10 Useful Knitting Tools You Need To Get Right Now

Look, yarn skeins are gorgeous on the shelf, but once you start working with them they can be a massive pain. Either they bounce all over the place when you pull from the outside, or you dig out the center-pull and it slowly falls apart as you work! Having a ball winder adds a little extra work to start, but saves you a load of time and stress avoiding future tangles. Using this, you can quickly and easily create a neat yarn cake.

Now that you have a ball winder for your skeins, you need something to help wind your hanks of yarn! Here comes the yarn swift, a helpful tool we find ourselves pulling out every time we get a new yarn order. Yarn hanks can be so painful to work with when you don’t have a swift. In the past we’ve seen knitters hanging untwisted hanks on cabinet knobs so they could wind their yarn into a neat ball. Now you have this handy swift instead.

Sometimes overlooked as a tool by new knitters, a tape measure is absolutely essential to this craft. Whether you’re knitting a sweater, socks, or a dishcloth, you’ll need a tape measure. It will help you check progress and measure gauge to ensure everything’s shaping up as it should. Keep one in your knitting bag– and maybe keep an extra on hand in case that one goes missing. Tape measures are small tools that can be easy to lose.

Non-locking stitch markers are one of two types that people typically use. These are a small and simple knitting tool, but you’ll be using them all the time. Whether you’re marking fair isle color switches, cables, or the start of a round, these markers are so handy. We like small round metal stitch markers as they slide onto your needle easily and stand out from most yarns. However, if something bright is more your style, many brands offer them in fun colors!

Sometimes you need to be able to move your stitch markers around before you’ve reached that point on your needles. Or maybe it’s just personal preference that you like the locking stitch markers. Either way, locking stitch markers like these can easily open and close as you need. This means that they can be shifted as needed, and removed from the project before you’ve knit back to where they are. We love working with this style of stitch marker, and you can find them scattered throughout our crafty spaces at home.

Sometimes as your yarn collection grows, labels get lost or damaged and it’s hard to tell what weight a yarn is. Was that a DK or a worsted? Is this a thin sport or a sock yarn? While it’s hard to tell by eye alone, these differences make a world of a difference while you’re knitting. It’s the kind of mistake many knitters have made in the past, and it’s the sort of thing that makes you spend ages frogging a project.

Checking your tension before a knitting project is so important for ensuring it fits properly. You can’t be sure your knitting will end up the size it’s supposed to unless you check! Some projects work out fine without checking your gauge. However, the more detailed or large a project gets, the more important gauge can be. It can completely change which size you need to knit. This is one of those convenient tools that’s going to make your knitting life so much smoother.

Whether you love knitting cables or you’re trying them out for the first time, cable needles are a need if you’re knitting cables. They’re designed to hold your stitches in place with as little risk of them dropping as possible. These are basically the safest way to hold stitches while knitting cables. A set of cable needles like this includes different styles of needles. This is important because depending on your yarn and project, different styles are more helpful than others.

When it comes to finishing your projects, you’re probably going to have a few loose ends to weave in. While there are a few different techniques to do this, the most common is using a thick needle to sew them in. Darning needles (also called yarn needles or tapestry needles) are a handy tool to keep in your knitting bag. These are another set of tiny knitting tools that are so easy to lose track of. Having a holder will make them harder to lose- and, if they do get lost, they’ll be easier to find.

Finally! You’re done your knitting project, you’ve woven in your ends, and there’s one final tool you’ll want. This is a blocking set! Blocking your knitting project can take it from great to amazing. While some projects don’t require blocking (we’ve never blocked any of our scrunchies!) it is an important step for most knitting projects. This basic blocking set includes the interlocking blocking sets you’ll lay your project on, T-pins to pin your project as it dries, and some soak wash.