Knitting is Fun!
More fun if you can fix it!
I first published this article in August, 2016. Because this is SO IMPORTANT I am publishing it again!
Let us discuss Fixing Knitting Mistakes. Every knitter makes mistakes. This is a given. One key to becoming a better knitter is learning how to fix those mistakes! When you can fix even the simplest mistakes yourself, it makes you feel bold, fearless, and HAPPY!
Remember to examine your knitting often. Check back to really look at what you have just put on the needles. Too often, we knit away, knit away, knit away, and never look back to the hundreds of stitches we have just created. Think of this as admiring your work. You wouldn’t try on clothes without checking the mirror, would ya? This can help you identify mistakes right away, fix them, and knit on.
The further you get away from that rotten looking stitch, the more obvious it will become. Your eye will go to that spot every time you pick up your knitting, every time you wear that item, and every time you even think about a particular project. Fix it NOW, before you get too far- don’t throw it in a closet hoping that the knit fix fairy will magically come into your house in the middle of the night, find your project in the closet, fix that mistake and leave it perfectly covered in fairy dust for you the next time you feel brave enough to look at it.
Learning to take out stitches one by one is an important place get started. Taking the needles out of the knitting is not a good idea for a beginner.
The best way to learn how to fix any knitting problem is to practice it. No one magically picks up a violin one day and starts to play Mozart without a few practice sessions first, right? So, if something happens on your “real” project, why not try reproducing it on a practice piece of knitting? You can keep going and going on a practice piece and learn how to transfer that knowledge to your special project. Don’t expect to be able to get your knitting in proper form without a bit of practice. What is the worst that can happen? You have to take out some rows- but…you like to knit, don’t you?
Take out stitches! Take out rows! You can!
Martha
Hi Martha!
Thanks to you I finally picked up my courage and used my DPN. Nothing about knitting terrified me as much as those needles. Nothing about them made sense. I watched tutorials, I read the demos in books too but my brain balked. So I hid them in the bottom of my knit basket and kept knitting unfinished hats. Tired and embarrassed by my irrational fear I Googled DPN again today and there you were!
I watched your demo just once and it clicked. My first hat is almost finished! The home stretch lay before me. I used those DPN like I’d been born to it. My fingers flew and I laughed out loud. The opening grew smaller and I was euphoric. I was going to finish one of the many hats I’ve started. Disaster struck before I could cross the finish line.
Elated beyond measure because I understood everything you did, I stopped to examine my handiwork. I’d dropped stitches. Lots of stitches. They’d fallen off two needles. I’ve only just learned how to pick up dropped stitches so I’m not proficient. I don’t know what to do. There are two ladders next to each other and I cannot make head or sense of the mess. I am writing to thank you for teaching me how to use DNP though You are a wonderful teacher. Not everyone who knits knows how to teach. You’re very good at it. Thank you.
I picked up knitting needles about five weeks ago and fell in love. Fabric materialized magically and I was mastering stitches one at time. Debbie Bliss’s “The Knitter’s Book of Knowledge” and YouTube have been my only teachers. There are no knitting groups where I live and the two yarn stores closed long before I thought of picking up needles. I am grateful to all the knitters and crocheters who are kind and generous enough to help newbies and wannabes. You’re priceless. Thank you again.
Be well.