How to Tink Mini Herringbone Knitting Without Losing the Paired Stitches

Check your pattern’s actual instructions before unpicking. In Purl Soho’s Mini Herringbone Scarf in Understory, the right-side repeat slips one stitch, knits the next, then lifts and knits the slipped stitch before releasing it. The wrong-side repeat purls two together without releasing them, purls the first stitch again, then releases both originals.

Those instructions identify the construction covered here. If your pattern instead repeatedly leaves one old stitch on the needle to work with the next stitch, stop and follow that construction’s yarn path; the pair boundaries described below will differ.

Choose the undoing sequence according to the operation you actually performed. For example, if you accidentally worked the right-side instructions while the wrong side faced you, reverse the right-side operation.

Have a spare thin knitting needle available to hold one recovered loop. Keep the stitches you have just worked on the right needle and the unworked stitches on the left. If you already turned at the row’s end, return the work to its position immediately before that turn.

Start by undoing any ordinary border stitches between the needle tip and the patterned section. For a plain stitch, insert the left needle into its old loop below the right-needle stitch, release the new stitch, and withdraw its yarn. This is the basic method described in DROPS Design’s tinking tutorial.

For the instructions below, call the original first stitch A and its original partner B. These letters describe their order before the pair was worked. After a complete pair has been undone, A belongs nearest the left needle’s tip, followed by B.

The following pair-recovery procedure is a mechanical reconstruction of the published stitch instructions using ordinary tinking principles. The sources explain the forward construction and basic unknitting; they do not present this specific spare-needle repair sequence. Try one repeat on a practice piece first if the crossing is difficult to read.

In a completed right-side repeat, the last new loop was knitted through the lifted stitch A. Its partner, the loop knitted through B, sits behind it on the right needle. Trace the working yarn to identify that last loop rather than choosing a diagonal strand by appearance.

1. Recover A. Insert the spare needle through the old loop that contains the newest right-needle loop. Release only that newest loop and gently withdraw its working yarn. Keep the recovered A on the spare needle.
2. Leave the crossing supported. A may still surround or cross the remaining new loop. Do not pull A straight or force it past that loop.
3. Recover B. Insert the left needle through the old loop beneath the remaining new stitch. Release that new stitch and withdraw its yarn, allowing it to come back through the crossing as well.
4. Restore the order. With B on the left needle, transfer A from the spare needle onto the left needle’s tip without adding a twist. A should now be first and B second.

Pause here. You should have recovered two old stitches and removed the yarn used to make two new stitches. If a strand still connects the pair in an unfamiliar crossing, inspect the yarn path before undoing another repeat.

The wrong-side repeat creates two new loops from two originals, but one new loop passes through both originals. Consequently, recovering the first old loop does not finish the pair. The forward sequence is documented in the Purl Soho scarf pattern.

1. Undo the last purl into A. Put the spare needle through its old loop A, release the newest right-needle stitch, and withdraw the yarn from that last purl. Keep A supported.
2. Find B beneath the remaining loop. The remaining new stitch is the result of the earlier purl-two-together. It passes through A and B. A is already on the spare needle; place the left needle through B.
3. Withdraw the combined stitch. Release the remaining new stitch and gently draw its yarn out of both supported old loops.
4. Reassemble the pair. Transfer A onto the left needle ahead of B. Check that both originals are present before continuing.

Do not count the same A twice when inspecting the combined stitch. You need two distinct old loops, A and B, rather than two legs of one loop.

Use three checkpoints after every complete repeat: two originals recovered, original order restored, and the correct working-yarn position. This gives you a smaller, more useful inspection point than waiting until the entire row is undone.

What you notice	What to inspect next
Only one old stitch recovered	Check whether the second original remains beneath the combined stitch or within the crossing.
An apparent extra stitch	Check whether you picked up a connecting strand or two legs of one loop.
Yarn resists withdrawal	Stop pulling and locate the remaining new loop through which it passes.
Two recovered stitches look reversed	Identify A and B from their original positions before transferring them again.
A recovered loop has a different mount	Correct its orientation before reworking it.

Loop orientation matters independently of stitch count. Let’s Knit’s tinking instructions explicitly advise correcting a stitch that has been transferred in the wrong orientation. Compare recovered loops with an untouched stitch mounted correctly for your knitting method.

Stop undoing when you reach the beginning of the faulty repeat. If only part of that repeat was completed, reverse only the operations already performed: an unworked slipped stitch transfers back without removing yarn, while a newly knitted stitch must be unknitted.

For an illustrative check, suppose you undo three complete patterned pairs. That returns six original stitches to the left needle. Any border stitches undone separately must be counted separately. This calculation checks your repeat tracking; it cannot establish whether every loop is mounted correctly.

Before restarting, read the row instructions again and confirm which face should be toward you. Rework the first repaired pair, then inspect its count, crossing, and relationship to the neighboring repeat before proceeding.

If you are undoing an entire row, continue through its opening border according to your own pattern. Purl Soho’s Understory version has specific edge instructions, so a border from another mini herringbone pattern should not be substituted. Keep the repair organized around complete pairs: support the originals, withdraw the new yarn, restore their order, and then work forward from a clearly identified boundary.

• Mini Herringbone Scarf in Understory — Purl Soho
• How you can undo knit and purl stitches (aka tinking) — DROPS Design
• How to: unpick your work by tinking — Let’s Knit