When doing knitted lace (the kind where you don't do any yarnovers every other row), the best time to look for a problem is at the end of a patterned row. If working flat, this is typically when you've finished the knit side. If working in the round, it's whenever you're ready to work a plain row. At this point, especially when you're starting lace, it's good protocol to look at the whole row and make sure all the holes are where they're supposed to be. I almost never mess up decreases, but yarnovers can be hit or miss.



And here's one now, on a project being worked in the round. There should be two holes in this row, following the pretty clear pattern set by the previous yarnovers. If you're having a hard time seeing the yarnovers, pull down gently on the fabric, as I'm doing here. Also, my yarn overs always appear to sit on the needle at a different angle than the other stitches. You can see here how it cuts across at a nearly 45 degree angle, while the surrounding knit stitches are just shy of perpendicular to the needle.



On a long round, it's easy to notice a missing stitch and forget it later, so I use whatever method is largest and most obvious. Here, I'm using one of those huge stitch holder things that I never use for holding stitches. A regular stitch marker that's different from the ones you're using on the piece or a piece of yarn work fine too, but I need a big neon sign to remind me what to do.

Thread your reminder-marker into the exact spot where the yo should be, between two stitches.



Here, I've reached the mistake and set aside the stitch holder (I've also made my camera blurry). If you pull the needles gently apart, you'll see a strand that runs directly from the first stitch on the left side. It's the one you can see running over my finger. To clarify it a bit:



(Note that this strand doesn't run to the first stitch on the right hand needle, but the one below it, because we already knit that stitch this round.)

This is the strand you're going to put onto your needle. If you've done a bar increase, this is the same strand you pick up then except it's not twisted. (They always warn you to twist the stitch when doing a bar increase. This is why.)



The strand scooped up by the left hand needle.



The same bit of yarn highlighted before. Now it gets worked in an untwisted manner.



The final result--a yarnover exactly where it should be. Depending on how loose your knitting is, the hole may look slightly smaller than its normally-worked neighbors, but A: blocking helps, B: The eye is much less drawn by a slightly smaller hole than by a completely missing one, and C: You're being too perfectionistic if you need another reason. I saved you unknitting a whole row! You're welcome.


Copyright t@ johnnysstew.com, 2005