Count your stitches after
completing every row, especially if you are a beginning
knitter. This may seem like a tedious task but you
will know immediately if you accidentally dropped a stitch
or looped the yarn over the needle and made a stitch when
you shouldn't have.
If the error is on the row you just completed (or even
the row you are still working on), you can unravel the row
stitch by stitch and correct the error. You'll find
instructions for doing this by clicking
here.
A dropped stitch can be
picked up and fixed with a crochet hook without ripping
back. It’s best if you find this within 3 rows
as it becomes much more difficult later and will distort
the knitting (another reason to check for errors
frequently!). Learn how to how to pick up a dropped stitch
by clicking
here.
If you find an error many rows back, you can choose to
leave it (unless it's a dropped stitch, in which case it
will continue to unravel and must be fixed). Some people can live with the
error while others find it will always bother
them and stick out like a sore thumb.
If you want to fix it, you'll need to rip back the rows
until you get to the error. To do so, first mark the row
to which you need to return with a safety pin or
split-ring marker. Take the knitting off the needle, pull
the working yarn and keep pulling until you are one row
above the error. Then unravel stitch by stitch and place
each stitch that is left back on the needle as you
unravel. Be careful that you don't twist the stitches as
you do this; they should be in their normal position. If
you do find a twisted stitch as you get back to your
knitting, to untwist it either remove it again and place
it back on the left needle untwisted or knit (or purl as
the case may be) into the back of the stitch.
Finally, keep in mind that a mistake here and there is
okay! It gives your projects that handmade quality, and
for the most part, it will not effect the usefulness and
beauty of your finished project.
|
Editor's note: Using
stitch markers to mark every 10 stitches or 20 stitches
when you have a more complex stitch pattern to keep
track of can make it easier for you to keep track of
your work. You only have to count the stitches in
between a given set of markers to know whether that
section of your row is correct. Click
here for our stitch markers.
|
