The problem
Suppose you're working stranded two-color knitting,* and notice a mistake somewhere several rows down. Theoretically, you could drop (run out) the column of stitches in which the mistake lies, fix the error, then latch the column back up. However, when you try this trick with color knitting, suddenly, there's a problem. The stitches you've dropped form a ladder, yes, but the strands of the other color running behind also form a ladder. Now you're faced with relatching a double-ladder fabric.
Today's post shows how to drop columns in stranded knitting with confidence, easily keeping track of which strand goes where. This new trick, called "controlled drop" is a variant on the ordinary drop-column method of fixing fabric, so we'll start with a review of that.
Background: the drop column method
on regular (one color) knitted fabric
Per illustration, any one knitted stitch (red) lays along a column (dark purple).
 |
Columns in knitting
|
In fact, if you've ever had a ladder in a nylon stocking or t-shirt, you already know about columns in knitting. When one stitch comes undone, the stitches below it are released from their interlocked state, and return to being simple lengths of yarn, like rungs of a ladder. These rungs are shown in red below. You can fix errors made several rows earlier by purposely running out a ladder and fixing the error. You then re-latch the ladder, using a crochet hook, as shown.
 |
Latching up ladder rungs (red) to re-form knit stitches
|
Fixing mistakes in color (stranded) knitting
Below is an illustration of an error--a (red) inadvertent purl--in color knitting. |
| An error in color knitting, several rows down-- more complicated to fix than in plain knitting because of the more complicated nature of the fabric |
Per illustration, if you were to freely drop a ladder, there would be two sets of strands going: the original strands which ran behind the fabric face, as well as the new rungs just released.
 |
| When the stitches are freely released, it's easy to get confused between the back strands and the strands formed by the newly released stitches |
Which the heck strand to pick up? Sometimes the back strands are above the stitch strands, sometimes below. This illustration is confusing, but in real life, the strands are more bunched together, often behind one another, making them invisible unless you flip the fabric. So, what's the cure?
The confusion in picking up happens because, when you freely run out a column, what you're really losing is information. Before the drop, the column contained important information about the stitch-stack order, meaning, the color and position of each stitch in the column. Behind the column lay an ordered set of strands. Once the stitches are freely dropped, not only is the stitch-order information lost, but so is info about the relationship between the stitch yarn and the strand yarn.
Recapturing that information means remembering/looking up the order of the original stitch-stack. But even knowing what you're looking for isn't enough--you'll also need to grab the correct length of yarn from the tangle of released stitches and back strands. X-ray vision would also be handy, so you could see both fabric faces at once.
Controlled drop
A ladder in stockinette fabric is capable of being latched in either direction. So, what if, as soon as you released a stitch at the top of a column, you took a crochet hook in hand and instantly re-latched it into a new, upside-down column? With this trick, each stitch is loosened only for the amount of time it takes to unpick it from the original column. It's then instantly latched up again, this time going the other way. Also, with this trick, the back strands are never involved--they remain quietly undisturbed on the fabric back.Instantly re-latching lets you drop the stitch, yet save the information. When re-latched upside-down, the stitches are reversed, yet each stitch's order (relationship to other stitches) remains undisturbed, as does the relationship of the stitch to the back strands.
The process is called "controlled drop" because the dropping process is controlled: the column is let out stitch-by-stitch, rather than a freely dropped column of the kind you would use in plain (non-color) knitting.
How-to
Start at the top. Once two stitches have been released, insert the crochet hook under the second "ladder rung" and draw the second rung though the first. This maneuver creates the foundation for the upside-down re-latch column you'll be making. |
| The first step in creating the upside-down "controlled drop" column |
Continue drawing each stitch released from the original column into the new upside-down column. Per illustration, it's possible to unlatch and re-latch in a single motion. The red circle shows the crochet hook unlatching the stitch from the original column by grabbing it where it arises out of the fabric (the side of the stitch). When this part of the stitch is yanked, the stitch-loop pops free, turning into a single strand of yarn (a "ladder rung") which is instantly re-latched into position in the new upside-down column of the controlled drop.
 | |
|
With the problem solved, reverse the process. In other words, insert the crochet hook into the loop of the newly-corrected stitch--the hook will now be be the bottom stitch in the original, right-side up column. You then loosen and re-latch the upside-down stitches, one by one, from their portion of the column. This restores the original direction of all the stitches in the column. At the top, the last loop is returned to the knitting needles.
Once your column is safely corrected with the top loop secured, stretch the fabric around the fixed column several times. The fabric will settle down to look exactly like it did before you released the column: the stitches will be in the correct order, the back strands remain undisturbed. The only difference is, the error is gone, fixed by you at the interface between the controlled drop and the original column.
Good knitting, TK
* More on the basics of stranded color knitting
--Color knitting how to, part 1--background
--Color knitting how to, part 2--two colors, one in each hand
--Color knitting how-to, part 3--knitting with two colors on one hand AND three color knitting
--Color knitting how-to, part 4--multi-color knitting, one color at a time, also called multiple-pass knitting
--Color knitting how-to, one color at a time: slipped stitch knitting
**Other uses for the drop column method
--Correcting errors in the rows below, part 1: moving a decrease
--Correcting errors in the rows below, part 2: moving an increase
--Correcting errors in the rows below, part 3: adding an increase
--Correcting errors at the side edges of your knitting
--Fixing a run in garter or seed stitch
PS: The idea that knitting can encode information is not original with me. The Tricoteuses of the French Revolution (Madame Defarge was the most famous) encoded a different kind of information--spoken words in a sort of a morse code. Stenography in knitting.
PPS: Controlled drop is not only for color knitting: it's also useful with lace or complicated shaping. A giant ladder in a lace garment is a headache, especially if YO's are involved, but you have a better chance of setting order out of chaos by using controlled drop.
You've been reading TECHknitting blog on: "A new trick for fixing mistakes in color knitting--'controlled drop'"
