Knitting For My New Best Friend

Along with loving to knit, I also love to read.  And I’ve been reading a lot recently.  I seem to go through spurts–with reading and knitting–and it’s particularly great when those spurts coincide and I’m enjoying lots of both.

Cover, closed, with e-reader inside.

I’ve been pondering getting an e-reader for awhile.  I thought it would be great to have a bunch of books always available and easy to take anywhere, but I wondered if I would like the electronic interface1 and if I’d miss holding an actual book.

About a week ago, when I finished the last book in my stack from the library and then had nothing new to start reading, I decided it was time to try an e-reader.  If I’d had one that day, I could have just uploaded a new book instantly to my e-reader and gotten back to my literary indulgence.  So I ordered my e-reader and, poof!, two days later it was in my hands.2  And I LOVE it!

Of course, it also provided the perfect opportunity for a knitting project: a nice little protective cover3 to keep my new best friend4 safe and cozy.

I chose to make a simple sleeve that would envelope the entire e-reader, with a long flap that would fold over and cover its entire front and button at the bottom.  This way the e-reader’s screen has two layers of protection, one from the sleeve and one from the flap.  Making the flap the length of the device also allowed me to position the buttons over the e-reader’s hard plastic casing, so they are nowhere near the screen and would not damage it if accidentally pushed in against the e-reader.

Cover, with flap open and folded over behind it. You can see how the e-reader is completely enveloped.

My particular e-reader is a Kindle5 so I designed the cover to fit that device.  However, the pattern I created is very simple and could easily be adjusted to fit another e-reader.  If you have or know of an e-reader that could use a layer (or two) of protection, give my pattern a try: MakerKnit E-reader Cover (2704 downloads ) .

[simple_series title=”See all my posts on designing and knitting a Kindle e-reader cover:”]

Back of cover, with flap fully extended.

1. I have patience issues when it comes to technology; if it is slow or unresponsive, it sends me over the edge. To say I’m grateful for my techno-savvy husband is an understatement. [↩]
2. Bless you, Amazon Prime. [↩]
3. More accurately it’s a pouch, but it does extend over the e-reader, so calling it a cover is not a complete misnomer. [↩]
4. Well, it’s not really my best, best friend, but I’m pretty taken with it at the moment.  Don’t worry, Honey, you’re in no real danger of being replaced. 🙂 [↩]
5. Just the basic model. No touch screen. No keyboard. Nothing to frustrate me or try my patience. [↩]