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A few days ago I received a little gift in the mail; a life counter from emmerging geek company Hero creations – Impression 3D because one of my geeky friend and fellow crochet enthusiast happens to work there (Hey Cristal!). See, this company makes all sorts of geek items through 3D printing and one of these adorables (and affordable) items is the previously mentionned life counter.
With a talented crochet artist like Cristal within their team, it was a matter of tim before they realised that their life counter could also happen to be a life saving device for fiber artists everywhere! After all, it could very well count stitches, rows, rounds and repeats!
This is where I come in; because Cristal offered to send me one to test it out! Me! Who actually never uses stitch counters… but who has about 200 paper scraps laying around on her desk and who also sends random numbers through chat to her friends because « Ok, 32 stitches done ».
Would this small item change my life?
To be fair, it probably won’t… but it might help me get rid of all the scrap paper laying about on my desk!
Which would be great, because my desk is small and chaotic.
My first impressions
First of all, I have to say that I am used to those tiny, cheap, stitch counters that you can slide on your circular knitting needles. I have had a ton of those, so my fist thought when I saw this one was: Wow, this is actually HUGE!
Now, this might read as a negative, but it really isn’t.
Indeed, most of the previously mentionned tiny sitch counters have vanished from my life… Well, to be fair they’re probably somewhere around the house, but I can’t be bothered to look for them so… they’re effectively lost. They’re so tiny and they roll everywhere and even when they are within reach, I don’t actually see them lol!
Given the more noticeable size of this one, it shouldn’t be a problem!
My second thought was that I would have to be careful of how I set it down to remember which number was to be remembered… but then I noticed that it has actual marks so you can quickly know! I was very relieved!
And 70 is not a random number, it happens that I was at 70 of 144 stitches when the courrier rang the doorbell and the whole house (actually, just the one dog) descended into chaos.
So I was basically singing 70, 70, 70!!!!! as I was trying to maneuver myself onto the porch to grab the enveloppe.
A great and very relaxing moment in my life.
My next reflexion was a bit negative though… Yeah, another plastic gadjet to add to my chaos…
Sure, however on the shipping slip there was a note explaning that the counter was actually made of PLA which is a plant based plastic made from sustainable ressources!
Well then, hello guilt free accessorizing!
Plus it’s completely desgined, printed AND assembled here in Quebec!
And the colors are just perfect! Yes, I am that easy to seduce: allow me to choose my own colors… and to mix and match when I am unable to choose!
The verdict
Before I relay my final judgement, I have to say that this life counter was sent to me for free so that I could give my impressions on it and on how useful it would be to me as a fiber artist.
When I got the counter I hadn’t yet looked at the price range, but I was expecting them to be quite pricy since they are completely made here and we are used to cheap plastic fare from China. After looking them up, they range from 10 à 15$ per counter depending on the option you pick! This is much more reasonnable than I expected for a product that’s actually made here with a plant based plastic.
Personnaly I do like the size of it; it should be harder to loose, but it’s still small enough that it won’t be a problem to slide it in a project bag. Also, a weird comment perhaps, the texture is actually quite pleasant and not rough or scratchy. And the colors are pretty and shiny!
I have to say that I found the rings to be a bit stiff to turn. Not enough for it to be a problem, and I guess it will make it virtually impossible for them to turn if you drop or grab the counter!
Finally, if you like using stitch counters and would like to have the option of one that is original and made in Quebec, this might just be the counter for you and you should definetely get one!
Pst: Hero Creations is giving you 10% off your next order with code LAROSE10 !
La rose du rang 