Help! Correcting errors when knitting lace

[jijiewang]

I am working on my first lace scarf. I have only done garter stitch and stock stitch before.

It is the easiest lace.

K2tog, YO, K2 all over

but sometimes I made mistakes, I need to unravel a few rows, then I am totally stuck, I cannot figure out what is what. I have to start from scratch again.

I have started 3 times today. Very frustrating!

Any tips when you have to unravel to correct something in lace?

[gargoylelib]

Hi! Most lace knitters use "lifelines" because frogging lace back can
get very confusing. Under the tips section in the videos under
"fixing mistakes" there are videos showing how to insert a needle
at the row that needs fixing and also one showing how to use a
lifeline.

There are some pretty good tutorials on lifelines if you do a
google search.

Libbie

[ArtLady1981]

Ohhhhh I know what ya mean, and I feel your pain! I'm not an expert lace knitter either, and this past Fall, I embarked upon my first lace scarf!

Here are a few tips from one newbie lace knitter to another:

1) Use stitch markers to mark the beginning and end of row repeats!

2) At the end of EVERY ROW....do a "head count". Are there any extra stitches? Are there any missing stitches? Don't proceed to your next row til you have done your head-count. Treat them like little kids on a bus!

3) If there are too many stitches, you have probably done an extra yarn over by accident. If there are too few stitches, you have probably left out a yarn over before or after a K2T. TINK BACK to the location of the error, and fix it.

4) After you have successfully done 6 rows...install a LIFELINE in the 6th row. (Amy has a good video clip about lifelines) A lifeline is a "safety net". When you know that all of those 6 rows are GOOD...then if you mess up on a few rows up...you can rip out all the work back to row 6...and pick up those stitches off the lifeline...and you know where the heck to start again!

5) If you are working from a chart/graph...color code ALL SYMBOLS for easier indentification! Color code with colored pens, pencils or highlighters. If your chart is small, or in a book that you cant' mark up...make an enlarged copy for your color-coding. I do this for cable work, too!

NOTE: I finally ended up placing lifelines at the end of every 12 rows, because that marked a full row repeat. But, I would suggest that you start by installing lifelines more frequently til you feel comfortable. Lifelines are like "backing up your 'puter"!

NOTE: I can't overemphasize the importance of stitch markers. It keeps you straight about where you are in the row...and when you get to the end of the row...you know exactly how many stitches should be residing between each stitch marker. It makes it so much easier to do the "head count"...and to identify which section has the problem of a lost stitch, or an extra stitch!

NOTE: the mistake I made most frequently was related to those darn "yarn overs"! ACK!

[suzeeq]

3) If there are too many stitches, you have probably done an extra yarn over by accident. If there are too few stitches, you have probably left out a yarn over before or after a K2T. TINK BACK to the location of the error, and fix it.

Or if there's too many, you may have forgot to do a k2tog; if too few, you might have done too many.

[WildMountainHoney]

Ditto the pps.

One other thing that I've been doing on my lace throw, is that not every row is a pattern row, there are "plain knit" rows between them. On those rows, I "read" the pattern as I come to it - it's a great way find lost yos, or any mistake. So even though I am just knitting each stitch, I am still saying to myself "yo, k, yo, k two [this is not to be confused w/k2, I just say it because I know it's the 2nd of 8 in this pattern] yo, k, three......yo, k four, now ssk one, ssk, two.......ssk, six, k2tog one, .........." until I have verified that on the pattern round, last round, I did everything as needed. I find it safer than simply counting to 47 (or whatever) between each set of markers.