what are your favorite resources for learning magic loop? especially variations that avoid laddering.
bonus: ... how do I use stitch markers? do I just slide them onto the needle and hope everything works out later? if there's a getting started resource for these as well, I kind of need it.
@ansate I haven't learned magic loop so I can't help you there - I prefer to use double-pointed needles.
But in regard to using stitch markers, I do have experience with that.
First of all, there's more than one kind of stitch-marker. There are two main categories: closed, and open(able). Closed stitch markers can only be used one way: slide them onto the needle. They mark the space between two stitches. They "travel" with the needle; that is, while you are knitting, you get to the stitch marker, and you transfer it from one needle to the other, so it now marks the space between the stitch you just did and the stitch you are about to do.
Open stitch markers can be used in two ways: they can be slid onto the needle like closed markers, or they can be attached to a specific stitch in the knitting (and are able to be removed from it later). When attached to a stitch, rather than marking the space between stitches, it marks *that* stitch. Thus, it travels with the stitch, rather than travelling with the needle. When you get to that point in the row/round, the marker is attached to that stitch, in the row below the current row, and if you want to mark that spot again, you need to remove it from that stitch, and attach it to the new stitch that needs marking.
So, why would you use openable stitch markers, if they have to be moved all the time?
1. For marking the right side of the work. Closed markers can't do that, because they are not on the front or the back, they are between everything.
2. For marking the start of a round. Yes, you could use closed markers for that, but because one is likely to pause the knitting at the start of a round, unless you are very meticulous with needle-protectors, a closed marker could just fall off the needle, and you will have lost it. Attaching an openable marker to the actual stitch which marks the start of a round means it won't fall off; you don't need to move it every row, once every five rows is fine.
@lisettedeboer @ansate I've never used running stitch markers, though I have seen them used every now and then.
In regard to closed stitch markers, some people do prefer thicker rings rather than thinner ones, because they stand out more, are more visible. But I, like you, lean towards the thinner metal rings, because they don't get in the way as much.
One of my favourite styles of stitch marker is an open-loop marker made of metal. Most open-loop markers are thick plastic, and I find them too chunky. The metal ones are nice and thin, and more versatile than closed metal rings, since they are open-style. This can be Very Important if one is knitting with a forethought lifeline and slide-on-the-needle markers, since you can slip them off the lifeline while still keeping them on the needle.
Melissa Santos
Kerr Avonsen (she/her)
Elizenery🔻