How to Seamlessly Repair a Knitting Project

Most, if not all, knitting books state that a dropped stitch that goes back several rows, or more than two or three stitches pulled off the needles spells doom for your project. If you throw your heart and soul into every masterpiece, this can be devastating. However, this article will describe how to almost seamlessly repair a knitted garment so that you can continue on that lacy baby sweater.

1. Don't move the needles. If you've already pulled more than two or three stitches off, stop moving the needles. Carefully look at which needle got moved. If it was the right one, you might have an easier time. If it was the left one, this will be a little tricky.
2. Set aside plenty of time. Hold the work nearly vertically, and look at the construction of the garment. If you see parallel strands of yarn with a little nub a few strands down, that nub is your dropped stitch. With either your fingertips or a crochet hook, carefully pull the nub until a loop emerges. Be gentle here.
3. Begin to trade the yarn strands, pulling the strand above through the loop until you reach the top. If the stitch was on the left needle, place it on and work on the next one. If it was on the right, pull the working yarn out, put that stitch on the left needle and reknit it.

• Tension on the yarn is your best friend. Try to maintain the same tension you did when knitting. Reknitting may solve this particular problem.
• If this occurs at the end of a row without the working yarn, and it seems to have pulled out more than three stitches, unfortunately you will have to start over.
• Use a cable needle or double-pointed needle to temporarily hold the repaired stitches if there are more than ten or twelve.
• Be careful, again, not to pull the needle out further.

• If the project is more than fifty stitches, and the needles fall out completely, start over. It's not worth the frustration and may give you a chance to learn the pattern better.