Row counter (hand knitting)

Woman's Weekly flat-faced on-needle counter

The earliest on-needle row counters seem to have appeared in the UK between 1920 and 1939, when complicated printed patterns increased in popularity among the working population. In the 1920s a 1 inch (2.5 cm) grey-brown enamelled unit was manufactured with two rotary dials on the front showing tens and units, and slots on the back for sliding onto a knitting needle. The front was flat and shaped like a figure-8, but was heavier than the back so that the unit hung downward from the needle, making the numbered face difficult to read.[1] A similar bakelite unit was manufactured by Abel Morrell for sale in the US in the 1930s.[lower-alpha 1]

Around the 1980s to 1990s, Woman's Weekly magazine gave away a plastic on-needle knitting row counter of unusual design. It was presented as a self-assembly kit, in a small blue envelope with assembly instructions and a diagram on the back. According to the diagram, the gadget consists of (a) two blue front and back plates, pierced to show the numbers; (b) an inner white soft plastic frame to hold the number discs and to which are attached the two loops to bend back and thread on the needle; (c) the two number discs. So the disks don't spin on an axis; they spin within circular spaces in the inner frame.[lower-alpha 2]

I.X. Products on-needle row counters 1950s

In Britain in the 1950s when the baby boom years following World War II caused an increased requirement for hand-knitting, I.X. Products produced a brightly coloured and marketable plastic row counter with patent number 424432. This was a barrel-shaped counter which sat in stable fashion on the knitting needle by the aid of a central metal spring. The assemblage consisted of a double rotating inner barrel and an outer fixed and slotted skin which was pinned to the central spring.

Millward Ro-Tally on-needle counters, 1950s

The two separately rotating halves of the inner barrel were printed with numbers, and the outer slotted skin rotated over the barrels, revealing a single ten and a single unit at one time. Precise engineering ensured that there was just enough ease of movement for the turning of the barrels, but just enough friction to prevent movement of the barrels while vigorous knitting continued. However the introduction in the late 1950s of double knitting yarn and the consequent popular use of thicker needles tended to damage the springs which were intended for needles of a maximum thickness of 3.25mm. This design and most of the barrel-shaped on-needle counters which followed it had a white or cream central barrel and a decoratively coloured outer skin.[1]

1970s Millward Ro-Tally counters

In the 1950s and 1960s the UK knitting accessories manufacturer Millward produced the Ro-Tally, whose name was a pun on rotary. Its design was very similar to the I.X. Products version, it used the same patent number and the precision of engineering was improved, although the inner spring was still too small for 4 mm needles. The Millward Ro-Tally was re-designed quite differently in the 1970s in various sizes, of softer plastic with a plastic spring which fitted large and small needles. These counters were not precisely engineered, so depended on polygonal barrels and outer skin to provide sufficient friction to control unnecessary movement while knitting.[1]

Compact luxury on-needle counters, 1960s

Counters used in US 2000–2010

The Compact rotary row counter was manufactured in England in the 1950s to 1960s under a pending patent application, although the general design was similar in principle to the early I.X. Products version. It had the same precise engineering for control of friction, and central metal spring suitable for needles up to 3.5 mm. The basic Compact, however, had a central knurled grip-band, which made the gadget easier to hold and to turn quickly and precisely. The earlier version of the late 1950s to early 1960s had red numerals,[lower-alpha 3] and the later 1960s version had black numerals.[lower-alpha 4]

The luxury version of the Compact was presented in a gift box, it was priced at a guinea and became a contemporary collector's item, tending to be little-used due to impracticality. The assemblage included a thin and delicate 6-inch – later 8-inch – tape measure in place of the grip band.[lower-alpha 5] On this luxury version the tape-measure assembly caused the centre of the gadget to rotate independently, making it difficult for adult fingers to grip the remaining part of the stable outer skin to turn the main assemblage for use as a row counter.[1] Some of the counters in this range featured pearlised plastic outer skins in various pastel colours.[lower-alpha 6]

