Tutorials

Fixing Mistakes in Lace Knitting

Are you tired of frogging several whole rows only because you made one single knitting mistake a few rows ago? We all make mistakes from time to time, so here is our guide on how to fix knitting mistakes in lace knitting directly in your knitting – without frogging whole rows.

This post is part of the Complete Guide to Lace Knitting.

Dropped Stitches

Has one of your stitches tried to run away?  All you need is a crochet hook to get your knitting back on track: Catch the runaway stitch with a crochet hook and chain stitch upwards, using the loops between two stitches as working thread.

How to fix knitting mistakes

This works for both knit and purl stitches: for knit stitches work on the front, for purl stitches on the back side of your knitting.

Too Many Stitches

Picked up an additional stitch somewhere along the way? This usually happens by working additional yarn overs accidentally, like when wrapping the working yarn once twice around the needle instead of just once.

No matter how the additional stitch has been introduced, you have to find the spot and unravel the unwanted stitch – and only this one! – back to this point. You might notice your knitting to be a bit loosely where the unwanted stitch has been, but a good dose of blocking should do the trick.

Too Few Stitches

If you have too few stitches because you worked an unintended additional decrease, identify the spot the knitting mistake occurred and follow the column of stitches upwards to identify the specific live stitch. Drop this live stitch – again, only this one – down to the point of error. Use your crochet hook again, as described above, to work your way up again.

Remember: You’ll have to work two columns of stitches upwards, not just the one you just unraveled.

How to fix knitting mistakes

Missed Eyelet

Should there be an eyelet somewhere but it is missing? You can fix knitting mistakes involving missed eyelets easily, too.

Identify the column where the eyelet should be and unravel the live stitch right next to it until you reach the row above the one you want to place the eyelet.

Put your crochet hook between two stitches at the point you want the eyelet to be and work one stitch upwards as described above, using the yarn between two stitches as working yarn. Then work your way upwards as usual for the two stitches (one unraveled, one new).

You can omit unraveling if you feel adventurous – just pick up a new stitch with your crochet hook at the desired eyelet place and work your way upwards, using the yarn between two stitches as working yarn.

You might experience a bit of fiddling this way because there is no “real” working yarn, just the bars between two stitches.

Missed Increase

This knitting mistake can be fixed in the same way a missing eyelet is corrected. If your increase method is not a yarn over, work the corresponding increase stitch (kfb, for instance) with your crochet hook and proceed as described for missing eyelets.

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