Saturday, April 5, 2008

You spend way to much time in the blender, Storm

Hey guys! Remember in December when Angie did the dropped stitch tutorial? Well, I'm going to show you all what to do if you have a dropped stitch (or, say, 30) and no crochet hook. Before we do that, here's the story of how this all came about. First of all, I'm a smart person. Generally. Usually. Angie... be nice. Anyway, I carry a crochet hook in my purse. Always. Unfortunately... the crochet hook that was in my purse on that fateful day was... well, let's just says I use it on the baby blanket. It wouldn't work for, say, socks.

So, one day Emmy and I went to the movies. I took my current plain sock to work on. Well, about halfway through, I realized I had split the yarn on the previous row. Well, being that it was way too dark to fix it, I sat it in my purse to be fixed the next day. So, the next chance I got to fix it (In the car, going to my mom's house with David), I got out the sock and the crochet hook (ya know, the one that's too big) and stared at my knitting in shocked silence. Two of the needles had somehow gotten pulled completely out of the knitting. Completely. I nearly gave up on it. But then I thought to myself, no no, you can do this. So I started to try to put the stitches back onto the needles. When I came to the first stitch that had dropped down, I tried to use the crochet hook to pick it up... and I discovered my error of not switching them. Hence, the discovery. in depth discovery, and tutorial of the crochet hook-less method of picking up dropped stitches. Wow, that's a long name. Note to self, consider revision hideously long name...

Anyway, so you're knitting along and all of a sudden... I don't know, the dog jumps on you and spills your hot coffee all over you and your brand new 200 dollar white pants. Ok, I made that up, but I'm sure it's happened. In the haste to save your pants...

You dropped a stitch. But, you're at your great aunt Susan's house and forgot your crochet hook at home. No worries! First, look behind the stitch that has laddered down, in this case, two rows.

See those two strands between the stitches? Those are the strands we are concerning ourselves with. First, put the stitch back on the left needle. Make sure it's oriented the right way, so that it looks like all the other stitches.

Take the needle on the right and stick it underneath of the bottom strand from the back, you could say "purlwise." You want the yarn to cross over the needle from the back left to the front right, if that makes sense.

Then, take the strand that's now on the right needle and transfer it to the left needle. In the picture and your knitting, the strand is now on the right side of the left needle.

Now, simply take the needle and insert it purlwise into the original stitch, which is the second strand in on your left needle.

And pull it off your needle. Repeat for the second strand/ladder and... Ta da!!!

It might sound complicated but seriously, I actually think it's easier than the crochet hook method. I just would not recommend trying it on lace without... well... I just wouldn't do it. If my pictures aren't clear enough, even if you click them to embiggen them, let me know, or if I'm confusing, I'll clear it up for you! :) Have a good weekend!

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