Thursday, February 09, 2006

Hello to you!

I would like to pick your brains for a minute.....it may take more than a minute but not more than five :o)

I want to discuss stitch markers:

1. Do you use stitch markers?
If you do, please go onto question 2.

2. Do you like them to be able to fit all sizes of needles?
3. What attracts you to a stitch marker?
4. Do you like to buy markers in sets?
5. Does it matter to you if your markers match?
6. Would you find it fun to root through a bin of mix and match markers to buy ones that appealed to you, even if they did not match?
7. If you could buy a set of stitch markers that was also a piece of jewlery (such as a charm necklace or earings) would you?

Any feedback you could leave for me would be wonderful! Thanks!

12 Comments:

At Thursday, February 09, 2006 11:54:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Stacey! Thanks for your comment today. I have to say I do use stitch markers and the ones I use pretty much exclusively are the rubber ones from Bryspun (I think.) I've made beaded stitchmarkers and I give them away, but I don't really use them.

I do like the idea of rooting through a box and finding a mix matched set. Oftentimes when I see a set of markers I think one would be nice, but not six, you know? Variety is the spice of life and all that? I've seen some stitch markers lately that were round beaded ones, instead of hanging markers and I thought they looked really interesting.

Good luck!
Best,
Cara

 
At Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:51:00 PM, Blogger Amie said...

Will you be a vendor at MD? Where is your booth?

I think the idea of stitch markers as jewelry is cute. I don't often pay a lot (as in more than a couple of bucks for a set of ten or so) for S.M. because they get lost so easily. I use scraps of yarn a lot.

 
At Thursday, February 09, 2006 4:18:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Do you use stitch markers?
yes
2. Do you like them to be able to fit all sizes of needles?
I like them to fit the size needle I'm using or maybe a two to three needle size range.
3. What attracts you to a stitch marker?
Function and beauty.I like the pretty beaded ones.
4. Do you like to buy markers in sets?
Yes
5. Does it matter to you if your markers match?
Not really. I mix and match when I'm using them. I like one that's different to mark the beginning of the round.
6. Would you find it fun to root through a bin of mix and match markers to buy ones that appealed to you, even if they did not match?
Yes!
7. If you could buy a set of stitch markers that was also a piece of jewlery (such as a charm necklace or earings) would you?
Yes, that sounds neat!

 
At Thursday, February 09, 2006 5:41:00 PM, Blogger stacey said...

Great thanks! This is really helpful :o)

 
At Thursday, February 09, 2006 8:03:00 PM, Blogger Skepteach said...

Yes, I use stitch markers (how can you not and stay sane?). The plastic ones that I have (purchased in a small box from the LYS for about $3) do not fit any needle larger than size 10 and with a surplus of felting projects lately I've had to improvise and use scrap yarn. Sometimes I'm just too lazy to get up and get my stitch markers so I just use scrap yarn.
So, you can gather my stitch markers mainly need to be functional.
If buying a set, I want some to match while others are different. The reason being, you need to mark 8 places to decrease but one marker also is the beginning of the round and needs to look different.
A set should also have different sizes, some good for socks and others for felting projects.
I think I would rather rummage around in a bin to pick some out. Then I could go back and buy one or two more when I lose some. I could also choose what size I need and how many I have that match.
I'm not a big jewelry person, so the jewelry appeal is just not there for me. I feel the same way about my stitch markers, I want functionality but I don't want to pay big bucks for something I will probably promptly lose in the couch cushions.

 
At Friday, February 10, 2006 9:51:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess you would say that I don't use stitch markers. I do use them on almost every project, but I make all of mine out of yarn scraps from previous projects. I can't imagine ever spending any money at all on a stitch marker.

 
At Friday, February 10, 2006 2:08:00 PM, Blogger Rebekah Ravenscroft-Scott said...

1. yes
2. no, i like them to be different sizes. if they're too big they are too hard to handle on size 00 needles and if they are too small they won't fit the big needles.
3. softness! i hate the hard plastic ones, they irritate my fingers. i prefer the soft, squishable ones - bryson dist. makes them. i've searched high and low for them. this is especially important with the little ones, they can be very sharp.
4. don't care
5. no, but i like to have a different colored one for the begining of a circular round.
6. yes, like buttons!
7. no - don't wear jewlery.

good luck!

