Socks for lunch? July 14, 2006
You know how sometimes late at night you find yourself reminiscing about your childhood…. Next thing you know you are on ebay looking at monchichi’s, atari 2600’s and ewok villages trying to figure out if you can afford to buy yourself everything you wanted as a kid. Next thing you know, this shows up on your doorstep.
Oh wait… I am I the only person that does stuff like that? Well, I did. And I have dragged this less-than-mint-condition lunch box around through several apartment moves. Many of the metal lunchboxes on ebay are pricey, but if you are willing to take one with a big honking dent, it’s a steal. When I saw this month’s whiplash challenge, i thought I might be able to dress ‘er up for the fancy category.
You see, I decided that i just can’t keep abusing my sock knitting projects by throwing them in my messenger bag. they have suffered interactions with unclean coffee travel mugs, gym socks, velcro and worse. i thought the lunch box was just the right size, so I decided to line it and add some accessories catered to sock knitting.
I put in a zippered pocket for securing little things like stitch markers, and loops in all of the corners for tying in scissors and tape measures and the like (If i don’t attach it to the bag, i will lose it). I made some shrinky-dink strawberries and glued them to some super-powerful rare earth magnets. They are decorative, and do a good job of holding up my sock pattern. since I didn’t like the way the lid opens all the way up, I added a fancy ribbon with handmade copper hooks and eye and adjuster slide for holding the lid up. I put in a divider to keep things from rattling around too much when the box isn’t full. The divider snaps in so i can remove it when I don’t need it.
Here it is in action with my in-progress chuck’s socks.
click through to flickr to see all of the notes i added to this photo
Lately I can’t figure out which I enjoy more - knitting the socks, or admiring my handiwork 
you are *definately not the only one who does things like that! i think about all the things i loved, and had, and didnt have as a child all the time. those were the days… :0)
*love the new sock tin. what a brilliant job you did. x
Holy crap, that\’s adorable.
First off, I love Monchichis (Claire’s boutique sells some Monchichi merch!) Second, LOVE what you’ve done w/the lunch box. So innovative! And I adore the strawberry magnets!!! Fabulous. Great work.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. Ask me how I know.
We have a whole basement full of Nightmare Before Xmas things that I bought “for the kid”. Yeah, like she’ll ever play with them.
That’s a terrific job on the lunchbox! Absolutely beautiful.
What a clever idea! Very cute.
do you remember flight of the navigator??? I loved that movie.
That mod’d lunch box is amazing, great job!
You qualify as simply amazing, in my estimation. Not only can you knit those incredible socks, but you can also craft a fantastic sock hutch for them as well.
Bravo.
What a cool idea! And now you get to carry a lunch box again!
You are most definitely not alone in re-collecting your childhood. My mom sold ours up the river, or should I say, up the driveway. And so many years after the big Yard Sale of 1982, my brother and I decided that we needed to get everything back and that eBay was going to help. We’re getting there . . .
Cool! (I love your socks in progress too, btw!)
What a genious idea! I think the magnets are the ultimate touch.
That is SO cute! I have that exact same lunchbox. I’ve had it since kindergarten (24 years ago!) I was thrilled when i saw it was your entry for whiplash. Kudos!
OMG, that is the hotness! And I have that same lunchbox…I think I\’ll be digging through my stash of fruit-themed fabric (mainly cherries, natch) tonight. That is the best idea ever. You\’re brilliant!
That\’s adorable AND brilliant.
This is amazing. I love this knitting center!
Great idea! Brings back memories for me too. I didn\’t know i had such a talented daughter-in-law.