The Knotted Rose: Quick and Easy Stitch Marker DIY

I have tons of stitch markers, I know I do... I just can't seem to find them at the moment.

They're not the best markers, just the cheap rubbery plastic ones that can be used in both knitting and crochet. I started a project thinking I'd be able to find them when I needed more then the 6 jump ring markers I bought a week earlier thinking they were cute. But I quickly figured out that I had no idea where my other stitch markers had gotten off to and started using bits of waste yarn as markers.

What a mess!

It worked for a while, but the jump ring markers kept snagging the yarn as I was knitting and the waste yarn was unraveling and getting tangled. I didn't want to buy more markers and I just can't seem to find my other ones. But digging through my craft hoard I came across a bunch of jewelry making items from when I made the Princess a ballerina tiara for her big ballet recital.

She was the Prima of her Christmas recital

It reminded me that I had seen something about making your own markers with jewelry wire and beads. I checked and I had everything needed to make some. And I did.

I made 35 skull bead markers.

But guess what; I didn't make enough! I Needed to make more so here's a quick tutorial on how I made them.

Items needed:

Pliers with wire cutting area
Jewelry wire that does not crease easily; I used 0.45 mm coated beading wire
Crimp beads
Knitting needle to help size the wire properly
Beads of your choice; I recommend getting a variety of sizes as some beads will need smaller beads between them and the crimp bead to keep the larger bead falling off over the crimp bead.

Supplies

Next, play with the placement of your beads until you are happy with the order. Put them on the wire with out cutting it and bend the wire back through the beads creating a loop. Put the knitting needle through the loop and adjust the length of the wire until the beads hang far enough away from the needle that the marker will be able to slide back and forth easily; as well as transfer to another needle without having to pull it off the first needle.

Wire has not been cut from the spool yet.

Once you are happy cut the wire. Do not crimp the beads yet! Carefully remove the beads form the wire and use the cut piece as a template to cut the rest of the wires.

Wires are now all the same length for each marker.

Once all of your wires are cut you can now start beading them. Be sure to add a crimp bead to each side of your bead placement so that the beads stay in place.