Over the years I have discovered some less conventional uses for stitch markers that can be real time savers and stress reducers. One of my favorites is to use them to avoid counting. When working with a pattern that requires you to do something in alternating intervals – like decrease every 4th row, increase every other row, or work a cable every 8th row –  it is easy for me to lose track of what row I am working. Enter the humble stitch marker. By connecting several together to form a chain, you have a quick row counter that will let you know when it is time to do that special something in your pattern.

In the shawl that I am currently working, I am increasing every fourth row. So to mark it, I connected two split ring stitch markers and placed it on my needle. On each right side row, I change the marker from the top color to the bottom. The lighter lavender color indicates a row where I should be increasing; the darker purple is a row where I don’t increase. On wrong side rows, I just slip the marker without changing its position. Now when I put down my shawl, I will know exactly where I am in the pattern when I come back to it. This is especially handy with this shawl since the rows are over 600 sts long.

Hope this little trick helps you out on your next project where you work a special technique in alternating rows.