Quick fix: Identify the cause before you do anything else. A hole with a hanging loop below it is a dropped stitch — use a crochet hook to recover it. A hole with an extra loop above and no stitch below is an accidental yarn over — drop it off the needle or tink back.
What you are seeing
A visible gap in your fabric where there should be solid knitting. It may have a loose loop dangling below it, a ladder of horizontal strands, or simply a clean hole with no obvious loose yarn nearby.
Why it happens
- Dropped stitch — a loop slipped off the needle and unravelled one or more rows down.
- Accidental yarn over — the yarn draped over the needle, creating an eyelet opening.
- Two stitches worked together accidentally — a k2tog or p2tog that was not in the pattern creates a hole just below it.
- Yarn join that was not woven in — a loose tail works free and leaves a gap at the join point.
Fix it now
- Examine the hole closely. Is there a loose loop or ladder strands hanging below it? That is a dropped stitch.
- For a dropped stitch: clip a locking stitch marker through the live loop to stop further unravelling, then use a crochet hook to work back up each ladder rung — front to back for knit, back to front for purl.
- Is there an extra loop sitting on the needle above the hole with no stitch below it? That is an accidental yarn over — drop it off the needle without working it.
- For a hole from an accidental decrease: tink back to the error and re-work the stitches separately.
- For a hole from a loose yarn join: thread a tapestry needle with a short length of matching yarn and work a figure-eight weave through the surrounding stitches to close the gap.
- Block the finished piece lightly — wet blocking helps fibres settle and hides small repairs beautifully.
Prevent it next time
- Check for dropped stitches and yarn-position errors at the end of every row before setting work down.
- Secure yarn joins with a Russian join or a felted join rather than tying knots — both are invisible and will not work loose.
- Count stitches every 10–20 rows so any hole surfaces before it grows.