[Dorothy Kofoed]

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

 

[e.ridenh]

(((((((((( Sometimes frogging it all is all one can do. I agree, fixing your errors doesn't bring knitting inside out, really or backwards. that's why going to the frog pon to rip-rip it is also called TINKING (KNIT spelled backwards)! LOL!!

I get the stitches back on pdq so they don't drop - I don't care if they're twisted. The can be untwisted when one works them again. I do this with my fingers, the tip of the needle or you might find a crochet hook to be handy.

Okie......tell us what the errors are and perhaps we can help.
~~~~~~

Now, what kind of errors are you talking about? I get confused when there's a bunch of cable rows to undo, etc. Oh, the etc.! LOL!!O

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

 

[courier770]

It sounds like you are frustrated, which means it is a good time to set it down for a while!

How do I fix errors? I don't rip it all out..unless its a huge error, like an entire row of mistakes. Generally what I do is "isolate" the error stitch...follow it up to the needle, then "drop" that stitch..all the way down to the error...slowly and carefully. Then when I get to the error, I take a crochet hook, repair the error and use the crochet hook to take that dropped stitch back up to the needle. This takes a little time and practice (learning how to use the crochet hook to "re knit" or "re purl" a stitch.).

If the error you have is a "cable error"..well sad to say the best way to fix it..and really the only way is to rip it back to the point that the error took place.

 

[TammyK]

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

If you do have to rip back and put an entire row of stitches back on the needle it's a lot easier to do if you use a needle that is a few sizes smaller than the one you are using to knit. That way you are not pulling on the stitches and causing them to unravel farther down your fabric than you intend. Just put the stitches on the smaller needle and then resume knitting with the proper size needle. (Don't forget to lay the smaller needle aside after knitting that row! You don't want to start a project on an 8 and accidentally finish it on a 5!)

It might be a good idea for you to learn how to use a lifeline. Every so often, usually after you've knitted a fairly plain row, take a long piece of contrasting yarn (choose something lightweight and something that won't bleed dye - like white crochet cotton or embroidery floss), thread it on a tapestry needle and run it through all the stitches on the needle. Leave a nice long tail on either end so it doesn't come out as you work, and be careful not to knit this thread when you work the next row. Then if you have to rip out you only have to go as far as the lifeline, and all the stitches are captured on the line exactly the way they belong on the needle. All you have to do then is put the stitches back on your needle exactly as they are on the lifeline and start again at the next row of the pattern. (It's important that you keep track of the row of the pattern where you placed the lifeline so you know where in the pattern to start knitting again.)

Meanwhile, learning to fix your mistakes is something that comes with time as you start to know what your work should look like and can recognize when things go awry sooner rather than later. (Unfortunately, the only way to learn to fix mistakes is to make lots of them!) Don't get discouraged! We've all been there!

 

[e.ridenh]

(((((((( Tammy: TY for bringing up the lifeline again. I'll try to remember to study the different ways one can make a lifeline, too.
~~~~~

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

If you do have to rip back and put an entire row of stitches back on the needle it's a lot easier to do if you use a needle that is a few sizes smaller than the one you are using to knit. That way you are not pulling on the stitches and causing them to unravel farther down your fabric than you intend. Just put the stitches on the smaller needle and then resume knitting with the proper size needle. (Don't forget to lay the smaller needle aside after knitting that row! You don't want to start a project on an 8 and accidentally finish it on a 5!)

It might be a good idea for you to learn how to use a lifeline. Every so often, usually after you've knitted a fairly plain row, take a long piece of contrasting yarn (choose something lightweight and something that won't bleed dye - like white crochet cotton or embroidery floss), thread it on a tapestry needle and run it through all the stitches on the needle. Leave a nice long tail on either end so it doesn't come out as you work, and be careful not to knit this thread when you work the next row. Then if you have to rip out you only have to go as far as the lifeline, and all the stitches are captured on the line exactly the way they belong on the needle. All you have to do then is put the stitches back on your needle exactly as they are on the lifeline and start again at the next row of the pattern. (It's important that you keep track of the row of the pattern where you placed the lifeline so you know where in the pattern to start knitting again.)

Meanwhile, learning to fix your mistakes is something that comes with time as you start to know what your work should look like and can recognize when things go awry sooner rather than later. (Unfortunately, the only way to learn to fix mistakes is to make lots of them!) Don't get discouraged! We've all been there!

 

[MaryE.]

