Smart Stitch Counters

The boys and I were in the car yesterday, doing some back to school shopping for me. Barnacle Boy was riding shotgun, Crash Kid in the back. "Beep." says the Boy. Huh? "Is that a row?" inquires Crash. "Huh?" "No, a stitch." says the Boy firmly. The light dawns.

"Have you convinced Crash to be your stitch counter?" "Beep." Basically, yes. We had a discussion about the various types of stitch counters you could have, including the one I use on my iPod. None, however, are as convenient as having someone tally your stitches and tell you when to change stitches or rows or whatever. "Beep." It got me wondering about how to do this without shanghai-ing your brother into it (I'm still not sure quite how "beep" the Boy got Crash to do this - and probably should not ask.) I can sort of see how you might write the code for it....

Barnacle Boy learned to crochet (as as he says jokingly, "crotch-et") this year. His friend Bead Girl taught him the basic stitch last winter while I was away and he crocheted a long (and not quite completed) beautiful scarf for me. This summer he found a book called The Happy Hooker, which had some edgier crochet patterns. We got him the book, then he discovered he needed to learn more stitches and how to read a pattern. He was undaunted.

Armed with a crochet hook, two balls of yarn and the book, he spent a week's worth of August rainy days teaching himself how to crochet. He did samples of every stitch in the book. I was wildly impressed. Now he's on his second project (an anarchist's hat - aka a black watch cap with a red edge) - using his smart (and you may read that as you wish) stitch counter whenever he can. The beeps are driving me to distraction! "Beep."