Sometimes the Universe has fun with timing. A week after I wrote “On How I Chose Crochet” for issue 8 of Crochet me, the hook case that figured so prominently in the article gave up the ghost. The Velcro closures broke loose and some of the vinyl pockets began to split away from the case. After 13 years and a written tribute, the time had come to find a suitable replacement for my much loved hook case. To be honest, I felt a bit like I’d cursed my case, but I was also looking forward to a change.

I searched online for over a week. I knew that I wanted a fabric case with individual pockets for each of my hooks. I also wanted a small pocket for a pair of scissors, and another sealed pocket to hold stitch markers and other notions. I was tired of searching for those items in my project bag, and I knew I had seen hook cases with pockets for such things.

There were a lot of cases that suited some of my needs, but none that had it all. My frustration level was running high. Then, shortly after Christmas, a friend posted a picture of her new hook case on her blog. The case was lovely, made with a beautiful cream and red fabric and a vintage button closure. With my hopes high, I followed her link to CrippenWorks.

The concept is great. Crippenworks’ owner, Katharyn Crippen Shapiro, makes beautiful cases from gorgeous fabrics. You pick the style and the fabric you want for your case. Email your order, and mail your payment. And in just a few weeks you are holding a lovely hand-made hook (or needle) case.

Crippenworks’ sample hook case didn’t have everything I wanted, but the page did include a glimmer of hope: “Together, we can design a case for your hooks. Tell me what you need.” Brilliant! I was going custom!

I fired off an email to Katharyn with my predicament. It took a few emails back and forth to make sure we were on the same page, and because I changed my mind about a few of my requirements. Katharyn was helpful and patient. She offered great suggestions on design and functionality. In the end, we settled on a design and price -- just a few dollars more than her standard case, but still less expensive than many of the prefabricated hook cases on the market. In less than 2 weeks, I had my case.

When my custom case arrived, I gave it a real work out. I tried to jab hooks through seems and attempted to tug the button off. Every now and then one of my daughters manages to get her hands on my hook case. My new case has a flap to keep the hooks in, and it is closed with an elastic band and button. This makes it much more difficult for my kids to get to my hooks in the first place. A bonus feature I hadn’t even planned on!  If my old case had to go, I am so pleased I found a manufacturer who could come up with such an ideal replacement.

What to Consider When Going Custom

First of all, don’t go crazy at the prospect of a gorgeous custom designed case. Take a few days to decide exactly what you want. Gather everything you want to go into the case before you start thinking about your design. Dig through your couch cushions and yarn stash. Make sure you have all the hooks, notions, and scissors that you might want to go in your case. I was so excited about getting a new case that I completely forgot about the 6 or 7 hooks that I have that are duplicates to hooks in my “official” set. Now, those stray hooks are still without a home and I’m kicking myself a little for that.

Second, your set of hooks might have quirks that you’ll want to pay attention to as you plan your design. Consider making up a paper or muslin mock-up of the case. It doesn’t need to be a proper pinned and sewed mock-up, just take the time to cut some paper to different sizes and see what will work best with your hooks. Had I done that, I would have noticed that my steel hooks are an inch shorter than my normal hooks. I may have decided to shorten the pockets a bit to make it easier to get the steel hooks in and out. Perhaps you’d want the pocket shorter so that you can see the hook sizes without having to slide them out of the pocket. If you do shorten it, would you need a flap at the top to hold the hooks in place?

Finally, if you would like a case with individual pockets for each hook, measure your hooks to get a custom fit. If you are replacing a case that has custom-fit pockets, lay the case flat and measure the spaces. If you starting from scratch, you should separate out your hooks into different groups—steel, normal hooks (C-K), large hooks (N and up) and any oddball hooks you may have. Bamboo hooks with fat handles or the Soft Touch type hooks with the wide flat handles would probably fit in the oddball category. You may be able to include oddball hooks with one of your other groups, or you may need individual pockets made for them. With a ribbon tape measure, measure the circumference of the thickest part of the handle of the largest hook in each group. Multiply that measurement by .6 to determine the width of the pockets for the group. Calculate how many pockets you need of each size, using increments of 1/8th of an inch. For instance, my J hook (the largest of my normal hooks) is 7/8th inch or .875 in. Multiply that by .6 and you get .525 or about a half an inch. All of my standard hooks are in half-inch wide pockets. My steel hooks ended up in 3/8th inch pockets, and my super large hooks are in 1-inch pockets.  Take good notes so that you can tell your case maker precisely what you need.

As you go through this process, communicate with your case maker. Crippenworks has a great deal of experience and can help you to work around issues with your particular set of hooks. Their fabric inventory changes periodically. If you don’t see fabric that excites you, wait for the selections to be updated. There is even a link on the fabric page to sign up to be alerted when the selection changes.

My custom case is truly everything I hoped for. I know that sounds cliché, but really, the whole point of going custom is that you get exactly what you hope for. My old case had sentimental meaning for me. My custom case perfectly suits my needs, and the vintage fabric is much more stylish. My hooks are happy in their new home and my dilapidated old case is laid to rest.

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