You think you’re motoring along and then you look…something has gone horribly wrong! Things that need to line up do not. That’s when repairs need to be made!
I am working on my Romi Hill Mystery Shawl and discovered that I had not been paying proper attention. Years ago, Romi showed how she corrected mistakes in her knitting – specifically lace knitting but it could be used on any project. You cordon off the mistaken area by identifying the specific rows/stitches that have gone awry. In my case, center sts were not lining up in two repeats of the pattern:
I found the error when working Row 9. I knew I had to go back and rework Rows 3 – 8. I pulled out the bad section of knitting row by row, pinning each strand separately to keep them in order. I then placed the live sts on a circular needle one size smaller than I was using. I used another short circular to reknit each row. I alternated using each circular (in other words I always worked from the RS).
Everything is all lined up!!
Now I can continue, but will pay more attention this time around!!
PS to all questioners! I pinned the shawl to a tablecloth on top of a pad. It looks very barky, but it’s just fabric! It was easy to knit with the strands pinned out. I just released them one by one in their proper order and knit the assigned row. It did not seem difficult to do. If this happens again I will try to do a video.
The bad news is that I ran out of yarn 5 rows from the end! The good news is that friend Kim has the same yarn – I will get it from her on Thursday!! 🙂
It’s always something!
Comment by surly — June 1, 2019 @ 4:02 pm
Great photos and explanation. I have always just cursed and ripped back multiple rows. But this technique of pinning, organizing yarns for each row, and knitting up each row after the correction is brilliant. You guys are the best!
Comment by Kate Markie — June 1, 2019 @ 11:09 pm
You never cease to amaze me!!
Comment by Lee W. Cockrum — June 2, 2019 @ 9:29 am
I broke out in hives, just looking at that, but you make it sound so easy to fix the error. Q – how can you work with the project when you’ve got the other strands of yarn pinned out of the way? It looks awfully awkward like that. Appreciate the explanation. And if you ever screw this up again, would you mind doing a short video on your fix?
Comment by Samina — June 2, 2019 @ 10:52 am
Dropping down a lace project always freaked me out (even though I could rework mis-crossed cables with no worry). I don’t remember the first lace project I tried this on, but I know I figured that if it didn’t work, I’d just have to rip back, so there wasn’t much to lose.
It does get a little trickier when there’s lace “action” on both sides. Also, I tend to use a dpn for reworking each row, it seems I have more control of the sts and strands.
Comment by Anne C. — June 2, 2019 @ 12:29 pm
I’ve seen you do similar repairs before, and I’m always in awe. As with Samina, it makes me jittery! Feel like I’m on a high wire! I too would love to see a video. Great work and it is going to be a beautiful shawl!
Comment by annie — June 2, 2019 @ 4:54 pm
What a clever use of plastic safety pins. I’ve always used straight pins to anchor the needles with the undisturbed stitches while they wait to begin the project again. This would eliminate the constant checking to make sure things hadn’t shifted and more repairs needed to be done. Thanks for the pictures and the tips.
Comment by Ruth — June 2, 2019 @ 10:30 pm
I’m amazed- how did I not know this. Thanks for the great pix and explanation.
Comment by Robin F — June 3, 2019 @ 10:30 am
It looks like you are pinning into wood. Or is that some sort of brown bark cloth? It has beautiful texture. I’m afraid that even with such a systematic technique I would still mess up, Which is why I remain an advanced beginner. But love to knit all the same. Thank you for all your tips. Osmosis helps. Chloe
Comment by Chloe — June 4, 2019 @ 6:20 am
Absolutely brilliant! Love the way each strand gets pinned out. Thanks for showing us this method!
Comment by Joan — June 7, 2019 @ 11:01 am