Knitting Hacks: Fixing Common Mistakes Without Unraveling Your Work

There is no worse feeling to a knitter than to look back on a project that’s halfway done and spot a mistake several rows back! If you’ve made your way to this blog article, it’s probably because you’ve experienced this yourself and want to know how to fix these mistakes without having to tear apart your work. While there are some mistakes that require unraveling, there is good news! You can oftentimes fix knitting mistakes with a few tools and a little information. Here are some knitting hacks for fixing common mistakes without unraveling your work: 

Recognizing Common Knitting Mistakes

First, it is important to identify the type of knitting mistake you found in your work before attempting to fix it. Here are the most common mistakes:

• Dropped stitches
• Twisted stitches
• Wrong increases or decreases
• Extra yarn overs and holes in your work

These errors can be easily fixed with a few tools and a little know-how.

Fixing Dropped Stitches

Dropped stitches happen to even the most experienced knitters. It is one of the most complained about knitting mistakes. You can fix this mistake with a simple crochet hook. Just locate the dropped stitch and use the crochet hook to pull it back up to the current row, going through each loop as you ascend until you reach the top row of your work. For a more thorough explanation, watch the video below!

Tools Needed:

• Crochet hook

Fix:

• Use a crochet hook to pull the dropped stitch back up to the current row, going through each loop as you ascend.

Correcting Twisted Stitches

You can identify twisted stitches by their out-of-place look in your work, though they are easy to miss. They don’t typically cause a terrible distortion in the fabric, but when they do it is important to correct them. To fix a twisted stitch, use a crochet hook or a small knitting needle to untwist the stitch and realign it with its neighboring stitches. Watch the video below for an easy-to-follow tutorial.

Tools Needed:

• A small knitting needle or a crochet hook.

Fix:

• Use a knitting needle to gently untwist the stitch and realign it with its neighbors.

Mending Extra Yarn Overs or Holes in Your Work

Sometimes, a double yarn over (yo twice) will be part of a pattern. If it is not part of the pattern and you’ve made one as a mistake, you will likely end up with an unwanted hole in your work. This typically means there has also been a column added. If you would like to fix this mistake without unbinding your project, you will not fix the extra column, but you will fix the pesky hole. You want to use this fix when you’ve already bound off your work. To do this, you will need a yarn needle and a piece of extra yarn. Wind the yarn through the work to make an extra “v” where the hole is. Then, weave in the ends of the extra yarn to secure it. Watch the video tutorial below for more information. 

Tools Needed:

• Yarn needle
• Extra yarn

Fix

• Use a yarn needle and extra yarn to weave through the surrounding stitches, effectively closing the hole.

Avoid Mistakes Before You Make Them

While knitters of all levels can make these mistakes, it is better to practice if you are making them often. Even experienced knitters will need to go back to basics when they are constantly missing dropped stitches or twisted loops. When you can complete the repetitive motions of knitting as second-nature you can try to identify these as you make them. This way, you will not have to worry about them once you’ve completed your work. 

Mistakes are a normal part of the knitting journey. No matter what level you are in knitting, it may be beneficial to go back to basics and practice. However, if you’ve already bound off your work, these fixes will keep you from having to unravel your project and will give it a more finished look. Watch the video below for more details on fixing mistakes.