A row counter for hand knitting is a tally counter for counting rows or courses worked, for counting stitch pattern repetitions, or for counting increases or decreases of the number of stitches in consecutive rows. The first commercially produced one appeared on the market in the 1920s after the general public started regularly knitting from unfamiliar printed and complex patterns. Design variations include on-needle barrel-shaped counters for straight-needle work, stitch-marker counters for knitting on double-pointed and circular needles, complex counters which attempted to assist with decreases, increases and lacework, stand-alone hand-held counters in imitation of the hand-tally, pendant counters worn round the neck and online software for iPhones.
Early tally methods in Europe and the United States
Until the early 19th century, in Europe and the United States, groups of localised professional hand knitters specialised in a few well-known patterns in which keeping a tally of rows was barely necessary, since the pattern and expected size of the work were known by heart. From the early 19th century, when printed patterns were introduced for the recreational knitter, and until the early 20th century, woollen yarn had clear stitch definition so that rows were easily seen and counted, and a mental tally could be kept. However knitters could tally by moving objects from one pocket to another, or bracelets from one wrist to the other. For lace knitting and complicated increases, a knitter could write five-bar gate tally marks around the margins of a printed pattern.
On-needle row counters
Flat-faced type
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 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. A similar bakelite unit was manufactured by Abel Morrell for sale in the US in the 1930s.
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.
Rotary barrel type
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. 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.