Portable Yarn Holder — 5.5 Inch Zip Bag That Feeds One Skein as You Knit

It is about the size of a large coffee mug. Five and a half inches tall, a little over five across — small enough to sit in your lap while you work, small enough to live in a handbag, and just big enough to swallow one full skein of yarn and zip shut over it.

Drop the ball in, pull the end up through the hole in the lid, close the zip. Now the ball turns inside the bag instead of rolling across the floor. It does not pick up lint, it does not unravel in your tote, and the cat cannot get at it. You knit; it feeds.

That is all it does, and it does it for one skein at a time — which is why it is this size and not a bigger one.

How big it is, exactly

5.5 inches tall by 5.2 inches across. About 14 cm by 13 cm. Roughly a large mug, or a one-litre tin.

One standard 100 g skein drops straight in with room to turn. Three or four small balls if you are working from leftovers or with fine yarn. It is sized for the ball you are using right now — not the project, and not the stash.

If you have been looking for something that swallows a jumper's worth of wool, this is the wrong shape of thing and we would rather you knew before it arrives. If you have been looking for something that keeps one ball clean in a handbag on a train, this is exactly it.

The hole in the lid

One reinforced grommet, set into the centre of the lid, inside the zip line. The working strand comes up through it and the ball stays below.

It is a small piece of engineering and it is the whole reason the bag exists. A ball loose in a bag drags across the lining, catches on the zip, and arrives as a knot. A ball feeding through a grommet just turns. One buyer put it better than we can: "smart person to think of this item to keep thread from tangling."

How it is made

• Oxford cloth, printed, water-resistant, wipes clean with a damp cloth.
• A zip right around the lid, so the top opens fully and the whole ball is in front of you rather than down a narrow neck.
• A lined lid with the grommet set in the middle of it.
• A fabric carry handle across the top — enough to hook over a wrist or two fingers.
• Flat base, so it stands up on a table or a car seat.
• About 60 g empty. You will not notice it in a bag.

Where people actually use it

On a train. In a waiting room. In the passenger seat. On the arm of a chair with the cat on the other one. Beside a hospital bed. In a handbag alongside the phone and the keys, which is the use case it was really built for — one ball, one hook, no fuss, nothing to untangle when you get there.

It also does well with stranded colourwork at home: two or three of them lined up, one colour each, every strand running clean.

Eight prints

Geometric, Peony, Deers, Cashew Flowers, Roses, Pink, Leaves and Honey Bees. Same bag underneath all eight — the print is the only thing that changes.

How it compares

Against a yarn bowl. A bowl is lovely and it stays on the table. This closes, and it travels.

Against dropping the ball in your handbag. The ball comes out furred, tangled and two feet shorter than it went in. That is the problem this solves.

Against a full project bag. A project bag carries the whole project — yarn, hooks, pattern, scissors. This carries one ball and feeds it. Plenty of people own both and use this one for the sock they are working on in the car.

Questions knitters and crocheters ask

What size of yarn actually fits?
A standard 100 g skein drops in with room to turn. Fine yarn or leftovers — three or four small balls at once. Very chunky yarn and 200 g cakes are a squeeze; this is sized around one everyday skein.

How small is small?
5.5 inches tall by 5.2 across, about the size of a large mug. Worth picturing before you order — it is the thing buyers most often tell us they wish they had pictured, and it is why the dimensions are in the second image rather than buried.

Can I knit straight out of it?
Yes, that is the design. Thread the end through the hole in the lid before you zip it, and work with the bag closed on your lap or beside you.

Will it keep the yarn clean?
That is what the zip and the Oxford cloth are for — no dust, no carpet fluff, no pet hair. Several buyers bought it specifically to keep a helpful cat away from the ball.

Is it waterproof?
It is water-resistant. The printed Oxford cloth sheds a splash and wipes clean, which covers a wet walk or a spilled cup. Do not soak it, and let it dry open.

Does it make a good gift?
It is small, it is inexpensive, and it solves a problem every knitter has. A lot of them go out as stocking fillers and to mothers and grandmothers who take their yarn everywhere.

One ball. Clean, contained, feeding. That is the whole idea.