How to Fix Mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib

Some of my most popular videos on YouTube are about Fisherman’s Rib for beginners. But looking at the comments a few people have said when they start a scarf if they mess it up near the beginning they have to rip it out and start over because with so many strands on some stitches it was too confusing for them to pick out! Herewith – a photo tutorial and a video showing you how I fix those mistakes.

Part 1 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

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The tricky part is when you have made a knit 1 below stitch where you should have simply purled so I am going to focus on that. You can see in the photo above that I have incorrect stitches – the columns of the rib pattern are not smooth so I know the wrong stitch is in the wrong place.

The first thing I want to do is to figure out where to put my left hand needle. The easiest way to do that is to give a tug on you working yarn – where’ve that came out is where you want your needle tip to go in!

Part 2 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

You will wind up with three strands over your left hand needle tip. One they are on there you can go ahead and pull out the mistaken stitch.

Part 3 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.
Part 4 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

Now I have to get those three strands back down to one! I am going to make sure my longest strand is at the bottom – if you want to check you can give it a gentle tug – it should have been the working yarn from the row below.

Now bring your right hand needle back to front through the two strands closest to the left hand needle tip.

Part 5 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

Angle the right hand needle down and grab that long strand top to bottom and pull it through the other two strands.

Part 6 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

Push that whole mess off your left hand needle, and replace the stitch back on the left hand needle with the right leg forward/facing you.

Part 7 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

You can now re-knit that the want it was intended.

If you have accidentally made a purl where they should have been a knit one below that is simple to fix – just put your left hand needle in the hole the working yarn comes out of (as you did above), slide that onto the left hand needle, and pull out the incorrect stitch. It should be seated correctly now and ready to knit.

Part 8 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.
Part 9 of a photo series on how to fix knitting mistakes in Fisherman’s Rib Stitch from Hooked for Life Publishing.

I hope this helps you in your Fisherman’s Rib journey! You can click on the video below (and please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already!) for more help. And please check out my free Fisherman’s Rib patterns – the scarf which is knit flat, and the hat, which is knit in the round.

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