Repairing torn knitting

[afuna]

My first knitted bag snagged on something which appears to have cut one or two stitches, leaving this ugly hole. It's no big loss. The bag was one of the first things I've ever made, and it's all cheap acrylics. But I don't want to lose it, because it was several months of labor (it has all my beginner's mistakes on it and all *G*).


So I've been trying to figure out how to repair the knitting:

I've done a fingerless glove, so I know how to pick up stitches (for the thumb of the glove). Initially I thought of picking up the stitches at the edge of the rip and knitting circular a couple of rows binding off, but I am afraid that the remaining stitches would still unravel, and also I would end up with a protruding tube, which would look odd!

I could sew up the rip, but I don't know if it would look okay; it might look really obvious, and perhaps not hold.

I've been thinking about sewing up the edges of the hole so that I'd still have a hole, but at least the stitches around it would be stable and it couldn't unravel further. Then I could either leave it as is, or else knit a tiny colorful shape of some kind, and sew it on top of the hole as a patch.


I've never tried doing any repair work before though. Any idea what works, and what may end up in disaster? *g* Any suggestions for doing repairs, that is suitable for a beginner? Note I have no experience with sewing, but I have done some knitting, and also a very little bit of crochet.

Comments

[anatsuno]

I've done the hole-stabilizing + patch thing in the past, but I've also actually fixed a small two stiches hole, so I'ma tell you about that, in case it helps.

it was a bit different from you: I tore a hole in a shawl done all in garter stitch, and knitted very loosely on 5.5mm needles with a light fingering and a laceweight yarn held together. The two stitches torn were stacked up, one on top of the other, so, one stitch in each row.

Initially I thought I would thread matching yarn through the neighbouring stitches, following the path of the yarn through whole stitches then reproducing the missing stitches. In effect I meant to REPLACE the missing stitches, yeah?

And I did, except two things changed from my original plan.

1. I had thought I would do it with one continuous thread, when in fact I 'duplicated' stitches on 4 rows and used 4 different pieces of yarns for it (four rows because I wanted to strengthen/thicken the row below and the row above where the torn stitches had been, to a- ensure my fix would be solid and b- strengthen stitches adjacent to the tear, as I suspected the tearing had pulled on them too, and they might be about to give in turn.

2. I thought it would be slow but not too hard, and that I'd do it all on the one side of the fabric - it was in fact painstaking and longer than I thought, and since I am only able to duplicate the knit stitch in this fashion, I had to turn the work and do some stitches from the other side, since I was working on garter stitch fabric.

Still, it was feasible. The hard part was understanding where my yarn would go when I was actually working in the hole - the rest of it was easier since my needle and thread were just following the yarn in the actual stitches, to duplicate. What I ended up doing was pinning an empty loop of yarn where I was 'making' a stitch, which I then treated like a stitch on the following row with my next bit of yarn.

Oh my god, writing it down I realize this is preposterous and complicated and you're probably wondering why I'm spamming you with unclear babble that can't help you at all.

I just. It seemed like a good fix at the time, and it has worked, you know? I found it the most obvious way to fix something invisibly - reproducing the missing piece in the most precise way I could.

I swear it is feasible.

[afuna]

Much belatedly (it took me a while to get into a mindset where I could figure out where to start) -- thank you for your detailed explanation *g*

I think I ended up doing something similar to what you did. Hearing that it would be painstaking was... helpful, during the most frustrating parts, where I might otherwise have given up, thinking I was doing something wrong.

[anatsuno]

much belatedly also: I'm glad if I helped at all! And someday maybe I'll manage to post a tutorial / pictures for what I did.

[jumpuphigh]

I would say that it depends on how tight the article is. I've essentially darned sweaters before with needle and thread. I've also pulled the yarn ends and tied a tight knot which ended up hidden on the inside of the garment.

[afuna]

*nod nods* The hole turned out bigger than needle and thread could handle, but thank you for the advice. It'll be useful next time (though hopefully there isn't a next time *g*)

[minxy]

You could reknit those two stitches and weave in the ends of your new thread, but that would logically suggest you a) knit more than just the two stitches, supporting the stitches on either side, and b) weave in the ends of the broken thread too, which would mean deliberately ripping out *more* stitches so you have enough of an end to weave.

I guess it depends how careful and hidden you want to be about it. I usually find that three stitches is sturdy enough on any side of a patch (I knit patches in my socks and slippers when I wear through them, often deliberately off color so the patch is a spontaneous design element)

[afuna]

Thanks for the advice! I ended up doing some kind of hybrid approach of several of the suggestions in the thread, and one thing I did do was rip out stitches so I could weave in the broken thread.

It seemed the best way to handle the broken thread situation, but I think it would have taken me longer to get the courage to do so if you hadn't commented saying it was okay (if that makes any sense *g*)

[minxy]

Such is the power of community, eh? I'm glad you posted the question, actually, the links to Knitty that I found below were really helpful!

I'm glad you successfully mended your knitting. What's your next project?

[afuna]

Yes! I was almost too shy to, but I'm really glad I posted the question, too *G*

Right now I'm in the middle of a simple blouse (at the bust portion. I'll need the help of the good folks over at my LYS to get me past it *g*), and a striped scarf (like this one, but different yarn and a different color)

I plan to do a fingerless glove, a doll, socks, or some lacework next, ummm depending on my mood and whatever pattern I happen to stumble upon that looks interesting.

[seryn]

1) any repair that successfully holds things from deteriorating further is better than not fixing it now.

1a) using the same type of material for the patch is wise--- so better an unmatched colored acrylic on an acrylic bag than a matching color wool.

2) one can always duplicate stitch over top of the fix later to make it attractive. Since duplicate stitch is also called "Swiss darning" you know that it will repair a hole.

Good luck.

[afuna]

Good call on the material, thank you. (I luckily managed to find some scraps of the same color, too, so even the color matches, yay).

Re: duplicate stitch over the top of the fix

I think I did that! Kinda. Maybe. It ended up looking like another row of stitches anyway, even though not perfect *eyes her stitches dubiously*

Thank you for your advice *G*

[tephra]

There is an excellent guide to fixing holes here with photos (which I always find more helpful than just text).

[ironed_orchid]

That's really neat!

I was going to recommend grafting/kitchener stitch if it's a horizontal gap and mattress stitch if it's vertical.

Knitty has a couple of relevant articles: repairs and seams

[afuna]

D'oh. I thought I'd done duplicate stitch, but I just checked these links again and I think I quite possibly ended up doing grafting stitch (I just didn't know the name)

Thank you! The links to repairs was especially useful :D

[ironed_orchid]

Grafting is a fantastic method for joining live stitches. Even if I always have to check instructions for the first few stitches every single time.

[afuna]

Ahahah have you ever managed to turn it inside out? My first try, it became garter stitch rather than knit stitch. I undid and redid, and it was magically correct. (Somehow *G*)

[afuna]

Thank you! That was indeed really really helpful in figuring out what to do.