Reverse Unravelling & Knitting in Opposite Direction

[Amy282]

Hello Everyone!

I searched the site for an answer to this question, but only found the one on grafting, which isn't what I need.

Question: I am just a few rows away from finishing a most beautiful scarf. The only problem is that the first 15-20 rows need to be ripped out. I'm talking about the rows on the finished end, not the live stitch end.

Can this be done?

If so, I'd like to either rip those stitches out, "bind off" and be done...OR pick up the live stitches and knit in the opposite direction. The scarf is composed of hundreds of hand-tied yarns in multiple colors, so I'm not worried about the ripping back and re-knitting part showing up as a mistake.

Can someone help me??

Thanks so much!
Amy

[Ingrid]

I just did this to some sweater sleeves. It was not as easy as I thought it would be--it was a k4, p1 rib, and the yarn didn't want to unravel at the purls. I think it would have been easier if it was just knit stitches, though.

What I did was pull a tapestry needle with yarn through one loop along a row of stitches to hold those. I tried to unravel, but since it was so difficult, I cut off most of the remaining knitting and pretty much picked out the rest. Then I inserted a needle and got all the stitches oriented in the right direction, making sure they all were on the same row. They weren't, so I had to slip some and tink some until it was all even.

Once I got all the 'extra' stitches off, knitting the other direction was no problem. I took off a straight portion that was too long in favor of ribbing, so the difference wouldn't have shown in that case, anyway.

I think that once you get a row of stitches on a needle and knit in the opposite direction, it wouldn't really show, anyway.

[Amy282]

Thank you, Ingrid,

Fortunately, the entire scarf is garter stitch, so hopefully I won't have quite as arduous a task as you did with your sleeves...

I will try it out on a swatch first to make sure I understood your directions, first. It sounds like it's "do-able", though!

As always, I appreciate your help!

Take care,
Amy

[Ingrid]

Check out the video on fixing mistakes and inserting a destination row. I'd post a link, but it seems when I do that, my computer freezes up. They're in the Basic Techniques--More section.

[janelanespaintbrush]

This might be helpful.

http://www.thedietdiary.com/blog/lucia/1285

[Amy282]

Thanks Jane,

I love that website on grafting! It's very comprehensive, yet easy to follow.

Just a little update, I was able to successfully unravel my garter stitch swatch from the finished end, then begin knitting in the opposite direction! I did end up having to whip out the scissors and cut, however, because - duh, garter has those pesky purls! Thankfully, it worked just fine. My only caveat is to stay further away from the stitches you're trying to preserve than you think you'll need. I cut about 3/4" to 1" away from my needle-thread stitches, and ended up nipping an important stitch. I was later able to re-tie it, but who wants that!

So thankyou Jane and Ingrid for all of your help!

Take care,
Amy

[janelanespaintbrush]

[Ingrid]