Beginner Here! Help!

[BettieMae]

I was wondering if there are any tips or tricks on knowing how to set back up the needles after a mistake has been made or the needle slips out? Ive been working on making a scarf and I have had to start all over 3 times because mommy left out her project and my three year old pulled the project off the needle Also when my hand slips when trying to get the working needle through its difficult to get back to where I should be and it looks odd in that spot. Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!!

[GrumpyGramma]

Hi. Welcome.
When you pick your work up again, you said it ends up looking funny. Is there a hole, a big loose stitch, something else?
Your working yarn will always be with the right needle if you put it down in the middle of a row, that's good to remember; otherwise you can inadvertently turn and start going the wrong way. Are you maybe dropping a stitch? Twisting stitches?
You can check the free videos, link at the top of the page, to see if you can narrow things down a little.
And the one I've always liked least: Practice, practice, practice.

[suzeeq]

The Tips page has a few videos under Fixing Mistakes including how to reinsert a needle, or how to fix a stitch a few rows below without taking them out.

[BettieMae]

Thanks for the tips! Well, When I set my work down and no one moves it thats not really the problem. A few times Ive had a problem with the stitch slipping when Ive tried to carry it to the working needle. Ill check out all the videos to see if theres one that can help me with that one. One thing though that probably wont be there is having the whole work being taken off both needles. Haha my son is a curious child. Ive tried counting the stiches but I just cant seem to get it back on the needles where it was before and end up with a hole/loose looking stitch where I try to pick up again. Have you ever had both needles come out and been able to continue the project?

[salmonmac]

More times than I care to remember. We call it "busy fingers" at my house. There is actually a video for re-inserting a needle. I think the easiest way is to do it with the yarn at the end of the row so that you can pick up in one direction and not worry about where to start in again.

[suzeeq]

One thing though that probably wont be there is having the whole work being taken off both needles.

Look at the reinserting needle video, I think that will be there. I often rip out several rows and I rip to the row above the one I want to put back on the needles, usually with the yarn at the end of a RS row. Then I put the needle into the sts at the same time I pull the yarn out of each stitch, one by one. It helps if you use a smaller needle and doesn't matter if the sts go on the same way, just get them back on the needle. You can make sure the sts aren't twisted if you reknit that row by knitting into the leg of the st that's closest to the tip of the needle. It also helps if you use circular needles - they're not as easy for little fingers to grab hold off and pull the whole needle out. You can push the sts away from the tips and have the work on the cord.