Quick & Easy Tips to Fix Knitting Mistakes

Posted by Knitters Pride on December 14th, 2023

Knitting mistakes happen to even the most experienced knitters while for beginners it is the perfect opportunity to learn. From choosing wrong knitting needles to not understanding your yarn or dropping a stitch to many other, these knitting lessons are great once you know how to fix them. Most mistakes in knitting are easy to fix, if not there’s always the chance to rip out stitches and begin again.

In the words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a popular knitter also known by the name of the Yarn Harlot, in her book of Knitting Rules, “It's only knitting and it's one of the few times in your life when there are no bad consequences to a mistake.” With this in mind, let’s walk you through some quick and easy tips to fix knitting mistakes.

1. Knitting a Swatch

Knitting a gauge swatch is the most efficient trick to fix mistakes that happen when you do not choose the right yarn or knitting needles. Even though you are tempted cast on stitches as soon as you have the pattern, but before you do that, it is recommended to work on a small swatch of about 6-10 inches. Use the yarn, knitting needles and the stitch mentioned in the pattern or in case you are planning your own design, the same needles and yarn for the project. Knit the gauge swatch the same way as you plan to knit the project. Work with single pointed or circulars for back and forth knitting and double pointed needles or circular needles for knitting in the round. This will help you calculate gauge, understand your yarn and also the needles. Besides, you will have a sample of the finished fabric, how it looks like, feels and drapes.

2. Understanding and Decoding your Gauge

Once you’ve knitted the gauge swatch, the trick is to understand and decode the gauge. Noting it all down will help you avoid any mistake. Measure the gauge horizontally and vertically, getting the stitch count and row count. With both these counts, you can estimate the amount of yarn you’ll need, if you need to go a knitting needle size up or down. Not all knitters stitch the same way nor does every stitch take the same amount of yarn. Cables and textured stitches may need more than Garter or Stockinette.

3. Keeping knitting needles in different sizes

Working with different needle sizes is a handy trick to avoid knitting mistakes. You can work with a bigger size to cast on stitches or bind stitches. Working the purl stitch with a smaller needle size is also preferred by many knitters. If you are an avid knitter with a set of interchangeable circular knitting needles you can tackle multiple projects.

4. Keeping handy accessories

Knitting accessories are knitting essentials and they are useful in many ways. Using stitch markers is important as it helps with marking and reference in stitches in the pattern. This helps you get the right count of stitches, work repeats in pattern, colorwork patterns, etc. Be it a small or big project, using stitch markers helps avoid mistakes. A handy repair hook is also essential as it helps correct dropped stitches, weave in yarn ends and smoothen out minor inconsistencies. Besides, these yarn winding and dispensing accessories will help keep your yarn ready for all your knitting projects.

5. Dropping Stitches Deliberately

A common knitting mistake that most knitters face is a twisted stitch. If your stitch is not sitting properly on your knitting needle you can deliberately drop them off the needle and get it back right. Even for many other mistakes you can opt this trick.

6. Frogging

Ripping out stitches is necessary when you do not find any way to correct your mistake. This will give you the chance to start out right again. If you are frogging for a few stitches or rows, note it down in the pattern so that you do not miss the place in the pattern.

7. Tinking

Tink is knit spelled backwards and this explains the technique. You basically knit backwards undoing your stitches. This is a handy trick if you are not a fan of frogging.

Each mistake is a lesson and with time, you will get better. The key to avoiding common knitting mistakes is working with high-quality knitting needles and practice. Explore Knitter’s Pride for the widest range of knitting needles and related accessories.