the Rosary - der Rosenkranz

The Rosary - Der Rosenkranz

German text here / Deutscher Text hier.

I  also made a lot of patterns that included counting rows or rounds. Those made me "invent" the rosary. Well, my invention may not be new. And maybe you have seen instructions and things alike.
I guess, I do get the credit for the name. If that is all, I am still happy to present an instruction.

(Note: I have seen similar things called "linked stitch markers", so you may want to google that)

So why do you need a different marker and what exactly is this rosary?

Well, when you need to count rounds or rows, for example in a stitch pattern, there are so many ways to count them… and so many ways to go wrong.

• Just keep track in your head – and do not loose concentration or put down your work.

• Write down the row/round number you are on – and do not forget about it.

• Re-count your rows/rounds – and do not get confused in lace or bored to no end in stochinette stitch, oh, and do not forget to re-count

• Use a smart row counter that sits on your needle – and do not forget to turn it over for every row (I will forget, I know)

• Keep a list to check off – guess what, I will forget

• Check off / cross out the line of the pattern – oh, will I ever forget, and then the pattern is marked… not so convenient for a repeat that you do 27 times over or anything… how many different ways to check do you want to invent?

• Lay out a certain number of candies and eat one every time you finish a row. Then you know where in the thing you are at. – sweet, if you do not eat too many or have someone steal from you. And you can not do that unless you have a save place to put those, even if your work is hybernating. But sweet, I agree.

• Find your own way, make it fool proof - it is you you have to fool! - and make it accessible and cheap, if possible, make it simpel. - That is how I made the rosary.

A rosary you can make from whatever string you like. I like sock yarn or even better, yarn that does not split anywhere. But the sample I will show in the picture is a simple piece of cotton. It is easy to show with that.

You cut an end of yarn. To be save I would think, 30 cm / 1 foot, will be good.

You lay it double, then make a first knot, leaving a loop open in the top. Make an plain knot (loop and pull the end through, nothing more).

Then you repeat that a little further down the string, leaving a space between the knots about as wide as the gap in the loop.

This way you made a 2-step-rosary already. Yes, I said, it is simple, didn't I?

If you continue this so you have 10 enclosed spaces, you make what I call a standart or 10-step-rosary.

Here is a picture:

the rosary - yes, simple, I know.

And no, it does not get any more complicated.

When knitting you slide the rosary on the needle, not at the edge of a row, but a few stitches in (I go in about 2 to 4 stitches, usually). When working in rounds you can also use it as a round marker and just set it into that place.

Every time you get to the rosary, you pick it off the left needle with your right. But unlike a regular stitch marker you do not slide the needle in next to the other needle, but you slide it in one hole deeper towards the end of the string. (To make the direction easier to see you can mark that end by another color yarn you tie in, maybe attach a bead, or just look closely.)

Reality Check: So tell me... when you get to this long string of knots... can you forget to poke in one loop deeper? Can you really? Well, I can not.

And once you get to the end you know you completed a set of your pattern - what ever you were marking.

For every project you can make the perfect custom rosary, if you want:

make it 6 loops, if that is your repeat. You can make just 2 loops, if you want. You can make 25, if you want to handle that... And when you get to the end, you need to do something special.

If I just have to count rows, like 16 rows of stochinette stitch, I am likely using a 10-set-rosary. I start so that 6 loops are left to do. Then I do another set of 10 and I am done when I get to the end of it. The moment you start those 16 rows, you know that you have to do them, so set the "fraction" first. Then you can not accidentally go too far. If you need to make multiple repeats of the rosary... well keep notes, count, guess... do what ever you like to find out if you made 20, 30, 40 or 50 rows... the estimate is not so hard, really. Or use a second rosary to count your repeats of rosary No.1  only... if you want.

Finally: A picture of a rosary in use while knitting a sock on a train and keeping track of a cable repeat without counting and without "looking" much:

rosary in use

Stitch Markers

I used to not like or use stitch markers. But then you do patterns that become incredibly much easier with stitch markers. Some are only possible, really, with markers, and some instructions you do not understand, when you do not use markers.

Ich mochte Maschenmarkierer nie. Aber dann beginnt man, mit Mustern zu arbeiten, die mit Maschenmarkierern leichter zu handhaben sind. Die eine oder andere Anleitung kann man nicht einmal wirklich verstehen, wenn man den Angaben für das Setzen der Markierer nicht folgt.

