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.
In the 1950s and 1960s the UK knitting accessories manufacturer Millward produced the "Ro-Tally", whose name was a pun on "rotary". Its design was very similar to the I.X. Products version, it used the same patent number and the precision of engineering was improved, although the inner spring was still too small for 4 mm needles. The Millward "Ro-Tally" was re-designed quite differently in the 1970s in various sizes, of softer plastic with a plastic spring which fitted large and small needles. These counters were not precisely engineered, so depended on polygonal barrels and outer skin to provide sufficient friction to control unnecessary movement while knitting.
The "Compact" rotary row counter was manufactured in England in the 1950s to 1960s under a pending patent application, although the general design was similar in principle to the early I.X. Products version. It had the same precise engineering for control of friction, and central metal spring suitable for needles up to 3.5 mm. The basic "Compact", however, had a central knurled grip-band, which made the gadget easier to hold and to turn quickly and precisely. The earlier version of the late 1950s to early 1960s had red numerals, and the later 1960s version had black numerals.
The luxury version of the "Compact" was presented in a gift box, it was priced at a guinea and became a contemporary collector's item, tending to be little-used due to impracticality. The assemblage included a thin and delicate 6-inch – later 8-inch – tape measure in place of the grip band. On this luxury version the tape-measure assembly caused the centre of the gadget to rotate independently, making it difficult for adult fingers to grip the remaining part of the stable outer skin to turn the main assemblage for use as a row counter. Some of the counters in this range featured pearlised plastic outer skins in various pastel colours.
Around the 1960s to 1970s Woman's Weekly magazine gave away a soft plastic on-needle knitting row counter of unusual but simple design. Two numbered blue-and-white barrels rotate independently around a central white spindle, which has a number-pointer at one end and a loop to thread onto a needle at the other end. The friction (to prevent the barrels rolling freely) is maintained by the tightness of the number-pointer and shortness of the spindle.
In the 1980s the knitting accessories company Aero produced its own rotary on-needle counter which had a distinctive red inner barrel with thick knurled ends, and a grey outer skin. The red colour of the inner barrel meant that the numbers had to be printed in white, and were more easily visible than the small black printed numbers on earlier versions. Aero later produced a blue and white version of the same design, with the name Inox printed on it. In the 1990s Wrights Boyle and Prym began to produce a similar design with white inner barrels and coloured outer skin which continued to be sold in different sizes until at least 2010.
In the 21st century until at least 2010, the manufacturers Pony, Whitecroft and Wrights each made a new version of the 1970s octagonal counter for sale in Europe, the UK and the United States. At the same time the Japanese knitting accessories supplier Clover was exporting a version of the 1980s Aero counter, with dark inner barrels and white numbers, to the same customer base, although at first they supplied a pink version to the UK, and a blue version to the United States.
Jewellery type.
Commercial and home-crafted, beaded row counters appeared from 2000 until at least 2010. Some of these involved suspending jewellery from the needle and marking off beads as rows progressed.
Stitch-marker row counters.
These tend to be on-needle barrel row counters which have been attached to stitch-marker rings. They are intended to be used with circular or double-pointed knitting needles. In the 21st century Prym has marketed a dedicated stitch-marker row counter, labelling it the "Universal Rotally".
Complex row counters.
In 1936 "The MP Handy Guide to Knitting and Crochet" was patented under number 813814 and manufactured in Britain as a pair of rectangular flat metal plates sandwiching a paper card marked with number lists, and sliders with markers to record current row number, increase, decrease and times. However the metal slides did not work smoothly and could get stuck. The gadget incorporated a small ruler and needle gauge. There is an example of this counter in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The paper instructions pasted on the back carried the following legend:
"Rows: When knitting and suddenly called away, mark off the number of rows reached.
Increase/decrease: For casting on, or casting off stitches.
Times: To mark off the pattern when doing fancy knitting, etc.
Measure: Very handy when tape measure is mislaid.
Needle gauge: For correct sizes from 6 to 12."
A paper card version of the "MP Handy Guide" was published with folded card sliders for the war effort under the auspices of the UK Ministry of Defence during World War II and was intended for use by people knitting gloves, socks and balaclavas for the troops. In the 1960s, The Aero Needles Group Plc of Redditch, England produced the "Knitters Companion", a pocket version of the complex counter, consisting of a pierced bar of black plastic containing seven knurled, white, rotary, numbered discs whose numbers would appear through the piercings in the bar. As in the "MP Handy Guide", the numbers were labelled Increase, Decrease, Rows and Times. It was supplied with a soft plastic case which was intended to maintain memory of the count by preventing accidental movement of the discs. In 1972, UK magazine Woman's Weekly gave away its own card variation of this, with the numbers on dials with rotary paper pointers to record rows, increases or decreases, and times. Like the "MP Handy Guide" it incorporated a small inch-ruler and needle gauge, but now added a tension gauge measure and centimetre ruler.
In spring 2008 the UK magazine "Simply Knitting" no.39 gave away a green plastic version of the "MP Handy Guide", without needle gauge or ruler and with a clarified version of the same instructions moulded onto the back:
"Rows: move the markers when you have completed each row.
Increase and decrease: keep count each time you need to increase or decrease stitches.
Times: use the markers when you need to make more than one set of increases or decreases."
This version illustrated the difficulty of mass-producing such a gadget cheaply: the inner card is easily displaced during assembly, thereby misplacing the numbers, and some of the sliders do not move easily.
Counters made of card.
These include the "World War II card counter", and the 1972 "Woman's Weekly card counter", both mentioned above. The wartime counter was a pierced card glued to a flat backing card; the front card contained strips printed with numerals and with slider-indicators. The numerals represented rows, increase or decrease, and times, as in previous complex counters; it also had a needle gauge and five-inch measure. The reverse contained instructions for use, and the legend: "a handy help for the war-time knitter". The wartime counter was a version of the 1930s "Bestway card counter".
In the 1920s to 1930s, various card counters were produced in the UK, including the "Little Dorrit" counter, and the "schoolgirl" counter. From around 2006 Maik Remmers designed and manufactured in Germany a series of 3D card counters in the shape of skeins of wool, animals and abstract designs. These are folded and printed on back and front, with a pair of rotatable number discs sandwiched between the layers of card. The discs can be rotated to reveal numerals through two windows in the front layer of card. The outer surface of the card can be written-on with water-soluble ink, and the back surface of the counter contains a form where the knitter can fill in current row numbers. This is necessary as there is not enough friction to prevent the number discs from moving during storage.
Viyella needle gauge and knitting counter.
The "Viyella needle gauge and knitting counter" was created between 1936 and 1940. It is sizeable and heavy at high and across, and is enamelled and chromed. The two flat, chromed ends of the drum are pierced to form a needle gauge. The ends rotate on the enamelled drum such that red or white enamelled numbers are revealed through piercings in the sides of both drum-ends. There