How to pick up a dropped stitch
Happily knitting away to your heart's content........and there it goes, a dropped stitch. Dun, dun, duuuunn! What to do now, you ask yourself? Do I just hide it away in a cupboard and never knit again? Do not worry, we have just the trick (skillful technique) to help you solve the problem, so that you can continue on your merry way with your knitting. Just grab a stitch marker or small safety pin and catch the dropped stitch to prevent it slipping any further down.
In this video Carol Meldrum is demonstrating how to pick up a dropped stitch with a crochet hook.
A crochet hook may seem like a bizzare item to carry in your knitting bag, but we would always recommend having one to hand for instances like this. In our Knitting Starter Kit post, a crochet hook was listed in our list of essential items.
This method of picking up a dropped stitch is for a stocking stitch piece of knitting. If you are knitting a lace or cable pattern then please be aware that using a crochet hook in this way will not work.
Use a crochet hook that is slightly smaller than the needle size you are working with to pull the working loop back through the horizontal strands left after the unravelling.
1) With the right-side facing, slip the live loop onto the crochet hook.
2) Insert the hook from front to back under the next horizontal loop directly above the dropped stitch, than pull the horizontal loop through to the front under the loop on the hook.
3) Repeat step 2 until all the horizontal loop have been worked.
4) Then slip the live loop from the crochet hook onto the left-hand needle, and continue to knit as given in the pattern.
How do you tackle a dropped stitch? Do you use a different technique? Please share your ideas in the comments below.