Hi,
Does anyone know how this mistake happens and how to fix it? I have no clue how it keeps happening. I am a new knitter and this is my first project. I would really like to not redo the whole thing if possible.
Thank you,
Monica
Welcome to the forum and to knitting!
It may be a stitch that wasn’t completed on a row. The incomplete wrap forms the long loop that you see between stitches. It sometimes happens if you’re momentarily distracted and don’t notice at the time or on the next row.
Do you still have the same number of sts that you cast on? It helps when you’re starting out to count sts every row or every other row.
There are ways of correcting this if you’d like, by knitting over to the column of sts with the mistake, dropping the stitch off the needle and laddering down to it.
Your knitting is working out very nicely. Enjoy working this first project!
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Hi Monica!
Fellow new knitter here. For future projects, if and when it makes sense to you, I recommend using a lifeline. Here’s a link to a blogpost that explains what a lifeline is. It’s basically the knitting equivalent to the “Save” button on a Word document. Experienced knitters use it for complex projects, but I’ve been using it as a beginner on my first socks because I still find it difficult to fix my mistakes. You might find it a hassle, it’s entirely up to you to see if it helps you or not! It is a little easier if you use interchangeable circular needles, because they have a little hole where you can insert your lifeline, which spares you the effort of adding the lifeline separately.
Congrats on your first project 
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Do you know if there is any way I can fix a dropped stitch once it has already been done and I don’t want to unravel the whole project, like in my situation? I can only see videos for how to fix a dropped stitch when it was caught right away 
In the video that I linked to, Staci lets the stitch drop down several rows and gives a method for picking it up using a crochet hook. You could also use a spare knitting needle if you don’t have a crochet hook. It can even be a smaller size needle.
It takes a bit of patience with garter stitch but it is do-able.
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Okay, thank you very much! Now the trick will be trying to figure out if I’ve dropped at the right stitch and not the row next to it by accident 
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Hello
I wonder if you have tried giving the yarn around it a bit of a tug to see what happens?
It could be that you’ve snagged the knitting some how and it just pulled it out of shape. Or when you were knitting you put in a really loose stitch by mistake. If it is a very big stitch it’s possible to pull the yarn and neaten up the row. The extra yarn from that stitch can be shared out along the row and look OK.
It might not be this but it might be worth watching a tutorial on how to tighten loose stitches. In my opinion tightening loose stitches is easier than laddering down and weaving back up (although that is a useful skill and worth practising) so I’d always explore the stitch a bit first.
Is there another, a row or so further right on the top photo and closer to the bottom of the picture?
I followed the instructions in the Youtube video exactly for the regular knitting stitch (not purl because I haven’t learned how to do that yet) and for some reason the dropped stitch looks vertical instead of horizontal like my other stitches! I have no idea why 
Have I been knitting incorrectly?
You’ve pulled each stitch through to the same side as a knit stitch. You don’t need to purl to work this repair, just bring the ladder strand to the front of to the back.
At about 3:20 in the video, Staci mentions that the other way to work this is to keep flipping the knit fabric over so that you are always bringing the strand through the loop as a knit stitch. That’s also a possibility.
You’ve got the right idea for pulling the loop through, you just need to follow the directions for pulling through from the back then from the front on the next row up. No purling needed.
I’m so silly, I didn’t realize the other way also applied to the garter stitch for some reason! Thank you very much, I’ve managed to fix it and learn a great deal along the way 
I appreciate the patience, thanks again!
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Well done for fixing it. Being able to pick up a dropped stitch makes all the difference when knitting.
I had just one stitch drop off today and I hadn’t even knit past it but I had to go at it for about ten minutes or more to get it back the right way.
Glad you managed it.
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Oh that really spectacular. I’m glad you were able to work this out because it means you’re really learning how the stitches interlace to form the knit fabric. Well done!