Interweave Yarn Hacks: Pick Up a Dropped Stitch in Stockinette

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We’ve all done it. It’s inevitable. I’m talking about accidentally dropping stitches in our knitting. For a beginner, it’s a horrifying experience. I can remember being a fresh knitter and noticing a dropped stitch and totally ripping out a project because: a) I didn’t know how to pick up the dropped stitch back to the row I was knitting, and b) I didn’t know how to go back to the mistake and replace my needle back into the live stitches. Needless to say, I wasted a lot of time.

Fortunately, picking up stitches is actually very straightforward and not complicated at all, especially when knitting in stockinette stitch (alternating knit and purl rows, or just knitting in-the-round). You can do it with just the needles you are using, without removing them from your knitting at all, but investing in a small to medium crochet hook for this occasion is a really good idea.

First off, when you notice you have dropped a stitch several rows back, DO NOT PANIC! Your knitting is not ruined, and you won’t have to rip back or start over. I promise. It can be a frightening sight, but keep your cool, gently set down your knitting, and get your crochet hook ready. You can face this problem head-on with minimal fuss. We believe in you!

Next, find exactly where you dropped the stitch, or where the live stitch is hanging out willy-nilly in your knitting. Insert your crochet hook into the stitch, hook facing upward, from the right to the left. Once the stitch is on the crochet hook, find the bar of yarn that is behind your stitch. Place your hook right underneath that bar, and pull the bar through the front stitch. Ta-da! You’ve just picked up a stitch and it looks exactly how it needs to. Now, just repeat that over and over until you are back to your working row and place the last picked-up stitch on your needle.

Being a stellar knitter doesn’t mean being a perfect knitter. To be a stellar knitter, you have to be prepared for making mistakes, and being willing to take a step back and learn how to fix them. Fixing mistakes in knitting is as essential as casting on stitches, or the knit stitch itself, and learning how can only make you a better knitter.

Happy fixing!
Yarn Hacks Team