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Clover Thread Cutters

A Safe & Convenient Alternative to Cutting Yarn with Scissors

Jun 2, 2008 Renee Blixt

Thread cutters are a wonderful alternative to scissors. The airline industry, perhaps a bit irrationally, thinks otherwise.

Thread cutters are handy little tools that cut through threads and most yarns without posing any risks to fingers. A round disk of sharp-edged steel is encased in a larger zinc disc. Small notches are cut in the larger disc to reveal the sharp edge of the inner disc which is what cuts through yarn.

Types of Thread-Cutters

Clover makes different types of thread-cutters.

Pendant Thread-Cutters—Pendant cutters can be set on top a thread spool or used as a pendant. Most thread cutter pendants have ornate floral relief patterns and pendant arms so that they are wearable as jewelry.
Ring Thread-Cutters—Ring thread cutters are just the same as the other cutters, except they are wearable as rings.

The ring and pendant cutters retail for anywhere between $6.95USD and $7.50USD.

Clover Brand Company

In October of 1925, Toshio Okada, father of the current Executive Advisor Hidekazu Okada and CEO Tomiji Okada, embarked on a journey to create a company responsible for the manufacture, distribution and exportation of items such as sewing and knitting needles and accessories, embroidery and patchwork tools, and other handicraft accessories.

Clover is a Japanese company currently with branches in the United States, and Germany. More than eighty years after its birth, the Clover tradition of growth still persists.

Thread Cutters and Airline Checkpoints

Thread cutters were touted for years as the solution to the need to carry scissors into any high-security situation. For a while, they did get by checkpoints and security points. Security guards rarely saw them as non-jewelry. However, in recent times, it’s actually a hit-or-miss “solution.”

The notches are thin and small and only a tiny amount of the steel blade is ever exposed. There is enough to cut thread or yarn but nothing more. From a security perspective, an average ballpoint pen could do more damage. Some people have hands that are deadly weapons.

Nevertheless, the Transportation Security Administration states, “Most of the items needed to pursue a needlepoint project are permitted in your carry-on baggage or checked baggage with the exception of circular thread cutters or any cutter with a blade contained inside. These items cannot be taken through a security checkpoint. They must go in your checked baggage.”

Here’s hoping the airlines realize that these objects are harmless. It would be nice to be able to knit and crochet without having to gnaw through yarn like a rodent. In the meantime, enjoy a cutter ring or pendant for convenience’s sake.

The copyright of the article Clover Thread Cutters in Knitting & Crochet is owned by Renee Blixt. Permission to republish Clover Thread Cutters in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.