Around the 1960s to 1970s Woman's Weekly magazine gave away a soft plastic on-needle knitting row counter of unusual but simple design. Two numbered blue-and-white barrels rotate independently around a central white spindle, which has a number-pointer at one end and a loop to thread onto a needle at the other end. The friction (to prevent the barrels rolling freely) is maintained by the tightness of the number-pointer and shortness of the spindle.[lower-alpha 7]

21st century polygonal on-needle counters by Pony and Whitecroft

In the 1980s the knitting accessories company Aero produced its own rotary on-needle counter which had a distinctive red inner barrel with thick knurled ends, and a grey outer skin. The red colour of the inner barrel meant that the numbers had to be printed in white, and were more easily visible than the small black printed numbers on earlier versions. Aero later produced a blue and white version of the same design, with the name Inox printed on it. In the 1990s Wrights Boyle and Prym began to produce a similar design with white inner barrels and coloured outer skin which continued to be sold in different sizes until at least 2010.

In the 21st century until at least 2010, the manufacturers Pony, Whitecroft and Wrights each made a new version of the 1970s octagonal counter for sale in Europe, the UK and the United States. At the same time the Japanese knitting accessories supplier Clover was exporting a version of the 1980s Aero counter, with dark inner barrels and white numbers, to the same customer base, although at first they supplied a pink version to the UK, and a blue version to the United States.[6]

Commercial and home-crafted, beaded row counters appeared from 2000 until at least 2010. Some of these involved suspending jewellery from the needle and marking off beads as rows progressed.[lower-alpha 8]

Stitch-marker counter

These tend to be on-needle barrel row counters which have been attached to stitch-marker rings. They are intended to be used with circular or double-pointed knitting needles. In the 21st century Prym has marketed a dedicated stitch-marker row counter, labelling it the Universal Rotally.

Pendant counters

In the 21st century and at least until 2010, the Japanese company Clover was producing the bright green pendant Mini Kacha-Kacha which is designed like a hand-held mechanical tally counter, but is oriented upside-down on a neck pendant for easy reading by the user. It has a button to advance the numbers singly, access to the knurled number rings for adjustment of numbers, and a lock to prevent interference by the user dropping the gadget or by children playing with it. On this type of gadget it has been possible for the manufacturer to make the numbers larger and therefore easier to read than on the on-needle counter, which needs to be small.[14] In August 2007 the UK magazine Simply Knitting no.32 gave away a free pendant knitting counter in a form of a white sheep, and in June 2010 the same magazine no.67 gave away another one in the shape of a yellow flower. Unfortunately the numerals on the yellow flower version were oriented incorrectly, causing inconvenience for the wearer of the pendant.

Electronic counter

The pendant Electronic Row Counter was produced in the early 21st century and was sold in the United States at least until 2010. Its LCD display counts up to 4 digits, whereas all foregoing knitting row counters were limited to 2 digits. It has add- and subtract-buttons which allow the user to count forwards and backwards in increments of one with an audible beep at each press, and the on-off button can be used to reset the count to zero. Because there is no memory facility, the counter must be left turned on if the count is to be maintained; however the gadget's instructions say that the battery will last for over seven months. There is no lock so that the maintained count is vulnerable to playing children.[15][16] The more complex version of this counter, the Electronic Row Counter Plus, has ceased manufacture.[17]

The Knit Counter Lite,[18] Knit Counter and Knit Row Counter are applications downloadable for iTunes which can be used on iPhone.[19][20][21] JKnit Knitting Project Assistant is a similar application for iPhone,[22][23] and so is Knitbuddy which has been renamed Vogue Knitting iPhone App.[24] My Row Counter enables the knitter to count rows while reading a knitting pattern.[25]

The Lo-Fat Row Counter is a basic online facility designed in 2008 for PC.[26]

The Knitting Buddy application is downloadable from the Google Play Store,[27] and so is the Row Counter application.[28]