PDXKnitterati

Have you ever had a knitting pattern tell you to increase or decrease a number of stitches evenly over a row or round, but not tell you how? Or have you designed or adapted something for yourself, and struggled to get your increase or decrease round to work out?

I’m a fan of this online knitting calculator from Worldknits. Alex Capshaw-Taylor is the generous soul behind this site, and it is super helpful to me right now!

More about numbers: I’m pretty distracted lately, and my handy barrel counter/stitch marker isn’t getting the job done for me. I sail past it, and then I can’t remember if I turned the number. Usually I can read my knitting and figure it out, but sometimes that’s not easy.

Both of these row counters show that I’ve finished two rounds of ribbing.

When I move this chain marker from one needle to the other, I’m also changing to the next number. Now I know that I’ve advanced the counter.

There’s a little extra clip to mark the tens, so this can count from zero to 99. The clip requires a little squeeze to make sure it doesn’t slip off. The row counter is available as a straight chain, as well as this circular chain. I chose the circular chain because it doesn’t dangle as far down my knitting. I don’t want it to be a cat toy!

This row counter was a gift to me from Twice Sheared Sheep. Search for row counters on that page, and you’ll see them all, straight or circular, with various charms. (The link is an affiliate link, so if you order through it, I earn a small commission.) I like it so much that I’m planning to order a second one, this time with a sea turtle charm.

I first encountered Twice Sheared Sheep at Vogue Knitting Live in New York last year. They had goodie bags for the teachers, and I eventually used the cat clip stitch markers in my Jelly Jewels jewelry organizer. They were exactly what I needed before I even dreamt of this project.

I enjoy well-made products that get the job done, especially if they’re pretty, too.

How do you like to track your work? Have you ever used a chain counter like this one? I remember my Susan Bates peg counter, but I could never be sure that my pegs wouldn’t fall out!