Stitch markers are very helpful. They keep us from losing our place in the project,. They remind us when to switch stitch patterns, make increases/decreases, when the current pattern repeat ends, or when we get to the end of a round.
But. They also tend to slip off the needles and disappear. They can hurt our palms when we knit with thin needles, and they can get in the way when we need to do something on both sides of a stitch marker.
That’s what happened to me and my current project. It is a seamless sweater with quite a bit of pixel colourwork on it. To keep the colourwork jogless, I use a trick described over here.
It does its magic by joining the last and the first stitches of each round – something that we can’t do with a stitch marker sitting between those stitches.
I had to look for a solution, and it came. I used a method that I read about a long time ago, and I improved it to make sure the alternative gadget stays put.
Let’s see what this gadget is and how we can use it instead of a stitch marker.
Don’t worry – there is no need to buy yet another knitting notion. The gadget I am talking about is easy to make with notions you most likely already have in your knitting bag.
I call it a gadget, but in reality, it is just a piece of sleek yarn or thread. It has to be sleek and slippery because we don’t want it to bond with our project.
It also has to be much thinner than the working yarn, because we don’t want it to affect the size of the stitches around it.
And it helps if the colour of this yarn is in contrast with the colour of the project.
Find a yarn like this in your stash and cut a piece that is around 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12″) long. Of course, you can make it as long as you like, but if the strand is too long, it can get tangled with the working yarn. If it is too short, you’ll have to move it up more often.
Because my swatch is knitted with chunky wool, a piece of sleek bamboo yarn in DK weight will make a perfect “strand marker”.
The sweater I mentioned earlier is made with yarn in sport weight. For that project, I use a piece of nylon thread.
We can use this strand as is, but I quickly discovered that because the yarn is slippery, it can easily slide out of the project.
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To keep this from happening, make a slip knot at each end of the strand.
Then clip a locking stitch marker, a pin, or even a paper clip to each loop formed by the slip knots.
Tighten the slip knots, and your new “strand marker” is ready for the job.
Place the strand between the stitches in a spot that you need to mark.
It works the same in all situations where we need a stitch marker.
In this tutorial, I’ll use it to mark the beginning of the round in my swatch, so I’ll place it between the last and the first stitches of the round.
Let both parts of the marker hang there as you work the next round. When you get to the end of the round, the strand will clearly show you where a new round begins.
Move the tail that is hanging at the back of the work to the front of the fabric.
Work another round. Again, the strand will help you see where the round ends.
Take the same tail that you moved to the front one round ago, and move it to the back of the work.
Keep working on your project, but remember to move the strand between the front and the back of the work every time you finish a round.
The strand will get neatly woven into the fabric, creating a distinct marking without affecting the stitches.
After a few rounds, pull the top end of the strand up to take advantage of the full length of the strand.
When the strand becomes too short, remove the pin at the bottom end of the strand and undo the slip knot.
Pull the top end of the strand until you free most of the strand.
Then pull a part of the still-woven strand that is close to the needles to release the other end from the fabric.
Make a slip knot, clip the pin to the loop, and tighten the knot to secure the strand.
Continue to move the top part of the strand back and forth after every round.
When the project is finished and you need to remove the marker, undo the pin at the bottom of the strand, and pull the strand out of the work.
This trick works equally well for working in the round and for working back and forth. When you work flat, you can move the strand to the other side of the project in every other row, for example, in every right-side row.
This way, the marker will not only keep its place in the project but it will also help you count the rows you’ve worked. All you need to do is count the passes of the woven strand and double that number.
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This and 26 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #9.
