Now that you've learned to make your first stitches in hand knitting, there are a few more items which should be added to your workbasket or knitting bag.

The knitting bag itself should be big enough to hold a number of pairs of needles, enough yarn for your project, your pattern and any other objects you may require to make the particular item you are knitting. It should also be reasonably sturdy so that you can carry it around with you should you be knitting in different places.

If you are completely new to knitting I don't advise buying a complete set of knitting needles of all different sizes in one make. This may seem useful but if you find you don't like the make of needles you have bought it's a waste of money. Instead, buy the pairs you need for the project you are making and add to the collection as you need to. In time you will get to know the type of needles you like and the thickness of yarn you are likely to be knitting, and then it's time to go out and fill in the gaps in your knitting needle collection.

Next you should add a clean ruler to your collection of items. It's no good having an old school or office ruler covered in ink and Tippex as these may come off onto your knitting. I keep a selection of 12 inch and 18 inch rulers handy, and I also like to measure large pieces of knitting using my 6 inch by 24 inch patchwork piece cutting ruler. It's transparent and is very accurately marked out in a grid and so you can see over quite a large area of the knitting to know whether you are measuring accurately or not. I also keep a very old laminated tape measure which has retained its accuracy over the years due to the laminating and which is marvellous for measuring the really long pieces of knitting. Or you can use one of those metal tape measures sold in the hardware stores which you roll in and out from a little box.

A crochet hook is a handy accessory for picking up dropped stitches, some cast on and cast off techniques and, dare I say it, some border techniques.

You will certainly need a pair of scissors and I keep a pair of small 4 inch embroidery scissors handy for the purpose of snipping yarn ends and cutting yarns which are too firm to break easily. I also like to keep several different sizes of tapestry and yarn needles - the tapestry needles are the ones sold for cross stitch embroidery and I find that sizes 16, 18 and 20 are most useful for knitting. I keep a needle threader handy too as this makes it really easy to thread the thicker and fancy yarns onto a small needle.

Stitch holders are useful but not essential as these are easily replaced with lengths of yarn in contrasting colours where required - the crochet hook or wool needles are great for threading the contrasting yarn through the stitches and especially if you are knitting a delicate piece, the use of piece of yarn will not place any additional stress on the knitting.

I have to say I do like the stitch markers which you can purchase from many wool stores these days - they look so pretty in the knitting and are easy to move from one needle to the other when required. However they can be expensive and again a slip knot beginning stitch on a length of yarn works just as well.

Safety pins are useful both for marking the positions of decreases and shaping and for use as mini stitch holders.

Those who like to do multicolour knitting will want to invest in yarn bobbins as you can wind short lengths of yarn onto these for each area of pattern you are knitting. They are then much less likely to tangle.

A row counter is essential especially if you want to make two items exactly the same length. I like to use the old fashioned conical shaped row counters on which you just turn the wheels at the end of the cone to get the number of the row you have knitted. If doing circular knitting these can be hung onto a safety pin and suspended from your knitting, or you could try one of the electronic or clickit row counters sold by many knitting shops.

For sewing up, glass headed dressmaker's pins will be invaluable for matching long sections of knitting and also for helping to measure areas of the knitting when picking up borders.

You will of course find other objects essential to your craft as you progress, but these are the items I find most useful.