Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Earbud pouch: a free knitting pattern

January 2018 update:  Just a quick note to say that when I put hours into designing Hugs patterns to share, and publish them with the words "For Personal Use Only" added, it's with the dream that they will be knit and shared all over again out of love and generosity and not for profit on Etsy without even crediting me as the designer.  Ahem.  And now to the original posting...  and happy knitting!



I'm so happy to be able to share this giftable little knit with you well before peak gift-giving season:


As usual, this portable little pouch for mobile phone earbuds was born out of me needing something for myself, but right away I saw the potential for other knitters.  Who doesn't want to make something useful, completely giftable, and luxury-yarn-end stashbusting to boot?  Especially when you can do it in the time it takes to watch a movie.


None of this fiddly casting on three stitches to work in the round business - the pouch starts with a manageable cuff and works down to a grafted bottom.


And because the increases and decreases are at the side rather than all the way around, the pouch lies flat, which takes up less space in in a purse or a pocket.


On top of that, how perfect is this little pocket for a pair of earrings or a ring, wrapped up in tissue and tucked inside?  The recipient can use it later for stowing jewelry safely while traveling.  Or what about a child tearfully losing that first tooth, comforted by an especially cuddly envelope for tooth fairy transactions?


Oh, who am I kidding... these things feel so great to knit I would make them just to stop a chair leg from scraping the floor (and hey, I bet that would work too!)

The pattern as written is for a specific sport weight yarn, knit at a pretty tight gauge on 2.5mm needles.  However, that's just to make the writing-up easy.  I've been using other sport weight yarns, of course, and fingering.  But you can also try something a little closer to lace weight (I used Twisted Fiber Art's Arial yarn here.)


Originally when I posted this pattern, I gave the following project notes for fingering weight... but now I realize fingering works just fine for the pattern given.

For lighter-than-fingering on the other hand, I go down to a 2.25mm set of double pointed needles, and cast on 8 more stitches than the pattern calls for.  Instead of increasing three times at the end of the cuff, I increase four, and I start the decreases at 20 rounds or - if I'm using a yarn sample from Twisted Fiber Art - when it looks like I might be starting to run out of yarn.  You can decrease by eye because nobody's double checking your conformity, and simply end when you think it looks right or when you suspect you have only enough yarn left to do the grafting.  You might end up with a stumpy looking pouch...


... but trust me, you will be able to fit earbuds in there, and they won't fall out.


Difficulty Level
Not quite beginner, but still pretty easy.  The pattern is knit in the round.  It uses raised increases, which are thoroughly described if you haven't done them before.  It also involves grafting by Kitchener stitch (and is probably a great way to practise that.)  Instructions for Kitchener stitch are included as well.

Materials 
Any sport weight yarn - about 12 yards of it.
2.5mm double pointed needles, or size to get gauge.
darning needle

Gauge 
34 sts, 48 rows = 4” in stocking stitch
  
Finished Dimensions 
2 7/8" tall, 2 5/8” wide

33 comments:

Ang said...

Thank you for this! It'll be perfect for a trip I have coming up in about a month and a half! :)

Mary Keenan said...

Bonus, Ang: it won't take you the whole month and a half to make it :^) (have a fun trip!!!)

Marianne said...

Oh thank you!!!! Just in time for me to make for a trip,I am going to a Knit-A-Palooza in Defiance, Ohio, a gathering of friends made on Knitting Paradise, our group is affectionately called the "Tea Party". Friends from all over, including 2 from London and I believe 2 from Canada. I hope to have time to make a few for gift bags and will send those that ask to your site. I love to introduce your blog to my friends!
Take care and Thank you again!!

JackieLemon said...

Thanks so much for writing this up. I think it will be a great little Christmas gift. First,though, one for myself!

Mary Keenan said...

Marianne, you are such a sweetheart ;^) Your knitting trip sounds amazing - you're so lucky! Hope it's a GREAT time.

Mary Keenan said...

I am so with you Jackie! I knit one for myself first too... but I may have to knit a couple more for me, one of them to hold a pair of earbuds and the iPod Shuffle that goes with them. (I clip it on during a flight or a night in a noisy hotel to play white noise - helps me sleep every time!)

Laurinda said...

I know I'm late, but thank you so much for this pattern! Suddenly, our finances went from black to red, so everyone is getting QUICKLY knitted gifts, & your pattern is PERFECT for my adult kid's girl- & boyfriends!
Plus I really enjoy looking at your knitting- so inspirational <3

Mary Keenan said...

Aw, that is sweet Laurinda - hope the balance sheet is back in the black soon and in the meantime: aren't we lucky we knit and have yarn stashes??

Unknown said...

Thank you for a much needed pattern, my ear buds always get tangled in my purse with other items. I'll be making extras to give as stocking stuffers to my knit buddies with note including your website to the pattern in their interested in making for their friends, family etc.

