Knitting Row Counter

It seems a lot of us knit at our desks.  After seeing a post on LiveJournal about someone else's counter, and hearing the requests for a Mac version, I decided to write a Java one, so it would be cross-platform.

Current Screenshot:

More screenshots

Update Status

Last Updated 01/25/06. 

01/25/06:  Okay, working copy up, now that I'm feeling better.  At least, it works for me.  Tell me if it doesn't for you. 

Updates in this version:  Made the window larger to prevent the progress bar being clipped off in some Mac versions.  Also added a "Total Rows Completed" for those who are working in pattern, but want to track by overall rows.

01/09/06:  More small changes/bug fixes.  And when I opened it up to test, it doesn't want to work on my computer.  I'd do something about this, but it's 8am, I haven't slept, and I apparently have a fever.  Download at your own risk.

12/16/05:  Small changes this time.  After using the counter for the lovely Coronet from Knitty, I realized it would make far more sense to have the pattern repeat counter increment when you finished the last row, instead of the first of the next repeat.  (Hush.  I was tired.)  So that's fixed now.  Also labeled and added a number display to the progress bar.

Oh, also there is now wimpy documentation below.  There will be more after I'm done with the holiday fuss.

12/15/05:  Big changes!  Multi-project support.  More information about your project, if you choose to add it (yarn, color, dye lot, etc.)  A progress bar that shows you how far along you are on the project you're knitting.  The progress bar can either keep track by number of rows completed or number of pattern repeats.  Also, it will only increment the pattern repeat counter automatically if you have the Working in Pattern box checked, so it doesn't reset when you're working on a border or whatnot.

Still to do:  I'd still like to add a gauge calculator, at least.  Documentation as well, which is a priority, I think.  Look for these after I finish my finals, but possibly before the holidays.  No promises.

12/11/05:  Slightly tweaked interface, in preparation for bigger things, like multi-project support.  You can also now set the name of your project, in anticipation of the same.  Also, now your count is saved automagically every time you make a change, and it loads automagically as well.  Also fixed the silly little problem where the repeat counter was not, in fact, incrementing like it should have.  Bad counter!  Bad!

12/8/05 (Again):  Added the ability to save and load your row count.  The program will create a file called "knitsaves.txt" wherever it lives. 

12/8/05:  New version.  Redesigned the interface.  Now you can set a pattern repeat length.  Example: If your pattern has a repeat length of five rows, then enter 5 in the box and click the button.  If it is set to something greater than one, the row counter will reset when advancing beyond five, and will increment the pattern repeat counter.

Future Plans

Multiple project support, perhaps a progress bar.  Definitely an easier way to install it.  Maybe also some basic knitting calculators (gauge, increase/decrease spacing, etc.).  Any suggestions?  Let me know.

Download

Right click to download a zip file

Right click to download a jar (Java) file For some reason, IE wants to save this as a .zip file.  You can either rename it to a .jar or get the zip and unzip it.

Right click to download a self-extracting .EXE (for Windows) Extract this somewhere like your desktop.

Go here to get the Java Environment if you don't have it.

Old Version

Only download this if the current one doesn't work!

Right click to download a zip file

Right click to download a jar (Java) file For some reason, IE wants to save this as a .zip file.  You can either rename it to a .jar or get the zip and unzip it.

Right click to download a self-extracting .EXE (for Windows) Extract this somewhere like your desktop.

Go here to get the Java Environment if you don't have it.

Help!

Instructions are fairly basic right now.  In Windows, you should be able to double-click the .jar file to run it.  Probably much the same for Mac/Linux. 

Some people are getting an error that looks like this:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: 
RowCounterApplication (Unsupported major.minor version 49.0)

If you're getting this (or anything that won't let it run), please visit this page.  Verify your installation and please let me know what version of Java you have.  If you have something other than 1.5, try upgrading to the latest version, if possible.  I don't know if I can get this to work with 1.4 and below.

If you've installed 1.5 and are still getting the above error (Mac only), do the following, as supplied to me by a very kind person:

Go to Applications > Utilities > Java > J3SE 5.0. In that folder, double-click on "Java Preferences". On the first tab, change the following:

Under "Java Applet Runtime Settings", change the pulldown after "Use version:" to "J2SE 5.0".
Under "Java Application Runtime Settings", change the order in the window by clicking on "5.0" and dragging it up over the "1.4.2". That will change the order to have "5.0" on top and "1.4.2" listed under it.

Click the (Save) button. Then quit out of the preferences.

Email me with any problems.

Mailing List

Want news on when this program gets updated?  Go here.