What is a stitch marker?

A stitch marker is an extremely useful tool to have in your knitting or crochet toolkit.  I have been knitting and crocheting for over 30 years but only came to appreciate stitch markers in the last 5 and wondered how I managed all those years without them.

They are generally known as stitch markers but are also known as knitting notions.

Knitting

In knitting stitch markers are particularly useful when you have a lot of pattern changes along your row (e.g. cables or lace patterns). You can place the stitch markers on your knitting needle at the point where you have a pattern change to remind you that the next stitch is different from what you have done before.  You can use as many stitch markers as you like along your row and just simply slip the rings from your left to your right needle as you knit.

They can also be used to mark where you need to do an increase or decrease in your pattern.

Most knitters prefer to use the ring type which sit neatly on your needle although you can use the lever back or lobster clasp type which you can clip to a stitch and then unclip it and/or move it when you don’t need it anymore. These are also useful if you wanted to use a marker to remind you of the right/wrong side of your work.

Crochet

In crochet you will always use the lobster clasp or lever back type as you only generally have one stitch on your hook.  The stitch marker can be clipped onto that stitch when you leave your project for a while which will stop your work unravelling.  They can also be used to mark certain areas or rounds of your work where there is a change or point you may need to refer to later.

So as you can see, stitch markers are a most useful tool and if you have pretty ones too that just makes the experience so much more fun.  They also make great gifts for the knitter or crocheter in your life!

Happy knitting/crocheting

A large range of designs available at:

knittybits.co.uk