Joan Forgione 4/26/21 Joan Forgione 4/26/21

Math Monday: Counting - Part 2 - Rows/Rounds

Last week we took a look at counting stitches. This week we’ll be counting rows and rounds.

Before I start, I must say, this took me FOREVER to figure out. As much as it’s just counting, to me, it was always a question of whether you count what you see or you count some things you don’t see. I’ll explain. For purposes of the discussion, I’ll refer to rows (and not rounds) and then touch on special “round only” situations.

Let’s begin at the beginning with the cast-on row. The cast on actually creates stitches. You can see them here, but this row does not count in your total number of rows. When instructions say, “Cast on 90 stitches and work 20 rows” it means just that. Do not be fooled into thinking that you only have to work 19 rows because the cast-on counts as a row. If you look carefully at where my finger is pointing, it looks like there are 2 Vs, but only 1 row has been worked. The first V is really the stitch formed on the cast-on. Again, do not count this V as a row!

*The cast-on row and one knit row. Although 2 Vs appear, only 1 row has been worked.*

The stitches that are looped on the needle do not count as a row. They are waiting to be worked into the next row.

In the picture above, you can see 4 Vs (count vertically up the column of stitches between the red lines). The blue bar indicates the cast-on V which now fades into the background.

A little double check I use with Stockinette stitch is to remember that usually Row 1 is a knit row, and Row 2 is a purl row. This means that all the knit rows will be odd rows and all the purl rows will be even rows. In the picture above, you can see that I’m about to begin a knit row since the yarn is coming from the right. That means I’ve just completed an even (purl) row. Since 4 is an even number, I know that I’ve counted correctly. This also works with reverse Stockinette stitch, just remember that in this case, the purls are odd and the knits are even.

With garter stitch each ridge counts as 2 rows worked. However, sometimes, one side will have one fewer ridges than the other as in the two pictures above. If this is the case, then you have worked an odd number of rows. If both sides have the same number of ridges, you’ve worked an even number of rows. So, for example, if you have 5 ridges on one side and 4 ridges on the other, you’ve worked 9 rows. If you have 5 ridges on both sides, you’ll know you’ve worked 10 rows.

In garter stitch, though, be very careful. On one side of the work, the cast-on will appear to be a ridge.

In the image above, the arrow points to a ridge of stitches which is really the cast-on. There are really only 4 ridges. Do NOT be fooled!

Finally, a discussion on rounds. Many times, you’re counting rounds as you complete them. If this is the case, just go ahead and count them the same way as you do for rows. However, if you’re like me, sometimes you’re counting rounds in the middle - either to check yourself (since there’s no right or wrong side) or to see how much longer you need to work for an increase or decrease. If that’s the case, know WHY. Do you want to know how many you’ve completed or do you want to know which round you’re working on?

If you want to know how many you’ve completed, count the rounds to the LEFT of you’re working yarn. If you want to know which round you’re working, count the rounds to the RIGHT of you’re working yarn.

Joan Forgione 4/19/21 Joan Forgione 4/19/21

Math Monday: Counting - Part I - Stitches

Before I became an elementary school teacher, I always thought that counting was the first thing you learned in math. It’s not! The first thing you learn is saying the numbers in order, really just chanting … 1 comes before 2 comes before 3, etc.

But … the second thing you learn in math is definitely counting which is really just one-to-one correspondence.

In knitting, counting can be tricky, but it’s critical to knitting. You’ll need to count stitches to make sure you’re on track in your pattern.

This week we’ll count stitches.

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This piece of knitting shown below is just plain Stockinette stitch — knit on the right side of the work, purl on the wrong side.

Each V represents a stitch.

In this picture, I’ve counted out 4 stitches.

If you count carefully across the entire row, you will see that there are 22 Vs. I sometimes use a knit selvedge — knit the first and last stitch of every row — on my swatches, so you can see at the very beginning and very end something that looks like a knot. Those knots are actually a single stitch, so this swatch has 24 stitches — a selvedge stitch at the beginning (knot) + 22 stitches + a selvedge stitch at the end (knot). Go ahead, count the Vs. I’ll wait.

Things can become a bit more complicated in lace (where you’ll need to count the yarn overs) or cables (where some stitches disappear behind others), but the same basic principle applies. Count the Vs!

*An example of counting stitches in lace.*

I usually try to find the simplest (or the least complicated row), as in this lace example above, to count my stitches. For example. I’d never count the stitches in the row with the bobble. You can see that the row I’m counting bends a bit because of the first double decrease (Stitch #1). Stitches #6 and #12 are yarn overs, but you’ll need to count those too!

*An example of counting stitches in a piece with cables. This swatch has Stockinette AND garter (knit every row), along with reverse Stockinette (purl on the right side, knit on the wrong side).*

The cable example above is a bit more complex because it contains different kinds of stitches. They all won’t look like Vs. You can see the 3 Stockinette Vs at both ends of the cable (Stitches #1, 2, 3 and 9, 10, 11), but in the middle of the cable are 5 garter stitches (Stitches # 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8) that present as bars, although if you look carefully, you can see the Vs above the bars. You actually need to stretch out the cable to find Stitches #4 and 8 as they get covered up by the cable moving inward. Stitches #12, 13, 14 & 15 which are reverse Stockinette, also present as bars, but unlike the garter stitches, you cannot see the Vs above them.

Next week we’ll tackle counting rows and rounds.