Sobbing Over Dropped Stitches

#1

Alright so, KH taught me to knit so this is the first place I go whenever I have a problem with my knitting. I’ve watched Amy’s video on using a crochet hook to fix mistakes several rows down and have tried repeatedly to pick up this stitch and can’t seem to do it properly. I finally deferred to Stitch 'N Bitch, and it says to do the same thing, the same way, yet I still am screwing up.

Here are some photos of what the mistakes look like and a diagram to explain a little more aptly since the photos are a tad blurry:



For some reason, no matter what I do, I get this little ladder instead of nice, neat knit stitches. I don’t know what to do!! I have been crying all morning and I just can not figure out what I’m doing wrong. If someone could help, I will be eternally grateful.

#2

Most instructions for picking up stitches are for stockinette stitch. Your piece is garter stitch.

To pick up a dropped stitch in garter stitch, you have to use the crochet hook on alternate sides each time, so the stitch will blend in properly. Maybe, you should let the stitch drop to the original mistake again, and pull it up one more time?

But, before you do that, you should take a break, have a nice cup of hot tea, eat a square of Ghirardelli Chocolate, and read a fun magazine. :hug:

#3

I also dropped stitches on the front of my sweater. I tried to pick them up but it was on a dec and it didn’t come out right. Now I’m trying to figure out whether to just rip it out and do the front again. I’m taking a poll-rip or not?

#4

And are you sure you dropped a stitch or did you do a YO and make a hole? Honey, don’t cry, it’s only yarn, not concrete; you can redo it.

#5

No, I dropped them, but its now a yarn-blob in the center, on the left side of the decrease line. My sister suggested I figure out where it would lie when I war it. Since it’ll be basically under my boob, I don’t think anyone will notice. Are there any knitting police out there anyway?

#6

You are your only Knitting Police. If it is not going to bother you, then leave it. I would rip it to the mistake and fix it, but that’s just me.

I really think that is the beauty of knitting (and why I like it over sewing), you almost never actually “ruin” anything. Projects can be frogged and redone!

I agree with Sue, relax and go back to it when you are feeling refreshed. Actually, I’ll agree with anyone who prescribes chocolate!

candice

#7

If I rip it out, I’ll have to rip out the whole thing and start over. I’d never be able to rip back to the mistake. Which is ok-I probably will. I bought a bag of dark chocolate m&ms yesterday. Those’ll get me through. :slight_smile:

#8

I wanted to thank you guys for all your advice. Once I realized I had to go back and forth (aka flip) to be able to get it to blend with the other knit stitches, things went much better. It looked a bit dodgey at first since the stitches were really loose, but I worked the stitching a bit and it’s all better now. Thank you all so much! (^-^)

#9

I was replying to the first post, sorry. You must have posted your picture while I was typing mine. What I do when I have to rip out part of something is unravel to the row before I want to be on, then insert a needle (a smaller one helps) and then pull out the stiches one by one and put them on the needle. Don’t worry if they get put on twisted, the goal is to get them on a needle. When you reknit them, look at each one and if it’s twisted, put it right and knit it.

#10

Ok, I want to try that, but when you say “insert the needle” what do you mean? Should I run it through the whole row of stitches I want or just have it handy to put the stitch on as I unravel?

#11

I think Suzeeq was talking about ripping out all the way down to the glitch.

Sometimes when you pick up a stitch after dropping it, it inadvertently gets twisted. You can try again, if you like. Slip the stitches over so that the one you want to work on is at the end of a needle. Put the crochet hook into the front of the work in the stitch below the one you want to fix. Then let the stitch unravel down to the crochet hook and pick up one bar at a time. Take your time and make sure you’re picking up the right yarn for that row.

#12

You can put it through the whole row before you undo the last one, look up lifeline under Fixing Mistakes http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips it’s similar. Or you can put the needle into each stitch as you pop out the yarn. That’s on the same page under How to Reinsert your Needle.

#13

I did it!!! I have the row on the needle waiting for me to finish the sleeve I’m workin gon. Then I have to figure out exactly where in the pattern I am. I LOVE THIS FORUM!!

#14

Yay! I’m so glad it worked! :cheering:

Woo Hoo! Another dropped stitch recovery! :woohoo: