This has to be one of those knitting gadgets where you ask yourself do I really need this? Ok yes I do really need this! We have just got in the Pocket Scales from The Knitting Barber and I have to say I don’t know how I have lived without one for so long.

These pocket scales are exactly what they say. Super handy and they fit in your pocket, or more importantly your project bag! They measure 8.5cm x 4.5cm x 2.2cm and weigh just 120g. They would fit in any bag and are perfect to take on the go. They are extremely precise and can weigh amounts up to 200g and right down to 0.01g! The display is backlit LCD making it clear to read even at those dimly lit pub knit nights.

The self contained construction makes them great for your project bag. The weighing tray acts as a lid and firmly clicks in place over the buttons and the weighing mechanism, meaning you won’t accidentally switch it on when you are traveling around. It’s light but defiantly not flimsy and the rounded edges make sure that it wont damage anything or get easily damaged when it’s sliding around in your bag.

So why would you want to be weighing your yarn I hear you cry! Well there are all sorts of instances and here are just a few:

• Currently I’m using mine to make sure I have an equal colour distribution on some sleeves I’m working on. I weigh the yarn and make sure I don’t use over half of what I have of a particular colour. This works for anything you have in pairs, for example socks. If you are working one sock at a time you can always make sure you get the most out of them by weighing as you go. Top tip: If you are working on a multicoloured project take a picture of the yarn on the scale that way you don’t have to rely on notes or forget what measurement matches to what colour.
• If you are free styling a project and not sure what sort of size you will get out of the yarn you have or if you might need more yarn to make what you want, just weigh the swatch. You can then measure the swatch and then calculate the size of the finished item based on how many grams you have. I use this advice all the time in the shop especially for scarf projects. I weigh the little swatches in the shop and it makes it easier to demonstrate what sort of size you might get from a certain amount of yarn.
• Weighing leftover scraps. I use my scales for this the most especially because I keep everything. There are also a lot of scrap busting projects around at the moment where this can be handy. Top tip: If you need to know more than just grams and want to know a rough meterage: 100g of 4ply will be between 350-400m, 100g of DK will be between 200-250m. Of course different fibre types can alter this.
• If you are playing yarn chicken and want to know if you can do a few more rows. Weigh, knit a row and weigh again and that way you know how much goes into a row and you can work out if you can get to the end or have to make adjustments. Watch out for different textural stitches that can change your meterage.
• I love it for test knitting and designing as you can get a really accurate sense of how much yarn you use by weighing your ball of yarn before you start and when you finish.
• If you like knitting two at a time socks but hate knitting from one ball then being able to accurately divide your yarn into two identical balls is quite easy with this scale.

I have to say I surprised myself with how much I use this little tool. It is surprising useful and it saved me from having to use the kitchen scales which are a bit big and cumbersome.