Chinese Trousse with what?
 

Usually these have a knife and chopsticks but these look more like knitting needles. What are they?

knitting needles

That is what they look like.

Yes, that's because it's a women's trousse :)

Ever seen another like it? I have searched quite a bit and not found one. Artzi has sold about 40 of these and all had chopsticks.

Ingenious solution to missing chopsticks.

knitting needles can be used as chopsticks too..........

Sure, no problem.

Considering the not so great fit of these needles in the scabbard, I'd also guess these were recently added to obtain a "complete" set.

Regards,
Kai

Actually, the fit of the knitting needles is nearly perfect. I tried several types of chopsticks and none would go in more than half an inch.

Well, what are you going to do; cut or knit? :D

Nothing wrong with the knife. Could be used to cut anything including yarn. Actually, we have several female friends who never go anywhere without their knitting.

A subsequent modification? Maybe they weren't "born" as chopsticks...
Regarding the fit, the chopsticks were individually made to fit each scabbard. Each workshop did it their own way, no standardization. I've had to replace missing chopsticks on these things, and you always have to find the nearest size and shape/cut to fit.

Not to difficult to convert to knitting needles by grinding points on the ends. But I've never seen an original set with those "ball butts". Artzi has an encyclopedic collection of some very fine examples of the genre, and no such animal lives there.

Just a thought but I have seen chopsticks that are linked together by a small chain or tied with thread to make a pivot. Tibetan/Mongolian perhaps?
These are usually fitted with end caps sometimes gold or silver to enable this. The modern street equivalent is a rubber band.


Regards CC.

Hi Guys,

You know that Kubur has always stupid ideas.

Well, what about Chinese hair pins?

http://www.hairpinmuseum.org/

:D

My wife suggested that, but why would they need to be carried around?

Well you can use them for special occasions...