Try going a few rows down below your error and running a life-line. Just thread a piece of lighter weight yarn in a contrast color through the stitches from one end to the other. I use crochet cotton threaded on a tapestry needle. You can rip down to that point and the stitches you ran the life line through will be lined up correctly, ready to put back on your needles. If you have a yarn shop in your area, take your knitting in and ask them if they will help. Some will, no questions asked. The ugly word is frogging your work, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit. Hopefully, you won't have to. I've made so many visits to the frog pond that my house is pretty damp.

 

[Loistec]

Hi Dorothy, Im new to knitting and have dropped stitches and ripped out stitches and have learned to recognize knit and purl stitches this way: Pull down on your work and look at the stitches on the needle.Think of the stitch as a little man's head. The purl stitch has a noose around his neck way up high. The knit stitch has a "v" shape above the "noose", which you only see if you pull down on your work.
When picking up dropped stitches, the "knit" stitch needs the horizontal bar of thread BEHIND the loop, and the "purl" stitch needs the horizontal thread IN FRONT of the loop, pulling it through with a crochet hook. I hope this helps, I finally memorized this by saying to myself, knit behind, purl in front. Hope this makes sense.
Lois

 

[Kaju]

If your the only one who can see it or knows where it is especially if its at the beginning and your nearly finished, I leave it alone. I have an aran cardigan that i reverse a cable on the second or third repeat and didnot notice it until the piece was almost finished. Yes I know its there but unless its for a show, I leave it. No one else will pick it out while your wearing it. I still wear it after 20 years and I've yet to have anyone stop me and say "did you know there is an error in your sweater. Good Luck and happy knitting,kaju

 

[SailorRae]

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

Wow do I feel your pain. Correcting a mistake is my worst fear. I've tried to pull off all the stitches and get them back on, but it has NEVER worked for me, so all I can do is start over. I went into a local knitting shop and asked if they would ever teach a class about correcting your boo-boo's. A lady laughed and said that would be a great class, but she said since everyone makes different mistakes it would be hard to teach. I really don't buy that....ripping out is ripping out. I know that this is something I will have to learn how to do, if I want to continue and get any better at this wonderful hobby

 

[e.ridenh]

(((((((( Hey Sailor Rae, we're both veterans - I'm Army which is better than the Navy (@@). LOL! DD is prior service Navy; Here's wishing you two 'fair winds and following seas'.

We'll find field expedient measure to solve everything, eh? LOL!!

Perhaps using stitch marker in difficult sections will alert one to recheck the directions before moving on. Not all patterns are error free, also. It may not just be our fault.

To frog back stitches within the marker is easier than working from the end of the row back. TINK (knit spelled backwards) is harder and slower in knitting, IMHO, compared to crochet.

I erred early on working in the round over a granny square rectangular afghan and failed to put (3 DC, CH2, 3 DC, Ch1) in one corner but put just one group of 3 DC = no cornering done. When I got back around - and it was a large item at that point, there I sat. I didn't want to frog.

So, I didn't. LOL! I put my next corner group in the one group of 3DC and it squared up good enough. LOL!!

The craziest field expedient cutter I ever used on yarn was my P38 (can opener issued with C or K rations and perhaps the MRE/s)! LOL!!
~~~~~~~~

When you learn how to fix your errors you know how to knit. Well, I can't fix my errors. I rip out or what ever you call it and then its hard to get the stitches on the right way again. I have half of this project done and sure don't want to start over.

Wow do I feel your pain. Correcting a mistake is my worst fear. I've tried to pull off all the stitches and get them back on, but it has NEVER worked for me, so all I can do is start over. I went into a local knitting shop and asked if they would ever teach a class about correcting your boo-boo's. A lady laughed and said that would be a great class, but she said since everyone makes different mistakes it would be hard to teach. I really don't buy that....ripping out is ripping out. I know that this is something I will have to learn how to do, if I want to continue and get any better at this wonderful hobby

 

[pam]

Tammy and Mary- thanks for the lifeline info. I have never heard of this before and think its a GREAT idea! I love learning new useful tricks of the trade!

 

[e.ridenh]

(((((( I liked it, too, Pam and the thread was discussed last week or so, too.

If I remember different life-line tools discussed, I think it goes something like this:

Yarn; contrasting color (don't work it into stitches, though.)
Cable interchangeable cords not in use
*** I'm wondering if using a circular needle a little
smaller in diameter than the pattern needle
size and with a LONG ENOUGH cable would
work. Picking up off needle tips would then be
easy. This may have been discussed.
Fishing line; 50 lb test (I might had been just thinking
out loud, though! LOL!!
Baler twine; Not! LOL!! This is my addition at this point.
*** We generate tons of baler twine here on the acreage
off square/retangular bales. One day, I tried to cro-
chet with some. It's doable but annoying! LOL!!
** Round bales come with sleeving made with
a petroleum product, I believe. I'm wondering
how to make into plarn. I'd have to call it
barn? LOL!! Barn it first, make something
next then WASH it! LOL!

I forget what other lifeline systems were discussed.
~~~

Tammy and Mary- thanks for the lifeline info. I have never heard of this before and think its a GREAT idea! I love learning new useful tricks of the trade!

