Only for knitters: My own row counter

I looked all over the place to find a row counter that I liked. For decades I used the "hash mark with a pencil on the pattern" way of keeping track of rows, but I'd often lose the pencil or lose the paper and then I was stuck.

I love looking at all the pretty row counters they make now that are metal rings and lovely beads, but there's something about them that bothers me. I don't know what it is, but it may have to do with my metal allergy. I see metal stuff and automatically make the sign of the cross as if I'm warding off vampires.

I loved the idea of a row counter made from yarn that I found on Fran Marr's site, but it seems to be gone now. It was simplicity itself, made from a piece of scrap yarn, with a series of loops tied in the yarn to hang from the needle. The trouble I had with it, though, was that my loops never seemed to line up right. Also, I'd get lost as to which way I was going and I wanted to be able to see which row I was on at a glance.

So I made my own:



I used Fran's idea of a series of loops, but instead of yarn, I strung seed beads onto Stretch Magic cord. I put different colors in the loops for counters, allowing me to know right off what row I'm on when I'm counting.

The counter has 10 loops, so can count up to 10. Greater numbers are possible by using the little Clover stitch markers. I use that one green one as my "10s" marker. I move it down one loop each time I hit the 10th loop.

The doubled orange markers can be used however you want. You could use it as a "100s" marker, allowing you to keep track of a thousand rows all with just one counter. Theoretically, you could keep track of ten thousand, a hundred thousand or a million rows, if you were so inclined. Or you could use it to keep track of the number of pattern repeats or decreases or increases or whatever else you need to keep track of. (I wish Clover made more colors of their stitch markers.)

I usually keep mine one stitch in from the edge so it doesn't fall off. In the picture, if I was actually knitting something, this would be row 246.