my favorite knitting tools

Over the past years I've accumulated quite a collection of knitting tools. Not all turned out to be useful for me(e.g. that  clover yarn guide ring I got hoping it would make color knitting more bearable for me... didn't work for me.) so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite tools. This is not a sponsored post - I'm just sharing my opinion on products I love.

1. My knitting needle organizer. I made it myself because I didn't find an affordable one out there that I loved. I love it because it's super easy to find the needles you're looking for - if they're actually in there. I tend to just toss my needles in a drawer where I keep my knitting supplies because I'm too lazy to put them back in their right spot. But every couple of months I organize my needles and put them all back in :)
2. My sock project bag. I always keep it in my purse so whenever I have a couple of minutes I get it out and knit a couple of rows. I made it a while ago. I can't recall which tutorial I used but there are many easy box bag tutorials out there if you fancy making one.
3. The clover knitting stitch counter. It took me quite some time until I could justify buying it because it's pretty expensive considering it's just a piece of plastic made in China. But I never regretted buying it. It works great and it's very sturdy (my cat's favorite game is throwing it on the floor and playing with it until it ends up somewhere under one of my kitchen cabinets).
4. A good pair of scissors. Mine are from Madeira and were a gift from one of my mom's friends.
5. A measuring tape. I got this one from my roomie for Christmas - it's an owl! So cute :) And it has both metric and English scales on it.
6. T-pins. For wet blocking. Cats seem to love them too :(
7. a project bag. I've gifted similar project bags to knitting friends and they all love it. It keeps the knitting secure and clean and it's not as noisy as a plastic bag (that's what I used to hold my knitting before I decided to sew a project bag.)

A local potter made this custom yarn bowl for me. It's really great because it's big enough to hold my yarn and needles and it's much harder to lose than a project bag ;) I have quite a lot of hand winded balls of yarn so this is perfect for keeping them in place (and cat proof!)

This yarn holder is my newest toy. My mom gave it to me for Christmas and I've been using it pretty much every day since! It's perfect in combination with a ball winder because the yarn won't get super messy anymore (except if you've managed to completely mess up... then you'll end up with a big mess of a ball on your yarn holder like I currently have.). Oh and those stoppers/needle protectors are great, too! I only have the small size but they also work for bigger needles. Especially if you're knitting lace you don't wanna accidentally loose a couple of stitches...

Last but not least, Gertrud. My family's iPad is packed with hundreds of knitting patterns. I use an app called 'good reader' (also works for iPhones...) that's GENIUS. It saves sooo much money and paper if you don't have to print out every pattern. Also, you can zoom in if the charts are too small to read. And the app allows you to highlight and even hand write in the pdfs! It's great especially if you knit several repeats of one chart. My printouts used to get pretty messy and sometimes I had to print a page twice because it just wasn't readable anymore.

What are your favorite knitting tools?

ps: in case you were wondering... I use knit pro/knit picks needles. I bought an interchangeable needle set when I started getting serious about knitting and I'm very happy with them. I've had a couple of broken needles over the past years but my LYS is very customer friendly when it comes to exchanging needles. I also have a couple of addi needles that I like but I can't afford changing systems right now. If you're looking for something very durable, I'd go for the Addis. If you're on a budget but can't stand the feel of cold metal in your hands (like me...) I'd go for the knit picks.