This Gal's Guide to Gift Shopping for Knitters

It's that time of year, Christmas is right around the corner. If you're anything like me then you struggle when it comes time to buy gifts. Suddenly, I don’t know who the person I’m shopping for is, their likes their dislikes. Have I really known them my entire life? Has my whole life been a lie?!

When I finally calm down, I start to remember their hobbies and the things they enjoy to do. Then I hit another roadblock, I know very little about their hobbies, and what would or wouldn’t be useful to them. I know they say, 'it's the thought that counts' but when I buy gifts I want the recipient to actually enjoy it and find it useful. That's why I decided to create this list, for anyone stuck on what to get that special knitter in their life.

I just want to mention quickly, that along with links to Amazon and Etsy shops, I suggest local yarn stores or craft shows. If you’re unsure of where a yarn store is near you, you can look it up on knit map. The staff will be very helpful if you’re not quite sure about what you’re looking for. They'll probably have even more suggestions than what I have here.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links when you make a purchase through those links I make a small commission. I would never link to something I haven't or don't plan to buy and try myself.

Stitch Markers

Most if not all knitters use some form of stitch marker. They’re easy to use and even easier to lose, so we’re always in need of new ones, even though somewhere in the house we have dozens upon dozens of them. They come in so many shapes, colors and styles.

1. Soft rings
2. Locking markers
3. Novelty/charms - Just add a jump ring to any charm and you have an instant stitch marker. I personally love the charms from Sucre Sucre Miniatures or The Nome Knitter.
4. Local yarn stores carry commercial markers and may also carry locally made novelty ones.
5. If you're DIY minded go ahead and make you're own beaded charms.

Project/Notion Bags

Project and notion bags are great for those on the go knitters who always, no matter where they are, seem to be knitting. Notion bags help us stay organized when we have a whole bunch of WIPs going at once. They’re also great at keeping our small projects protected in our purses or bags when we’re out and about. Notions bags are great for, theoretically, keeping all our notions in one place and preventing them from getting lost at the bottom of our knitting bags.

1. Too Daughters
2. Ewe Sew An Sew
3. Lavender Hill Knits
4. Mama Made Waffles
5. Local yarn store or craft shows
6. If you know your way around a sewing machine, making a small zipper bag is a great option.

Yarn bowls

Many knitters love yarn bowls. When yarn is traditionally wound the ball will bounce and dance all over the place. Yarn bowls prevent that and keep yarn in one place and free of any dust, hair or dirt that may be on the ground where ever we're knitting.

1. New Moon Studio
2. Heidi's Shoppe
3. Local yarn store or craft shows

Ravelry Patterns

If you’re willing to sign up for a free Ravelry account, you’ll be able to buy and send patterns to other users. You can search for your knitter by name and then filter by location. Then you can go through their favorites and find a paid for pattern that they like and send it as a gift to them. It’s something nice, that will make them feel like you went the extra mile. My best friend since high school did this for me recently, and it was a really nice surprise.

Gift Cards

It may seem impersonal to buy someone gift cards, but they're great for those of you who want to gift yarn, but don’t know where to even start. Yarn buying can be a very personal thing for a knitter and while we always enjoy getting yarn, we all have our preferences and sometimes would rather buy our own yarn. So, a gift card is sometimes the best option. You could even go to the store with the gift card recipient and make a day of it to add a more personal touch to this gift.

KnitPicks, Webs, Jimmy Beans Wool and Etsy are all great places to get gift cards for knitters. I’d also check out your local yarn store to see what they offer in terms of gift cards as well. Maybe I'm a control freak, but I love getting gift cards. They help expand my knitting budget and get something I might not be able to afford on my own. 

Entertainment

A lot of us knitters, like having some sort of entertainment while we’re knitting. I, for one, like to either watch TV or listen to podcasts or music. Others might like to listen to an audiobook, or even read a book.

1. Netflix and Hulu gift cards (Can be found at most retail stores)
2. Favorite movies
3. iTunes gift card (Can be found at most retail stores)
4. Audiobooks
5. Spotify gift card (Can be found at most retail stores)
6. Favorite books
7. A book or tablet stand for reading while knitting

I hope this takes away some of the stress of holiday and gift shopping. Now if anyone wants to make a list of gift ideas for carpenters, I’m all ears. And if any of my fellow knitters have any more suggestions, let us all know in the comments.

One last thing. Follow my shiny new Instagram account where I'll be highlighting some of these gift ideas with pretty pictures. And if you're a knitter, join in on #KnittersGiftList on both Instagram and Twitter and tell me what's on your list this year.