How to Fix Twisted Stitches

How Twisted Stitches Happen
(Un) Twist The Night Away
  • Beginners often accidentally twist stitches by knitting into the wrong side of the stitch (i.e. the back rather than the front).
  • Stitches also can become twisted when picking them up after begin dropped, or when trying to recover stitches with a careless 'frog'. (This is why the Lifeline is so helpful if you feel you will be doing a lot of ripping).

Learning Stitch Mount
  • When looking at a stitch on the left hand needle, the right leg of the upside-down U shape should be on the front of the needle. This is true for both knit and purl stitches.
  • There should also not be a twist in the U shape of the stitch as it rests on the needle. If it is twisted, it will look more like an X.

Fixing Twisted Stitches
  • The easiest way to fix twisted stitches is on the next row.
    If you are knitting stitches that appear twisted, simply knit into the back of the twisted stitch.
  • Otherwise, you will need to manually adjust the stitch mount so the right side of the stitch is in the front of the needle.
How to insert a lifeline
insert lifeline
How to insert a lifeline
Inserting a lifeline will save your knitting. Follow the path of your needles with some waster yarn.
Alternate Step: How to Tink (unknit)
tink unknit
How to tink (unknit)
Tinking is the way to unknit stitches one by one. This is a necessary skill to fixing mistakes.
How to pick up stitches after frogging or ripping
pick up frog ripHow to pick up stitches after frogging or ripping
Though frogging or ripping is not recommended (tink or lifeline instead!), if you must rip, learn how to do it the right way, to preserve stitch mount as much as possible.
Advanced Step: How to fix knit instead of purl
fix knit instead of purlHow to fix knit instead of purl
Fixing knit instead of purl is most easily done on the next row. It's a great way to swap the stitches that were done incorrectly.

More videos you might like...

cable without a cable needleHow to cable without a cable needle
How to Cable without a cable needle
Once you've mastered the cable stitch, you can take it up a notch and learn how to perform a cable stitch without a cable needle. 
 rip back to a lifelineHow to rip back to a lifeline
How to rip back to a lifeline
If you had put in a lifeline, and you make a mistake, you can safely rip back to lifeline to try again. It's helpful to note where in your pattern you insert the lifeline to know how far you are going back.