equipment

Needles

Straight pins

Circular or wire

Needle

Double-pointed needles

Stitch markers – for keeping a note of stitches or marking a section of stitches to return to. (You can also use a spare length of yarn in a different colour to stand out.)

Stitch holder – for keeping a set of stitches secure and preventing then from unravelling whilst they are not in work. (You can also use a large safety pin.)

Yarn snips/scissors – for snipping yarn ends.

Large-eyed blunt-tipped needle – for sewing up finished pieces of knitting and weaving in yarn ends; the needle’s large eye makes it easier to thread with chunky yarn.

Cable needle – used to hold a group of stitches in reserve during a cable pattern; choose to correspond to the thickness of the knitting needles.

Glass-headed pins – for pinning together pieces of knitting; coloured heads enable you to find a pin again when sewing up.

Tape measure – for checking dimensions; make sure the tape is not too old or stretched and always measure on a flat surface.

Notebook – for recording notes, stitch counts and any pattern amendments or additional information.

Pencil – for recording any notes or amendments in your notebook or directly marking off rows onto the pattern as you knit.

Washi/masking tape – for marking your place in a pattern.

Calculator – for the maths, working out tensions, or calculating stitch and row counts when adapting a design or using a substituted yarn.