While there are plenty of tools, supplies, and notions you can have in your knitting bag, you’ll find my absolute favorite supplies listed below (find my favorite knitting needles here). Instead of a bag bulging with everything I might possibly need, I prefer to keep things streamlined and simple, with just the things I consider essential. You’ll also find a list of finishing tools – which you don’t need while you work but will certainly need when you’re putting the finishing touches on your project.

I’ve also included a list down below of items that I don’t use but are often found in knitting bags (and I’ll also tell you why I don’t use them). And, at the bottom of this page, you’ll find how I organize multiple projects so I have enough supplies on hand for all my works in progress.

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Favorite Knitting Notions

These are my favorite notions – all the things you’ll find in my knitting bag (depending on the project, of course).

• Ruler in inches and centimeters – I prefer a hard ruler to a fabric tape measure (and definitely before a stitch gauge ruler). Pick one up at any office supply store.
• Scissors or snips – to quickly cut your yarn of course. Any kind will do (but these cute little snips look like a nice choice).
• Yarn swift & ball winder (I use this ball winder from Knit Picks & this swift from Amazon) – if you purchase any yarn in hanks, you will definitely want these. I have done the ‘hank over the chair’ technique and it gets old really fast.
• Crochet hooks (find my favorite at Knit Picks) – crochet hooks are useful for picking up dropped stitches or replacing the third needle in a 3-needle bind-off (and lots of other useful tasks!). I LOVE the double-sided set from Knit Picks – all the usefulness of a set of crochet hooks in a variety of sizes in a compact size and with a nice reusable case.
• Stitch markers (Knit Picks has a nice variety) – these are really your knitting best friend – they can be used to keep track of rows, places you need to increase or decrease, to mark off pattern repeats, and a million other methods. I like the metallic locking markers for keeping track of the rows I’ve worked or places I’ve increased or decreased; small split ring markers for marking specific stitches; and any colorful markers for marking pattern repeats or holding finished pieces together for seaming.
• Stitch holders (find my favorite at Knit Picks) – are so useful when you need to put some stitches on hold (obviously!). While you can certainly thread some waste yarn through the stitches with a tapestry needle, the stitch holders I recommend are so nice to use because you can immediately knit your stitches right off the holder (instead of putting them all back onto your needle when it’s time to work them).
• Needle holders (like these at Knit Picks) – I use cheap plastic coils to hold my needles together on my work in progress but there are plenty of other holders available (like these Needle Keepers from Knit Picks).
• Chart keeper (Knit Picks has my favorite) – I’m a paper and pencil knitter (I like to check off the things I’ve finished) so a magnetic chart keeper is a must for me.
• Cable needles (here’s a nice set from Knit Picks) – for all those cable knitting projects, a few cable needles are essential.

Favorite Finishing Tools

These are the things you should have on hand for those finished projects. Proper finishing is a skill all by itself and it can elevate a garment from ‘homemade’ to handmade.

• Wool wash (available at Knit Picks) – a nice finish for your wool-based garments. A good wool wash doesn’t even need to be rinsed out.
• Tapestry needles (my favorite set at Knit Picks) – I prefer the needles with bent tips so I can maneuver those yarn tails or seaming stitches more easily.
• T-pins (from Knit Picks) and blocking combs (from Amazon) – you’ll need plenty of pins for blocking your projects. Look for those that are rust-resistant – you certainly don’t want any rust stains on your finished garments!
• Blocking mats (like these at Knit Picks) – foam boards are essential for placing and pinning your blocked pieces.
• Lace blocking wires (from Knit Picks) – instead of pinning out every bit of that oversized shawl, run a blocking wire through the edges and pin the wire – it makes blocking so much easier. Tip: be sure to wipe down your wires when you receive them, sometimes they have grease on them from the manufacturing process.

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More Knitting Supplies

While I don’t use the items listed below, many knitters do, so you might find them useful (and I’ll share some details about why I don’t use them, just as an FYI).

• Stitch gauge (like this one at Knit Picks) – I don’t like these small stitch gauge rulers because I believe taking your gauge measurements over such a small area (sometimes just an inch or two) doesn’t produce the proper results. Instead, I work a larger gauge swatch, usually around 6 inches, and measure the whole width of the swatch with a ruler. But, these gauges are useful because they often include needle gauges and other useful information.
• Row counters (here’s one from Knit Picks) – I believe you should learn to read your stitches and count rows. No finicky row counter needed when you know how to read your knitting. But this one is kind of neat because you can slide it right along your needles while you work.
• Sock blockers (Knit Picks has some) – while sock blockers can be nice for those pretty Instagram pictures, you really don’t need them. Socks shouldn’t be stretched out before wearing – use your feet to block them.
• Yarn bobbins (available at Knit Picks) – if you like Intarsia, you are probably familiar with all those yarn tails. One way to keep things organized is with bobbins (but I prefer to just twist the yarn over my fingers into little butterflies that hang off the back of the work).
• Pom pom maker (available at any craft store) – while useful, a piece of cardboard cut to size also does the trick.

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Setting up Your Knitting Bag

If you are a ‘one project at a time’ kind of knitter, then it’s easy to just have one set of supplies and tools. But, if you’re like me and have a few different projects on your needles, then sometimes it’s nice to have a small set of supplies for each project.

Tip: read through your pattern and make a note of the small things you think you’ll need (stitch markers, waste yarn, a tapestry needle, etc.) then you can collect them all in one place and keep them in your project bag.

I like to keep the yarn (at least one or two skeins, if it’s a large project with multiple skeins, I usually keep the extra skeins on a shelf), the pattern, knitting needles, and a small zippered pouch with just the necessary supplies for that project which usually consists of a crochet hook (in case of dropped stitches), stitch markers, a coil for keeping my knitting needles together while the project is in my bag, a small pair of snips or scissors, and, if necessary, stitch holders.

Keeping your notions and supplies streamlined and simplified will make it easy to keep your knitting projects organized. For more organizational resources, take a look at my favorite storage & organization tools.