I have often struggled with earbuds; I want to take them with me, but they get so tangled up in my purse that I don’t bother — and then I wish I had them. I tried putting them into one of my little crocheted bags, but that wasn’t any better.

While waiting in San Francisco International Airport for my flight home last week I wanted something to read. I didn’t want to empty the battery on my phone, so I bought a magazine (Real Simple, September issue). I don’t do this very often because magazines are really designed to sell you something, and I don’t want to buy. Anyway, there in the pages (p. 56) I saw:

My first thought was, “That looks like it would work as good as the twist tie I am currently using and it looks a lot nicer.” My second thought was, of course, “I could crochet one.” So I did:Using 100% mercerized cotton and a 2.5mm crochet hook I started with an adjustable ring and single crocheted in a continuous circle for about 2.75 inches (diameter). At the end of the ninth row I made a 3-chain gap to be used for the button hole. I finished row 10 with a crab stitch. Going to my button box I found a pretty matching button — and there you have it.

Now, I will tell you soon how well it works.