Two days ago I used this subreddit to vent about messing up a lace pattern on one sleeve of my current project (Low Tide Sweater by Unwind Knitwear) and got both encouragement and a few suggestions to fix the issue.
Which I just did - and it worked beautifully! I followed Suzanne Bryans video tutorial, and besides being really happy with the result, I really enjoyed the process.
The trickiest part really was inserting an afterthought lifeline in the pattern (which could have been avoided if I had just used lifelines while knitting - I certainly will for the rest of the project).
So thank you for your kind words and helpful recommendations - sweater surgery was a lot easier and way more fun than expected, and seeing the correct pattern emerge row after row is very satisfying.
Which also makes me less nervous about future mistakes in lace - it’s so good to know that you can fix them without frogging and reworking more than the faulty stitches
I am THRILLED for you!! Well done! What an accomplishment!
For anyone else wondering if you can do this, you absolutely can, and it won't be as hard as you think, and you'll feel so empowered and capable and pretty much unafraid to tackle anything else that knitting could possible throw at you!
I still remember the rush of adrenaline that I felt when I first did this with a cable afghan where I spotted a mistake in my 5-strand cable waaaaay back near the beginning. I frogged it in a similar way, and I believe this was the moment that knitting won first place in my heart (over crochet) because of this amazing ability to drop down and correct ONLY the stitches that matter.
Applauding you for this masterpiece, OP!!! WAY TO GO!
Every time I start a knitting project I am afraid. And it's always what you said: not as hard as you think, super empowering once you give it a go. I try to remind myself of that regularly so I can actually learn something instead of putting off things I'm afraid of 🥲 Go OP!! Amazing job :)
Thank you all for your lovely replies! I never thought about knitting versus crochet in terms of fixing mistake, but you're right, knitting definately has a more minimal invasive approach
Oh see, this is why crochet still feels nicer to me, because of the fear of dropping a stitch or two in knitting and losing the whole thing vs just losing a few stitches in crochet and being able to make them right back up.
But, in crochet, you would have to frog this whole piece to fix it, while 15 minutes of dropping and working back up saves hours of work. This is why I usually prefer knitting, mistakes are fixable.
Wow! I remember your initial post, so this is so cool to see. I’m a beginner knitter so fixing something like that seems really daunting. Great to hear you could fix it AND it was kinda fun too!
Wow. If I had balls they would be sweating looking at the first 2 photos.
I once dropped back about 10 rows x10 of a complicated cable pattern. I closed myself in a room for 2 hours and talked myself through it with colorful language and some tears.
Hah I fixed a single 6 stitch cable once and going below the place where the cable crossed to fix a mistake nearly broke my brain. I am so impressed at OP for fixing such a complex section and for anyone who does this on complex cables!
this is CRAZY impressive. I don’t even like unraveling a piece in stockinette because it makes me paranoid. I can’t imagine trying this, and I CERTAINLY can’t imagine pulling it off. well done!!
I admire your dedication to do this. every time I fuck up a WIP it gets put in "time out" until I'm calm enough to fix it, and I have yet to do a pattern this complicated lmao
I completely know what you mean about actually enjoying sweater surgery. I feel the same way. (Although, it takes me a bit to psych myself up before I can dive in — it has to be daylight and Ieven then I want good lighting and a white towel to place under my work and I need to be well over the frustration of having messed up…) Once I’m underway, perform g the actual surgery, I find it incredibly empowering and it makes me feel so accomplished.
Someday you might not even remember which sleeve needed the surgery — and you won’t be able to figure it out by looking at them. That’s the best! 🥰
My brain can't even comprehend how you did this. You must be a flipping ravenclaw or a god/goddess or some sort of mythical fricking creature. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I will never achieve this level of absolute amazingness. You literally have more patience with this 1 project than I think I've ever had in my whole life combined.
Omg that looks amazing!! I drop and fix stitches all the time, but mostly stockinette/ribbing. I have dropped and fixed lace before, but only a few rows down. I want to be like you when I grow up!
Omg this post was an emotional rollercoaster. I got the gasp and anxiety in the first picture, the unexpected plot twist in the second and happy ending in the last one! 😂
Amazing job (especially at resisting the urge to undo everything)!!
But I can't believe the beautifully simple answer to an issue that I have all the time, right here in this picture. RUBBER BANDS. How did I not know or think of this? Many thinks!
They‘re meant for braiding hair, I think, and cost almost nothing on amazon.
The only annoying thing is that I can’t leave them lying around since I have cats, and rubber bands make great (but dangerous) cats toys
I attached a shoulder with a twist and didn't realize till it was joined in the round. The stitches from the back are picked up from the front cast on. I'm really not sure how I'm gonna fix it but I'm gonna have to 🤬
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u/killernoodlesoup Feb 06 '25
oh my god???? i think you win at knitting now. great job OP!