Mistakes in knitting can be disheartening, especially when you may have misread the pattern and a whole row may have gone wrong. Don’t worry this isn’t the end, your work can still be salvaged! Read on to find out how.

Start off by taking your left needle out of the row you’re currently working on.

Next, pull on the working yarn so it comes out of each stitch on the row you’re working on (be careful not to rip out the first few stitches on the next row too). Repeat this step for any further rows you need to rip out.

Finally, reinsert your left needle into the stitches again. Make sure none of your stitches get twisted as you go. If both legs of the stitch are facing you before you insert the needle, then you’re good to go.

Mistakes can pop up when you’re knitting and often it can feel like there is no option but to rip it all out and start again, but what if there was a simpler way? A good technique to know is how to ‘Tink’. This is the process of knitting backwards and is the most important skill to learn. However, be warned, this technique is only viable for mistakes in your current or last row. It is possible to fix mistakes from earlier in the piece, but it can be a long and tedious process.

Going from front to back, slip the left needle into the first stitch. 

Next pull the right needle out of the stitch, then you can tug your yarn gently out of the stitch. Your stitch should now have gone from the right needle to the left one.

Now just repeat those first two steps until you reach the stitch that needs fixed.