Making Custom Beaded Wire Stitch Markers

I’ve seen tutorials for making stitch markers in many ways. A few years ago I made stitch markers by wrapping the wire around a fat pencil, giving it a twist, and bending the ends to go through the sides of beads. With such thick wire it was a bit of a pain but after the first few I got the hang of it and wrapped several dozen. They were pretty and worked well but then I saw a simpler version and wanted that.

The instructions were to take a jump ring, slide on a bead, and glue the bead over the gap in the wire to cover the rough edges that could snag your yarn. Using a pre-made jump ring is fine, except that it limits you on size. There aren’t many jump rings big enough to fit on a size 15 or 17 or even 50 knitting needle. But you can make your own jump rings so easily.

I used colored wire that is 16 gauge. You could use a 20 gauge wire but I like the sturdier weight of the 16 gauge. Both sizes are easy to find in any craft store or even some department stores that carry jewelry making supplies. I chose black and copper colors but there's red, purple, and blue available as well. Many colored wires are available. You could use any wire but I felt the coated wires would not effect my knitting needles so that's why I chose those. Pure copper and sterling silver will acquire a patina and I worried about that transferring to my Addi needles.

I wrapped the wire around a dowel. I happened to have a set of dowels that I had bought at a department store and I picked the biggest one. I think the set cost $1-2. You could use a pencil also. The wire was about $2.50. I used tri beads that cost between $2.50-3.00 when I bought them a few years ago.

I cut off about 2 feet of wire from the coil and wrapped the wire around the dowel by hand. It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, having a bit of space between the wire wraps made it easier to cut. 

Slide the wire off the dowel and use a flush cutter to snip the wire. I pressed the back of the flush cutter against the end of the wire to line it up evenly with the first loop.

Cut each jump ring from coil.

Slide bead onto newly created jump ring. Twist the jump ring closed. Just like in making jewelry, it’s important not to pull ends apart but use a twisting action to bring ends together. Hearing the ends click against each other is good. That means it’s a nice, tight fit.

Dab some jeweler’s glue onto the gap and slide bead up and over gap. Set aside and let dry completely. There you have it, a completed stitch marker.

The best part of learning this process is that you can custom fit any stitch marker. Just use a knitting needle a size up from what you want the final size of marker to be. You’ll see here a size 17 knitting needle which produces a stitch marker big enough to fit size 15 knitting needles.

I wrapped wire around a plastic size 50 knitting needle. For whatever reason, the plastic seemed to push away the wire, leaving a gap. That means that the stitch marker made on the plastic size 50 knitting needle can also be used for that needle.

I’ve been using the new stitch markers for about a week now and just love them. The beads have a translucent depth to them that make me feel good seeing them decorating the top of my knitting. They are light yet strong and so functional.  I often like simple items and these really work well for me both functionally and aesthetically.

I used Aleene’s Jewelry and Metal glue. Remember, you aren’t gluing the wires shut but gluing the bead over the gap. Pick a glue that will hold a bead to wire and all is good. You can make any size stitch marker that you want. Just be sure to check that the bead fits over the wire. It can get a little snug when the wire curves compared to being straight.

The topaz and amethyst beads are the same size as the aqua but the aqua did not want to fit on the wire once it was curved so only managed to get a few to work. It's the size of the bead's hole that matters. The bigger white beads in first picture are not glued. I just pinched the wire after inserting the ends into the beads. This will work also but will greatly reduce size of knitting needle that they will fit on.

Simple but elegant, custom stitch markers. Give it a try! You'll be surprised at how easy it is and you'll end up making dozens and dozens of these functional little rings of beauty. These would make great gifts for your favorite knitter.