How to Store Knitting Needles: Ultimate Guide

Life is a lot easier for crafters when their supplies are well-organized. If you can go straight to your craft closet and reach right for the item that you need, then you can begin your next project without any stress. Therefore, it’s important to learn how to store knitting needles, crochet hooks, notions, and other craft supplies. What’s particularly unique about how to store knitting needles is that there are so many different types of knitting needles. Therefore, you need more than one type of storage solution. We asked on Instagram for how people store theirs, and you’ll see those responses interspersed throughout this article in the black and white text images below. We’ll also share our additional thoughts on how to store knitting needles.

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There Are Many Ways for How To Store Knitting Needles

As you can already begin to see from the Instagram responses that we received, there are so many different ways to store knitting needles. You can use supplies that you already have around the home such as vases, bowls, jewelry containers, tackle boxes, craft drawers, and other containers. You can DIY your own knitting needle cases via sewing, knitting, or crochet. Or you can purchase knitting needle organizers that are specifically designed and sold for this exact purpose. The knitting needle storage that you use will depend on how many knitting needles you have, what kind and size they are, your personal organization preferences, and your budget.

Why You Need a Variety of Knitting Needle Storage Solutions

If you’re an active knitter, then you probably own a variety of different types of needles. These may include:

• Single point or straight needles. Each size comes as a set of two. Therefore, you’ll need storage that keeps that set of two together. And of course you’ll probably have different sizes. Therefore, you need storage that contains multiple sets, with each pair together.
• Double point needles or DPNs. Each sizes comes as a set of four or five. Similarly, you’ll want to keep each full set together by size. Plus you’ll want multiple sizes held together.
• Fixed circular needles. Basically, you have one needle on each end connected by a cable in the center. This is a single item per needle size.
• Interchangeable circular knitting needles. In this case, you can detach cables of different sizes and re-attach them to different size needles. Therefore, you need to figure out how to store knitting needles together with cables in a way that makes them easy to mix-and-match without losing any of them. This is often the most difficult style for finding storage solutions. However, there are a lot of great options out there.

Tip: Store Knitting Needles In The Containers They Came In

This is an especially smart option when you buy an entire set of knitting needles at once. Often, they come inside of organized containers, folders, or project bags. Since the container was designed to hold the whole set, this is a smart way to keep the whole set together. For example: check out how the Jimmy Beans Wool SmartStix Interchangeable Set with its own easy storage:

If you’re in BiCrafty Bootcamp, then you might recall that one of the many things we loved about our ChiaoGoo knitting needles was the zippable storage containers they arrived in:

Even if you don’t buy full knitting needle sets, sometimes the storage containers they come in are still the best storage solution. For example, Signature Needle Arts sells their DPN sets in these cute little tubes that open on either end. Keep each set in its own tube. Keep the tubes together in a larger box. Take a look:

Marly Bird Favorite Knitting Needle Storage Supplies: Erin Lane Bags

You know that the whole Marly Bird team loves to team up with Erin Lane Bags. Truly, we can’t recommend their products enough. And they have a whole host of ready-made solutions for how to store knitting needles. If you head to the website and check out the left sidebar, you’ll see “Needle Organizers.” Then if you hit the dropdown button, you’ll see that’s further broken down into:

• Circular solutions
• Single Interchangeable Storage
• Double Interchangeable Storage
• Interchangeable Tips Pocket
• DPN/Crochet Organizers
• All-In-One Solutions

Plus she has a pattern keeper and organizers for your knitting notions. If you’re just beginning to try to figure out which options are out there for storing your knitting needles, this is a great resource. For example, you’ll see that this Knitpack holds interchangeable needles at the bottom and knitting notions at the top:

Marly Bird Team Member Meg Likes The Circular Solution

Obviously, Erin Lane Bags isn’t the only one creating ready-made solutions for knitting needle storage. Team member Meg uses DPN storage as well as circular needle storage from The Circular Solution. Check out their smart, convenient, well-labeled hanging bag for storing your fixed circular needles:

Of course, you could make your own hanging bags, roll-up bags, or flat storage bags using sewing skills or other crafting skills. There are tons of great DIY options out there. Moreover, there are lots of great Etsy sellers who offer similar solutions. You just have to find what’s right for you.

More Jimmy Beans Wool Knitting Needle Storage Solutions

We already mentioned that Jimmy Beans Wool knitting needle sets come in their own organizers that are great to just keep on using. However, we want to make sure that you know that they also have a ton of different organizers similar to those from Erin Lane Bags and The Circular Solution. Their collaboration with DellaQ includes everything from backpacks and project bags to knitting needle storage solutions. For example, here are just three options from their Cotton Print Collection:

Don’t Forget About Project Bags

Project bags are designed to hold one or a few projects at a time. A good project bag also has some storage for your knitting needles. So, although this won’t likely be your primary form of knitting needle storage, you should always keep it in mind as one option. See some of our favorite knitting project bags here.

Can You Use Crochet Hook Storage to Store Knitting Needles?

