The SO is an avid knitter.  Her favorite things are patterns that have lots of cables and fancy stitches in them.  She has a shorthand notation that she uses to describe the rows she is working on.  Previously I 3D printed a couple giant paper clips she could use to slide down the page and keep track of where she is.  She also uses a variety needles and hooks and stitch markers to help her keep track of where she is in the physical aspect of the project.  For years she had a piece of cardboard she would tape the top of her pattern to and slide the big paper clip down, and use the coronations to hold some of the needles and hooks and things, but that never worked well.  She was forever loosing the little pieces.

I decided to build her something better.

I have some Masonite that is coated with a white plastic type substance that makes it very much like a dry erase board.  I cut two pieces of that 2" bigger on all sides than her cardboard piece.  Next I sliced a piece of 1" board into 1 x 1.5" strips and with glue and air brads made two frames for the Masonite.  With more glue and small air staples I stapled the Masonite in to the frames with the white side facing in.

A good friend of mine is a sign man and he was kind enough to gift me with a piece of magnetic sign stock large enough to fit inside one side o the frame and cover the Masonite.  I used scotch mount with the sigh (white) side facing the glue.

I joined the two side with a pair of small hinges that could be pulled apart.  I used a slim kitchen cabinet handle on the top like a folio and a small pair of brass eye hooks and a piece of nylon string to control how far the case would open.  The top was secured by another pair of small brass eye hooks with a small elastic hair tie fit over and kept the two sides firmly attached.

The last step was using my sheet metal shear to cut some 1" by 9" pieces of steel sheet metal.  I recently put a tin roof on a house and had some small pieces of trim left with no congregations in it.  That turned out to be perfect.  I rounded the corners and de burred everything with my disk sander.

I was very happy with how it turned out.  She had the option of having the magnetic side as the back or the bottom.  I figured it would be the bottom and she could scribble notes on the back with a dry erase marker.  It was thick enough a partially deflated skein of yarn or two would fit in it, and the sides kept all her tools from spilling.  She hated it.  Violently.

Until I showed her how the hinges popped apart and you could take one knot out and poof, you have a flat thing with a rim around it,  She took to the magnetic side like a fish takes to water, and it works great for her.  She uses it every day.  I had thought she would like the case so she could fold her project up and take the whole thing mobile, but that is 100% not what she is interested in.

Oddly enough not a week later I started prototyping my LM3914 project and had a couple pieces of protoboard and handfulls of LED's and clip leads and jumpers on the arm of my side of the couch.  I spied the other half of her thing just sitting there and not it is my thing.  I love it as well.  I can keep all my little parts and pieces for that project in one place and it is easy to pick up and move.  And if we need the couch space, mine fits perfectly on top of hers, or vice versa...

Pictures to follow...