Knitting row counter: count rows, repeats and rows to go

The row counter above keeps your place in a knitting or crochet project. Tap “+ 1 row” each time you finish a row, and the big number shows the rows you’ve done. Type a pattern repeat, and it shows where the last row you finished falls in the repeat, and which repeat it is. Type a target, and it shows the rows to go. You can keep a separate counter for each project, and each counter is saved in this browser, on this device.

How to use the row counter

1. Name the counter. It opens as “My project”. Type a new name in the Name box, such as the pattern or the piece you’re on.
2. Tap “+ 1 row” when you finish a row. On a keyboard, the space bar or + adds a row, and − takes one back (not while you’re typing in a box). Tapped twice by mistake? The − button takes the extra one off.
3. Add a pattern repeat (optional). Type the number of rows in the repeat, such as 8 for an 8-row lace repeat. After 19 rows, the line under the count reads row 3 of the 8-row repeat, in repeat 3: the row you just finished, so row 4 of the repeat comes next. After 16 rows it reads row 8, in repeat 2: the last row of that repeat.
4. Add a target (optional). Type the rows the pattern calls for. SweetGeorgia Yarns’ beginner dishcloth, for example, says “38 rows in total”, so with a target of 38, the counter shows 19 rows to go after 19 rows. When you reach it, it says the target is reached.
5. Start another counter with “New counter”, and switch between them with the Counter menu. A counter for each sleeve, or one for the body and one for a repeat inside it, keeps the counts apart.

“Reset to 0” and “Delete this counter” both ask before they act, and you can’t delete your only counter. Where your browser supports it, a “Keep the screen on” box stops the screen from going dark while you work. If the browser refuses (in battery saver, for example), the box clears itself.

When a row counter helps

Losing your place is the problem it solves. Designer and teacher Heather Lodinsky, writing on Lion Brand’s blog, puts it this way: “Life happens—the phone rings, we get talking or we just have to leave our knitting for some reason.” She lists the usual tools, from counters to “the simple “hash mark” on a piece of paper”, and their weak spot: “there is still that human element of just plain forgetting to mark the paper, move the peg or click the counter to the next number.”

Our advice: a counter helps most where the pattern counts rows for you, such as a stitch pattern worked over a set number of rows (see repeats in how to read a knitting pattern), a piece worked to a row count rather than a length, or two pieces that must match. Because it can’t see your work, check the count against your fabric now and then, as below.

If you’d rather use a physical counter, a pendant-style stitch and row counterad is one option; its listing says the pictured neck cord isn’t included.

How to count rows on your knitting

You can check any count by reading the fabric. Lodinsky’s method, on Lion Brand’s blog:

• Stockinette (knit one row, purl the next): on the knit side, each stitch “looks like a “V””. Count the Vs up one column. Leave out the cast-on, but count the stitches on your needle: she says they “do count as a row.”
• Reverse stockinette: she finds its rows hard to count, so she counts from the back, where the fabric is stockinette and the Vs show.
• Garter (knit every row): there are no Vs, only ridges. Her way is to “count the ridges on the front, then the ridges on the back, and add them together.”

Darn Good Yarn, a yarn company, counts purl stitches the same way by their bumps, and says “You can count each row or round by counting the number of “V” stitches that you see”, so the same count works in the round.

To avoid counting from the bottom every time, Lodinsky marks a row with “a detachable stitch marker or safety pin” and counts up from it. She uses it for cables, and says it “works well with lace patterns and with yarns that may be fuzzy or dark and harder to count.” Locking stitch markersad, which the listing says you can use locked or unlocked, do the job.

How to count crochet rows

SweetGeorgia Yarns’ single crochet tutorial shows how rows look in single crochet: on the right side, “Each row looks like a “V.”” On the wrong side, “Each row has a horizontal bar with a downward “V” with a bar on top.” Its teacher, Charlotte Lee, “recommends placing a stitch marker every 4 rows for a quick visual guide.”

Our advice: count rows the way your pattern numbers them, and tap the counter at the same moment every row, such as just after you turn.

FAQs

Does the row counter save my count?

Yes, in this browser on this device: close the page and your counters are there when you come back. They won’t appear on another phone or computer, or in another browser. If your browser won’t let the page save, a note under the form says so, and the counters last only until you close the page. Our advice: before a long break, also write the row number on your pattern, so a cleared browser doesn’t cost you your place.

Should I count the cast-on row?

In Lodinsky’s method, no: “we generally do not count the “cast on” row as a row of knitting.” The row on your needle does count. If your pattern counts differently, follow the pattern.

I forgot to tap. How do I fix the count?

Count the rows on your fabric, as above, then tap + or − until the counter matches. The count never goes below 0.

Can I use it as a crochet stitch counter?

Yes: it adds one per tap, so it counts stitches (on a long starting chain, say), rows or rounds. The labels say “row” whatever you count, and a pattern repeat or target is counted in taps too.