How to Repair a Dropped Stitch in an I-Cord Edge

Find the instructions governing the beginning and end of each row. The repair below applies to an edge whose two or three stitches are knitted on one side and slipped on the other. Cocoknits treats alternating knit-and-slip bands separately. Cocoknits: I-Cord Edge Stitches / Slipped Edge Stitches

For example, DROPS documents a different two-stitch edge: slip one stitch purlwise with yarn in front, then knit one, at both ends of every row. That instruction does not mean knitting both edge stitches on one row and slipping both on the next. Read the actual stitch sequence before applying a repair based on edge width. DROPS: How to work an I-cord edge with 2 stitches

Write down three details beside your project: the number of edge stitches, what happens to them on each side, and which row you are currently working. This small repair record gives you something concrete to check when the curled edge makes individual columns difficult to follow.

Put an opening stitch marker, spare needle, or scrap of yarn through the live loop before moving the fabric around. If several loops are loose, secure each one. Flock recommends securing a dropped stitch first, then fetching a crochet hook or stitch-fixing tool. Flock: How to Fix a Dropped Stitch

Set out a crochet hook, spare knitting needle, opening markers, and pins with a suitable pinning surface. Pins help separate the loose edge strands while you reconstruct the stitches. Cocoknits: I-Cord Edge Stitches / Slipped Edge Stitches

Before removing a marker, insert the tool that will hold its loop next. Keep the other loose stitches held while you work on one column. The immediate task is to preserve the loops you can already identify.

If a neighboring stockinette stitch has also dropped, rebuild that column using ordinary stockinette repair: insert the hook through the live loop, catch the lowest ladder strand behind it, and pull that strand forward through the loop. Continue upward in order. Cocoknits emphasizes checking stretched strands carefully because they can be picked up out of sequence. Cocoknits: Stockinette Stitch Repair

Use the construction of each area to decide how to proceed. A stockinette column uses each successive ladder; the slipped I-cord method below deliberately leaves alternate strands unworked. A surrounding garter-stitch fabric requires its own alternating knit-and-purl reconstruction. Flock explains those fabric-specific differences in its repair instructions. Flock: How to Fix a Dropped Stitch

Follow this sequence only after confirming the knit-one-side, slip-the-other construction:

1. Put loose edge stitches on a spare needle, beginning at the innermost back stitch and continuing around toward the front.
2. Separate the loose yarn into sideways U-shaped loops. Pin them without crossings or twists.
3. Start with the innermost dropped stitch. Insert the hook through its front, catch the upper strand of the lowest U-shaped loop from behind, and pull it through. Leave that loop’s lower strand unworked.
4. Continue upward, using the upper strand of each loop.
5. Return the rebuilt stitch to the working needle. Repeat outward for any remaining dropped edge stitches.

These are the strand selection and repair order specified in Cocoknits’ I-cord repair tutorial.

First check whether the reconstructed column follows the intended sequence. In ordinary stockinette repair, a missed ladder or a ladder used out of order calls for undoing that portion and rebuilding it. Cocoknits also recommends checking the reverse of the fabric when the order is unclear. Cocoknits: Stockinette Stitch Repair

Then inspect each returned loop for twisting. Remove pins as the final edge column uses the remaining yarn. Cocoknits: I-Cord Edge Stitches / Slipped Edge Stitches

Separate two questions: “Did I rebuild the correct stitches?” and “Are those stitches evenly sized?” For uneven gauge, Cocoknits suggests gently working the repaired area lengthwise and widthwise with your fingers. Check the structure first so that tension adjustment does not obscure a strand-order mistake. Cocoknits: Stockinette Stitch Repair

A stitch that unraveled from existing fabric differs from one omitted while you continued knitting. Flock explains that knitting onward after dropping a stitch can leave insufficient yarn to reconstruct that column comfortably up to the current row. Depending on the available yarn and tension, undoing rows to the original drop may produce a more workable repair. Flock: How to Fix a Dropped Stitch

Use that distinction as your stopping point: if the required strands are identifiable and available, reconstruct the column; if later rows lack the yarn needed for it, return to the row where the stitch was dropped. Once the loops are restored, compare the next edge instruction with your repair record and resume the pattern from that row.

• How to Fix Dropped Stitches Part VI: I-Cord Edge Stitches / Slipped Edge Stitches — Cocoknits
• How to work an I-cord edge with 2 stitches — DROPS Design
• How to Fix Dropped Stitches Part I: Stockinette Stitch — Cocoknits
• How to Fix a Dropped Stitch — flock | Knitting & Wool Shop