Coco Knits Colored Stitch Markers

THE REVIEW

Let’s talk stitch markers! Stitch markers have saved my sanity on many projects since I first discovered them. I now use them on large projects or projects that have pattern repeats for increasing rows “until you get to XXX number of stitches.” I also use them as a reminder for where to increase, decrease, or where a pattern repeat occurs. And let’s not forget knitting in the round! More than once I’ve lost my place knitting stockinette in the round and now I just place a stitch marker to help me keep track of where I am. Stitch markers, for me, are an essential tool for knitting success. (There are different types of stitch markers, some of which are excellent for crochet. These are not the ones I would use in that situation, but I’ll do a review on some opening stitch markers soon.)

Readers of the Coco Knits Yarn Snips review will recall that one of the ways that Coco Knits is unique is that their tools are magnet-based. I have their magnetic concrete tray (review coming soon!), and I really like that I can set my stitch markers down and know they will just stay where I’ve put them. It frees me up to knit in awkward spaces a better.

INITIAL REACTIONS: My previous stitch marker experiences have been with plastic and rubber stitch markers, which I’ve enjoyed. I was a bit nervous about moving to markers that don’t have quite the same give due to the material; steel can never be rubber. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to work with these markers. I primarily use bamboo needles, and the markers slip easily from one needle to the next. The colors are really pleasing to the eyes, and I love that you get 10 in each of the six available colors. I tend to color-coordinate my stitch markers for easy consistency (e.g., blue marker indicates a 25 stitch count, yellow means a 10 stitch count, or using pink stitch markers in two different locations of my work to indicate start and stop locations for a pattern repeat).

THE TEST:  I have been working on the Light and Up Shawl via a kit I bought on Craftsy using Malabrigo sock yarn (which I absolutely adore).  The pattern calls for size 8 needles and placing a total of four stitch markers. I started with my original rubber stitch markers and made it about one-third of the way through the pattern and took a look at my work: somehow, I had gaps that looked like yarn-overs (when I was doing Make One Left/Right increases) in four different places in my work! I was quite unhappy and decided that I must be tensioning wrong around the stitch markers. I ripped it all out and started over.

Second attempt, being extra careful around my rubber stitch markers: no change. The holes were still there. Better, but still there.

Third attempt, knitting as tightly as I possibly could around the stitch markers: It threw off my tension in the whole garment, and the holes were still there. I started to hate the project.

At this point, I decided it was time to test my new stitch markers. I frogged all the way back again, and restarted from scratch, this time using the Coco Knits stitch markers. I also stopped playing with my tension, instead just knitting as I normally do, with the usual little tug on the working yarn after knitting past a stitch marker. Success! NO HOLES. I am thrilled with the results, and it is so fun knitting with these colorful markers.

I’m now using the Coco Knits stitch markers first on all my projects – these have become my go-to stitch markers. They claim the markers can be used on needle sizes up to a size 13 US, but I haven’t tested anything larger than a size 8 at this time. I suspect that at larger needle sizes, it might get a bit more challenging to just slip the markers from needle to needle, but I wouldn’t hesitate to start a project and try them at that needle size. One other benefit I’ve realized as I continue to use them on my projects is that when I knit sight-unseen (generally when watching a movie), I always know when I’ve hit a stitch marker. With my rubber ones, I actually knitted past them a couple of times because they slipped so easily across my needles. It’s a perfect solution for me.