The Process of Repair

So I thought I'd record the process I used to correct - THE ERROR. There is a great tutorial with pictures at Rosemary-Go-Round that was really helpful.

To begin, I inserted a dpn into the 21 stitches of the middle panel. I needed to do the whole thing since I missed a pair of rows. Also, that choice meant that I was repairing a section with knit stitches on either end. That makes it easy to tell which loop of yarn is the correct one for the next row, and it keeps the correction all in one pattern. I "read" the row below to see where I was beginning. You don't have to be an expert for this part; I simply counted stitches between yarn overs and easily determined that I was beginning with round 23. I added one because I was on the purl back row and knew my next row would be 25.

Then I took the plunge and began to unravel each line of knitting down to the dpn, leaving empty loops attached at either end to the main body of knitting. I then went back to my dpn at row 24. I took a second dpn and transferred the stitches to it, counting them, making sure they all were from the same row, that I had not dropped any, and that none were twisted. Now to start. I took the lowest loop and using the pair of dpns, I began to knit the pattern from row 25 across. My dpn was a smaller size than the original needles to give me room to throw the loop of yarn as I reached the end of the stitches. When I completed the row, I eased the extra yarn back by tightening each loop from left to right and distributing the yarn as evenly as possible over the stitches. I then took the other dpn and again transferred the stitches, checking yarn overs (they're easy to loose) and ensuring that no stitches were twisted. When all was well, I knitted straight across the next row with the now lowest loop of yarn. You can, of course, turn the work and purl back, but I prefer to continue from right to left through the whole process. Then transfer the stitches while checking for twists and errors and evening out the yarn distribution. Repeat to row 32, and viola!

I still have a leg up on the left side, but it is minor. I am pretty sure I can redistribute the yarn to cover it later on. In the end, this VERY careful repair took about 1 1/2 or 2 hours performed while watching a DVD - time to redo the whole shawl from row 24-32 .... well, a lot more, not to mention the possibility of making more errors!