I Got My KIPers!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006
I took my KIPer out for a spin today and here's the review so far:

I'm not sure this would make a good everyday knitting bag.

It felt like I was carrying around a piece of luggage rather than a nice casual tote. I still need my old reliable Coach bag for my everyday essentials as the purse organizer is too small to hold my checkbook, cash, coins, receipts, makeup bag, PDA phone and earpiece, keys, ID badge, pens and various CC and shopping discount cards. Don't even think about putting tissues or candy in it.

Furthermore, I'd like for the purse organizer to have a cute little tote bag handle as opposed to the long luggage like strap you get for when you detach it from the knitting bag itself. I'd, also, like for the KIP and the purse organizer to have 2 zippers that can meet in the middle, so that you can unzip it on either side.

Additionally, the purse organizer has a tendency to separate at the magnetic snaps when the bag is fully stuffed, so maybe 4 of those fold down snaps instead of 2 fold down snaps and 2 magnetic snaps.

I think the bottom of the bag needs a set of 6 feet instead of 4 since the bottom is pretty large and there’s no foot support in the center of the bag.

As for the straps on the KIP itself, I much prefer long handles, so that I can just throw it on my shoulder instead of using the long luggage strap.

I wish there were additional side pockets so that you can put your cell phone in a side pocket and maybe a bottle of water for when you are knitting in public. I'd like a large pocket on the back to stow magazines and patterns.

As for the chart keeper, I'd like it to be larger and have stronger magnets to hold at least 2 pages of paper.

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Saturday, August 12, 2006
Yeah!

I ordered the whole KIPer set from KnitPicks and the Chart Keeper. It was more cost effective to order the entire set since I wanted the Large KIPer, the Purse Organizer and the Tool Bag. Otherwise, I'd have had to purchase the Large KIPer, Purse Organizer and Tool Bag separately.

So far so good on the construction and layout. Lots of space and lots of pockets to keep stuff. I like that I can attach/detach the Purse Organizer onto the outside of the knitting bag. The Purse Organizer has lots of pockets and slots and the tool bag (makeup bag) fits nicely inside the zippered center compartment of the purse organizer.