Stitch Markers

Stitch markers are "an essential accessory for knitters."  And, I now have a slight obsession with them. :'( (or is it really :D? :P)

When I first started amassing my accessories, I bought these super cheap plastic locking stitch markers from Amazon (I saw the Clover brand version at my local craft shop).  They were a little over 100 pieces for something around $3.00.  And, I discovered why they're so cheap (and that I got a little more than 100 pieces) ... they break easily.  Here's what I have left of that order:

There's about 40 or so left and they break every time I use 'em.  I can expect to have anywhere from 2 to 10+ broken ones when I use them. :(

Because  I was unsure about the cheap one, I also bought some Clover brand ones from Amazon too:

 Small size

 Jumbo size

I was so happy that I also bought the Clover brand ones after I found out that I was breaking the cheap ones like there was no tomorrow! :P  The Clover brand ones (while still plastic) are much sturdier than those cheap ones.  For some reason or another, the plastic seems to be more flexible.  Perhaps because I'm paying more, I'm getting better plastic? 8S

Then, I started working on projects that meant I needed to keep track of how many stitches I had on the needle and/or where I started and/or at what row I needed to increase or decrease at and ... I realized that I needed A LOT of stitch markers (and preferably with lots of markers in the same colors to help me keep track of it all)!  

So, when I went on my Big Island yarn crawl, I picked up other brands of stitch markers to try:

 Hiya Hiya locking stitch markers

 KA split ring stitch markers

 Leisure Arts stitch markers

And, when we came back, I also bought these stitch markers from my favorite yarn shop, Yarn Story:

 Pony locking stitch markers

 Pony split ring stitch markers

Chiagoo ring stitch markers

What I realized from all these stitch markers (I used them all (yes, almost literally) on my sweater project is that:

1. The split ring stitch markers don't work for me. :(  While they slip in easily onto my project, they also slip off just as easily (well, the Pony and the Leisure Arts ones at least; amazingly, I was very skeptical about the KA ones and those are the only ones that don't slip off!  I'd get more of those if I could now. :D). :(  Now, I understand what many knitters mean about losing stitch markers as if someone (or your cat) is constantly stealing them or if your couch is inhaling it when you're not looking!  If you're not cognizant about how many stitch markers your using (and it can be hard to keep track of it all if you're using a lot), if one slips out, it could be gone for life. :'(  Luckily for me, when I started realizing that the split rings were coming out by themselves, I was at home (and I sit on the floor - no couch to suck things up) so, I found 'em all (but now, on the flip side, perhaps if I lost 'em all, it wouldn't be so bad either ... :P).
2. The ring stitch markers are ok but, they can flip out (and far away from you) when you're moving them from one needle to another if they're "just right" size (if they just fit your needle and there's no much space, when you're moving it from one needle to the other, it can flip off like a coin; and if you're in a tight airplane seat, you may never see it again).  Now, I use these on my locking stitch markers.  Overall, I don't think I'd buy this type of stitch marker again either.

Overall, my favorite type of stitch marker (so far) is the better plastic locking stitch markers.  It allows for a lot of flexibility on how you can use it (you can use it like a split ring type of marker of a fixed ring type of marker and most importantly, you don't have to worry about knitting it into your knitting because you can simply unlock it).  Now, I just need to amass more of 'em. :P

Then, for Christmas, my friend sent me this: 

Yes, this is a teeny tiny clothes pin. I heard that this also make great stitch markers.  I'm going to give this one (yes, I only have one of these) a try to see how I like it.  If it works out, then I'll figure out how to get more. :)

I also caught a super bad cold this December and was out of commission with knitting (I couldn't concentrate very much between the coughing and sneezing for several weeks so, no knitting).  Since I had a lot of time on my hands, I trolled the web to see what other types of stitch markers there were.  Many can be found on Etsy but ... they also looked like items I could make myself.  Thus, I decided to give it a whirl.  I bought a some beads and a pack of crimping beads and here's what I made:

First, I bought some letter beads.  I saw a lot of letter beads with knitting terms on it (either in the abbreviated format or actually spelled out) and thought that it might be useful.  So, what I bought was a F (for Front) & a B (for Back) for my sweater project.  I thought I'd give these a whirl before I bought other letter beads (particularly since these were $0.95 a bead!). :)  I know, I know ... this isn't my greatest beading endeavor but I wasn't sure how I wanted to use these beads.   I'm going to try this method for now until I get a better feel of how I want it.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to put it on a pin head (then needed to decide how big to make the loop) or have it loose like this.  This was the easiest and quickest (albeit ugly) way to start using it (plus, this didn't require a crimping bead).

I found I already had these small white/iridescent beads and decided that I would make a double marker (to see how I'd like that).  So, I cut some flexible beading wire (7.3 cm long), used a seed bead for decoration and two (2) crimping beads to make the marker:

Side view of bead                       Top view of bead

I slipped the bead onto the wire; then the seed bead and a crimping bead to the bottom of the bead and pushed the bottom end through the crimping bead and the seed bead to create the bottom loop.  Next, I placed the other crimping bead through the other "open" end of the wire (at the top of the bead) and slipped the end of the wire through the crimping bead into the bead itself.  Before I crimped the crimping beads, I made sure that the top loop would fit over the largest of my needles (a US 13) and the bottom loop would fit over most of my "average" size needles (a US 8).  Once I was sure that the loops were fine, I crimped them closed.  Here's what it looks like:

Here's the other beads that I had bought.  I decided that I would make a couple of "regular" stitch markers with these.  I cut some flexible beading wire (6 cm long), used a seed bead to lock in the wire underneath and a crimping bead to make the marker:

Top view of bead                             Side view of bead

I slipped the bead onto the wire; then the seed bead and pushed the bottom end of the wire through the seed bead to the a little over the top of bead to lock in the wire.  Next, I placed the crimping bead through the other "open" end of the wire (at the top of the bead) and slipped the end of the wire through the crimping bead into the bead itself until it hit the seed bead.  Before I crimped the crimping bead, I made sure that the top loop would fit over the largest of my needles (a US 13).  Once I was sure that the loop was fine and that there was enough wire from the top and the bottom sufficiently in the crimping bead, I crimped it closed.  Here's what it looks like:

I can't wait to start using my newly made stitch markers (well, I'm already at least using the F & B ones :D)! :)  

I know ... I said that I liked my locking stitch markers, so, why am I making stitch markers that simply go over the needles?  Well, these types of stitch markers are useful and I just need to be cognizant not to knit them into my project (not that I've done this yet). :P  I also figure that I can also use them on my locking stitch markers to mark something special I need to do (like an increase or something) if need be.

I'm also eying out these stitch markers but haven't bit the bullet on buying 'em yet (they're really expensive as stitch markers go; plus, I generally like to see/touch feel it before I buy it - what can I say, I'm old fashioned. :P):

Floops Stitch Markers

Perhaps I can live without them ... for now. :P

I'll post an up-date to let you know how my new stitch markers are (or aren't) working out (or if I've found some other ones to give a whirl too). ;)