We all face this challenge when knitting or doing a crochet project – keeping track of how many rows have been completed. There are many gadgets that you can purchase if you look around.
The pen and paper method, and a old method my mother used that was poking a knitting needle through the row number didn’t work for me. I have too many old patterns with numbers crossed off and holes in certain places. It was time for a change.
I could purchase a row counter, but being the thrifty crafty sort of person that I am I figured I would try to make my own. I’d sooner save my money and spend it on yarn. One of the first counters (photo above) I made was also a bit awkward and involved moving a small clothes pin between the beads. You can understand why I gave that up quickly.
I came up with another way of counting so that I know what row I’m on. It is similar except except that the beads are threaded on using 2 strands of cord. I made several of this type. But after lots of use the cord started to wear out in certain spots so it was time to make some new ones.
The only thing I needed was new cord which was purchased from the dollar store. It was a neat little bundle until you started pulling out the end to use. Then it fell on the floor in a big mess. So I put it on my yarn winder and made it into a neat little ball. I always add a bit of tape to the outside end so that it doesn’t unravel as I pull from the inside.
Each piece of cord was about 50 cm long and using a half hitch know I fasted two pieces onto a white curtain ring. You thread each bead on by first poking one side of the cord through the hole and then poking the other piece of cord through the other way. When you pull each end the bead slides up to ring. You need nine white beads to complete this row. You then add a row of nine green beads. The white beads count the single rows and the green beads count the groups of ten.
On the completed row counter it shows I’ve completed row 24. Each time a row is completed a bead is slid down. When 9 rows are complete a green bead is slid down and the white ones pushed back to the top.
But not all knitting or crochet stops at row 100. So it was back to the drawing board as the saying goes and I added a third row of beads. Now the black beads represent 100 rows, the green beads represent 10 rows and the white beads represent 1 row.
I forgot to mention that once you have the two or three rows of beads on, you use an overhand knot to tie the cords all together.
In no time at all I had replaced the worst of my row counters with nice new ones.
When your doctor gives you the advice you need more fibre, be sure to follow it and head to the yarn store to stock up on all the latest fibre products.
Teresa
These are cool. I’m going to try to make one for my mother. She knits a lot, but has always used paper to make note of the rows.
Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.