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!
PDXKnitterati 
That first link ? – BRILLIANT ! Because it’s exactly the same for crochet; and the number of times I’ve had to use Excel to work out where I decrease to obtain ribbing that doesn’t contract – countless ! Thank-you, Michele: this is REALLY appreciated !!
You are so welcome! I really appreciate having this tool. I was once in a class where the teacher was telling us the formulas to figure out the increase or decrease when designing, and I told him about this website. He had no idea it existed!
Hilarious !! He must’ve done the world’s most definitive face-palm. 🙂
I have seen those chain counters but haven’t taken the plunge. I use the row counter app and I really like it.
I don’t want to keep pulling out my phone, or waking up my phone, when I’m knitting. It’s best for me if the counter is attached to my knitting, where I can’t misplace it! As long as your method works for you, that’s the one to use!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Twice Sheared Sheep Row counters. I discovered them over 5 years ago. I have them in all the sizes and probably about 4 in each size. I prefer the circular to the straight ones but I have lots of straight ones since that was the version they first made. LOVE the Odd Even ones for flat knitting. They are the first row counters that actually worked for me. I tried an abacus bracklet that was beautiful but I’d forget to move the bead at the end of a row. I tried the barrel counters and would forget. Only the stitch marker row counter works for me.
I’ve been using the barrel counter for so long, I don’t know if I could wrap my mind around the Odd Even counters! I watched the video for them. She uses the numbers to show which row you’re on; I use the numbers to show which row I’ve finished. I have to earn it!
I like that the loops on the chain counter are between numbers. I’ve finished row 1, and I’m on row 2. So my marker is between the 1 and the 2!
Have your ears been buzzing?? Seems I’ve been mentioning you a lot lately. A dyer I love from Kentucky (Deep Dyed Yarns) is starting to dye assigned pooling yarns so I pointed her to your patterns. Also my Florida knitting group was talking assigned pooling so again I sent them to your patterns.
I would love to see a calculator that tells you how many stitches you’re supposed to have per row when you increase x number of stitches over a number of rows. Does that make sense?
That *does* make sense! When I’ve needed that kind of information for shawls, I made a spreadsheet for myself. For sleeves i don’t generally count all the stitches, just the increases when they’re supposed to happen.
I did a surprise box thing from twice sheared sheep a few years ago. Not all of the imagery was to my taste, but I did get a lot of helpful tools that I use regularly, including the chain marker. She has great tools!