Knitting Necessities: Notions Boxes

Over the last decade I have knitted my way across the western United States.  Every road trip, weekend get away, and even just a drive for the day my knitting goes along.  My knitting notions boxes make it so I can knit everywhere while on the go without worry I’m missing a vital tool.  When you knit so many different projects like I do, you never know when you will need an extra stitch marker or a cable needle.  Finishing a project while out and about without a tapestry needle is pure torture for me because I can’t stitch in the loose ends.  Don’t even ask how many times I have been caught without a notions box and in need of scissors.  I have chewed my way through yarn more times than I can count.

I keep all my projects separated in large plastic zipper bags.  These bags have the yarn, needles (or hooks), and the paper pattern (or name of pattern on my kindle) in them.  Basically, my project is all packed and ready for me.  When I am ready to work on one of the projects, I simply grab the project that catches my attention, drop a notions box in the bag, and I am ready to craft on the go.

A notions box is a small container that holds all those little tools that make knitting or crocheting easier.  I have a couple of notions boxes that I thought I would share with you in this post.  One I put together myself with bits and pieces out of my collection.  One I purchased pre-made on Etsy.

knitting necessities blue notions box

My blue notions box was put together out of my own supplies.  It has a flexible measuring tape, fold-able scissors, three different tapestry needles, a handful of stitch markers, and a stubby little pencil for paper pattern notes.  This is my go to notions box when I am working on a simple project that will not have need of cables, row counting, or held stitches.

knitting necessities alpaca notions box

I recently purchased this little notions box on Etsy.  The seller is The Sexy Knitter ,she has a whole slew of different designs for these little notions boxes in her store.  You can purchase just the tin, a partially stocked tin, or the fully stocked notions box.  I purchased the fully stocked notions box.  It came with a cable needle, an adorable retractable sheep measuring tape, a wooden needle gauge, a tiny double ended crochet hook, a stitch holder, tiny scissors, a row counter, three tapestry needles, five paper origami star stitch markers, and five plastic safety pin stitch markers. The lid also has a surprisingly strong magnet in the lid to hold the needles.  I was so impressed with this little notions box!  I really didn’t have much faith for those tiny green scissors.  I honestly expected them to not be able to cut very well.  Boy was I wrong!!  Those little things are amazing!

Whether you put a notions box together out of the supplies in your knitting stash, or purchase a pre-made one, a notions box is definitely a knitting necessity!

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DIY Stitch Markers

When I am working on a pattern for knitting or crochet, I love to have fun stitch markers.  A stitch marker can be as simple as a loop of contrasting yarn, or it can be a detailed little piece of artwork hanging from your work.  Recently, I discovered making my own stitch markers.  I just love how quickly they work up, and I can have beautiful stitch markers on all my projects!  This weekend as I was working on my collection, I figured I would take a few pictures and give you all a tutorial for DIY Stitch Markers.  I have included an Amazon link for each of the supplies for your convenience.

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First you need just a few supplies:

Round Nose Pliers

4 – 12mm Jump Rings

5 – 8mm Jump Rings

5 Charms

1 Lobster Claw (for crochet or knit)

I like to do one special marker in each set to be used as the beginning marker.  It could be a larger charm, it could have an extra jump ring to make it longer.  For the set in this post, I chose to use a lobster claw clasp.  The lobster claw clasp makes it so that you can hook the marker directly to the yarn in your piece or it can go on the needle in knitting.  If you are just planning on using the stitch markers for knitting, you could skip the lobster claw clasp and just use another 12mm jump ring.

Here are the supplies I used to make this set.

DIY stitchmarker 2

First step is to put one 8mm jump ring on each of the charms.

Use the pliers to gently pull the jump ring open just enough to put the charm on.

DIY stitchmarker 4

Next, slip the charm and either the 12mm jump ring or the lobster claw onto the jump ring.

DIY stitchmarker 1

Use the pliers to gently close the jump ring.  You want to get the ring closed as tightly as possible without squishing it.  This might take a bit of practice.

DIY stitchmarker 3

Repeat these steps with each of the charms, and you will have a complete set of stitch markers to use on your next project!

DIY stitchmarker 6

*This post contains sponsored links from www.amazon.com.  I was not paid to do this post.  However, if you use the links to purchase, I will receive a small compensation.  Thanks for checking it out and helping to support my bloggy habits!*