It's easy to start a knitting project: fall in love with a pattern, find some yarn in your stash, and cast on. But no matter how much you love the project, sticking with it to cast off is not always inevitable. Set yourself up for success with the right notions to help you finish your knitting project.
Gather Essential Knitting Tools
Before you cast on take your time to collect all of the notions that the pattern calls for. Start with the essential knitting tools:
- scissors
- stitch markers
- tape measure
- yarn needle
Then, read through your pattern to discover special notions you will need, like a stitch holder or locking stitch marker. Even though you might not need a cable needle until section three, be prepared with a cable needle in your notions bag so that you don't lose momentum having to search for one.
Anticipate Where You Will Be Knitting
Will you be knitting from home, on the road, or at an event? Staying mindful of these locations will keep your knittings clicking no matter where your knitting journey takes you.
- Pick the right project bag. Knitting project bags come in different sizes and styles for a reason. The bag you need for a road trip will have zipper pouches for organizing tools and close securely to keep everything side. The bag you need on the couch might be a tote or basket and your notions might be in a dish on a side table.
- Ensure you have enough yarn. If you're hitting the road, make sure you pack as much yarn as you will need. However, if you're knitting from home you can store your yarn with the rest of your stash.
- Consider your pattern. When at home you don't have to worry about having a charged phone/tablet battery and working WIFI, but that's not always the case when you're knitting on-the-go. Consider printing out your pattern so you always have it to reference.
Expect Mistakes
Make sure the inevitable mistakes you make in your knitting don't hold you up, or worse, keep you from casting it aside indefinitely. Anticipate your mistakes by having the right tools on hand, like a crochet hook to fix mistakes.
Other tools to consider:
- our Fix-It Marker to mark a mistake (and keep it from getting worse) so you can fix it later
- a long length of scrap yarn readily available in case you want to add a lifeline
- our Fix It or Forget It Coin if you have trouble deciding whether or not to fix or forget a simple mistake in your work
Keep It Fun
Sometimes fun and fancy tools, especially stitch markers, make the boring parts of a project more enjoyable. If you're working inches and inches of stockinette stitch for the body of a sweater, add unique stitch markers every 50 stitches. This will keep you motivated to keep on going to find the next one. Or if you're weaving in lots of ends, reward yourself by snipping them with cool knitting scissors that make you smile.
Take Notes
If you're working on a big project that could have you knitting over the course of weeks or months, take plenty of notes so you don't have to spend precious making time searching where you left off.
- Document how many rows you've worked with our Rows + Repeat Tracker Sticky Notes.
- Mark your place in your printed pattern or chart with our Pattern Place Markers.
- Print out one of our free Yarn ID Cards so you know what you're knitting with if you lose your yarn's ball band.
You won't finish every project you start, but being prepared will keep your needles clicking without the "ugh, I have to go find..." and the "if only I had..." and the "guess I'll have to finish it later" road blocks.
