I am a beginner knitter and I am doing well…sticking to it. I have always quit in past years. Now I am finally making progress. I have 4 projects going because I then have the luxury of not getting “stuck” when I make a mistake. So when something goes wrong and I cannot correct, I move to another knitting project until my once a week class. The problem is I cannot fix mistakes on my own. I have already bought at least 10 books, most very good for showing how to correct problems visually. But, not matter what, I can’t follow how the yarn should look and where it should go. I can’t understand nor see, for example, if I drop or make an incomplete stitch, what goes where before nor after. Also, like if my needle comes out at the end of a row, I can’t be sure that I am putting the needle back the right way so therefore, I don’t know if I am right or wrong. This goes for everything I am doing….a dishcloth, a shawl…and just basic knit purl stitches with increases and some decreases. Wherever I make a mistake, that is it. One excellent book shows corrections in a way that is easy to really see, but the problem is that in the first picture of the mistake, the yarn is labeled…for example, large loop, dropped stitch, ladder, working yarn, but then the following pictures that show the solutions don’t continue with the labels, so then I cannot follow what is where and what goes where. So the text is good, but it doesn’t do any good when I can’t follow what is what. So, I just can’t see it. My teacher tries to show me but it is never clear. Any suggestions or any advice??? YouTube is great, but again, I can’t find the very basic information I need. Hope someone can help.
Well no one can help you ‘get it’ so you just may need a lot of review. I would advise you to look at ALL the videos on this site, but especially go to http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips and watch all the videos under the heading [B]“fixing mistakes”[/B], pay special attention to recognizing a twisted stitch, this will help you when you have had to reinsert your needle.
Good luck.
When putting a needle back into a piece you’ve ripped out, use a smaller one than you’re knitting with, and it doesn’t matter if the sts are straight on the needle, you can turn them around so they’re correct as you come to them.
Maybe take some leftover yarn and do a sample of mistakes. Drop a stitch on purpose, knit a row, then follow the video to pick it up and put it back on your needle. Take out the needle, then put the sts back on. If you do this as a practice piece, then maybe you’ll be more confident of fixing them as you work your projects.
I just got a newsletter from Knitpicks and their latest podcast is on Fixing Mistakes.
I agree with Sue on doing a little practice piece with your good books near at hand (or video or whatever helps) and make mistakes on purpose and fix them. If you make them on purpose and then look at them closely that will help you to learn to “see” what the mistake looks like. You know the mistake is there because you just made it. 
Mark it some way with a little snippet of yarn or something if you want to go past it a ways or a few rows and then be able to find it. Everything you do try to be very observant. You can knit a long time without paying attention and not learn all that much, but if you start paying attention you will learn faster.
Also when your live teacher helps you with mistakes make sure they let you do the fixing. You might make a few mistakes on purpose of a certain kind on a little swatch and then have your teacher show you on one of them and then watch and direct you step by step as you fix a few of them yourself until you are sure you can do it. I could never learn anything by just watching someone do it, I had to do it myself with someone watching and saying, “No, not right there, but there (pointing with sharp object)”, etc.
Good luck. With attention and effort you’d be fixing mistakes soon.
This is what I am doing…big help. I am going to just keep practicing until it makes sense.