STITCHES MIDWEST 2010: What Would YOU Do If You Were Surrounded by Knitting Heaven For a Day?

There is a God, there is a God, THERE IS A GOD . . .

. . . and God knits!

To prove it, I entered the purly gates of Stitches Midwest last Friday. What a wonderful day . . .

For those who have never been to Stitches Midwest, it is a four-day fiber showcase that features a large vendor market floor, book signings, classes, fashion shows and more. A lengthy explanation would take pages. You must attend to experience it.

I went to Stitches assuming I would buy countless skeins of yarn. Yet, despite falling in love with more yarn than I ever thought possible, I decided to wait.

One reason is because I’ll be at Stitches East in Hartford, Connecticut this October. (More to come about this later.) Since yarn is easy to pack, I used my willpower.

That, and maybe I’ll win the lottery by then.

So, instead, I concentrated on getting my knitting projects organized.

I am not an organized knitter, yet. I am anything but an organized knitter.

But I keep trying.

I have hope.

And thanks to Stitches Midwest, I also have a Diddy, a/k/a The Nantucket Diddy Bagg. (Do you sense a review coming on? Yep . . . I am really impressed with this one, which means I am posting it both on Amazon.com and here.)

I didn’t know I wanted a Diddy. I thought maybe I wanted a few smaller project bags and a carpet bag, but no.

Do you know what it’s like to go shopping, all the while thinking you know what you’re looking for . . . and then you turn a corner . . . and then this thing that you never knew existed sits there flirting with you, and now you want it more than anything else in the world?

Ditto.

Diddy.

I fell in love with it immediately. Here’s why: I usually have 4-6 projects going at one time, and I like to carry as many of them with me as possible, everywhere. That way, I when I screw up one project, I have another . . . and another . . . and another. Fun.

My problem: I don’t have a way to carry everything easily, so I wind up carrying multiple tote bags. Half the time I don’t know which tools are in which bag. It drives me nuts.

Can you relate? If you’re like me, you’ve probably left your car with a project in hand, only to later discover your extra knitting tools were in a different bag . . . OR at the airport, you discover you’ve left something at home. A knitter’s nightmare.

But in my Diddy, I can fit it all: tools, projects, books, notes, glasses, gluten free snacks, dropped stitches—the works.

I can easily carry 3-5 smaller projects in individual project bags (such as socks, hats, gloves) or 1-3 larger projects (long scarf size) or 1 very large project that’s grown to a good size (like a large shawl or afghan), along with notebooks, tools, etc., all organized.

I tell you, I was like a little kid when I got home with this thing. Just for fun, I packed it, unpacked it, and re-packed it again and again, just to see how much I could fit in it and in how many different ways.

Open it to create a tool shelf – having the ability to open it this way also makes it PERFECT for packing in a suitcase.

Zip it into a tote bag with all the tools on the outside (as shown in first Diddy photo, above).

Zip it into a tote bag with all the tools on the inside (this is my preferred way of using the bag).

It is up to you how you’ll carry the bag: It converts to a tote, a roll, or backpack. So far, I’ve used mine as a tote. It carries comfortably in my hand or flung over my shoulder.

This bag is washable; it was designed by a master carpenter, and it is constructed of double thick 600 denier Polyester Canvas, thereby making it a perfect consideration for your estate plan.

I’d write more about the versatility, but since I’ve only had this bag for about a week, I’m still discovering new ways to use it.

If you have a Diddy, I’d welcome hearing your tales.

If you want to see a Diddy and are attending Stitches East this October, The Nantucket Bagg Company will have a booth there. You can also find information about them here.

Or, hey, if you’re in the mood for a county-and-western-Diddy-ditty-twaing-bang-song-thang, go HERE!

Yee haw. There’s nothing like listening to The Crocheting Cowboy sing about his Diddy to get you in the mood for . . . in the mood for . . .

Storage solutions!

knot.