 

[nursecathy]

I have used a smaller size circular needle as a lifeline many times. Just slide it through a row above your mistake, trying to stay on the same row, then rip back to that point and knit away. I even used a stitch holder once on a baby sweater on a trans-Atlantic flight in the middle of the night. I was just sad that no one on the plane was awake to see how clever I was! :thumbup:

 

[e.ridenh]

(((((((((( That's a clever-cleaver idea! TY for sharing!! I'm sure you were disappointed no one saw you, too! LOL!! KIP (knitting in public) is highly encouraged! LOL!!

I've seen circular needles from the by gone days that have no connecters......all one piece of softer, pliable material. I didn't snag them at the time, though. Wasn't sure what they were. LOL!!

I'm determined to find a set again and buy them (Ebay). I don't know about you all, but those interchangeable ones come loose and I think a life line is needed for every row done. ((;

I have a pair of size 10 and 100% acrylic circular needles - 30" inches or so and thought they'd not have an issue there. They didn't but I thought they wouldn't have that snag point, also at the joining of cable to needle. I was wrong. LOL!

I got them at Hobby Lobby.
~~~~

I have used a smaller size circular needle as a lifeline many times. Just slide it through a row above your mistake, trying to stay on the same row, then rip back to that point and knit away. I even used a stitch holder once on a baby sweater on a trans-Atlantic flight in the middle of the night. I was just sad that no one on the plane was awake to see how clever I was! :thumbup:

 

[Meditation601]

I do the same thing that courier does.... carefully picking up the stitches with a crochet hook.. I have a great CD that I got from Eunny Jang and she explains how to do it. It is a good investmetn.... It is wonderful... called Getty Started Basics and Beyond.... She covers a lot of items that I was rusty on... She has a program Knitting Daily on TV I think I had clicked on Interweave Knitting one day and found her through that

My friend suggested correcting an error on a vest that I was making for my granddaughter for Christmas, by using a yarn needle and stitching a "V" over the error.!!!! It worked. Can't even see it.

Good luck!

 

[Grandma81]

A few things I have done to fix errors. Cables-if it is a cable that runs straight down as opposed to one that wanders over the pattern, I just undo the cable stitches, marking the 'twist' rows with a pin, down to the mistake. Then I use DP needles, the same size or as close as I can get. I work the cable back up, crossing it where needed. It looks skoppy, but after a few tugs and washing, you would never know it was reknit. If I must rip rows back, I mark the row above and rip out to that row. Then I take the stitches off, one by one on to a smaller size needle. No dropped stitches, if they get turned, you just knit them the proper way. You do need to keep track of your rows of course. It just takes 'practice' and it might be worth your time to really practice the cable fix on a swatch, and hope you don't need to do it for real. You don't need to wonder why I had to learn all these tricks, and it happens to everybody!!

 

[Judy M]

Look at the loops on your needle after you pick them up. The back of your "loop" should be to the back side of your knitted item and go to the left.

The front of that "loop" should be on the front side and go to the right.

That is if you are knitting your stitches from the left needle to the right needle. That "loop" should not be twisted.

Hope this helps. Let me know if this is what you wanted to know.

 

[Norma]

I agree with Kaju. Most errors are only noticeable to the knitter. If it is a big one just do it again. Just remember what you did and continue doing. In other words be consistent in your pattern. If it isn't too bad I just call it my signature boo-boo, because I make them all the time.

 

[MaryE.]

Norma: I once had someone tell me if the error wasn't visible from a galloping horse, to forget it. I wince whenever I think of it, but it isn't a bad bit of advice. Sometimes it is more important to finish an item than for it to be perfect. If it's visible from that galloping horse, it may need a little attention.

 

[e.ridenh]

My friend suggested correcting an error on a vest that I was making for my granddaughter for Christmas, by using a yarn needle and stitching a "V" over the error.!!!! It worked. Can't even see it. (((((((( That's a great idea! TY for sharing!! A V stitch is a duplicae stitch, right?

I discovered one way too late, too - I must have had my yarn in a YF postition, perhaps YB as I had a hole but no dropped stitch. It was just above a roll brim. I placed three French knots on it so it wouldn't be seen and now it looks like a cute flower. LOL! I used the same yarn - a contrasting color would have been cuter. LOL!!
~~~~~
Good luck![/quote]