

My current headphones sit around the back of my neck, and adding the necklace feels extra crowded.
ABACUS ROW COUNTER BRACELET BLUETOOTH
I have not used the necklace as much because I tend to use Bluetooth headphones to listen to audio books while I am knitting. Wearing the necklace feels a lot like the days in my early 20’s when I wore a braided hemp necklace all the time. The necklace is a larger version of the bracelet with ten round beads and 10 square beads, which would allow you to count up to 110. The wonderful thing about this, as well as many other things, is that you can use it in the way that works for you. It also works well in my mind that way because that is how I was taught to use an abacus. That way, the beads that indicate the completed rows are all together in the center, making it easier to count quickly how many I have. For me, I prefer to begin with all the beads away from the center so I can move them toward the center as I go. The directions for the bracelet recommend moving all the beads to the center of the bracelet and sliding one bead away from the center when you finish a row, a repeat, or whatever you’re counting. The way the beads are strung on to this bracelet creates the same effect, without the padded backing of course. Think about how an abacus designed for the blind has that padded backing so the beads don’t slide unless you want them to. I really like that the bracelet works by sliding the beads because there is nothing else needed to mark your position.
ABACUS ROW COUNTER BRACELET FREE
Since the yarn is wrapped in my right hand, the left hand is free to move the beads without having to drop the yarn at the end of every row. I knit with the yarn in my right hand, the project bag is usually also on the right, and I still liked the bracelet on my right wrist better. I didn’t have that problem as long as I made sure the project bag with the working yarn was not at an angle where the yarn would touch my wrist. I can see how the bracelet could get tangled on your yarn depending on how you have everything set up.

It is incredibly easy to do, and the convenience of having the row counter on my wrist makes it that much better. I use it just like an abacus, when I get to four, I move all the round beads back to the starting position and replace them with a square bead that represents five. The round beads count as one each, and the square beads count as five, so you can count up to 30 with the bracelet. For reference, my bracelet is a little over eight inches around when fastened. I was able to take it on and off without unfastening it, and my hands are an average width for a woman. The bracelet had a simple toggle and loops system to fasten it on your wrist. The row counter bracelet consists of five round beads and five square beads that slide, with a stationary bead or jingle bell in the center. There are a few sections to this post, so I have used headings at level 1 for each section to make navigation easier with a screen reader. I will go over each of these separately and follow the review with ordering information. There are gauges for knitting needles and crochet hooks as well as beaded row counters. Jocelyne Denault, the designer of these products, lives in Canada and teaches knitting to French speaking people who are blind or low-vision. The best part is that someone else did the thinking and the developing to make something that works, and for once, I didn’t have to be the one to think of ways to create and adapt something all on my own. With that being said, I was thrilled to test out knitting tools designed for the blind. That bracelet was given to me by a knitting friend and was great, but my attempts to make more did not go well. It had a row for ones, a row for tens, and markers that slid over the beads to keep count.

The best thing I ever used was a bracelet with beads in two rows. He is old enough not to do that now, but there always seems to be a child around who doesn’t know the rules yet. Most of these have one drawback or another, even if the drawback is mostly related to having a young son who liked to move all the beads on my abacus to random positions because it looks fun to play with. Instead, I’ve use everything I could think of to keep track of my rows including an abacus, a score card for blind board game players, braille tags on a ring, and an app on my phone. For row counters, I have never been able to use a commercially produced counter. I have done many things over the years to adapt needle gauges, including adding braille labels and memorizing the sequence of sizes on the gauge. For me, typical needle gauges and row counters are almost always useless to varying degrees because their use requires that you be able to see well enough to read the numbers. Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of trying out tools designed specifically for knitters who are blind or visually impaired.
