How to Fix Mistakes Several Rows or Rounds Below in Lace Knitting

When we notice a mistake that we made several rows or rounds ago, in most stitch patterns, we can ladder down the stitches above the mistake, undo the mistake and rework the unravelled stitches.

This approach is described in a tutorial over here, but unfortunately it does not always work in lace patterns.

Because lace texture is built by sets of yarn overs and decreases, when we ladder down one stitch, the farthest we can go is to the nearest yarn over. If the mistake is below that yarn over, we are stuck.

To solve this issue, we should ladder down a whole pattern repeat, undo the row with the mistake, and rework that section back row by row.

WATCH EVERY STEP IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL

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Here’s how we do it step by step.

MATERIALS

To perform this “keyhole knitting surgery”, we’ll need two double-pointed needles in the same size as the needles we use to make this project.

We’ll also need one needle in a smaller size because it is much easier to pick up stitches with a smaller needle. The type of this needle is not important. It could be a double-pointed, a single-pointed, or a circular needle. We’ll use it only to pick up stitches and rework the first row.

One more thing that makes this process easier is a hair clip. A bit unexpected, I know, but it is exactly the tool we need to keep the unravelled strands in the same sequence as they were in the project.

We can also pin each strand to the working surface as soon as we unravel that strand, but I find it easier to hold the strands with a hair clip or a similar “catching and holding” device.

Now that our “surgical instruments “are in place, let’s get the lace pattern fixed.

STEP 1

In a right-side row, work to a pattern repeat where the mistake has happened.

I usually place markers to separate pattern repeats, and those markers make it very easy to see where the repeat with a mistake starts and ends. If you don’t have this habit, it’s fine too. Simply work to the first stitch of that repeat.

Note the number of row or round that you are currently working. For example, in my swatch, I’ve just started row 1 of the stitch pattern repeat.

STEP 2

This step is the scariest. To make it less scary, place your project on a flat, well-lit surface – the “operating table”.

Carefully slip the stitches of one pattern repeat off the left needle. If you use markers, slip all stitches to the next marker. If you don’t use markers, slip the number of stitches that form a pattern repeat.

For example, the lace pattern in my swatch has a six-stitch repeat. So if I didn’t have the markers in place, I would simply slip six stitches off the left needle.

The keyword here is “carefully”. Don’t yank the stitches from the needle. It may disrupt the fabric and complicate the process of fixing the mistake.

STEP 3

3.1. Pick the strand from the back of the top row and pull it carefully, unravelling all stitches in that part of the row.

3.2. Clip that strand with a hair clip.

3.3. Count back the row of the pattern repeat. You can do it in your head or make a note, just to be sure.

For example, the lace in my swatch has a four-row pattern repeat. I started to work row 1 of the repeat, but I didn’t work that row across the six stitches that I slipped off the left needle in step 2.

That means that the row I’ve just unravelled is row 4 of the pattern repeat.

Repeat steps 3.1 through 3.3 until you unravel all rows to the row with the mistake. As you clip the strands, make sure they do not tangle and are clipped in the same sequence as you unravel them.

Count the strands. If there is an even number, unravel one more row.

We have just one row to unravel, and we’ll pick up stitches as we do it. That’s what the next step is all about.

STEP 4

4.1. Take a smaller needle in your left hand and insert it from front to back into the first stitch at the left-hand side of the open stitches.

My repeat in this row starts with a yarn over, followed by a decrease. I ignore the yarn over and insert the needle into all three stitches that form the decrease.

4.2. Carefully pull the strand out, releasing the strand and leaving the stitch(es) on the needle.

Repeat steps 4.1 and 4.2 until you pick up all stitches of the pattern repeat. Then secure the last released strand with a hair clip.

The lace in my swatch has a pattern repeat made of six stitches, so I picked up stitches until all six of them were sitting on my left needle.

Now comes the magic part. In the next step, we are going to turn a bunch of strands held by a hair clip into a lovely lace fabric without mistakes and other imperfections.

STEP 5

At this point, we have an even number of strands in the clip. That means that the first row we’ll rework is a right-side row.

Take a double-pointed needle in the same size as the “main” needles, and hold it in your right hand.

Release the nearest strand from the hair clip and use it to rework the unravelled row according to the stitch pattern instructions.

For example, to undo the mistake in my swatch, I had to unravel four rows – row 4, row 3, row 2 and row 1 of the pattern repeat.

To rebuild the last unravelled row, I will follow instructions for row 1. They tell me to knit 3 stitches, make a yarn over, make a double vertical decrease (properly, this time!), and make a yarn over.

I start by knitting 3 stitches.

At this point, the strand is quite long, but I still can’t hold it the same way I hold the working yarn when I knit. It becomes even more uncomfortable when we hold yarn in the right hand.

To make it work, don’t try to hold the strand as you normally do. Instead, use your fingers to wrap it around the tip of the right needle and then hold it in place while you pull that wrap through the stitch. It is more like guiding the strand, not holding it.

When you make a yarn over, simply dip the right needle under the strand.

All decreases are worked in exactly the same way as we make them normally. Even more or less complicated double vertical decrease is made without any changes.

By the time I get to the last stitch of the pattern repeat, the strand is very short, but it is long enough to make my last yarn over in this repeat.

If you see that the yarn is not distributed evenly among the reworked stitches, pull the work sideways, or use your fingers to redistribute the yarn.

After you rework this row, put aside the needle in a smaller size and pick the second double-pointed needle in the “main” size.

Now we can turn the work and rework the next row of the pattern repeat, but if you work in the round, or if the next row is a “rest row” where we are supposed to purl all stitches on the wrong side of the fabric, slide the reworked stitches to the other tip of the double-pointed needle (that’s why we use double-pointed needles!), release the next strand and use it to rework the next row according to the pattern instructions.

In the lace pattern I use to make my swatch, next comes row 2 of the pattern repeat. This is the row where we purl all stitches on the wrong side of the fabric. Because we don’t have to turn the work, I knitted all stitches in this row.

Then I slide the stitches to the other tip of the double-pointed needle, release another strand from the clip, and rework the next row.

In my swatch, it is row 3 of the pattern repeat, so I follow instructions for that row and make a yarn over, make a double vertical decrease, make another yarn over, and knit 3 stitches.

Keep reworking the unravelled rows until you turn all unravelled strands into rows.

If the lace pattern in your project doesn’t have “rest rows”, turn your work every time you need to work a wrong-side row, and rework that row in exactly the same way as we rework right-side rows, but , of course, follow the pattern instructions for that row..

Finally, either slip the reworked stitches to the “main” left needle or work them directly from the double-pointed needle.

To avoid unnecessary clutter, I slipped the stitches of the repaired pattern repeat to the left needle.

Pinhole knitting surgery is successfully finished. Now we can continue to work on the project as if nothing has ever happened.

It helps to insert a lifeline every now and then, but as you see, we can fix a mistake several rows or rounds below even without the security of a lifeline. If we can do it in lace, we can do it in any stitch pattern.

HERE’S A VIDEO TUTORIAL THAT SHOWS EVERY STEP

The lace pattern I used to make my swatch is described as Lace Stitch #3 in the “12 Lace Stitches From the Easiest to More Challenging” e-book. You can download it from the Library or from the Club Resources.

Huge thanks to Fausta for sharing with me this clever approach.

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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