Happy Monday! Let’s chase away the Monday blues with another chance to win a cool knitting prize! That means it’s time for another edition of Readers En-Gauge. Every Monday we ask you a question, and if you leave an answer in the comments, you’re entered into a giveaway. It’s just that easy. Last week we asked you what the best way was to join granny squares. Be sure to check out everyone’s helpful answers.
This week we’re looking for more of your great tips! To enter into today’s giveaway, just answer this question in the comments:
What is your best tip for fixing knitting mistakes?
Let us know below in the comments. We’ll be keeping an eye on what you post, and if you’re lucky you can win something fun AND be featured on Stitch & Unwind tomorrow!
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I usually just go back and fix it (if its not too far). If it is I cover it up by adding a piece of yarn around the area that is wrong.
my best advice is to always have a crochet hook next to you, in case. preferably the same size as knitting needles, but deffinatly as close as you can size wise (or something hook like works well too)
If I have to go back to fix a mistake in the same row, I use a crochet hook to pull a new yarn through the stitches so I don’t lose them 🙂
simply frog the few stitches down to the mistake and use crochet hook to reknit the stitches correctly. also when doing a more inticate pattern that would require frogging the whole rows then i use a safety line of yarn with each pattern repeat
I’m a fan of ‘un-knitting’ one stitch at a time if the mistake is in the same row. I use the left needle to lift the stitch back off of the right needle (through the original loop, not the new one) and then pull out the loop of the new stitch. Even though this can feel like it takes longer than just ripping back the row, it ensures each stitch is properly back on the left needle.
I am a new knitter and am doing well to knit let alone fix my errors. I located a knit store in our community owned by two very sweet sisters, who not only knit and crochet, they are very generous with their help. Experience is the best way to fix errors, find those with it and learn from them then be available to share your knowledge to the next generation.
I hand sew mine or single crochet them together.. depends on my mood
It depends on the mistake that was made. If I notice that I worked one or two stitches wrong and I am a few rows past the mistake, I will drop those stitches from the needle down to the mistake and rework them correctly and then add them back to my needle. If it is a pattern that I am not able to fix in this manner, hate to say it, I will need to pull it apart until I am down to the row that has the mistake and then rework the mistakes.
If the mistake isn’t noticeable, only to myself, I am apt to leave it.
Mary
I maybe a little to OCD to “fix” them I take it back to the mistake and start over
Ummm…..
1. Remove kniting needles
2. rewind yarn
3. Start over using a crochet hook
🙂
i will tear it out to the spot where I messed up if I cannot fix it with a crochet hook.
I use a small (size 0) double sided knitting needle. I can hook the stitch with one side, and slide the needle down and use the other side to hook it back on the needle. I find that I have fewer twisted stitches that way.
I have a very very thin piece of wire that is thin enough to thread it thru the yarn until I reach the dropped stitch. Then I wrap the end of the wire around the stitch that was droppe and then I slowly pull the wire back up thru the yarn until I reach the row that I’m working on. I put the stitch onto my needle and then I open the wire end. You can use any type of craft wire as long as its thin like a sewing needle. I actually go to a hardware store and get a roll of solder, like the solder that you use with a solder gun to fuse wiring, etc., together. They have all sizes and you can easily mold the solder wire very easily.
I always tink back to the mistake. I remind myself that I knit for the cathartic process and going back is just a part of the process.
I either frog back to the stitch, or knit until I get to the column where the stitch is incorrect, and drop the live stitch down until I get to the error, and then pick all the stitches back up with a crochet hook.
In stockinette stitch: To rescue a dropped stitch from the knit side of stockinette stitch (if the purl side is facing, turn it around), reach through the dropped stitch with a crochet hook and pick up the bottommost strand in the ladder. Then, pull the strand through the stitch toward you to form a new stitch.
Repeat this maneuver to pull each successive strand in the ladder through the loop until the last strand has been worked.
If I have dropped stitches, I will use a method I found on a u-tube video that does NOT require a crochet hook. LOVE IT.
When I have to fix a stitch or two that’s in the same row or row below, I put a stitch marker in the stitch that needs re-done. That way when I’m tinking back I know how far in the row(s) I need to go back.
If it’s a dropped stitch I use a crochet hook to bring it back up to the working needle after tinking back to that spot. In this case I would put the stitch marker in the stitch before the dropped one.
I’ve used various methods through the years. Currently I’m into ripping it out and fixing it, but I also keep a crochet hook nearby. I’ve also been known to take a needle and matching thread to a finished product and fix mistakes when stitches are not even. I like to think no one can ever recognize this.
Seems picking up a dropped stitch has been pretty much covered so I thought I would move on to having too loose or too tight tension. When I realize I have neglected to properly check my tension prior to starting I usually pick up a needle of a different size (a size or half-size up if tension is too tight and same things with a slightly smaller needle if I find the tension too loose). I find that in the process of continuing to work the yarn evens itself out eventually. 😀
I use a crochet hook to pick up dropped stitches and repair my knitting. It’s so much easier than using the straight knitting needle!
My best advice for fixing knitting mistakes is to learn to be patient and pay attention to the pattern that way if you have to take something out or drop a stitch to fix something, you can patiently fix it and know what you are doing. Also, find a more experienced knitter than you that lives near by so if all else fails, you can drive over and ask them what in the world you did wrong and how to fix it. lol Have a blessed day with either your hook or needles.
