While knitting a lace shawl, I realized I made a major mistake... 12 rows down. Do I have to rip it out or can I fix it?
The mistake is major enough that the lace looks very wrong and the stitch count is off. Do I have to rip back 12 rows? These rows are hundreds of stitches long, so that'd be hours of work lost.
Answers ( 2 )
Oh boy. The purist would answer, oh yes, you have to rip it all out and fix it. But I'm not a purist. I'm not a knitter but was a crocheter for a number of years. And I'm an artist. The one thing I came to see is that nothing is perfect. And frankly, if it were a wall hanging that would be displayed, or the pattern well visible, and the mistake so blatant that it could not be missed, then I'd say bit the bullet and rip it back. But if it is a shawl that is going to be worn, it likely will at some point get a pull that would impact the lace pattern. I can't tell you what to do, I can't say you must rip those stitches out. I wouldn't, I'd live with the one human error you made in that shawl. But before you decide, let it sit for a day or two, look at it and see if you can live with it. Only you can decide what it is that you need to do. Can you live with it? Will you be wearing it? And is the mistake so bad that it will make you crazy if you don't fix it? Again, I wouldn't. I'd keep going, but you need to know what you can do.
That's a lot of stitches to rip out! If it's a minor mistake, I say just fudge it. But since it's very obvious and your stitch count is off, you'll need to do something about it. If you have the patience and focus to repair it, lace surgery is possible.
I made a mistake on a lace shawl once (okay more than once) and it required surgery. What you'll need to do is this:
1. Using a smaller DPN, pick up all the stitches one row below the error. Mark it on your chart to make sure you're working the right row at the right time. IME, this first step is the hardest.
2. One by one, pick out each row above it and pin it onto a firm surface to prevent tangling. See my picture below.
3. Using the correct needle size, knit each row according to the chart using the dropped thread. In my shawl above, I would use the yarn on the blue pin on the far right. This will get very tight towards the end of the section.
4. Slip those worked stitches back on the DPN.
5. Knit the next row according to the chart with the next thread and slip the worked stitches back on the DPN.
6. Continue this process for the next 10 rows.
7. Continue knitting and pretend nothing ever happened.
If you've done it correctly, the fix should be invisible. Because your tension may be a little off from picking up the yarn with so little slack, it'll need harder blocking when the shawl is done. Here's my shawl error post-surgery. See how the stitches on the right side of the left leaf are a little wonky? That's the tension issue and yes it did block out.
You'll also notice that the lighting is different. It took me awhile to do it right!
If you only had two or three rows above your error, I'd say just slip in a lifeline and rip back to save time. But since it goes so deep, surgery may be your best fix. It's time consuming, but quicker than reknitting thousands of stitches!