 
At Friday, February 10, 2006 2:11:00 PM, Blogger Rebekah Ravenscroft-Scott said...

oh, one last thing. I've found that lace knitting - shawls - uses up lots and lots of stitch markers. i had over 30 on the needle towards the end of my Pi shawl as I would be lost without them. So, I ended up buying about 50 markers - they need to be cheap!

 
At Saturday, February 11, 2006 8:24:00 PM, Blogger Peacock said...

I want to discuss stitch markers:

1. Do you use stitch markers?
If you do, please go onto question 2.

2. Do you like them to be able to fit all sizes of needles?
3. What attracts you to a stitch marker?
4. Do you like to buy markers in sets?
5. Does it matter to you if your markers match?
6. Would you find it fun to root through a bin of mix and match markers to buy ones that appealed to you, even if they did not match?
7. If you could buy a set of stitch markers that was also a piece of jewlery (such as a charm necklace or earings) would you?

Any feedback you could leave for me would be wonderful! Thanks!

I love stitchmarkers: making them as well as receiving them as gifts. For many years I used pieces of thread or yarn knotted into a loop, and still sometimes do if a rigid marker is leaving a ladder in a tight gauge.
I use safety-pin style markers, especialy for marking mistakes that have already occurred a few rows back. I would be interested to see some decent clip-style handmade markers arrive on the market. Right now I have the plastic ones.
I love bejeweled handmade stitchmarkers. Some of my favorites adorn my corkboard or other locales around the house just so I can look at them. :)

For knitting, I really like my stitchmarkers to avoid catching on my yarn. That means that what is most important to me be the quality of the worksmanship. No loose wire ends to poke me or to split my yarn.
For that same reason, I don't use stitchmarkers that have been made with split-rings. I have received some as gifts, and I adore them for their looks!! but they catch on my yarn, so they get to decorate my house instead of my needles.

My markers do not need to be in sets. I use mis-matched collections for some purposes, and I use sets for others. I like to use a single marker to identify the right-side of a project. I like to use a single marker to identify the start of a round. I like to use a single marker attatched to the zipper-pull of my knitting bag(s) to identify which project is currently in said bag.

searching through bins is fun, but I would worry about the searching process deforming the rings or scratching the finish if I were the seller. ... I'd probably invest in some of the clip-style shower hooks to display the single markers as a bundle that can be easily pulled from.

I'd like my stitch markers to double as neclace charms. It seems the easiest place to keep them close at hand without having them get in the way.

Hope this helps! Have fun. :)

 
At Sunday, February 12, 2006 3:51:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Pal!

I have also been reading your LJ and saw you got the gift I sent (though they forgot to add from your secret pal! And never even confirmed the order with me even though I emailed 2 times, argh...)


I was hoping those would hold you over a bit as I have had a box here for you for two weeks, but with family obligations and illness, me feeling like death, I have yet to get it off to you...
but it is getting there this week, no matter what!

I am glad you liked them, I was not sure if you knew knew you had an LJ (psst, I do as well) and spotted that, so I figured that would tide you over a touch...also, expect another small gifty coming as well mailed from another location!

As for stitch markers, I make them. I find it fun to make them and give them as gifts and will be featuring them on my sale site!

I find it is most important to make them fromtoggle clasps, as they are in dif sizes, and you can avoid the thing you are attaching getting tangled in the yarn.
I make a wide varity from semi percious to silly.

Anyway, I am back to bed....
oh another silly aside, if I had known before hand, I would have staged a Birka Pal drop...as many friends were there for it.

We have yet to make it to one, but one day we will as we have a place in VT, but we never seem to be able to work the weekend out!
Same goes for Pennsic, and as such is the thing keeping us from SCA, though the husband is dying to. We just don't have the time for it right now as much as we would love to!

 
At Monday, February 13, 2006 8:05:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I use all kinds of stitch markers.
I think they fit any size up to about an 8. I also have used earrings as stitch markers, so stitch markers as jewelry would be fine, too!
I like the simple soft ones when I need a billion for a shawl or some such thing, but I like the beaded ones to mark special places like the end of a round.

 
At Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I use lots of different sizes and colours. Colour should contrast with the yarn. I like them to slide easily from one needle to the other with ease and match the size to my yarn weight and gauge. I think the ones with danglies and charms look cute but don't seem practical. The dangle might get in the way.

 

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