Short answer
What it does
Knitting and crochet patterns are written row by row. "Decrease at each end of every 4th row", "work rows 1 to 6 three times", "on row 32 begin the armhole". To follow them, you need to know which row you are on. You can count the rows in the fabric, but doing that after every row is slow, and it gets hard in dark yarn, fuzzy yarn, lace and textured stitches.
A row counter keeps a running total instead. Finish a row, advance the counter. When you come back to the project tomorrow, the number is waiting.
Wikipedia's article on the tool describes it as a tally counter used to keep track of rows, of repeats of a stitch pattern, or of increases and decreases. That last part matters: many knitters use a counter for something other than the plain row number.
The main types
On-needle counters
The classic knitting counter is a small barrel with number wheels that slides onto the end of a straight needle. Noble Knits describes turning the wheel to the next number after each row. Wikipedia also lists flat versions, decorative jewellery styles, and stitch-marker counters that sit on circular and double-pointed needles.
They are cheap and need no battery. The downside is that they only suit straight needles (or a stitch marker version for circulars), they hold one number, and you have to remember to turn them.
Clicker counters
Handheld clickers are pressed after each row. Noble Knits mentions the Clover Kacha-Kacha, which counts to 99 and resets to zero, and a mini version with a hole for a cord so you can wear it as a necklace. KnitPro's own counter adds a lock switch for breaks.
Clickers work for knitting and crochet alike, because they do not attach to a needle. Their weak spot is bumps. A clicker that advances in a project bag gives you a wrong count with no warning, which is why a lock helps.
Pendant and electronic counters
Wikipedia lists pendant counters that hang around your neck, some of them electronic, and stand-alone electronic counters with a display. A counter on a cord solves the "where did I put it" problem, because it is always on you.
Complex and card counters
Older counters were made to track several things at once, such as rows, increases, decreases and repeats. Wikipedia mentions designs going back to the 1930s and folded card counters with sliding discs. They show that the problem of tracking more than one number is as old as the tool.
Apps
Phone apps for iPhone, Android and PC are the newest type. Wikipedia lists software as its own category. An app can hold many counters, link them, add notes and undo mistakes, which mechanical counters cannot.
Counts rows and stitches for knitting and crochet projects, with linked counters and per-row notes.
Get it on Google PlayRow Counter is one such app, for Android. The whole counter screen is the +1 button, so there is nothing to aim at. It has linked row and repeat counters, per-row notes that appear when you reach the row, undo, tap-lock, and optional volume-button counting. Projects stay on your phone with no account.
How to use a row counter
The routine is the same for every type.
- Reset it before you start. Noble Knits says to set the counter back to zero for each new project.
- Decide what the number means. Most people advance the counter after they finish a row, so it shows rows completed. Others advance it before they start a row, so it shows the row they are on. Either works if you stick with it.
- Advance it at the end of every row. Make it the last thing you do before you turn the work.
- Protect the count when you stop. KnitPro suggests locking the counter during breaks. Noble Knits suggests writing the current row down before you put the knitting away, in case someone clicks it while you are gone.
- Check it against the fabric now and then. Lion Brand points out that counters are only as good as your memory to advance them. Every so often, count the rows in the fabric and correct the counter if needed.
When you need more than one number
A single counter is enough for "knit 40 rows". It is not enough for a pattern with repeats, such as an 8-row cable worked six times. Then you need two numbers: which row of the repeat you are on, and how many repeats you have finished.
With mechanical counters, people use two counters and advance the second each time the first reaches the end of the repeat. With an app, the second counter can follow the first automatically. In Row Counter, a repeat counter linked to the row counter advances every N rows, and an undo on the row counter reverses the repeat too.
Shaping is another case. "Decrease every 6th row" is easier with a counter that wraps from 6 back to 1, so each 6 tells you it is a decrease row.
Do you need one?
Not always. KnitPro notes that a simple fabric such as garter stitch can be worked without one, and that counters earn their keep on cables, lace, sweaters and shawls, where sizing and shaping depend on an accurate count. A sweater's two sleeves need the same number of rows. A lace chart needs you to know exactly which row comes next.
If you are just starting out, a counter also takes one thing off your mind while you learn the stitches. You can still learn to count the fabric itself, which is worth doing. See how to count rows in knitting or how to count crochet rows, and how to keep track of rows in knitting for habits that keep the count right.