Stitch markers - Maschenmarkierer

So I eventually got into making more than just string loops. But don't back out: simple string loops do the job as well, almost as well.

Ich habe also irgendwann angefangen, Maschenmarkierer zu benutzen, und bald auch mehr als einfache Fadenschlingen. Aber auch die sind nicht schlecht: Eine simple Schlaufe mit einem Knoten kann genauso praktisch sein, beinahe jedenfalls.

Ich stricke hübsche Sachen, also will ich auch hübsche Werkzeuge dabei verwenden. Also habe ich mir in diesem Jahr ein paar sinnvolle Maschenmarkierer gemacht, die auch noch gut aussehen.

I am knitting pretty things, so I want pretty things to be involved into my knitting process. This year I made some really nice and useful stitch markers. 

First I want to show a set I got in the mail, yesterday. It is a gift from Clarice at "giftgrün" - so I do not take credit for the creation. But they are pretty and neat and useful and brand new to my home, so I want to show them:

Zuerst möchte ich aber ein Set zeigen, das ich gestern abend aus der Post geholt habe. Ich habe in der Valentinsverlosung von Clarice in ihrem Blog - giftgrün - gewonnen habe. Dieses wunderhübsche Set war gemeinsam mit meinem Gewinnerherz gestern abend da, als ich nach Hause kam.



a set of 4+1 stitch markers by clarice39



With the green stitch markers you see a set of multiple markers. One of them is different. That one is usually meant to show a very prominent part in the pattern, for example the beginning of the round. The double pearls make a great divider that you recognize when you get to it.

Clarice sells her stitch markers and other crafty things on DaWanda. Check it out!

Die grünen Maschenmarkierer sind ein Set von mehreren, die zusammengehören. Einer von ihnen ist anders. Durch die Unterscheidbarkeit markiert er in der Regel eine besonders prominente Stelle im Stück, beispielsweise den Beginn einer Runde. Die doppelte Perle übersieht man nicht, wenn man an sie gelangt.

The markers I made this week are for projects with even more detailed information needed, or maybe just for the fun of it.

Die Maschenmarkierer, die ich diese Woche gemacht habe, sind für Projekte gedacht, die viel mehr Details verlangen oder in denen diese Dinger einfach gut aussehen.




set of labled markers by me

Ich habe die Buchstaben  A, B, C und D verwendet, als kleine Perlen. (Ja, ich habe das D falsch rum angebracht, ich habe es schon geändert.)

I used pearls with letters A, B, C, D (yes, I know I did mount the D wrong. I did fix that by now.)

This way you can mark the spots exactly. For patterns with a lot of need of marking I made the extras with "&" and the smilie. They are great to mark linkes of increase or decrease and so on. And they smile at you. And that is a good thing.  

Auf diese Weise kannst Du den Punkt genau bezeichnen. Für Muster, die eine Menge Markierung benötigen, habe ich zusätzlich die "&" und die Smilies gemacht. Die sind großartig, um Zunahme- oder Abnahmelinien zu markieren, oder Ähnliches.

Also, was braucht man für die Markierer?

So what do you need for markers?

Most things that you need you find in the jewlery department of craft stores.

You can make a lot of different style markers, beginning with little loops made from yarn in a contrast color (or more than 1 color). Rings with a second eyelet make great markers, since the loop goes onto the needle and you attach the beads or whatever you use to the second opening.

Rings with a hole in the side provide a similar option.

But with every ring you have to have a propper size for the needles you use, a ring alone does the trick but does not balance as easily, a ring with attachments has all those fixings again...

Rings, though, can stretch the strand between the stitches. And split rings can get stuck in the yarn, so they are partially not very useful.

Die meisten Sachen findet man in der Schmuckabteilung der Bastelläden. man kann jede Menge verschiedener Markierer machen, angefangen mit Schlaufen in kontrastfarbenem Garn oder mehreren Garnfarben. Ringe mit zweiter Schlaufe sind optimal, in der zweiten Schlaufe / Öse kann man die Perlen oder Anhänger befestigen, während der erste auf der Nadel sitzt. Ringe mit einem Loch in der Ringwand sind fast genauso einzusetzen. 
Leider bietet jeder Ring aber nur eine begrenzte Größe für Nadeln, denn der Umfang ist genau und undehnbar für eine maximale Nadelgröße einsetzbar.
Auch ein RIng allein ist nützlich, aber er ist nicht so ausballanciert wie ein Ring mit Anhänger.

