23 rows in and 2 extra stitches..help!

countrymama · 11-10-2011, 05:58 PM

I'm 23 rows into a throw and even though all my edges look level, I just counted twice and I have two extra stitches. What do I do now?? I really don't want to undo the whole thing! (I think I would cry)What would happen if I just kept going with the pattern as is? I just finished the border to the throw and have started the "grid" section of the blanket..I'm one row into it.

suzeeq · 11-10-2011, 11:04 PM

Usually you can just dec by knitting 2 tog. Do this just inside the side borders. So knit the edge, k2tog, work across to 2 sts before the edge sts and k2tog, work the edge sts.

countrymama · 11-10-2011, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by suzeeq

Usually you can just dec by knitting 2 tog. Do this just inside the side borders. So knit the edge, k2tog, work across to 2 sts before the edge sts and k2tog, work the edge sts.

I've only been knitting a few weeks so I don't completely understand but I'm assuming you mean knit two stitches as if they were one inside the border before I get to the purl stitches so it doesn't show as much. Did I get that right? I'm going to count my stitches one more times.

suzeeq · 11-10-2011, 11:49 PM

Yes, that's right; look on the Decreases page for k2tog. You probably added the extras on the very edges anyway - if the yarn from the last row is over the top of the needle when you start a row, it pulls up the edge st and makes its two legs look like separate stitches. So to keep that from happening again, hold the yarn a little bit out to the side when you start a row. And when you move the yarn from the back for knit sts to the front for purls, make sure you move it between the needles, not over the top.

Ingrid · 11-10-2011, 11:50 PM

What is the pattern inside the border? You mentioned grid. See which section of your grid pattern has an extra stitch and work two together in that section. If you leave the extra stitches and you have a stitch pattern going, you might mess it up.

countrymama · 11-11-2011, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by suzeeq

Usually you can just dec by knitting 2 tog. Do this just inside the side borders. So knit the edge, k2tog, work across to 2 sts before the edge sts and k2tog, work the edge sts.

Originally Posted by Ingrid

What is the pattern inside the border? You mentioned grid. See which section of your grid pattern has an extra stitch and work two together in that section. If you leave the extra stitches and you have a stitch pattern going, you might mess it up.

this is what my throw will look like:

I'm thinking I can knit together the two stitches in the outside border since it would be very noticeable in the "indented" section in the grid pattern. I'm starting a new row in knit stitch for the next 39 stitches so I'll hide it in there and hope for the best.

Ingrid · 11-11-2011, 01:49 AM

You have it in front of you so you can see what's best, but if one of the sections has too many stitches, it will continue to have too many stitches and will be larger than the rest. If you 'nip it in the bud' now, it shouldn't really show.

countrymama · 11-12-2011, 12:12 AM

Thank you all so much for the advice..it worked great but sadly I ended up having to start it all over anyways because of a hole. Gives me a chance to try and make it flawless this time around.

suzeeq · 11-12-2011, 12:45 AM

If you make a mistake you don't have to start over to fix it, you don't even have to rip out a few rows. Look on the Tips page for videos under Fixing Mistakes. If the hole was from a dropped stitch you can bring it up a few rows to your needle. If you did an accidental yarn over, then you can just drop the sts that were above it and let the extra yarn fill into the sts on either side of it. You can also just let it be and close up the hole when you're done.