Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sock ER -- Oops Dropped Stitches Tutorial

This tutorial can help with any form of dropped stitches, but it's part of my "Sock ER" fix-it series. If any stitches drop on you while knitting yourself new toes, now you'll be able to ROCK it, not stress about it and just pick them up easy peasy!

First, a photo of my completed new toes on a lovely 3X1 ribbed very old, very comfy pair of socks. The left sock has new toes from the same yarn in a different colorway and the right sock has different yarn, but same fiber (100% wool) and approximately the same gauge.




Let's say after you separate the bad toe from the rest of the sock, you have a stitch that's dropped down a few rounds. Don't freak out, it's very easy and empowering to learn to fix your own mistakes.

As I was slipping my knitting needles into stitches around the sock, I came to the point where a stitch had gone down a few rows.



The first thing I need to do is to NOT FREAK OUT. Then I put my knitting needle through the ACTIVE stitch, even if it's rows below the rest of them. Continue slipping the rest of the stitches around the sock onto the knitting needles.




After you've got all the stitches on the needles, begin the new yarn (of the same or different yarn to knit yourself a new toe on the sock). I just leave the yarn tails hanging loose until the end and then weave in the ends. Knit until you come to a dropped stitch. ***TIP: Start the new yarn at the side of a sock, not on the top or bottom of the foot. It'll look nicer and you won't have the bump where you wove in ends in an uncomfortable spot.***



Next, DROP the stitch (or push it off the end of your needle). Don't freak out, it's not going to run down to the end of the sock. I promise!


Insert a crochet hook into the ACTIVE dropped stitch. Then put that crochet hook through the lowest of the yarn ladders behind the stitch.


Pull the active stitch through the ladder loop on the crochet hook, making a new stitch one row up from where you started. Then repeat this all the way until you have no ladders left and you're on the same level as the stitches on the needles.



Next you'll put that stitch that's been worked right up the line onto the left handed needle.



Now tell yourself "YAY ME!" You just picked up a dropped stitch and worked it right up the line and are ready to knit around and around creating new toes for your formerly worn out socks!! How cool are you? Unbelievably cool, for sure!


PS, thanks for the good thoughts & prayers while my son was in the hospital. He's home and though he's not back to regular level of health yet, he's getting a bit obnoxious, which means he's feeling better for sure! I had a lot of time to knit and darn so I'll have more tutorials out soon. Stay tuned for the woven darn for the bottom of a sock, coming soon!!

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