For beginner knitters and crocheters, keeping the right tension throughout your work can be a bit difficult. One stitch can be too tight, while another stitch can be too loose, creating an uneven look for your work.
If that’s your struggle when it comes to knitting or crocheting, a finger guide may be the tool that you need.
A finger guide is a small tool, often looking like a thick ring with loops or small dowels to guide the yarn. Not only is this tool great for beginners, but it’s also useful for experienced knitters and crocheters if you are working with multiple strands of yarn.
Often, if you are working with multiple colors to create patterns, the yarn can get tangled, or you may find it time-consuming to drop and pick up a new strand of yarn after a few stitches. Using a finger guide can really help you work with two or three strands of yarn with ease, keeping your yarn and stitches looking neat without much effort.
But what is the best kind of finger guide? The best finger guides have multiple hooks or channels to add tension and guide multiple strands of yarn. The guide should fit comfortably well and be easy to use. The shape of the guide is largely a matter of preference and individual comfort.
If this is your first time hearing about this useful tool, below is a complete guide of how to use a finger guide, as well as some of the most useful products on the market.
How Do You Use a Yarn Guide?
Beginners often find it difficult to keep the right tension while knitting or crocheting. You may find it difficult to use the traditional way of adding tension, which is to loop the yarn through your fingers several times, weave it around your fingers, or even guide the yarn with a single loop on one finger!
Yarn guides are designed to help with this very problem.
Yarn guides often look like rings that you can wear on your finger, with small loops, hooks, or dowels to guide your yarn. Depending on the design of the yarn guide, you can even use it to guide several strands of yarn, which is quite useful when you want to incorporate different colored yarns in your design.
To use the yarn guide, simply feed the yarn through the two (or more) loops and wear the yarn guide on any finger that feels comfortable to you. You’ll want to feed the yarn guide from the bottom to the top towards your fingertips so that the thread will be fed easily as you work.
For those who struggle with keeping a consistent tension with your stitches, using a yarn guide can help! The two (or more) loops help feed the yarn as you work so that you don’t have to worry about constantly adjusting the live yarn and tension on your fingers.
In case you are working with several strands of yarn to create a colorful pattern, you will want to use a yarn guide with two or more separate loops. The yarn guide will help you keep the strands separated while you work, so you can pick up new colors easily without twisting the yarn.
There are several types of yarn guides that are designed to help you work with different types of projects. Most yarn guides have two or more loops, which can function to add the right amount of tension to a single strand of yarn.
If you are working with several strands of yarn, make sure to purchase a yarn guide that has two or more separate loops so that the different strands don’t get twisted or tangled.
When you start working with a new tool, it will surely feel unfamiliar and awkward. It takes some practice to work effectively with a yarn guide.
When you first use a yarn guide, you should switch it around to different fingers to find the best fit and the most comfortable position for holding. Then, you can practice with it and make any adjustments to find the most effective way to work with the yarn guide.
When used correctly, a yarn guide can make knitting and crocheting more comfortable. A yarn guide is especially useful for people with arthritis or finds it painful to hold the yarn for a long time!
The Best Finger Guides
If you have decided that a yarn guide is a right tool for you, here are our top recommendations:
| Rank | Product | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Clover 348 Yarn Guide | Three channels, ring, plastic |
| 2. | GBSTORE Metal Yarn Guide | Two loops, ring, metal |
| 3. | Omarky Crochet Ring | One loop, fashionable ring, metal |
| 4. | Prym Knitting Thimble | Four guides, thimble shape, plastic |
| 5. | Boye Finger Guides | 3 hooks, stretchy ring, plastic |
Keep reading to learn more about each of our recommendations of highly rated yarn guides!
1. CLOVER 348 Yarn Guide
The Clover yarn guide has a “tunnel” which the yarn is fed through, and there are three different “channels” separated by small dividers. There’s a flap that you can open to insert the yarn easily through the channels, and you can close the flap to secure it after the yarn is in place.
This plastic gadget only has one size, and you can wear it on your finger as a ring while you work. The plastic composition means this yarn guide is very lightweight and perfectly smooth, so the yarn can go through comfortably.
You can use this yarn guide to work with a single strand of yarn by inserting it through one channel or even create a zigzag pattern using the channels to add a little bit more tension. If you are using several strands of yarn, you can use the channels to separate the yarn and keep them separated while you work.
We love this design because of how lightweight it is. Plus, you can use different configurations to create the right tension for your work. If you are a beginner who is just learning the first steps of knitting or crocheting, this is the perfect tool for your craft bag!
2. GBSTORE Metal Yarn Guide
This metal yarn guide is probably the easiest to use and the most popular design when it comes to yarn guides. They look like thick rings with two prominent loops to feed the yarn through. You can use this yarn guide to work with a single strand of yarn, feeding it through both loops, or you can use it to separate two different colored yarn.
The package comes with four different yarn guides in different sizes, so you can find the best fit for your fingers or even use two at once to work with more than two colors of yarn. The material is stainless steel, which feels cool, smooth, and comfortable against your skin. The material won’t rust, which means you’ll be able to use it for a long time.
There’s a reason why this open thimble shape is one of the most common designs for yarn guides – it is quite easy to work with, and it doesn’t take much practice to figure out the best configuration for your knitting or crocheting. Overall, we recommend this set because of its versatility and ease of use.
3. Omarky Crochet Ring
This yarn guide is designed to look like a beautifully crafted ring in the shape of a peacock, and you can totally wear it as an accessory even when you are not knitting. When used as a knitting thimble, you can feed the yarn through the ring’s body and into the hook created by the peacock’s neck.
Compared to the other yarn guide designs, this knitting thimble is really easy to maneuver. The ring lays flat on your finger, and the tension is created by the space between your finger and the ring. Therefore, it’s easy to adjust the yarn and maintain the right tension throughout your project.
One minus point about this knitting thimble is that it is only designed to work with one strand of yarn, so you may not be able to do any color work with this ring design unless you use two (and the set comes with three, so this should be more than feasible).
Moreover, since the yarn will be rubbing against your skin when it is fed through the ring, you may feel some irritation when working with really scratchy materials like certain types of wool. But remember, that can happen anyway when you crochet or knit without one.
However, its interesting design makes this yarn guide the chosen tool for many crafters. Once you are done knitting or crocheting, you can even wear it as a fashion accessory!
4. Prym Knitting Thimble
Similar to the Clover yarn guide, the Prym knitting thimble is designed with four different channels divided by dividers, and the yarn is held in place with an adjustable flap. However, this design is a bit different from other types of finger guides, as it can only be worn on your fingertips, much like a sewing thimble.
Some people may prefer this design since the knitting thimble will not be slipping up and down your finger as you work. The knitting thimble is designed to fit well with most fingers, but having only one size, you may want to consider other options if your hand is too small or too big.
The four channels on this knitting thimble are quite pronounced, designed to work with thick yarn. This option is perfect if you are working with several colors on your design since the four channels will hold your yarn in place, maintain even tension, and help you keep the strands separated.
5. Boye Finger Guides
These yarn guides are specifically designed for you to work with several strands of yarn at once. Each plastic ring is equipped with three pronounced hooks, which will keep the yarn in place as you work.
The plastic ring can fit on your finger quite comfortably without slipping, and the hook design can keep your yarn secure while you work on your pattern. This package comes with three rings designed for different yarn weights ranging from light to bulky, so you can find the one that works best with your yarn.
If you are using a single strand of yarn, you can use the ring to add tension to your work by feeding your yarn through two or more hooks. Overall, this design is super beginner-friendly, lightweight, and highly versatile, so you can work with a wide range of projects.
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