Let's Make Stitch Markers!!!

Introduction: Who doesn’t like pretty things and a little bling from time to time? How about a little knitting or crochet "jewelry" while creating your projects?

Well, that’s what I was thinking when I asked cindylen* to join me in hosting an event on making stitch markers in the From Trash to Treasures group on ravelry.

Here’s our opening graphic that we used to invite members and welcome them to our little June event, though this appears much smaller here than it was in our thread.

*cindylen is Cindy’s ravelry name. In ravelry, we protect our identities through self-selected names and avatars as we participate in groups and events.

Our purposes were to learn (or hone) stitch marker skills to make sets for giving, sharing or selling; and to share a little fun event which would culminate in a post on my blog. The event has completed so it's time to post our accomplishments. 

The Categories: cindylen and I put our heads together and came up with a few suggested categories for making stitch markers. Since this is a group that states it is focused on "recycling, upcycling, reusing and repurposing," we decided to include a category or two with these attributes in mind. 

1.   Made from scratch stitch markers: creating beads or embellishments from clay, wood, paper, yarn or ?

2.   Nature stitch markers: things found in the woods, at the beach, in your own backyard or ?

3.   Repurposed stitch markers: made from things that started life as something else but used for this purpose.

4.   Themed or holiday stitch markers: a central theme (food, animals, flowers, Christmas, etc.).

5.   Wire Wonders: shapes made from wire.

6.   Presentation sets: complete sets of markers with gift giving in mind.

We hope you will want to create sets of your own. They make wonderful gifts for knitting and crochet friends. Then again, maybe it’s time to treat yourself and make a set of stitch markers just for you! (Don’t forget to treat yourself once in awhile—you deserve it.)

Made from Scratch category Flower Garden I by cindylen This set of knitting stitch markers, made from Shrinky Dinks, is a flower lover's treasure featuring such flowers as a rose, sunflower, daisy and daffodil.
	Made from Scratch category Garden Goodies by delights Hand-formed from Fimo clay and baked to hardness, this set of knitting stitch markers includes peas, an eggplant, a potato (complete with eyes) and a colorful carrot.
Made from Scratch category Flower Garden II by cindylen This second set of six flower knitting stitch markers by cindylen and also made from Shrinky Dinks, includes beads to help weight the markers.
	Repurposed category From the Tackle Box by daytripper How unique is this? This set of knitting stitch markers is from daytripper's husband's tackle box (with his permission, of course). daytripper used all sorts of fishing goodies including fishing line, beads that look like salmon eggs and a pink Colorado blade lure.
Repurposed category Blue Jeans Beads by cindylen Another unique set of stitch markers: center beads made from rolled strips of denim from an old pair of jeans. cindylen rolled and glued and rolled and glued to concoct this set. Notice that one bead is different from the other four. The purpose of a unique marker is to mark the beginning of a round or the start of a stitch sequence.
	Repurposed category JoAnn Beads by cindylen This set could fit comfortably in either the Repurposed or Made from Scratch category. cindylen rolled these cylindrical beads from a page from a JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store circular. These are attractive AND functional.
Wire Wonders category Rainbow Beads by Floriental Floriental specialized mostly in crochet stitch makers bending wire in unique ways to produce her sets. For crochet projects, the markers attach to stitches themselves, rather than slide on a needle, as in knitting. This set of Rainbow Beads includes graded colors in one hue per bead—eight in all.
	Wire Wonders category Simple Swirls by Floriental Here's a set of eight crochet stitch markers made from a gold colored wire that Floriental bent to shape. This set is a more understated set.
Wire Wonders category Rainbow Beads by Floriental Floriental specialized mostly in crochet stitch makers bending wire in unique ways to produce her sets. For crochet projects, the markers attach to stitches themselves, rather than slide on a needle, as in knitting. This set of Rainbow Beads includes graded colors in one hue per bead—eight in all.
	Wire Wonders category Lucky Horseshoes by Floriental Eight seems to be the magic number for Floriental's sets of markers. Here's another set of burnished gold in a U shop or horseshoe shape for the crocheter.
Wire Wonders category Easy and Elegant by Floriental Floriental was on a roll making stitch markers! Here are two more sets in two different metal tones.
	Nature Stitch Markers category Back to Nature by cindylen In this event cindylen was the most adventuresome, trying more categories and adapting more materials. Here is her set of knitting stitch markers wood discs.
Themed Stitch Markers category By the Sea by delights delights made over two dozen sets of stitch markers during this event, most of which were themed. This one features a seahorse as the one unique marker in this set of four. She coupled it with a handcrafted box and tag for a complete themed set.
	Themed Stitch Markers category Lucky You by delights Here's a themed set of five knitting stitch markers featuring purple dice beads with one unique marker of a lucky horseshoe charm.
Themed Stitch Markers category Christmas by delights Actually, these are two distinctly different sets: the two gingerbread cookies are knitting stitch markers and the two Christmas bulbs are crochet markers. About the crochet markers: notice the clasp at the top. This type of clasp is called the lobster claw. It's a jewelry making supply but works perfectly for crochet stitch markers. This set could also fit in the repurposed category as the gingerbreads were earrings and the bulbs were plastic Christmas decor.
	Presentation Set category An Apple a Day by delights This is a set of Fimo clay markers, which could also fit in the Made from Scratch or Theme category but here it is shown as a presentation set—a complete gift set. delights is making sets of markers for two of her Etsy shops. Here is (from L-R) an apple, a pear, an orange and a plum.
Presentation Set category Asian Inspired by delights Here's a striking set of four knitting stitch markers in black, gold and red with one unique stitch marker.