Cool Knitting Stuff Wednesdays - Stitch Markers

I am cheating and writing this post really late on Tuesday night and will post tomorrow. I'd like to tout the wonder and usefulness of the humble stitch marker. Stitch markers are quite simply items that go onto your needle between stitches to hold a place and mark the end of a row, pattern repeat, or when you've cast on 100 stitches and don't want to count them any more.

The truly fabulous thing about stitch markers, in my little book, is that there are so many shapes, colors, and styles that everyone can find a knitting decoration to bring them joy on every round. Stitch markers range from cheapy plastic rings and those dinky rubber bands that go on kids' braces to millefiori, glass work, and beads to name a few. My favorite stitch markers were a custom job from Etsy.com:

I'm such a egomaniac, but at least I know which shawl is mine. I particularly like shops that provide customized stitch markers; wouldn't it be more fun if you were purling 300 stitches across

E-C-A-L-D-I-P-O-O-T-S?

You can also get black sheep, flying pigs, and freshwater pearls, darn near anything you could desire.

As with most of my Cool Knitting Stuff entries, you can get stitch markers damn near anywhere and even make your own. My Etsy recommendations are shops that I've either dealt with or coveted deeply and heard good things from knitting acquaintances: Dragonlady Designs, Zero Markers, & See Jayne Knit Yarns. Go forth and purchase, my good people.

In other news, I will be extending my Wednesday repertoire to include yarn and book reviews because, frankly, I'm running out of cool gadgets to talk about. Of course, if anyone would like to send me something to review, I'm not above being bought trying new things.