How to Fix a Dropped Stitch in Brioche Fabric

To see a dropped stitch in a project is not fun. To see a dropped stitch in a project worked in brioche stitch (also known as English rib) is scary.

It stops being scary when we understand how brioche fabric is built. Once we know where all those messy strands belong, fixing a dropped stitch becomes a fairly easy task.

We can do it with a crochet hook or with the knitting needles only, as we fixed a dropped stitch in a tutorial published over here.

To make it easier for you to see every step of the process, I will use a crochet hook. The size of the hook is not important. It can be a hook in the same size as the needles or a hook that is one, two, or even three sizes smaller.

WATCH EVERY STEP IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL

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Let’s take a test swatch and a hook and fix a stitch that dropped right in the centre of the swatch.

The first thing we should do is catch the dropped stitch.

Turn the work to a side where the dropped stitch shows as a knit (this stitch will be sticking out at the bottom of the section with unravelled strands).

To keep this stitch from dropping down any further, place a locking stitch marker or a safety pin into it.

Now that the stitch is secured, work to the spot where the stitch was dropped.

When we look at the mess that a dropped stitch leaves behind, we’ll see that some strands are longer than others. In fact, they alternate – we get one longer strand next to a shorter strand.

Each pair of strands forms one brioche stitch – the longer strand turns into a stitch, and the shorter strand is a yarn over that sits on top of that stitch.

With this understanding in mind, we can easily turn this mess into a flawless brioche fabric.

STEP 1

Insert the crochet hook from front to back into the dropped stitch and remove the locking stitch marker or a safety pin that you used to catch that stitch.

Find a shorter strand that is the closest to the dropped stitch.

It will be the third strand from the head of the crochet hook. The first strand is the stitch from the row below, the second strand is the yarn over that belongs to that stitch, the third strand is the yarn over that belongs to the stitch sitting on the crochet hook. This is the strand we are looking for.

Insert the crochet hook from the bottom up under that strand.

Now we have a full two-part brioche stitch on the hook.

STEP 2

Find two strands that are above the brioche stitch sitting on the crochet hook. The shorter strand will be right above the stitch, and the longer strand will be above that shorter strand.

With your fingers or with a crochet hook, move the longer strand behind the shorter strand and to the front of the work, forming a loop.

Insert the crochet hook from front to back into the loop that we’ve just formed.

This loop is the first part of the next brioche stitch.

STEP 3

Move the head of the hook a bit down and pull the loop through the brioche stitch that sits on the crochet hook.

STEP 4

Finally, insert the crochet hook from the bottom up under the shorter strand that is the closest to the stitch sitting on the crochet hook. It will be the third strand from the head of the hook.

Another brioche stitch is saved!

Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 until you rescue all brioche stitches in this column.

Insert the left needle from right to left into the last fixed brioche stitch.

Take the crochet hook out, leaving the brioche stitch on the knitting needle.

As you remove the hook, make sure you transfer both the stitch and the yarn over to the needle. Don’t let that shorter strand run away from you.

Continue to work on your project as if nothing has ever happened.

This method is the same for fixing dropped stitches in a brioche fabric worked back and forth and the one worked in the round. It works equally well for one-colour and two-colour brioche.

HERE’S A VIDEO TUTORIAL THAT SHOWS EVERY STEP

Because the longer and shorter strands are in different colours in two-colour brioche, it will be even easier to fix a dropped stitch in a colourful project.

SAVE IT FOR LATER:

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This and 26 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #9.

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