Today, I am sharing how I bought simple silver charms on Etsy and turned them into one-of-a-kind stitch markers for a gift. The entire project cost 10 for a set of 10 stitch markers. I find streamlined yet detailed stitch markers are lovely while knitting. I made some a few years ago that were little skull-and-crossbones, which are lightweight and flop around a lot, getting caught in the knitting. So, when I saw these darling Matrioska charms in the YBatchi Etsy shop, I was delighted. Made of Tibetan silver and measuring about 2cm in length, they have the weight of a fishing lure weight with great detail. After ordering two batches, I set to work.
Matryoshka, or Russian nesting dolls, are enchanting. My friend Marseille particularly loves dolls so the plan formed to create these as part of her care package, which I will tell you about next week.
I used almost the same method as I did before, but, the original charms are different so I will go over it again here specific to using these charms. It is simple and not very good when knitting with cobweb weight yarn because the type of ring will catch on cobweb yarns, but for sock and thicker it works well.
And this is how I did it…
I bought a €1 bag of 10 mini wind-on rings at the local craft store. Here are the wind-on rings since they are more unique. These rings might be problematic for lace weight knitting because the wind-on feature may catch, but I’m using the for DK and Aran weight so it should be ok.
Then I wound the forged loop of the charm onto the jump ring. It is secure and strong. Much simpler than using open-loop charms and more peace of mind knowing the Matryoshka loops will not pull apart. I have since started using the spare charms to replace lost zipper pulls and they hold up to big boy wear and tear!
This is the final outcome… It cost about $1 per stitch marker, which seems like a lot but I am still pleased with them.
Here is a photo of the charms before and after with the loop/rings I used.