Marly Bird team member Kathryn is primarily a crocheter. She loves how easy it is to organize crochet hooks (which we’ll do a post on soon!) After all, unlike with knitting needles, you don’t necessarily have to keep sets together. In other words, you need to be able to find your G hook or your J hook but not necessarily at the same time. Therefore, you can easily just store crochet hooks in zippered pouches, Tupperware, beautiful vases, etc. Can you store knitting needles the same way?

Yes and no. Now that Kathryn’s become bicrafty, she has a whole lot of knitting needles. And she’s found that she needs some of these other more advanced solutions in order to keep those knitting needles organized. That said, though, she’s discovered that unlike many crafters, she prefers large straight knitting needles. Sure, there’s a place for the DPNs and the circulars, but she loves her single-points. And since that only means keeping a pair of two together, she does store those similarly to how she stores her crochet hooks. The ones she uses most often are in a ready-to-go zippered pouch. The ones she uses less frequently are stored together in a larger bag. She particularly loves the Prym straight needles because the two ends interlock with one another. Therefore, it’s easy to keep each set together even when throwing a bunch of different sizes together in one bag.

And theoretically, you can store a small selection of varied needles and hooks together in one zippered pouch, such as this one from Darn Good Yarn:

Knitting Needles You Use Often vs. Rarely vs. Just Display

A lot of us have a variety of different knitting needles. Mostly, we have a few go-to sets that we use all of the time. We want to keep these as organized as possible but also as accessible as possible.

Then we have the ones that we use for certain projects but don’t need all that often. For example, extra jumbo knitting needles for working with Super Bulky Yarn. We want those stored conveniently where we can easily find them when we need them. However, they don’t need to be immediately accessible. Therefore, they might go into boxes in under-the-bed storage or back-of-the-closet shelves.

And then we have some special needles that we don’t really use but we keep because they’re pretty. Maybe they’re a vintage set passed down from a family member. Maybe you bought them because they were so beautiful but then realized you didn’t like working with them as much. Those are the ones you should display. Put them in clear glass vases or something similar and store them in your craft space to inspire you!

More Great Ways for How to Store Knitting Needles

We really loved all of these answers that you gave us over on Instagram. And we hope that as you read through them here, you’re getting tons of great ideas for the best ways to organize your own knitting supplies. We’ve also curated a few other lists of ideas to share with you, although you’ll discover that a lot of those suggestions are already given here by you smart readers!

Other Articles About Knitting Needle Storage:

• All Free Knitting offers 61 reader solutions to knitting needle storage
• WEBS has a breakdown of 30+ crochet hook and knitting needle storage ideas
• This Pinterest page offers a great visual look at how to store knitting needles

And we want to see how you store yours! So take a photo of your knitting needle storage (super organized or super messy, there’s no right way!) Share it in the Marly’s Minions Facebook Group or over on Instagram with @themarlybird #marlybird and we’ll take a look!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best ways to store straight knitting needles?

Several great options! A tall jar or vase on your craft table holds straight needles upright and makes them easy to grab… and looks beautiful. Fabric rolls with individual pockets keep each size separate and protected… great for traveling. Fabric pouches with elastic loops hold each size. Cork cylinders with the needles stuck upright work well for displayed storage. Repurposed tall boxes, tubes, or containers work great. The main goal is keeping sizes together (or clearly labeled) so you can find what you need without digging through a pile.

How should I store circular needles to prevent tangling?

The biggest challenge with circular needles is that pesky cable tangling. Individual zippered bags for each size is one of the most popular solutions. Binder pocket pages in a ring binder (each pocket holds one circular, labeled by size) is very organized and visible. Plastic key rings tagged with the size and hung on a hook create easy-access hanging storage. Dedicated circular needle cases with individual slots are great if you have a large collection. Whatever system you choose, the key is keeping each needle individual rather than tossed together in a pouch where they’ll tangle hopelessly.

How do I organize interchangeable needle sets?

Most interchangeable sets come with their own case designed for the specific tips, cables, and connectors. If your original case is worn out or doesn’t work for you, invest in a dedicated interchangeable needle organizer with clear pockets or slots. Keep the tips sorted by size (most cases are designed for this already). Keep cables sorted by length. Store connectors and tightening tools in a small zipper pouch within the case. The original manufacturer’s case is usually well-designed for the set… if you keep it, use it as intended.

What about double-pointed needles?

DPNs are tiny and love to escape! The classic solution is keeping each set (usually 4-5 needles in the same size) together in a labeled tube, pouch, or case. You can buy purpose-made DPN cases with multiple slots. Repurposed prescription bottles (clean and relabeled) hold a set of small DPNs perfectly. Some crafters fold and snap them into the center of the ball of yarn they’re using them with. The most important thing is keeping all needles of the same size together… losing one DPN out of a set of 4 is genuinely frustrating when you need all of them for a small-circumference project.

Should I label all my knitting needles by size?

Yes! Especially if you’re building a collection. Many needles are labeled with size somewhere on the needle, but it can be hard to read without good lighting. A paint marker or nail polish dot in different colors for each size range is a quick labeling system. For circular needles in zipper bags, a label on the bag makes identification instant. Many crafters use a needle gauge (a small tool with holes in various sizes) to check unlabeled needles… it’s a useful tool to have even if you do label everything, because labels fall off and older needles often came without clear markings.