I unknit to I get back to my mistake and try to fix it. If I can’t fix it, I just rip it out and start over.
1st: TAKE A DEEP BREATH
2nd: get my little Sally Bates fixit tool. It is small, has a hook on one end and a point on the other. It is great for grabbing & getting things where they need to be.
3rd: if that’s not it, go to my LYS & get help :), they are great
I drop the stitch to the mistake and use a crochet hook to bring it back up
I actually got this tip from a Facebook post, but I don’t remember who posted it…Excellent idea!
Use rug hooking latch hook to pick up dropped stitches. Much easier than using crochet hook.
The perfectionist in me forces me to frog and redo. Even it a mistake is “fixed” … I still know it’s there and I don’t like it!
If the mistake is not too far back, I’ll either use a crochet hook or if I don’t have one a cable needle works too. If its too far back to make that practical 🙁 I’ll rip it out down to the mistake and consider it penance for losing my concentration (LOL)… I tend to woolgather while I knit..no pun intended!
If I haven’t knitted to far from it, I just go back and fix it. If it’s a few rows back, and going to be a gift, I un-knit and fix it. If it’s for me, and not to noticeable, I might just leave it. 🙂
I use a crochet hook to fix stitches all the way down and back up unless it is in the last couple rows, then I will rip it out and start the row(s) over.
I always have a small crochet hook in my bag It is a must for fixing mistakes
Have that crochet hook handy!
Keep a crochet hook or latch hook handy…find the dropped stitch and hook it back to the needles. Really, this is the reason that I don’t knit very much. I would rather rip out several rows of crochet than try to hook up one dropped knit stitch.
I just undo it until I get back to the mistake.
I take a deep breath and get myself a small piece of chocolate for its calming properties. Then I use a crochet hook if I dropped a stitch rows back, or tink if I used the wrong stitch. I rarely frog because I’m afraid of missing a stitch when I pick them up.
If it is where I can easily do so, I add a crocheted flower to cover up the error.
My Best Tip? Don’t make any mistakes to begin with!!! LOL I use markers between pattern repeats. I check the stitch count after finishing each repeat. IF I find a mistake I slip stitches back onto the left needle until I get to the mistake and use a crochet hook to fix it, then slip the stitches back onto the right needle. If you check after each pattern repeat, You’ll have to move fewer stitches.
I will undo stitches in the same row,use a crochet hook for dropped stitches or I will take the needles out & undo & put the stitches back on the needles after the repair.
I teach knitting, and teaching how to un-knit is pretty much as important as the knitting itself. I tell my students that starting over is only an option when you decide the gauge is off or don’t like how the yarn and the pattern are working together. Otherwise, unknitting is your best friend. I have unknitted back several rows, through a complex lacy pattern (I was trying to watch tv too… silly me) – there is no way that pulling my needle out and ripping back those several rows would have allowed me to get the stitches back onto the needle properly with all the yarn-overs and PSSO’s and K2tog’s… I also teach how a wrong stitch in the row below can be undone and redone the right way when you get back to it. I usually save the “let the stitch run down several rows and redo all the way back up” technique for the more advanced classes. : )
I have found that it’s very helpful to have another person hold up your knitting while you do the repair. It’s especially useful when working of a repair to lace sections. Seeing the piece with a bit of tension helps me figure out what needs to go where!
Gosh, there are several different things you can do, depending on the mistake and on your abilities!! But i am such a stickler for perfection in my work, i usually will take the work apart. I know this freaks some people out, but fixing mistakes made me a better knitter! Every time i teach someone to knit, they agree, they become better when they learn about mistakes and how to fix them! Happy knitting-
If I have dropped a stitch, I will pick it up if I can. If I find a mistake, I will rip back and fix it. I can’t gift something if I know there is a mistake!
If I make a mistake on a hat, I simply add a flower or another kind of embellishment and sew it over the “mistake”. It looks as if I planned it that way!
It depends on where the error is and what type of pattern you are working. Sometimes it helps to put the correct stitches on a stitch holder and fix the dropped/incorrect one(s) with a crochet hook. Other times it’s easy enough to just use a crochet hook and pick up the dropped stitch and work it back up to the row you’re working on.
When I am knitting something especially complicated, I will run a contrasting thread through the stitches every so often. Then if I have to frog, the knitting won’t unravel past the lifeline.
Always have a crochet hook on hand its easy to pick up drop stitch then you can put the drop stitch on waste yarn .Now you can go back and pick up that stitch without losing more stitches.
If I can’t see it without searching for it, they wont’t see it (hopefully). of course if it is in the last 2 or 3 rows , it’d a do over.
I am not a very experienced knitter although I have been knitting for years, so if I have a mistake I usually “frog” or “tink” back to the mistake and start over.
I keep a crochet hook handy for dropped stitches. If I happen to do a wrong stitch or add one to many, I usually rip it out to the point of the mistake and fix it. Can’t have holes where there shouldn’t be holes. lol
I think the best tip is, don’t make a mistake. And if you do, stay CALM! And like you have read already pick up a crochet hook, but before you do, pick up a safetypin,put it in the ‘lost’ stitch till you get to the point were you have lost your stitch. Than pick up the crochethook, take out the safetypin and put in the crochethook, than crochet you way up, knitwise on the knitside and purlwise on the purlside. So your little knittingfriends are a safetypin and a crochethook and the best friend is patience! 😉 Happy knitting, Véronique