Knitting is the kind of needlework that not only calms and gives you the opportunity to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the world, immersed in work. Knitting also helps to make your wardrobe individual, not like standard uniform items from clothing stores.
However, in order to diversify your wardrobe with knitwear, knitting needles or hooks are not enough. Each experienced needlewoman has in stock a lot of auxiliary tools that significantly facilitate the work. One of these “helpers” is a row counter. Today we will figure out what row counters are, how they differ among themselves, and how to use a row counter to knit complex patterns.
Variety of choices
If the usual facial surface when knitting a scarf does not cause any difficulties even for beginners, then even an experienced knitter can ruin a sweater with ornate braids or bumps by incorrectly calculating the number of loops or confusing a number. Someone, of course, uses safety pins, yarns of a different color or markers to mark rows directly (five or ten) in the finished work, but this method increases time costs, and it is very easy to get lost anyway. What to do?
It is for this case that there are "helpers", it is at such moments that it is useful to know how to use the row counter for knitting. The master class and the technique for using this tool for knitting will differ depending on the type of counter. They differ in the principle of work, the external design, the material of which they are made, in size.
Electronic meter
The most popular and convenient option for some needlewomen is an electronic counter. It is a small box that has a display. On it, the number of loops or rows that you have already knitted is displayed.
How to use the counter of rows for knitting, if this is an electronic option. Such devices, as a rule, have a plastic strap, which is fixed in a ring. This ring can be put on the thumb or index finger. We knit one row (loop, pattern) and press the button. The counter has started. We knit the second - press. It’s very convenient that you don’t need to write knitted loops into a notebook, you don’t need to remember how many rows you have already knitted and how many are left. Everything will be before your eyes on the display.
Mechanical counter
If for some it is convenient for the knitter to put the counter on his finger, then for others he simply gets in the way. What to do in this case? Buy a mechanical option. Such a counter is a small barrel where there is a scale. There are no buttons and display, the scale is rotated by you every time you knit the desired row or pattern. The mechanism scrolls quite hard (in most counters), so you will not succeed in losing loops or accidentally adding an untied row.
How to use the counter of rows for knitting, if this is a mechanical option. There are two ways. Firstly, you can put the counter on the knitting needle. Each mechanical meter has a small hole where the needle is threaded. This method of use is suitable in cases where you knit with ordinary straight knitting needles with a tip.
Circular knitting
How to use the counter of rows for knitting on circular knitting needles? If you knit a seamless version of a sweater or hat, then you probably use circular knitting needles. Here's a slightly different way to use the counter. It will no longer be attached to the knitting needles, but to the thread. You can fix it on the tip of the thread, which always remains at the beginning of knitting. You can simply cut a small piece of yarn and hang the counter on it, after fixing the thread in the right place at work.
How to use the row counter when knitting, if there are holes for the thread in it? There are types of mechanical counters that do not have a central hole into which a needle or yarn is threaded. In this case, such counters always have ready-made plastic loops. Such a counter is somewhat reminiscent of a keychain. This eyelet is placed on a knitting needle or thread - and the counter is ready for operation.
Which is better and more convenient to use
Unambiguously, no needlewoman will be able to say unequivocally which particular row counter is more convenient in work. Someone more like an electronic counter when it is placed on a finger, and nothing prevents knitting. And the other knitter, on the contrary, wearing such a “decoration” on her finger during work is very problematic. Everyone chooses their own type of counter and their own method of how to use the counter of rows for knitting.
However, all experienced needlewomen agree on one thing - there should be both options in the arsenal, because the row counter saves time significantly. Such a mechanism is easy to use, it is very inexpensive (from 50 to 100 rubles - maximum), it is practical and durable. It is especially needed in those cases when you knit something from a motley or multi-colored melange yarn. Here it’s simply unrealistic to calculate the numbers yourself.