Congratulations on taking up knitting! Knitting is one of the fastest-growing groups out there! It has been heralded as the “new yoga,” but beginners are prone to feeling just the opposite when things go wrong.
What can be more frustrating than putting a whole lot of time into something, just to have to rip it out? One dreaded event that can occur is “extra stitches.” This very thing happens to beginner knitters over and over. Don't turn away from the fabulous hobby of knitting before even getting started. Help is on the way…
While knitting, sometimes extra stitches start appearing and accumulating—but where did they come from? There are two likely ways that this could have happened.
How Extra Stitches Are Made
When starting a new row, the correct way to hold your work is shown in Figure 1. The needle in the picture is lifting this one stitch for illustration points. Be very, very careful to pull your working yarn (the ball that the new yarn is being pulled from) over the knitting needle towards you on the first stitch of a new row. Always pull yarn from the working yarn, not the tail. Figure 2 pictures the wrong way to pull the working yarn. Notice how Figure 1 illustrates pulling the yarn so there is one stitch instead of two. Figure 2 shows two stitches at the start of the row. Right here is where an extra stitch can be made that shouldn't be.
Another Type of Extra Stitch
Although the previous paragraph describes the way most people pick up extra stitches, there is at least one other way. To see this, look carefully at Figures 3 and 4. When knitting a stitch, the needle should be placed under one strand of yarn to start the knit stitch. (Figure 3) Sometimes, when working quickly, a knitter can accidentally place a needle in the middle of a stitch. (Figure 4) The result will be a crossed stitch that sort of looks like a stitch, but crossed and doubled. This will cause a mess as well as an extra stitch, even if ignored and knitted in later, because a hole will be left in the work. It will be easily seen when a few more rows are stitched.
How to Fix Extra Stitches
If the mistake isn't caught right away and the project has been continued for a few more rows (or worse—the project has been completed) then the stitches need to be ripped out up until that point. Ouch. But remember—it won’t look right when you’re done, and no one wants to wear something that fits incorrectly. If the mistake is caught immediately, only the incorrect stitch needs to be ripped out. Then, the yarn should be re-held correctly, and the knitter can continue.
It would be nice if there was an easier way to fix these errors, but remember—any knitter can learn much more than is realized from fixing these mistakes. Be a better knitter, and be proud to show everyone!