Außerdem ist bei einem Ring immer die Gefahr, dass der Maschenzwischenraum gedehnt wird. Es ist immer eine Gratwanderung bei der Auswahl des Ringes. Ringe mit einem offenen Anschluss verhaken sich gelegentlich im Garn und sind daher nur begrenzt einsetzbar.

You can use string or rubber cord for jewlery. That works and is gentle even on the most sensitive needles. But large pearls are rare and partially unpractical.

What I used for my set - and what Clarice used for hers - is jewlery wire. It forms a nice open loop, is thin enough to go through the smaller beads and openings and is durable.

For attatching and securing I used the little squeese pearls from the jewlery shop.

Man kann Faden, Schnur oder Kunststoffbänder verwenden. Diese Materialien funktionieren, sind sanft zu den Nadeln und können gut verwendet werden. Bei dickerem Material ist aber die Auswahl von Perlen mit so großer Durchführung ist begrenzt.

Zur Befestitgung benutze ich in der Regel Quetschperlen aus dem Schmuckbedarf. 

Für die Marker oben habe ich Schmuckdraht verwendet - ebenso wie Clarice bei ihren Markern. Der ist leicht zu verarbeiten, dünn und bietet flexible, größere Schlaufen, ohne die Maschen zu dehnen.

The tools you need are a set of small plyers, a wire cutting tool (the plyers or sturdy scissors) and patience.

Have fun designing your own markers.

These here I love for the beginning-of-the-round-markers:

Die Werkzeuge, die man braucht, sind leicht zu finden: Eine Zange mit feinen Greifflächen, ein Werkzeug, um  den Draht zu schneiden - also eine Zange oder eine kräftige Schere, deren Schneide nicht leidet.

Viel Spaß beim Designen von eigenen Markern.

Diese hier mag ich übrigens als Rundenmarkierer. Wieder eine Runde abgeschlossen.

Old knitting tools

A while ago I came across the knitting belt. I want to share that information with you here.

On the Shetland Islands women used to knit while doing other work and chores. Yes, that sounds like a dream. But how do you knit and work at the same time? You need two hands for knitting and how do you want to do your other work?

Well, they sometimes used a knitting belt. Here is a picture of this belt.

That belt held one needle in a leather cussion that had holes to poke the needle into and that way only one needles needed to be moved and held.

I do not want to claim that I know a lot about the knitting belt, but I am curious about it and hope for comments of any of you who can add some information.

One other tool was a knitting sheath, shown on the sight Old & Interesting, linked below.

I also found this fellow blogger, who shows the work with a selfmade sheath in a video. His blog you find here: A Fisherman Knits and the video is here.

Google helped me to find some more information on the topic. Look here: Old & Interesting and here Pine Cone Lodge and many more places.

The information is of historic value, right. And it is - for some people - the way that knitting is done. But what good is that for everyone else to know?

Well, I guess, knowing more about the different types of knitting and the methods people have come up with, help us to understand more about knitting.

I know several knitters, acutally, who claim that they move one needle only and the other is just held in position (with long needles: clamped under the arm) and that works perfectly fine. It is not much different than working with a sheath, really.

These methods can also be really practical when you suffer from some kind of problem and are looking for a way to knit anyways, because if you are a knitter than you really want to knit.

I know with a lot of people that especially when they knit a lot or knit bigger pieces they have pain in their shoulders or neck and often have pain in the wrists.

I am pretty sure, a lot of that painful condition can be cured by using a knitting belt or sheath or something simmilar.

Me, personally, I work with circular needles instead of long straight needles. They make the knitting rest in my lap easier and there is not as much leverage. But that is not the cure for everybody.

There was also this report of that boy who inveted a knitting frame or cradle of some sort for his grandmother but google just fails me and I can not find it again.


I do want to stress that I do not know the two sights I linked above. I do not know the owners of the pages and I do not have background knowledge to back or question the information there. I just want to collect information here and if you know anything else or find other sights with information: let everybody know!

I also want to stress that I only collected links to the pages. I do not claim that any of their content was mine.

But I do want to draw your attetion to that blog I linked above: A Fisherman Knits That man has collected and worded so much technical knowledge that I got lost browsing his blog. One final link here:  Wood for knitting sheath because that fits the topic. And then I strongly recommend to search out more information on his blog!