Useful Gifts for Knitters

Yarn may be the most sought after item for those who knit, but needles are not far behind.  Needles can be straight or circular and they come in loads of lengths.

It can be very expensive to try to have all sizes and styles of needles on hand for knitting projects.  Many knitters purchase sizes they will use most often, but secretly wish they had more!

For this reason, knitting needles make nice gifts.  Either ask the person what they need or want, or give a gift certificate to Amazon or a local yarn shop.  If no shops are nearby, shop online where quality yarn is sold.  I list some of my favorite online stores at the end of this page.  They often sell accessories as well as yarn.

Another options would be to gift the knitter with a set of interchangeable knitting needles.  Major brands all offer their version of the interchangeable needle sets.  The main idea is to have lots of needle sizes in the form of tips which can then be attached to cords of various lengths.

Knowing what the gift recipient knits most often can be helpful when choosing a gift of needles.  Many people love to knit socks.  For this, smaller size needles are needed and they probably use either double-pointed needles (DPN's) or something like Flexi Flips.  These also work for mittens, boot cuffs, and sweater sleeves.  Anything small which is knitted in a circle.

Hat knitters will need size 16 inch length needles.  Most hats are knit on this length circular needle.  They come in all widths, but sizes 6, 7 and 8 are usually used.

Knitters of advanced projects, like sweaters and clothing will need longer, circular needles.  The best gifts for them may be new project storage bags, pretty scissors, stitch markers, cute buttons, or yarn holders.

Storage and organization quickly become a priority for knitters.  As the yarn collection builds, it becomes helpful to keep similar weights of yarn together.  Or maybe color coordinating is a better idea.  No matter, yarn needs its place.

Each time a project is begun, the yarn, needles and pattern (if there is one) need to stay together in one place.  Also, who knits one project at a time? I usually have a minimum of three projects going at once.  Currently I keep my projects in baskets, but these are not good for travel.  I love the idea of a zipper tote.

Small bags hold small projects and are easier to pack in a suitcase.

The overwhelming choices of yarn for sale can boggle the mind!  

For one thing, no one who does yarn arts can have too much yarn, and storing that yarn can become a problem over time.   Yarn needs to stay clean and dry.  Under the bed zipped bags are nice, if there is room under your bed.

I like to organize my yarn by weight - worsted together and fingering together, etc. to see all the color choices for the item I want to knit.  A closet hanger can make finding yarn easy.  All you need is about a foot of space in a closet where the bag can be hung. 

If you would love to give yarn, or a gift certificate for yarn, to someone but don't have a clue where to look online, here is a list of my favorite places to buy yarn online.  I have bought yarn from some of these sites.  Others have beautiful yarn I plan to buy one day soon!

On Etsy 

YarnCafeCreations

WIPYarns

Other Online Shops:

Miss Babs 

The Fibre Studio

Simply Socks Yarn