know Jordana Paige started her company when she was just 18 years old? How great is that?)

To enter to win (multiple entries possible):

• Take a look at the Crafter's Tool Butler and leave me a comment. How would you use it?
• If you don't already, follow Aesthetic Nest (and let me know in a comment)
• "Like" the Facebook page for Aesthetic Nest (and let me know in a comment)
• Learn more about the Jordana Paige company and let me know what you like about this success story.

For extra good luck, this giveaway is open for entries until midnight, March 17th! Then I'll pick a random winner and announce it on the blog.

WE HAVE A WINNER!