Mary Keenan said...

So glad it's going to be part of your gift knit cycle!

Anonymous said...

I got some rigid neckband (sports style) earbuds for Christmas and I have to say that the velcro closing pouch they came in, leaves everything to be desired. The best thing I can say about the ugly rectangular pouch is that they fit all the way inside the pouch without hyper-flexing the neckband. I had thought of finishing off an odd sock I abandoned years ago, but this idea is better.
As such, I think I'm going to make a larger version of your pouch from some of my leftover experimental yarns and felt it. If the result is too big or small to fit my new sound system, well gee. . . I guess I'll have to use it for something else and make another. What a pity.
:-)

Mary Keenan said...

heh... happy knitting and enjoy those those new earbuds!

Anonymous said...

Good Evening,

I CANNOT ACCESS YOUR PATTERN. CAN WORSTED WEIGHT YARN BE USED? HOW STITCHES AND WHAT SIZE NEEDLES?

THANKS.

Mary Keenan said...

Anon, you can certainly use worsted weight but you might need larger needles than for the sport weight I used when writing the pattern. I can e-mail you a copy of the pattern if you can't download it from the link at the bottom of this post; just e-mail me at the link on the right of the screen, or post another comment with your e-mail in it (I won't publish that one though, I don't want you to get a lot of spam!)

Michelle Matheson said...

Hello! For some reason I keep getting sent to a broken link while trying to access the PDF of your pattern! Any help would be appreciated ��

Mary Keenan said...

Michelle the link is still working for me and all I can think of is that you may need to update your Adobe Acrobat Reader? Either way, if you want to e-mail me at the link on the bottom of the right side of this page, I will e-mail it back to you :^)

Michelle Matheson said...

Oh Mary I'm so sorry! It turns out that when I view your page on my phone I am looking at the mobile version which was the source of all my problems with the broken link. Fixed now 😊😊!! Thankyou and I can't wait to knit this up!

Mary Keenan said...

Whew - glad that worked out Michelle!

Unknown said...

I made one last weekend & it turned out great! I also made a larger version to hold my cell phone, all out of some sock yarn I've been toting around for more years than I'd care to count! Thanks for the wonderful pattern, I appreciate your hard work in writing it up and am happy to report I learned how to do lifted increases and kitchener stitch because of it.

Mary Keenan said...

Oh Lisa, I'm so glad the pattern was so useful to you! I should make one for my phone too, to protect my nice plastic cover from keys... great idea :^)

Savannagal said...

Great idea. Mine are always in a jumble in the bottom of my purse tangled up in my hairbrush. Plus I have a gazillion little balls of leftover yarn. Putting this on my todo list right now. Thanks.

Unknown said...

Hi. Was just going to start on a pouch for my headset so I don't have to put it in my pocket which keeps causing the earbud to tear! I haven't been knitting long and have a question which I tried looking up online and got differing answers.

The K2tbl - is that a ktbl 2 times (2 separate stitches) or is that k2togtbl once?

Thanks - Karen

Mary Keenan said...

Karen - K2tbl is two separate stitches. Knit 1 though the back loop, then knit another through the back loop. It makes a nice neat ribbing and going through the back loop makes the stitch a little tighter which is useful for containing the strings of the earbuds. An instruction for knitting two stitches together will always have the 'tog' part. Hope this helps and that your pouch protects those earbuds!

Mary Keenan said...

You are so welcome Savannagal!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much! Can't wait to get one started and done!

Laura said...

HI, I am a new knitter...what does it mean in rounds 2, 4 etc "twice?" go twice around? Sorry I just confused...thanks, Laura

Mary Keenan said...

Sorry for the delay, Laura! the 'twice', when it falls immediately after stitches inside square brackets, means to knit the in-bracket sequence of stitches and then knit the entire sequence a second time. You're getting the front and back of the pouch to be identical, in this case :^)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the pattern. My little granddaughter had to have ear buds for school this year. So this will be perfect. Plus for everyone else in my family.!!!!! Thanks again

Mary Keenan said...

So glad it's useful, Linda!

Jen said...

I am a BRAND NEW knitter....can I knit this in the round (with a cable) instead of the 4 double pointed needles? Any difference in the pattern if I do it this way?
thanks

Mary Keenan said...

Jen, you could do it with TWO cable needles, but it's a bit tricky and it would help if you had somebody to show you how to finesse it. The challenge is that no one cable needle is tiny enough for the circumference of this pouch - double pointed needles are the only other way to do it unless you treat a pair of cable needles as a set of double points :^)

Anonymous said...

Hi Mary I am unable to get the pattern either. How done get the written pattern?? Thanks

Mary Keenan said...

Anonymous - I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Try e-mailing me using the link in the sidebar, under my photo. I can reply with the pattern attached.